Americans Spend Nearly As Much on Illegal Drugs As They Do on Booze, Which Shows What a Ripoff Prohibition Is
A new RAND report puts spending on marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine at $146 billion in 2016.
Drugs
Mississippi ICE Raids Highlight Glaring Weakness With E-Verify, Immigration Restrictionists' Favorite Big Government Program
Plus: Federal government looks to expand marijuana research, America's housing boom is not helping more people afford new homes, and more...
When a 'Controlled Buy' Turns Into a Daytime Parking Lot Shootout
A drug bust gone wrong in a Pittsburgh suburb leaves the suspect dead, an agent injured, and kids and shoppers terrified.
Oregonians Are One Step Closer to Voting on Magic Mushroom Legalization
It would allow adults, age 21 and older, to visit official service centers on the recommendation of a medical professional
Attorney General Barr Does Not Approve of Your Kinder, Gentler Elected District Attorneys
In a speech to police, Barr called for citizens to shut up and do what officers tell them to.
Lawsuit: SWAT Team Shot 12-Year-Old in Kneecap During Raid
The Illinois boy now suffers from severe PTSD and will walk with a limp for the rest of his life, the lawsuit says.
Aaron Sandusky Has Spent 7 Years in Prison for Selling Medical Marijuana
Obama denied him clemency. Will Trump set him free?
Selling Drugs to Sex Workers Could Be Human Trafficking Under the Senate's New 'PROTECT Act'
The bipartisan bill says "using drugs or illegal substances to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act" or in any kind of labor counts as human trafficking.
As Opioid Prescriptions Surged in Germany, Opioid Addiction Held Steady, While Opioid-Related Deaths Fell
The data reinforce the point that there is no straightforward relationship between pain pill consumption and overdoses.
Cory Booker's Slam Against Joe Biden's Criminal Justice Record Shoveled Some More Dirt on the Old Lock 'Em Up Consensus
The climate of opinion has changed so dramatically that Democrats are politically obliged to support reform.
Why Did New York Have to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession Twice?
The new law eliminates a loophole that allowed police to continue arresting people for something that was not supposed to be a crime anymore.
Another Florida Sheriff's Deputy Arrested For Arresting People on False Drug Charges
In one month, two sheriff's deputies in Florida have been arrested for fabricating drug evidence during traffic stops.
'No One Will Hurt You,' a SWAT Officer Promised an Hour After Houston Cops Killed a Couple Falsely Accused of Selling Heroin
Evidence from the scene of the disastrous raid seems to contradict the official account.
A Texas School District Implements Random Drug Testing
Want to join the robotics team? You'll need to pass a drug test first.
Cannabis Companies Explain To Congress Why Denying Them Banking Access Is Bad for Law Enforcement
Senate hearing shows, once again, why marijuana needs to be decriminalized at the federal level.
Another Way Fentanyl Phobia Can Be Deadly: It Undermines Good Samaritan Laws
Irrational fear of incidental contact with opioids can lead to criminal charges that make overdose bystanders less likely to call 911.
Cory Booker's 'Second Look' Reforms Would Create More Chances To Reduce Federal Prison Sentences
Judges would be permitted to rethink sentences after 10 years have been served, particularly for inmates over the age of 50.
The Harris-Nadler Marijuana Bill Goes Further Than Others in Ways Good and Bad
The MORE Act combines laudably broad legalization and expungement provisions with taxes and spending that may alienate potential Republican allies.
Another Benefit of Legalizing Hemp: It Makes the War on Weed Harder to Wage
Without expensive tests that measure THC content, Texas prosecutors can't prove that green stuff is marijuana.
RIP Mark Kleiman, Who Brought Rigor, Dispassion, and Candor to a Frequently Overheated Drug Policy Debate
The widely quoted and consulted academic died yesterday at the age of 68.
Psychonaut Hamilton Morris on Drugs After Prohibition
Nick Gillespie speaks with Viceland's Hamilton Morris about why he's so interested in drugs.
Thousands Freed from Federal Prison by FIRST STEP Act Reforms
Many benefit from an increase in "good time" credits and from retroactive reductions in crack cocaine mandatory minimum sentences.
The Washington Post 's Simplistic Assumption That More Opioid Prescriptions Mean More Drug Overdoses Is Demonstrably Wrong
The causes of opioid-related deaths are more complicated than "too many pain pills."
Congressman Asked Bureau of Prisons Three Times About Nonviolent Offender Who Later Died in Maximum Security Lockup
A congressman forwarded messages to the Bureau of Prisons from Rick Turner's family begging for his relocation. Two were ignored.
Two Senators With Business Degrees Want the FDA to Tell Doctors They Should Not Treat Chronic Pain With Opioids
The FDA Opioid Labeling Accuracy Act would aggravate the widespread problem of involuntary dose reductions and patient abandonment.
Mike Gravel and His Online Teens Want Weed in the Constitution
It's an unconventional approach befitting of an unconventional presidential candidate.
'Historic' Congressional Hearing on Marijuana Legalization Highlights Strategic Differences
Should federal marijuana reform be tied to a broader "racial justice" agenda?
Florida Sheriff Deputy Arrested After Planting Drugs on Innocent People
Reason uncovered body camera footage of the officer lying about a roadside field test for drugs.
State Regulators Punish Doctor for Cutting a Pain Patient's Opioid Dose and Dropping Him After He Became Suicidal
The decision by the New Hampshire Board of Medicine suggests state officials are beginning to recognize the harm caused by the crackdown on pain pills.
After Marijuana Is Legalized, a New Study Finds, Adolescent Use Declines
Survey data contradict fears that underage cannabis consumption would rise after states allowed recreational use by adults.
If Cops Don't Die From Incidental Fentanyl Exposure, a Drug Treatment Specialist Warns, They 'Could Become Addicted to It Instantly'
Such scaremongering poses a potentially deadly threat.
New York City Officially Launches Absurd Ban on Adding CBD to Food, Coffee
Cannabidiol products are legal for sale and consumption, but adding it to other things is somehow forbidden.
John Hickenlooper's Bragging About the Pot Legalization Measure He Opposed Shows That Reality Can Change People's Minds
Colorado's former governor came around on the issue when he realized that legalization was not the disaster he had anticipated.
Drug Warriors Peddle Fears About Cocaine. Again.
Cocaine offers better value than the market in prohibitionist fears.
Facing Legal Challenge, Washington Weed Regulators Lift Ban on Cannabusiness Signs at Seattle Hempfest
The state's Liquor and Cannabis Board changed its policy after Hempfest and two marijuana retailers challenged it on constitutional grounds.
Illinois Becomes 11th State to Legalize Weed
Participants in Illinois' new recreational market will have to contend with a lot of taxes and regulations.
House Resoundingly Approves Broad Marijuana Federalism
A solid majority of congressmen, including 41 Republicans, voted for a spending rider that bars the Justice Department from interfering with the legalization of cannabis for medical or recreational use.
Attempts to Build a Safe Injection Site for San Francisco Drug Users Pushed to 2020
Lawmakers struggle to pass a bill protecting operators from arrest and prosecution.
Cory Booker Proposes Thousands of Drug War Commutations If Elected President
Booker would move the process away from prosecutors and into the White House.
No, 'MILLIONS' of Lives Were Not Saved by That Gigantic Philly Coke Bust
Seventeen tons of coke is nothing to sneeze at, but the dangers of the drug were wildly overhyped by law enforcement.
A Judge Called His Mandatory Sentence 'Excessive' and 'Wrong.' Less Than a Year Later He Died In Federal Prison
Frederick Turner was sentenced to a mandatory 40 years on nonviolent drug and firearm charges. He ended up in a high-security federal prison, and now he's dead.
To Hold but Not to Have: California's Marijuana Laws Get Weird When You're in Jail
It's not illegal for inmates to have marijuana, but it's still a felony if they try to smoke it.
Violent Crackdown In Hong Kong as Residents Protest Bill Allowing Extradition to Mainland China
Also: Mike Lee says Congress must reassert power over the presidency. And so long to Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Veterans Who Work In the Legal Cannabis Industry Are Being Denied Benefits
"After all our service members have sacrificed, how can we penalize them for working in their state's legal economy?"
These People Are Risking Prison To Help Philadelphia's Drug Users
"All we want to do is save some young people from dying needlessly," says former Gov. Ed Rendell, who's on the board of Safehouse, the nation's first supervised injection site to operate out in the open.
1,051 Crack Sentence Reductions Illustrate Painful Progress Toward a Less Mindlessly Punitive Justice System
On average, crack offenders who have benefited from the FIRST STEP Act will serve 14 years instead of 20.
