Drug War Chronicle #726 - March 22, 2012

A bill pending in California would make misdemeanors out of drug possession offenses that are currently felonies. An impressive coalition is growing in support of it, but law enforcement is skeptical.

The fight-back to restore federal needle exchange funding stripped out of last year's budget has begun in earnest, with a congressional call-in, actions in a dozen cities, and civil disobedience and dozens of arrests on Capitol Hill.

We continue our newest offer for donating members, the drug policy classic reprint: "The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States." This is one is available for donations of just $22 or more.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential pre-candidate for Mexico's left-leaning Democratic Revolutionary Party, says he will end the drug war if elected. Meanwhile, the rightist PAN's nominee takes a drug test.

Delegates to the UN's Commission on Narcotic Drugs have voted unanimously to endorse overdose prevention measures, including the use of the overdose reversal drug naloxone.

With the Greek health system shaken by the economic crisis, new HIV cases are spiking, and the government is preparing harm reduction measures, including handing out needles and condoms, to halt the rise.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has quietly signed into law a controversial bill that mandates drug testing for state employees. Florida becomes the first state in the nation to do so.

The DEA went a step too far when it tried to shut down a pair of Florida CVS pharmacies, a federal appeals court has ruled. The ruling is only temporary, though, so stay tuned.

From California to the nation's capital, medical marijuana keeps making news. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly.

A Sanger, California, man is dead after being shot by police as he first pulled a weapons, then tried to flee in an undercover drug bust gone bad.

Here's a hint for deputies: Don't go to buy heroin in uniform while the joint is under surveillance in a drug investigation. There are more lessons to be learned this week, too.

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