Drug War Chronicle #716 - January 12, 2012

Michigan medical marijuana patients are tired of getting pushed around by state officials, so they've come up with a novel solution: Just repeal the marijuana laws once and for all. An initiative that would do that is getting underway now.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take up the question of having a drug dog sniff the front door of one's home without a warrant is an unconstitutional search.

Here's the latest medical marijuana news from around the country. There's a whole lot going on.

The murders, raids, and arrests continue, without making any apparent difference in anything.

A new poll shows Washington voters almost evenly split on the general question of marijuana legalization, but a November poll that asked about specifics of a pending initiative had more positive results.

An increase in police deaths by gunfire last year and the bloody Ogden, Utah, drug raid that left one officer dead last week are causing some police to think again about the utility of aggressive drug raids.

The city of Tallahassee has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement in the killing of Rachel Hoffman, a collegiate drug scenester whom police sent to snitch on hardened criminals after a small-time drug bust. A similar case has just popped up in Detroit, too.

The mania for drug testing people on welfare, unemployment, or Medicaid continues this year. A Mississippi solon wants to drug test anyone receiving public benefits, and other states are moving ahead, too.

A pair of bills introduced in Florida ask the legislature to okay a referendum on marijuana in November. Activists are petitioning the governor, too.

The Dutch government will ban khat, a plant favored by Somali and Yemeni immigrants for its mild stimulative properties.

Peru's drug czar has been fired for being insufficiently enthusiastic about eradicating coca crops.

A man with "mental difficulties" who was apparently growing marijuana to self-medicate with, opened fire when a police drug task force entered his Ogden, Utah, home Wednesday night. Six police were shot; one is dead.

Cops continue to have problems keeping their hands off the drugs they come across. And they're developing problems with prescription pills, too.

Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.