Drug War Chronicle

Maine is about to become the latest state to set up a medical marijuana dispensary system. The measure has passed the legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.

A Maryland medical marijuana bill won an important Senate committee vote this week, but with time running out for the legislative session, it looks to be stalled in the House.

The body count in Mexico's prohibition related violence this week topped 19,000, as President Felipe Calderon's war on the so-called cartels continues to reap high levels of bloodshed.

A meth dealing Texas deputy and a pill-peddling Missouri jail guard head for the big house.

At least some legislators in the Heart of Dixie are showing they have hearts. The Alabama House Judiciary Committee approved a medical marijuana bill this week.

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

It's science vs. politics in British drug policy, and the scientists are growing tired of having evidence-based policies trumped by political considerations. Two more members of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have resigned in recent days over the spat.

A police drug lab scandal broadens in San Francisco, somebody stole the drug evidence in suburban Atlanta, a former US Customs agent heads for prison, and yes, yet another pair of jail guards go down.

The drug czar doesn't want to talk about what the federal response to marijuana legalization in California might be. Let's hope he has to talk about it come November 3.

Millions of people have viewed -- and benefited from -- the film "Busted: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." The new Flex Your Rights film, "10 Rules for Dealing with Police," has taken things to the next level, in more ways than one.