Lately, a few British politicians have revived the idea of dispensing taxpayer-funded heroin. Spurred by successful trials in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, the idea that governments can reduce both addiction and street crime — and maybe bleed black markets dry — by managing drug distribution has gained momentum. "It is time to replace our failed war on drugs with a strict system of legal regulation," a British MP named Bob Ainsworth said at the end of last year. "We must take the trade away from organized criminals and hand it to the control of doctors and pharmacists." (Link to Story)

Owsley "Bear" Stanley's long, strange trip has ended. The counterculture icon who was a major LSD producer in the 1960s and was celebrated in song by The Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix, has died in a car crash in Australia. (Link to Story)

Malloy decided a long time ago that possession of small amounts of marijuana should not be treated as a criminal offense, and he wants Connecticut to join him. The Democratic governor's plan to reduce the penalty for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana from a crime to an infraction that carries a fine is the subject of a public hearing Monday before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. (Link to Story)

State lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would make medical marijuana legal in Florida. They're working together to pass a resolution that could go before voters in 2012. (Link to Story)

We've heard for some time now that drug prohibition violence from Ciudad Juárez is spilling over into El Paso. An indictment just released against Barrio Azteca gang members confirms it. So why are some law enforcement agencies and local leaders so reluctant to admit it? (Link to Story)

After a state Senate session, Hawaii is arguably five steps closer. The Senate voted to pass five medical marijuana-related bills on to the House. (Link to Story)

Daniel Akst, a columnist for Newsday, opines on the success of Portugal's comprehensive drug policy reforms. He concludes the American war on drugs is a costly failure on a larger scale than was Prohibition, with ramifications far beyond U.S. borders. He says we'll never eliminate drugs for the simple reason that too many people like them. But it's time to figure out a way to decriminalize narcotics, at the very least, even while firmly discouraging their use. (Link to Story)

Mexico has made an official request for more information about a secret U.S. government operation to allow smugglers to take nearly 1,800 guns into Mexico in an effort to track them to drug trafficking organizations. The operation, code-named "Fast and Furious," was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), in spite of objections from its own agents. Assault weapons and high-powered sniper rifles were among the guns smuggled in to Mexico over a period of 15 months. Some of the 1,765 weapons have since been linked to crime -- including the murder of a U.S. border patrol agent in December. Fewer than 800 of the guns have been recovered. (Link to Story)

Eight more criminal cases were dropped by prosecutors in connection with a looming scandal involving an undercover police unit accused of conducting illegal drug raids and falsifying police reports. The cases in San Francisco Superior Court involved the same officers previously accused of entering residential hotel rooms without warrants or consent and then allegedly lying about their actions on police reports. One officer was accused of falsely arresting a man for drug possession. (Link to Story)