News Brief

The DEA seized more than 30,000 plants from Eddy Lepp in 2004, calling it their biggest cultivation bust ever, but a judge this week threw out the evidence. Lepp has more battles ahead.

Congress has passed a measure that will allow for the testing of potentially dangerous mycoherbicides to be used to destroy illicit drug crops. But in a victory for reformers, the okay will be limited to labs in the US -- not fields in Latin America.

With Afghan opium production going through the roof, US drug czar John Walters announced Saturday that the Afghan government would begin using herbicides to eradicate the poppy crop. But the Afghan government hasn't officially agreed yet.

The DEA jumped on the meth registry bandwagon last week, with a twist.

Some Taiwanese celebrities are getting unwanted attention these days as police pursue allegations that they -- gasp! -- smoked marijuana.

This week's edition of corrupt cops stories is heavy on the dope-dealing prison guards. Not to worry, though, there's more.

Richard Paey, the wheelchair-bound pain patient serving a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence as a drug dealer under Florida law, will remain in prison after losing an appeal this week. But a sympathetic appeals court suggested he seek clemency from the governor.

In a Tuesday decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that immigrants convicted of drug felonies under state law are not subject to mandatory deportation unless the offense is classified as a felony under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

In the wake of a trio of high-profile police killings of civilians, African-American civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is calling for congressional hearings on police violence.

North Dakota becomes the first state to legalize industrial hemp production, with licenses available beginning January 1. But someone is going to have to do something about the DEA's opposition, or nobody's going to be growing hemp any time soon.