Drug War Chronicle

Sens. Pat Leahy (D) and Rand Paul (R) have joined together to introduce a mandatory minimum sentence reform bill. The bill would expand the "safety valve" to all federal offenses, not just selected drug offenses.

Last year we began to offer the book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know" as an option for donating members. Authors of it are now consulting for Washington State on implementing legalization there. You can support us and get some insights into what they might do, by ordering it here.

Washington state has selected a consulting firm led by drug policy scholar Mark Kleiman to be its marijuana consultant. Reformers have reacted with caution.

New York City and the NYPD are under fire this week for both their stop-and-frisk policing program and their massive number of marijuana possession busts in a state where it is supposed to be decriminalized.

Medical marijuana action was concentrated in state legislatures this week, although there was also news from the Massachusetts attorney general's office.

A Customs agent, a Texas deputy, and a small-town California cop all go down this week.

Nevada is the latest state to see a marijuana legalization bill in the wake of last November's victories in Colorado and Washington.

A marijuana decriminalization bill is moving in Maryland.

The District of Columbia has now joined ten states in implementing 911 Good Samaritan laws designed to reduce overdose deaths by removing the fear of arrest and prosecution from victims and witnesses who seek medical help.

Former New Zealand prime minister and current head of the UN Development Program Helen Clark has toughly criticized the reliance on criminal justice approaches in the global drug war.