This Congress Has One Last Chance to Unlock Methadone Treatment
The lame-duck Congress can expand access to a lifesaving treatment while it still has time.
Drug Policy
Houston Voters Approve Restrictions on Marijuana Arrests and a Ban on No-Knock Police Raids
The first provision might curtail local pot busts, but the second one is unlikely to have a meaningful impact.
Quaaludes Might Be Back. The Iron Law of Prohibition Never Left.
This counts as progress in the war on drugs?
Massachusetts Voters Don't Seem Inclined To Repeal Marijuana Legalization Next Week
Polls suggest support for a legal recreational market has increased since voters approved it a decade ago.
RFK Jr. Institutes Backdoor Approval of 6 Peptides
The policy balances patient safety with “patient choice and freedom," HHS says.
How Helping Someone Buy Drugs Can Send You to Prison for 20 Years
State and federal prosecutors responded to fentanyl overdoses by treating accidents as homicides.
A Texas Lawsuit Dubiously Accuses Students for Life of Violating the State's Abortion Pill Restrictions
The case, styled as a critique of the state's "vigilante" statute, aims to punish anti-abortion activists for constitutionally protected advocacy.
Smoking Is Bad for You. Nicotine Isn't—but Politicians Keep Trying To Ban It.
Nicotine has become associated with the worst harms of smoking, even though the chemical is not responsible for the cancers or lung disease caused by combustible tobacco.
Hazy Drug Classification Criteria Invite Dubious Bureaucratic Judgments
A GAO report notes that the Controlled Substances Act does not define "potential for abuse" or "accepted medical use."
The Way the FDA and DEA Ban Drugs Is Unaccountable and Arbitrary
A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals that federal drug regulators do not have any clear policies or procedures for making scheduling decisions.
Montana Is Trying To Break the FDA's Monopoly on Experimental Treatments
Montana’s expanded right-to-try program has cleared its first therapy: a sound-and-antihistamine regimen to reverse hearing loss.
Marijuana Contracts Are Not Enforceable in Federal Court
Just because marijuana is legal under state law does not mean marijuana is legal -- a useful reminder.
The 8th Circuit Lets the Government Retroactively Repair Unconstitutional Gun Cases Against Pot Smokers
A SCOTUS petition argues that the practice, which allows a judicial finding of dangerousness based on a preponderance of the evidence, violates the Fifth Amendment.
No, Marijuana Legalization Didn't Fill Emergency Rooms With Stoned Drivers
We dissected some of the deeply flawed studies favored by drug warriors.
A Gun Ruling Highlights the Tricks Congress Uses To Evade Limits on Its Power
During the last century, the Commerce Clause has replaced the Taxing Clause as an excuse for federal legislation.
After 2 Decades of Raids and Prison Stints, Liverpool's 'Cannabis Martyr' Is Still 'Fighting for Freedom'
Gary Youds says his cannabis café is “what the future looks like the day after the drug war.”
Trump's Boat Strikes Killed 221 People, but Didn't Win the War on Drugs
Operation Southern Spear has struck 67 small fishing boats without denting the fentanyl or cocaine supply.
Did Decriminalizing Drugs Lead to More Deaths in Washington and Oregon?
The Manhattan Institute’s Charles Fain Lehman overstates the evidence supporting that conclusion.
Calling Cartels 'Narcoterrorists' Turns Drug Enforcement Into War Making
Brazil’s gangs show why the “narcoterrorist” label is tempting, misleading, and unlikely to stop drugs.
Drugs Keep Winning in the Global War on Drugs
The United Nations’ latest World Drug Report makes that very clear.
No, a New Study Does Not 'Lay To Rest' the Debate Over Drug 'Legalization'
The Manhattan Institute’s Charles Fain Lehman misstates the findings of a new paper to claim he was right all along.
Supreme Court Begins Answering Lingering Questions About Constitutional Constraints on Gun Control
After upholding the Second Amendment rights of drug users and carry permit holders, the justices will address the constitutionality of "assault weapon" bans.
Supreme Court Ruling Offers Hope to an Iowa Marijuana User Who Got 4 Years for Owning Guns
The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Hemani could open the door to relief for cannabis consumers convicted of illegal gun possession.
Trump Says His Task Force Is Fighting a Foreign 'Invasion.' It's Busting Americans for Drugs Instead.
How Trump rebranded the war on drugs as a fight against illegal immigration
Secret Emails Reveal Sketchy Tactics in California Public Health's Tobacco Ban 'Endgame'
Here are the sketchy tactics California’s public health agency is using to convince towns and cities to ban tobacco sales.
'Find Some Kids': How Health Officials Drummed Up Fake Support for Tobacco Bans in Massachusetts Towns
State health officials scouted towns, scripted hearings, recruited teen witnesses, and celebrated each ban as a "win."
Mitch McConnell's Hemp Ban Betrays the Industry He Helped Create
Federal prohibition of hemp-derived THC products would destroy a $37.5 billion industry to solve a problem states are already handling.
The Least Surprising Headline Ever: 'Blowing Up Boats Hasn't Slowed Cocaine Traffic to U.S.'
After nine months of murdering suspected cocaine smugglers, the Trump administration has no evidence that the strategy is working as advertised.
Just 1 World Record at the Enhanced Games Shows the Integrity of the Competition
I watched hours and hours of the Enhanced Games so you didn’t have to.
The FDA's New Psychedelic Rules Are Groovy, but the Agency Is Still a Bad Trip
The new rules will fast track clinical testing, but a far cry from legalization or decriminalization.
Marty Makary's Irrational Resistance to Flavored Nicotine Vapes Drove His FDA Resignation
On the subject of tobacco harm reduction, the former commissioner let his emotions override his avowed commitment to following the science.
Condemning Nicotine Pouches, Trump's Surgeon General Nominee Reveals Her Hostility to Harm Reduction
Nicole Saphier seems determined to obscure the health advantages of a much less hazardous alternative to cigarettes.
The FDA Fast-Tracks Its Review of Psilocybin and Methylone, 2 Promising Psychedelics
The agency issued "national priority vouchers" for the two drugs six days after President Donald Trump promised to facilitate approval of psychedelic therapies.
Medical Marijuana Rescheduling Is Legally Puzzling but a 'Huge Win' for Patients, Suppliers, and Scientists
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's distinction between medical and recreational cannabis is hard to reconcile with the relevant scientific and statutory criteria.
Trump's Embrace of Psychedelic Therapy Leaves Most Users on the Wrong Side of the Law
The medical model assumes that people should be allowed to use psychedelics only for government-approved reasons.
The Least Psychedelic President in History Supports Psychedelic Research More Than Any of His Predecessors
Donald Trump is an unlikely but powerful champion of drug reform.
The COVID Reckoning Doesn't Go Far Enough
Real medical freedom will require something greater than replacing the public health establishment: ending the FDA's monopoly.
The Promise and Limits of Trump's Psychedelic Therapy Order
The president's facilitation of research and FDA review could help make psychedelics available to approved patients. But what about everyone else?
3 Disasters That Legal Weed Didn't Unleash—Despite the Forecasts
From higher crime to teenage stoners, here are things that the weed debate got wrong.
New York's Governor Seems Indifferent to the Health Consequences of a Steep Tax on Nicotine Pouches
Kathy Hochul’s proposed levy would deter smokers from switching to a much less dangerous habit.
No Preliminary Injunction Over Residents' Claim That S.F. Failed to Adequately Police Tenderloin Sidewalks
"[P]laintiffs have failed to respond to the City's evidence that changes in its policies have actually improved conditions in the Tenderloin such that Plaintiffs are no longer at risk of the harms they cited in their motion."
Rodrigo Duterte's 'Death Squads' Fought in the Philippines' War on Drugs. Now He Might Get Life in Prison.
As many as 30,000 people may have died at the hands of the state-sponsored death squads.
Photo: Venezuela's Political Prisoners
As of early February, only about 300 prisoners have been freed, leaving hundreds still detained despite official promises.
The NRA and NORML Unite To Oppose the Federal Gun Ban for Marijuana Users
Drug policy reformers and Second Amendment advocates team up in a case before the Supreme Court.
Disarming Millions of Americans Simply Because They Use Marijuana Is Unconstitutional, a SCOTUS Brief Says
The Liberty Justice Center is urging the Supreme Court to uphold a 5th Circuit decision rejecting the claim that cannabis consumers have no Second Amendment rights.
Eric Trump Congratulates His Father for a Drop in Fentanyl Deaths That Happened Before He Took Office
The president's son also claims destroying cocaine boats somehow reduces fentanyl overdoses, echoing his father's confusion.
19 States That Legalized Marijuana Use Nevertheless Say It Should Disqualify People From Owning Guns
They are joining the Trump administration in urging the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law that disarms "unlawful" drug consumers.
