Top Cop Who Presided Over Deadly Corruption in Houston Loses His New Job in Miami 6 Months After He Was Hired
Art Acevedo provoked many complaints, but they paled in comparison to his prior record of negligence and obliviousness.
War on Drugs
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Bans Private Businesses From Mandating Vaccines for Workers
Plus: A dangerous misunderstanding about what caused America's opioid overdose epidemic, a look at this year's Nobel Prize winners, and more...
A Pending Pardon for George Floyd Shows How the Drug War Gives Cops a License To Lie
Floyd was arrested for selling crack by a crooked Houston narcotics cop who repeatedly lied to implicate people in drug crimes.
The Vain Search for Marijuana in Trick-or-Treat Bags
Police are still pushing this discredited scare, but it seems fewer people are falling for it.
Seattle Just Became the Largest U.S. City To Approve Quasi-Decriminalization of Natural Psychedelics
The resolution urges police to refrain from arresting people for noncommercial production and distribution as well as possession.
Marijuana Arrests Plunged Last Year, Reflecting the Impact of Legalization
The 36 percent drop may also be partly due to pandemic-related restrictions that drove cannabis consumers indoors.
House Passes EQUAL Act to Erase Sentencing Disparity Between Crack and Powder Cocaine
The Senate now has the chance to finally end one of the most disastrous legacies of the drug war.
DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No 'Accepted Medical Use'
In the DEA's view, the fact that most states allow patients to use marijuana for symptom relief is irrelevant.
Oregon Legalizes a Breakthrough Treatment: Magic Mushrooms
Oregon will license and regulate psilocybin-assisted therapy by 2023. Some health care professionals aren't willing to wait.
Most Opioid Settlement Funds Aren't Going to Addiction Services
Despite what the media and politicians have said, that isn't how this works.
White House Offers Clemency for Drug Offenders on Home Confinement, but Advocates Say Plan Will Still Send Thousands Back to Prison
Clemency for nonviolent offenders would still send white-collar and other offenders back to prison after they've started putting their lives together again.
Undoing Drugs
Harm reduction invites a radical reconsideration of the way the government deals with politically disfavored intoxicants.
Lawsuit Challenging Houston Asset Forfeiture Program Says Police Use Stock Language To Seize Cash Without Probable Cause
A couple claims the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Texas seized their life savings two years ago on suspicion of drug trafficking. A new lawsuit says they're not the only ones.
This Navy Veteran Was Deported Over a One-Time Marijuana Offense. After Nearly a Decade in Exile, He's Back in the U.S.
Howard Bailey spent years serving his country, supporting his family, and running two small businesses. Then he got kicked out of the country.
Cops Are Dressing Up Like FedEx Guys and Arresting People for Drugs
A little-known agreement allows police officers to seize packages at FedEx sorting centers.
Opium Suppression in Afghanistan Was a US-led Failure
The basics of supply and demand still applied.
A Houston Man Framed on Drug Charges Is Suing the Lethally Corrupt Cop Who Sent Him to Prison
Otis Mallet's ordeal, like the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, involved a fictional drug purchase.
DEA Seizes Life Savings of New Orleans Grandfather Without Charging Him With a Crime
The case is the latest example of people who say their savings were seized in airports, despite it being perfectly legal to fly domestically with large amounts of cash.
Six Marijuana Legalization Lessons
What have policy makers learned since Colorado became the first state to allow recreational use in 2012?
Why Do the Media Keep Uncritically Repeating Implausible Police Fentanyl Overdose Stories?
Recycling a government press release is not good journalism.
A New Study Finds That Reducing Pain Medication Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Overdose and Suicide
The study highlights the dangers that government-encouraged "tapering" poses to patients on long-term opioid therapy.
Oregon Decriminalized All Drugs To Stop Overdoses. Will It Work?
Small-scale drug possession is now a $100 infraction that can be dismissed with a call to a drug abuse assessment hotline.
A Massachusetts Commission Recommends Long-Overdue Reforms to the 'Worst Civil Forfeiture Laws in the Country'
The commission says the legislature should raise the standard of proof and remove the financial incentive that encourages cops and prosecutors to pursue profit instead of public safety.
Texas Cops Realized They Raided the Wrong House. They Kept Searching Anyway.
Three of the officers were denied qualified immunity, but accountability is a long way off.
Massachusetts Prison System Sued Over Unreliable Drug Tests That Put Inmates in Solitary
Defense lawyers say they were accused of smuggling drugs to clients based on tests so unreliable they're akin to "witchcraft, phrenology or simply picking a number out of a hat."
State Governments Are Creating Their Own Drug Cartels
Much of what government does is tax people to try to fix problems that government caused.
How Drug Warriors Made the 'Opioid Epidemic' Deadlier
Restricting access to pain medication drove nonmedical users toward black-market substitutes.
What Happens to Discredited Drug Cops? They Get Rebranded as Gun Cops.
Ripped for use of excessive force, the Springfield, Massachusetts, Narcotics Bureau is becoming a Firearms Investigation Unit.
A Record Number of Drug-Related Deaths Illustrates the Lethal Consequences of Prohibition
The war on drugs is not just ineffective; it exacerbates the problems it is supposed to alleviate.
Drug War, Pandemic Likely Reasons for Spike in U.S. Overdose Deaths
Plus: Missouri and New Hampshire extend school choice, Facebook seeks recusal of FTC chair Lina Khan, and more...
Senate Democrats Embrace Marijuana Federalism. Will Republicans?
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer is embracing a sensible approach to marijuana reform.
Chuck Schumer Says He Wants To Legalize Marijuana. His Bill Suggests Otherwise.
The Senate majority leader's racial rhetoric and overly prescriptive approach make an already iffy effort even more quixotic.
He Sold $20 Worth of Drugs. Prosecutors Want Him in Jail for Almost 10 Years—and More if He Refuses the Plea Deal.
That's illegal, says a new lawsuit.
Psychonautical Journalist Michael Pollan Is Finally Ready To End the War on Drugs
The evolution of Pollan's thinking reflects the confusion caused by arbitrary pharmacological distinctions.
The U.S. Has Strayed Far From Its Founding Ideals
Governments at the state, local, and federal levels can obstruct our pursuit of happiness and at times even jeopardize our safety.
Judge Frees 76-Year-Old Woman Sent Back to Federal Prison After Missing a Phone Call from Officials
Controversy highlights punishing responses to mundane mistakes during post-release monitoring of felons.
An Unbeatable Sprinter Is Defeated by an Irrational Prejudice
Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension for marijuana use highlights an arbitrary distinction that makes less sense than ever before.
Losing Patience With Legislators, Mexico's Supreme Court Orders Permits Allowing Consumers To Grow and Possess Marijuana
Six years after the court ruled that pot prohibition was unconstitutional, the Mexican Congress is still dithering about how to license and regulate commercial suppliers.
If Sha'Carri Richardson Can Get High and Still Outrun Everybody, She Should Be Allowed To Do It
Banning the American sprinter from the Olympics for using marijuana is completely ridiculous.
The U.S. Quietly Departs Its Largest Military Base in Afghanistan
Plus: Sha'Carri Richardson might miss Olympics over positive pot test, 130 countries agree to broad strokes of a global minimum corporate tax, and more...
Although 44% of Americans Live in States That Have Legalized Pot, Federal Prohibition Is Not Likely to End Anytime Soon
The president supports the ban, and his fellow Democrats do not seem serious about attracting Republican support for repealing it.
Clarence Thomas Blasts the 'Contradictory and Unstable' Federal Marijuana Ban
Sixteen years after Gonzales v. Raich, Thomas is back with another opinion criticizing the federal government’s marijuana ban.
Charging Bit Players With Drug-Induced Homicide Is Unjust and Potentially Deadly
A new investigation of Pennsylvania prosecutions confirms that the defendants are often friends or low-level dealers.
Justice Thomas Decries "Contradictory and Unstable State" of Marijuana
In an opinion respecting the denial of certiorari, Justice Thomas suggests it may be time to reconsider Gonzales v. Raich
A Study Finds That Crash Injuries in 5 States Rose After They Legalized Marijuana Use but Not After They Allowed Marijuana Sales
Adding to the puzzle, another study from the same organization found "no increased crash risk" associated with cannabis consumption.
As More States Legalize Marijuana, the Need for Marijuana Federalism Grows
If states are to have different marijuana laws and policies, federal reform is necessary.
Biden Administration Endorses Legislation to End Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
The EQUAL Act would finally end one of the worst legacies of the 1980s drug war and clean up one of the biggest stains on Joe Biden's record.
