Drug War Chronicle #832 - May 1, 2014

Two new books on marijuana policy. One tells the story of how we got to where we are; the other tells us what's coming next.

Bad science becomes bad law as Tennesse Gov. Haslam signs into law a bill crimnalizing pregnant women who use drugs.

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has become the first justice ever to endorse marijuana legalization.

DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart was resolutely 20th Century as she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Mandatory minimums good, marijuana legalization bad, she argued.

Medical marijuana continues hot and heavy in state legislatures across the country, there's a petition for a patient denied access to a liver transplant in California, two federal marijuana patients in Iowa also need some help, and a new federal medical marijuana bill has been filed.

It's a veritable cornucopia of corrupt cops this week. Major corruption scandals wind down in the Chicago suburbs and the Rio Grande Valley, LA deputies get popped planting guns in a dispensary, a Philly narc sleeps with his snitch and whispers DEA secrets in her ear, and more.

Marijuana, weed, pot, cannabis, whatever you call it, it's sure making a lot of news these days. Plus, harm reduction comes to Georgia, and Bolivia wants to shoot down drug planes. And more.

An Oregon congressman fights to end federal marijuana prohibition, a DC congresswoman vows to fight for decrim in the District, a Brooklyn DA gets support for his stance on small-time pot charges, some Philly narcs escape justice, and more.

Medical marijuana continues to be contested terrain, a legalization bill gets a hearing in Boston, hemp is on the move in Hawaii and New York, New Zealand cracks down on its regulated synthetic drugs, and more.

Pressure builds for marijuana legalization in Illinois, a California medical marijuana patient is bumped off the liver transplant list, the drug czar's office slams the idea of criminalizing drug use by pregnant women, and the founder of the Pirate Party has some choice words on drug policy. And more.

There was marijuana talk on Capitol Hill yesterday, a Vermont dispensary bill passes the Senate, Georgia's governor signs a welfare drug testing bill, a California drugged driving bill dies, and -- oh, yeah, we spent $7.5 billion to reduce Afghan opium production and got squat. And more.