Drug War Chronicle

Eight British Columbia mayors, including the mayor Vancouver, have signed a letter calling for marijuana legalization, taxation, and regulation. They are only the latest in a growing chorus of BC public figures ready to free the weed.

A Dutch court has upheld a looming ban on foreigners in southern border province cannabis cafes, but coffee shop owners are appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. The battle over the ban, set to go nationwide next year, is far from over.

Police in Chesapeake, Virginia, are claiming they can smell marijuana in a passing vehicle while they are in their moving cruisers with the windows rolled up. So far, they're getting away with it.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott campaign to force drug tests on state workers got slapped down by a federal judge Wednesday, on fourth amendment grounds.

Bills to drug test people seeking public benefits have been all the rage at the statehouse this year, but they're having a surprisingly hard time passing. We have some reasons why.

ProCon.org is a series of in-depth web sites presenting information and views from on current issues, several with relevance to drug policy. The Chronicle is running a series of info items from ProCon.org over the next several weeks -- this first one from medicalmarijuana.procon.org -- and we encourage you to check it out.

Saying that West Virginia employers can't find enough workers who aren't doped up, Gov. Tomblin has issued an executive order mandating drug tests for participants in the state's job training program. He already successfully championed drug testing for miners in the legislature.

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

It's been a quiet week on the corrupt cop front, but we still have a pair of California cops who thought they were the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and an Oklahoma cop who couldn't keep his fingers out of the cookie jar---and some late-breaking news out of LA.

More DEA raids in California and Montana, and more action in the legislature in Connecticut and New Hampshire, among other medical marijuana news.