A second Arkansas medical marijuana initiative is still alive (one has already qualified for the ballot), Boston gets its first dispensary, Minnesota chronic pain patients now qualify for medical marijuana, and more.
Chronicle
Utah SWAT is aimed mostly at drug offenders. (Wikipedia/Creative Commons)
Obama commutes more drug sentences, Boston gets its first dispensary, more signs of how horrid South Dakota is on marijuana, Utah SWAT deployment data, and more.
Obama has now commuted more sentences than the last nine presidents combined, but there are still nearly 18,000 commutation applications pending, and the clock is ticking.
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Filipino President Rodrigo "The Punisher" Duterte (theinfluence.org)
Civil society responds as the death toll mounts in the Philippines, Massachusetts politicians endorse marijuana legalization, a new study finds national legalization could bring in $12 billion a year for the feds, and more.
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It's official: Massachusetts will vote on marijuana legalization this fall. (regulatemass.org)
Your correspondent was on vacation last week, but drug policy and the drug war weren't. Illinois has decriminalized marijuana possession, Republicans are shifting on marijuana prohibition, Minnesotans with chronic pain now qualify for medical marijuana, Floridians can now get naloxone without an individualized prescription, and more.
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Trump VP pick Mike Pence doesn't have a great record on drug policy. (flickr.com/gage skidmore)
It's one of those all-weed news days, with Republicans reaching the tipping point on marijuana legalization, Canadian provincial leaders demanding quick action on legalization, and more.
Chronicle
It looks like medical marijuana is coming to Greece. (wikimedia.org)
There's a job opening for an experienced marijuana activist in DC, Libertarian Gary Johnson endorses California's legalization initiative, three European countries are making marijuana policy moves, and more.
Some senators take a tiny first step on medical marijuana, a California pot-growing county approves a massive medical marijuana farm, Montanans will have the chance to reinstate their medical marijuana system in November, and more.
A Massachusetts poll has the legalization initiative losing, a New Hampshire poll shows record support for legalization, Florida's first dispensary gets the okay to open, Illinois protects drug court participants' opioid treatment access, and more.
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"Bath salts" (synthetic cathinones) will be banned in Illinois. (MN Dept of Health)
Voters in Arizona can now read arguments for and against the marijuana legalization initiative, legalization opponents don't want to let them have a chance to vote on it, "bath salts" will be banned in Illinois, and more.
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New York is pursuing a prohibitionist approach to synthetic cannabinoids. (Wikimedia.org)
Officials in California's Humboldt County have approved a massive, seven-acre medical marijuana grow operation, Missouri's governor signs a bill allowing pot offenders to get their records expunged, New York's governor announces a crackdown on "synthetic marijuana," and more.
Governors use their bill-signing pens in Rhode Island and North Carolina, a new poll has surprisingly strong support for marijuana legalization in Wisconsin, Montanans will vote on medical marijuana in November, and more.
A major Detroit corruption case comes to an end, a Pennsylvania cop gets nailed for accepting pain pills to let a drug dealer walk, an Ohio cop rips off the undercover drug buy fund, and more.
The Republican platform committee rejects medical marijuana, medical marijuana research issues get a hearing in the Senate, Arkansas will vote on at least one medical marijuana initiative this fall--maybe two -- and more.
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K2 strikes in New York City! (Wikimedia/Creative Commons)
Feinstein comes out against California's Prop 64, the Arkansas Health Department comes out against medical marijuana initiatives, an outbreak of synthetic cannabinoid overdoses in New York City raises alarms and more reasoned responses, and more.