New Jersey is the only state in the nation with neither needle exchange nor non-prescription needle sales, but that could change Monday as a needle exchange bill heads for final floor votes in both houses of the legislature.

Officials of San Diego, Merced and San Bernardino counties who are hostile to California's medical marijuana law lost a court battle.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are the latest to produce studies challenging the validity of the "gateway theory" -- the idea that the use of marijuana is a "gateway" to harder drug use.

North Dakota becomes the first state to legalize industrial hemp production, with licenses available beginning January 1. But someone is going to have to do something about the DEA's opposition, or nobody's going to be growing hemp any time soon.

In the wake of a trio of high-profile police killings of civilians, African-American civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is calling for congressional hearings on police violence.

In a Tuesday decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that immigrants convicted of drug felonies under state law are not subject to mandatory deportation unless the offense is classified as a felony under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Observers had hoped the court would use the case to address the excesses of mandatory minimum sentences, but no such luck.

After a one-week hiatus, the corrupt cops stories are back, thanks in large part to the help of Chronicle readers -- we have a veritable potpourri of police misconduct with a heavy emphasis on the larcenous.