July 21, 2004: The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Prof. Lyle Craker and Valerie Corral file lawsuits against the DEA, HHS, NIH, and NIDA for obstructing medical marijuana research.

July 23, 1985: Bogota, Colombia's Superior Court Judge Tulio Manuel Castro Gil, who had indicted Pablo Escobar for the murder of Lara Bonilla, is assassinated as he climbs into a taxi. Throughout 1985 judicial harassment and intimidation become commonplace in Colombia.

July 24, 1967: The Beatles pay for a full page advertisement in the newspaper. It reads, "The law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice." The ad calls for the legalization of marijuana possession, release of all prisoners on pot possession charges and government research into medical uses. It is signed by 65 people including all four Beatles, their manager Brian Epstein, author Graham Greene, psychologist R.D. Laing, 15 doctors and two members of Parliament.

July 26, 2001: The highly-regarded British business magazine The Economist devotes an entire issue to drug policy, endorsing decriminalization and harm reduction.

July 26, 2003: The Honolulu Advertiser reports that a Hilo woman who smokes marijuana to treat her glaucoma received a check for $2,000 from her homeowner insurance company for the loss of four marijuana plants stolen from her yard. Under a state law passed in 2000, patients with permits who are under a doctor's care may possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana and grow up to seven plants at a time for medical purposes.

July 27, 2002: The Associated Press reports that a regional director of Mexico's main intelligence agency was slain in the border city of Tijuana, the 11th person killed over the last week in what authorities said was an escalating drug war.