Drug War Chronicle

The Victoria state government has approved a safe injection site in Melbourne, a new report warns that high taxes on legal marijuana could push people to the black market, New Jersey adds some new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use, and more.

The president declares the opioid crisis an emegency, but not enough of one to actually need funding; lawmakers go after the DEA over West Virginia pain pill deliveries, a St. Louis alderman files a marijuana legalization measure, the US Sentencing Commission issues a report on mandatory minimums, and more.

Sticky-fingered pill-stealing cops get themselves in trouble in Florida, and more.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans now support marijuana legalization, and even more in Connecticut, the House passes a bill increasing funding for drug interdiction, the GAO reports on five years of US drug war spending in Latin America, Afghanistan has a whopping record opium crop, and more.

The White House could announce a national opioid emergency on Thursday, the DEA releases its annual drug threat assessment, the Maine legislature approves a marijuana regulation bill, and more.

Iran has approved dramatic changes in the use of the death penalty in drug cases, an Indiana county ends needle exchange and cites the Bible to do so, Jamaica issues its first marijuana business licenses, and more.

A new doctors' group is calling on the medical community to be open to marijuana legalization, kratom activists file a FOIA on the DEA, New Zealand's new prime minister says she will hold a referendum on marijuana legalization, and more.

Hemp farming comes a step closer in Wisconsin, safe injection sites win a court battle in suburban Seattle, Houston's DA is proving to be a real criminal justice reformer, and more.

The compromise bill is generally reformist, but includes some objectionable new mandatory minimums, too.

The flames are dying down in Northern California, but for the region's marijuana farmers, the pain is just beginning.