Drug War Chronicle

The Illinois House has turned back a bid to permit farmers there to apply to grow hemp. Opponents cited the federal ban on hemp production and law enforcement's inability to tell the difference between hemp and weed.

It may be up to Democratic Gov. Bryan Schweitzer to save medical marijuana in Montana. Only a procedural vote is left before the legislature repeals the voter-approved law.

We review two books on marijuana -- one a comprehensive anthology, the other, a studious work on changing pot policy.

New England has emerged as a hotbed of marijuana law reform. Why is that?

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

It was a rough week on the highway between Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey, and that's not all, not by a long shot.

It was a relatively quiet week on the crooked cop front -- not including officers who've gone astray but haven't been caught -- but we've still got us a trio of law enforcement miscreants.

Long Island cops moved in to make a small-time drug bust, the suspect apparently swallowed the drugs, and now he's dead. That makes 21 dead in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

An Illinois medical marijuana bill is heading for a House floor vote. Last year, it passed the Senate, only to fail in the House. Let's hope we get a better outcome this year.

A member of a Southern California drug task force shot and killed a man armed with a shotgun during a Friday morning drug raid. That makes 20 dead in the US drug war so far this year.