Drug War Chronicle #770 - February 7, 2013

A pair of federal bills that would allow states to tax and regulate marijuana had a coming out party at a press conference Tuesday. And there are more bills to come, their authors said.

New York City comedian Randy Credico is a very funny guy, but he's dead serious about rooting out class, race, and drug war injustice in the Big Apple, and he wants to be the next mayor.

The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a key case on whether localities can ban dispensaries, and medical marijuana bills died in two Midwest states, and there's more news, too.

DrinkingAge.ProCon.org, part of the ProCon.org family, is an in-depth web site presenting information and views from a variety of perspectives on the issue of the drinking age. The Chronicle is running a six-part series of info items from ProCon.org, of which this week's is the fifth.

A new poll finds that most Americans think the federal government should butt out in states where marijuana is legal.

And then there were four. Rhode Island has become the fourth state to see a marijuana legalization bill filed this year, and it will likely be joined by three more.

Now, here's some news we didn't expect: US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed a pending hemp bill in his home state of Kentucky.

Under Colombian law, people have the right to possess "personal dose" amounts of some drugs. Now, the government wants to add synthetics, such as meth and ecstasy, by setting "personal dose" amounts for them.

Welfare drug testing is done in Virginia this year. It was defeated by one vote in the Senate Monday.

South Dakota continues to live up to its reputation as one of the most medical marijuana-unfriendly states in the county, as a bill that would have allowed a medical necessity defense was killed in the legislature Tuesday.

A Massachusetts cop had his own informal prescription drug take-back program, but that was pretty innocuous compared to some of this week's other entries.