South Dakota's Governor Blocks Voters on Legal Pot
Though voters simultaneously approved initiatives aimed at legalizing both recreational and medical use of marijuana, Amendment A got quickly tied up in court.
Drugs
Tom Cotton's Absurd Question About Contacting a Heroin Dealer's Victims Reveals a Drug Warrior's Demagoguery
The mindlessly punitive senator grilled Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson about her resentencing of a drug offender.
Tom Sachs: Taking NFTs Where No Man Has Gone Before
The artist's Rocket Factory project, which lets users build and own their own virtual spacecraft, is changing how we think about reality.
Artist Tom Sachs: 'Apple Could Never Make Anything as Shitty as the Things I Make'
The Rocket Factory NFT project stands at the intersection of crypto, the metaverse, and persistent human longing for the new frontier.
50 Years After Nixon's Commission Said Cops Should Stop Busting Pot Users, the Federal Ban Remains Unchanged
But 37 states allow medical or recreational use, and arrests are falling.
This Jail Won't Provide Drug Addicts With Essential Meds
Inmates with opioid addiction suffered severe withdrawal after the Jefferson County Correctional Facility stripped them of their medication.
Corruption and Crackdowns in California's Marijuana Market
Black markets thrive under mismanaged legalization.
Man With No Criminal History Gets 5-Year Sentence for Selling Weed
The federal mandatory minimum didn't leave many options.
Prosecutor Extorts $300,000 Out of Alleged Drug Dealer by Threatening His Entire Family With Charges
Patrick Card's story is a case study in how the state uses civil forfeiture to try to coerce plea bargains.
Several Justices Seem Dismayed at the Idea That Doctors Can Be Accidentally Guilty of Drug Trafficking
The Supreme Court is considering what standard should apply to prescribers accused of violating the Controlled Substances Act.
SCOTUS Needs to Clarify the Line Between Doctors and Drug Dealers
Patients suffer when physicians who prescribe opioids in good faith can face decades in prison.
All But 2 Utah Legislators Just Voted to Investigate the Psychotherapeutic Potential of Psychedelics
The bill is the latest sign of strange new respect for drugs that were once routinely depicted as menaces to body and soul.
Dopesick
The new Hulu miniseries promotes pernicious misconceptions about opioids, addiction, and pain treatment.
Missouri Marijuana Legalization Bill Aims High but Expectations Remain Low
Previous efforts languished in committees.
Dallas Police Seized an Airline Passenger's Cash. New Information Only Makes Their Case Weaker.
Police seized more than $100,000 in cash from a 25-year-old Chicago woman for not correctly describing what her suitcase looked like.
No, California Shouldn't Keep Crazy High Marijuana Taxes 'For the Children'
Child care workers benefit from state subsidies. They’re fighting against possible cuts by encouraging regressive taxes that fuel a new drug war.
Two Courts Debunk Persistent Opioid Myths
Both rulings emphasized that opioids have legitimate medical uses and concluded that drug companies could not be held responsible for abuse of their products.
Olympic Athletes Can Take Drugs so Long as They Also Get an Unfair Advantage
Allowing Kamila Valieva to compete evokes memories of Sha'Carri Richardson, who was suspended from competition for using marijuana.
Pot Won't Be Advertised at Super Bowl, Though Players Will Probably Use It After
A proposed commercial by dispensary-locator company Weedmaps was sacked by NFL and NBC suits.
How California Deputies Became Highway Robbers
San Bernardino County deputies stopped the same armored-car driver twice and took nearly $1.1 million in cash owned by legal marijuana dispensaries.
Psychedelic Drugs Win Growing Respect
Not only won’t they blow your mind, but they may even save it (sometimes legally).
The CDC's New Pain Treatment Advice Aims To Correct the Damage Done by the 2016 Version
The proposed guidelines emphasize the need for individualized treatment and collaboration with patients.
A California Sheriff Remains Free To Rob Armored Cars Carrying Money From State-Licensed Marijuana Businesses
A federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying the evidence of legal violations is insufficient at this point.
Michael K. Williams' Death Sparks Charges Against Drug Dealers
The actor's overdose death was a tragedy, but overzealous prosecution of the dealers who sold him the drugs will only make the problem worse.
Now That Pot-Averse Conservatives Are Openly Defying the Federal Marijuana Ban, What Excuse Does Congress Have for Maintaining It?
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves' grudging support for medical marijuana speaks volumes about the erosion of support for prohibition.
West Virginia Mulls New Criminal Penalties for Imaginary Threat of Police Fentanyl Exposure
A medical myth that responders can overdose by touching or inhaling synthetic opioids may lead to harsher jail sentences.
Seattle and Detroit Move Toward Decriminalizing Psychedelics
Though state laws in both places have not yet adapted, consumers of "entheogenic" plants and fungi are now less likely to be arrested and prosecuted in the two cities.
Kansas and California Cops Used Civil Forfeiture to Stage Armored Car Heists, Stealing Money Earned by Licensed Marijuana Businesses
The Institute for Justice argues that the seizures violated state law, federal law, and the U.S. Constitution.
Her Husband Died After Police Hogtied Him for 90 Minutes. Could She Ever Hold Them Accountable?
Kelli Goode's civil suit is a case study in how difficult it can be to get state actors to take responsibility when they allegedly infringe on someone's rights.
California Escalates Its War on the Marijuana Black Market
A new 2022 law will punish anybody “aiding and abetting” unlicensed dealers. It will most certainly harm low-level workers.
Colorado Gov. Polis Commutes 110-Year Sentence for Trucker in Deadly Crash, Pardons Hundreds of Marijuana Convictions
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos faced harsh punishment under the state’s mandatory minimum sentences for insisting on the right to a trial.
If Chuck Schumer Supports Marijuana Legalization, Why Did He Nix a Bill That Would Have Helped Pot Businesses Use Banks?
Stranger still, the leading drug policy reform organization supported Schumer's obstruction.
In 2021, Qualified Immunity Reform Died a Slow, Painful Death
Despite bipartisan momentum at the federal level, Congress still couldn't get anything over the finish line.
Why the Pandemic Will End Only When We Demand It's Over
Ronald Bailey and Jacob Sullum on the future of COVID-19, the politicization of science, the failure of mandates, and how to talk with anti-vaxxers.
The Year's Highlights in Blame Shifting
Politicians and cops found creative ways to dodge responsibility in 2021.
Californians Learn That Raising Taxes on Marijuana Fuels Black Markets for Drugs
If only they would apply that lesson to other goods and services.
Biden Doubles Down on a Lethal Anti-Drug Strategy
Prohibition has driven opioid-related deaths to record levels.
The FDA Still Hasn't Approved 2 New Drugs That Could Help End the Pandemic
Bureaucratic foot-dragging is costing lives.
A Judge Has Ordered Him Released From Prison—Twice. The Government Still Won't Set Him Free.
Bobby Sneed's story highlights how far some government agents will go to keep people locked up, flouting the same legal standards they are charged with upholding.
The Great Libertarian Gift Guide of 2021
It's time to spread cheer. Reason is here to help.
A Scientific Life on the Edge
Stanton Peele's memoir of his "lonely quest to change how we see addiction" contradicts the prejudices that still dominate the drug policy debate.
Federal Drug Laws Force Pot Shops To Carry Lots of Cash and No Insurance. Now They're Getting Robbed.
Despite state legalization, federal prohibition makes break-ins harder on marijuana shops and manufacturers.
Feds Pledge $30 Million To Fund Drug Harm Reduction Programs
Less punitive responses to drug addiction are good, but what about people still stuck in federal prison?
Vaping Regulation Threatens a Lifesaving Smoking Alternative
Policy makers are acting as if saving the lives of smokers via harm-reducing alternatives counts for nothing.
