California Bill Would Mandate That Legal Marijuana Products Come With Warning Labels, Brochures
An earlier draft of the bill, favored by the Los Angeles Times, would have required the labels be huge, with 12-point font and yellow backgrounds.
War on Drugs
Supreme Court Tells Cops To Stop Playing Doctor
The unanimous decision is a good first step for getting law enforcement out of prescription decisions.
New Footage Shows Bodega Clerk Trying To Avoid Deadly Fight. Will Manhattan D.A. Drop the Murder Charges?
Alvin Bragg campaigned on "ending mass incarceration." But that promise apparently does not apply to Jose Alba.
Democrats Are Trying To Push Through Another 'Build Back Better' Bill. It Would Only Make Inflation Worse.
Here's hoping we don't wind up with more of the spending and favoritism that's become so common.
Modest Tax Relief Comes to California's Cannabis Growers
Unfortunately, so do more regulations and potential fines.
The FDA Perversely Seeks To Make Both Cigarettes and Harm-Reducing Alternatives Less Appealing
The agency’s policies would boost the black market and smoking-related deaths.
Brittney Griner's Russian Detention Is a Reminder of What Happens When You Declare War on Drugs
The WNBA player has been detained in Russia on drug possession charges since February.
The War on Weed Continues in California, Which Supposedly Legalized Marijuana Six Years Ago
Federal and state agencies are busting unlicensed marijuana merchants, who face decades in prison.
The FDA's War on Juul Will Kill People
Bureaucrats say they want to save lives. But they're moving to block a tool that is proven to help smokers quit entirely.
A Broader Perspective on "My Body, My Choice"
The principle has implications that go far beyond abortion. Some of them deserve far more attention than they have gotten to this point.
The Dirty Pictures That Revolutionized Art
Brian Doherty's history of underground comix chronicles how Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, and others challenged censorship and increased free speech.
Marijuana Banking Legalization Gets Scrapped Again
Members of Congress keep saying they want to allow state-legal pot businesses to have access to the banking system, but they keep refusing to actually do it.
SCOTUS Rules That Doctors Who Write Prescriptions in Good Faith Can't Be Convicted of Drug Trafficking
The unanimous decision will rein in prosecutions that have long had a chilling effect on pain treatment.
Colombia Could Have Had a Coke-Legalizing, TikTok-Famous President. They Elected a Socialist Instead.
President-elect Gustavo Petro could easily take Colombia in an illiberal direction.
Legalizing Pot Requires GOP Support
With its unnecessarily complicated and contentious provisions, the MORE Act received only three Republican votes in April.
Did Doctors Overtreating With Opioids Cause the Overdose Crisis? A Soho Forum Debate
Doctors Adriane Fugh-Berman and Jeffrey A. Singer debate the harms of prescription opioids.
Jared Polis Wants To Leave You Alone
Colorado's governor on parenting, partisanship, and sensible pandemic responses
Did Prescription Opioids Cause The Overdose Epidemic?
Doctors Adriane Fugh-Berman and Jeffrey Singer debate the harms of prescription opioids
America's Failed Opioid Policy Drove the Tulsa Shooter to Violence
Doctors can’t help people in pain because of restrictive opioid policy.
COVID-19 Measures Magnified the Wars on Drugs and Sex Work
Plus: International Whores' Day, U.S. Postal Service sued over the seizure of Black Lives Matter masks, and more...
Delta-8 Cannabis Compound Is Legal, Says Federal Appeals Court
Plus: Libertarian Party changes abortion and bigotry planks, the FDA's weird rejection of fluvoxamine for treating COVID-19, and more...
Rhode Island Becomes the 19th State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Meanwhile, Delaware's governor has blocked a more modest step, and a legalization initiative has qualified for the ballot in South Dakota.
Delaware's Democratic Governor Vetoes Cannabis Decriminalization Bill
The bill would've removed civil penalties but stopped well short of taxation and regulation.
Dr. Oz Warns That Legalizing Marijuana in Pennsylvania Would Aggravate Unemployment by Weakening 'Mojo'
The Republican Senate candidate is echoing decades of anti-pot propaganda, but evidence to support his hypothesis is hard to find.
The Drug War Is Keeping Truckers Off the Road
Federal regulations make it more likely that a driver can be suspended or fired for drug use, regardless of whether they ever drove unsafely.
Teenagers Who Use Marijuana Are Shifting From Smoking to Vaping. Should We Be Alarmed?
The overall prevalence of cannabis consumption among adolescents rose between 2017 and 2019 but has fallen since then.
Michigan Couple Says Town Seized Their Building and Offered To Return It if They Bought Two Cars for Police
"Extortion, there's no other way to explain it," the couple's attorney says.
Democrats Pivot to Pot for Votes. Will It Work?
It may not translate to victory in November, but increased support for marijuana legalization is a welcome change.
Gov. Newsom Proposes Eliminating One of California's Many Marijuana Taxes
The cultivation tax has driven up the cost of growing cannabis, fueling illegal operations and the state’s enormous black market.
The Blurry Legal Line Between Doctors and Drug Dealers
Xiulu Ruan, a pain specialist, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for prescribing opioid analgesics "outside the usual course of professional medical practice."
A Record Number of Drug-Related Deaths Shows the Drug War Is Remarkably Effective at Killing People
According to new CDC numbers, the death toll rose 15 percent last year after jumping 30 percent in 2020.
107,000 Overdose Deaths Are the Latest Casualties of the War on Drugs
An increasing number of overdoses were the result of fentanyl and methamphetamine, each of which have proliferated amid government crackdowns.
Sheriff Agrees To Stop Stealing Cannabis Cash From Armored Cars, Saying His Deputies 'Are Not Highway Robbers'
The settlement came after the Justice Department agreed to return more than $1 million in proceeds from state-licensed marijuana businesses in California.
Is Kamala Harris Serious About Privacy Rights?
Stop government interference in reproduction, medical decisions, gun ownership, drug use, and more.
Samuel Alito Thinks It's Obviously Absurd To Suggest That Drug Prohibition Violates the Constitution
The justice overlooks the long American tradition of pharmacological freedom and the dubious constitutional basis for federal bans.
A New Report Explains How California Screwed Up Marijuana Legalization
Heavy regulation, high taxes, and local bans combined to cripple the legal cannabis industry, which accounts for just a third of the state's pot market.
The FDA's Menthol Cigarette Ban Is a 'Racial Justice' Issue, but Not in the Way Its Supporters Mean
The proposed rule, which targets the cigarettes that black smokers overwhelmingly prefer, will harm the community it is supposed to help.
Biden Begins Using Clemency To Ameliorate the Damage Done by the Draconian Drug Policies He Long Supported
The 75 commutations announced today, while impressive compared to the pitiful records of previous presidents, pale beside a huge backlog of petitions.
Jared Polis: The Most Libertarian Governor in America?
The Colorado Democrat supports abortion rights, school choice, letting kids play unsupervised, an end to COVID-19 overreach, and an income tax rate of "zero."
Congress Won't Legalize Pot Anytime Soon, but It Could Protect Marijuana Businesses by Passing Banking Reform
Chuck Schumer seems less interested in achieving cannabis reform than in making political hay from his inevitable failure.
California Cities Are Rethinking Their Marijuana Business Bans
Nearly two dozen towns that had said no to legal weed shops are reconsidering.
Florida's Agriculture Commissioner Says the Ban on Gun Possession by Marijuana Users Is Unconstitutional
Nikki Fried, a Democrat, is suing the Biden administration, arguing that the policy violates the Second Amendment and a congressional spending rider.
Georgia Cops Crack Down on Vape Shops for Selling Legal Products
In Georgia, the difference between delta-8 and delta-9 THC is the difference between legal and illegal, but police are threatening store owners over both.
He Faces 10 Years to Life for Selling Pot, a Legal Business in Most States
Jonathan Wall, whose federal trial begins on May 2, notes that many people openly engage in similar conduct with impunity.
Greg Abbott Screwed Over Truck Drivers in a Misguided Attempt to Increase Border Security
The new inspection initiative duplicated screenings that were already being carried out, irking trade officials and truckers—even those who have supported Abbott up until this point.
Tennessee May Allow Resentencing for Drug-Free School Zone Offenders After Reason Investigation
A 2018 Reason investigation showed that the zones covered wide swaths of cities and turned minor drug crimes into prison sentences that rivaled those for murder or rape.
