Drug War Chronicle

Supporters of a Colorado marijuana legalization and regulation initiative Wednesday turned in nearly double the number of signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.

2011 was a busy year in drug policy. Here is our selection of the biggest stories of the year here at home.

Washington state marijuana legalization initiative supporters turned in enough signatures last week to almost guarantee that the measure will be on the ballot in November. Now, we wait for the state to make it official.

Five more US drug war deaths this month bring the year's total to 54.

We go around the world to find the most important international drug policy stories of 2011.

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

The pain relief movement has lost a true hero. Siobhan Reynolds, founder of the Pain Relief Network and a tireless advocate for the cause, was killed in a plane crash in Ohio on Christmas Eve day.

Support the work of StoptheDrugWar.org with a donation of $50 or more and you can receive a complimentary copy of the PBS documentary "Prohibition" on DVD or Blu-ray -- 90 minutes of bonus footage not seen on TV!

2011 is wrapping up as slightly less bloody than 2010 in Mexico's plague of prohibition-related violence, but the death toll this year is still well above 10,000.

More restrictions on medical marijuana, more California dispensaries close, more Montana dispensary operators head for federal prison, and California activists file an initiative to regulate and tax the industry at the state level.