A leading academic voice on drug and criminal justice policy has left us, skyhigh Virginia pot arrests prompt calls for reform, Brazil's rightist government moves to silence critical voices on drug policy, and more.

More than 2,000 federal drug prisoners walk free today under First Step Act reforms, the drug czar touts declining drug overdose numbers and blames Obama, Texas prosecutors balk at low-level pot prosecutions now that hemp is legal, and more.

The CDC reports that the overdose crisis may have peaked in 2017, El Chapo is sentenced to life in prison for exporting tons of cocaine and other drugs to the US, North Carolina lawmakers want to ban smokable hemp, and more.

Oregon's wide-open marijuana licensing system has created a mountain of marijuana, and that's driving prices down, down, down.

A Florida sheriff's deputy breaks bad, a New Jersey cop probably shouldn't have done heroin on the job, and more.

Utah announces a short delay in medical marijuana licenses, Iowa lawmakers reject even exploring medical marijuana expansion, Hawaii's governor vetoes a bill that would have allowed inter-island transport, and more.

In a sign of marijuana's momentum, a Senate committee will take up a pot banking bill next week, Ohio backs away from barring drug felons from food stamp eligibility, the Berkeley city council takes up decriminalizing natural psychedelics, and more.

Columbus, Ohio, is moving to decriminalize up to seven ounces of weed, an expungement bill could clear the records of 235,000 Michigan pot offenders, Sri Lanka's president tells a whopper, and more.

It's an all-marijuana Monday, with New Hampshire's Republican governor signing an expungement bill, North Dakota activists filing a legalization initiative petition, a poll showing near majority support for legalization in the United Kingdom, and more.

The UN will probe drug war killings in the Philippines, murders in Mexico hit a monthly high, the North Carolina Opioid Epidemic Response Act is now on the governor's desk, and more.