Despite 2024 Setbacks, Drug Policy Is Still on a Long-Term Trend Toward Reform
Recent election results show the drug war’s punitive mentality still appeals to many Americans, even in blue states.
Marijuana
5th Circuit Reaffirms That Prosecuting a Marijuana User for Illegal Gun Possession Was Unconstitutional
Patrick Darnell Daniels Jr. was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for violating a federal law that bars drug users from owning firearms.
Medical Marijuana Legalization Takes Effect in Nebraska After Lawsuit Dismissal
Voters overwhelmingly favored the new policy, which a former state legislator unsuccessfully tried to block.
Jimmy Carter Supported Federal Pot Decriminalization for Half a Century. It Still Has Not Happened.
Although marijuana prohibition has collapsed in one state after another, Congress has yet to take even the modest step that Carter recommended back in 1977.
Shooting the Messenger and Blaming the Victim
How cops, politicians, and bureaucrats tried to dodge responsibility in 2024
Even Without the Sex and Drug Allegations, Matt Gaetz's Nomination Should Have Been Doomed
The House Ethics Committee's findings, combined with Gaetz's lack of relevant experience, again raise the question of why Donald Trump picked him for attorney general.
Elton John Condemns Marijuana Legalization, but Doesn't Mention Prohibition's Harms
Using force to make people give up drugs is both dangerous and morally wrong.
Biden Failed To Deescalate the Drug War
Though he commuted some drug offenders' sentences, Biden never delivered on the rest of his drug reform promises.
Hunter Biden's Pardon Features Several Shades of Hypocrisy, Including the Gun Policy Implications
Joe Biden says his son did not deserve prison for violating firearm laws that the president vigorously defends and has made more severe.
The 2024 Gift Guide for Freedom Lovers
From art to vice to games and maybe a little magic, Reason's staff is here to help you with your gift giving.
Beer Lobby Wants Restrictions and Higher Taxes on Intoxicating Hemp Products
The proposal brings to mind the classic "bootleggers and Baptists" theory in which both moralists and competitors oppose a substance.
Matt Gaetz's Personality Irked His GOP Colleagues. There Are Better Reasons To Oppose His Nomination.
The nominee for attorney general passes the Trump loyalty test, but he lacks relevant experience and has repeatedly demonstrated poor judgment.
Russian Court Denies Appeal of U.S. Citizen Sentenced to 12 Years for Donating $51 to Pro-Ukraine Charity
Ksenia Karelina was prosecuted as part of a larger “treason” crackdown that is unprecedented even by Russia’s illiberal standards.
Dallas Voters Nix an All-Purpose Excuse for Police Harassment: 'I Smelled Marijuana'
The ballot initiative says a whiff of weed does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure, which was already doubtful in light of hemp legalization.
This Week's Election Results Are a Discouraging Sign for Drug Policy Reformers
Despite a few bright spots, the disappointing returns suggest that the road to pharmacological freedom will be rockier than activists hoped.
Voters Reject Marijuana Legalization in North Dakota and South Dakota
Residents of the two deep-red states have approved medical use of cannabis but remain leery of going further.
Nebraska Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Medical Marijuana
Whether the policy will actually be implemented depends on the outcome of a legal challenge.
Florida's Marijuana Legalization Initiative Fails To Pass
A majority of the state's voters said yes to Amendment Three, but that wasn't enough to clear the 60 percent threshold required to pass a Florida ballot initiative.
Who's Gary Johnson Voting For?
The two-time Libertarian Party presidential nominee shares his thoughts on Chase Oliver and the election.
To Get Through This Election, Take an Edible
Whether you're facing existential dread about this election's outcome or just hoping that we at least know the outcome before the week is over, cannabis can be a welcome stress reliever.
The Story About THC-Laced Halloween Candy Shifts From Malevolent Strangers to Careless Parents
The change in official warnings and news coverage reflects the dearth of evidence that malicious pranksters are trying to dose trick-or-treaters.
Weed Shops Deserve Due Process, Says Judge
Plus: Andrew Cuomo's potential prosecution, Texas death blamed on abortion ban, and more...
Voters in 5 States Will Decide Whether To Legalize Marijuana or Psychedelics Next Week
The ballot initiatives would allow recreational marijuana use in Florida and the Dakotas, authorize medical marijuana in Nebraska, and decriminalize five natural psychedelics in Massachusetts.
Two Pot Legalizers Top the Democratic Ticket
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz both back marijuana legalization, but they took different paths to get there.
SCOTUS Case Involving Cannabis Fraud Highlights the Illogic of Federal Drug Testing Mandates
A trucker lost his job because he tested positive for marijuana after consuming a supposedly THC-free CBD tincture.
The Best of Reason: Big Pot vs. Big Government in Florida
Mom-and-pop marijuana operations do not exist in Florida. That's by design.
Big Pot vs. Big Government in Florida
Mom-and-pop marijuana operations do not exist in Florida. That's by design.
Kamala Harris Promotes Federal Pot Legalization As a Boon to Black Men
Although the framing is a transparent political ploy, it is reassuring to see that the vice president has not abandoned her opposition to the federal ban.
8 Years After Legalizing Pot, California Will Finally Allow Cannabis Cafés
The new law should help licensed retailers compete with the black market while mitigating the odor that offends Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
Richard Nixon Privately Admitted Marijuana Was 'Not Particularly Dangerous'
The recordings demonstrate yet again that drug warriors always knew marijuana wasn't that bad—they just didn't care.
Gavin Newsom Wants California To Have More Restrictive Drug Laws Than Florida
Newsom's "emergency" rules banning all THC in hemp products doesn't square with his insistence that his state provides more freedom than Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Trump Endorses Federal Marijuana Reforms and Reiterates His Support for Legalizing Pot in Florida
His new stance could encourage Vice President Kamala Harris to emphasize her opposition to federal marijuana prohibition.
A Federal Prison Was Warned About Synthetic Marijuana. Then Inmates Started Overdosing.
"We are living in pure chaos," an incarcerated woman at a federal prison in Minnesota tells Reason following a string of suspected overdoses.
Bowing to Public Opinion, Trump and Harris Both Agree That Marijuana Should Be Legal
It remains unclear whether either would do anything about that as president.
Trump Repeats an 'Urban Legend' by Invoking 'Fentanyl Laced Marijuana'
At least he draws the right conclusion from this imaginary hazard, acknowledging the dangers created by prohibition.
Donald Trump Backs Florida Marijuana Legalization Amendment
Trump says the legislature should ban public pot smoking but that we shouldn't waste money arresting adults for possession.
Criminal Justice Reform Took a Back Seat at the 2024 DNC
The official Democratic Party platform no longer endorses abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, or repealing mandatory minimums.
The Democratic Party Platform Still Won't Commit to Legalizing Marijuana
Democrats' official 2024 platform praises President Joe Biden's marijuana pardons but fails to call for decriminalization.
Walz, Like Harris, Supports Marijuana Legalization—but He Beat Her to the Punch
The Democratic vice presidential nominee has a long record of supporting cannabis reform.
Majority of Public Comments Support Descheduling or Legalizing Marijuana
While lawmakers remain resistant to change, most of the public thinks it's high time to stop treating marijuana as dangerous.
A Fetus Doesn't Need Its Own Medical Marijuana License, Oklahoma Court Says
The ruling means it's not child neglect for a pregnant woman prescribed medical marijuana to use it. But some judges say it should be.
Unlike Biden and Trump, Kamala Harris Has Repeatedly Supported Pot Legalization
The presumptive Democratic nominee has a more liberal drug policy record than both the president and the Republican presidential nominee.
The Best of Reason: Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Anything'
How legislators learned to stop worrying about the constitutionality of federal drug and gun laws by abusing the Commerce Clause.
The DOOBIE Act Would Limit Government Discrimination Against People Who Have Smoked Weed
Under the law, the feds couldn't deny you a job or security clearance just because you've used marijuana in the past.
The DOJ Claims Medical Marijuana Patients Who Own Guns 'Endanger the Public in Multiple Ways'
Defending the federal ban on gun possession by drug users, the government's lawyers seem increasingly desperate.
How Immigration Law Magnifies the Injustice Inflicted by the War on Drugs
Every year, thousands of U.S. residents are deported for drug-related activity, including minor offenses and conduct that states have legalized.
Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Anything'
How legislators learned to stop worrying about the constitutionality of federal drug and gun laws by abusing the Commerce Clause
Detailing the 'Real Problem With Legal Weed,' a Critic Grossly Exaggerates the Prevalence of Pot Addiction
The Manhattan Institute's Charles Fain Lehman misleadingly equates a survey's measure of "cannabis use disorder" with "compulsive" consumption that causes "health and social problems."
