February 23, 1887: The 49th Congress of the United States enacts legislation that provides a misdemeanor fine of between $50 and $500 ($1,100-$11,000 in today's dollars) for any US or Chinese citi...
Proponents of four out of five of the California marijuana initiative campaigns came together to tout the merits of their various measures at a public meeting in Mill Valley, just across the Golden Ga...
A look at how the collapse of industry, poor labor conditions and the anxiety of economic decline facilitated mass drug use in one small town.
More asset forfeiture problems in Texas, plus a typical weekly rogues' gallery of dirty cops. Let's get to it: [image:1 align:right]In Austin, Texas, a former Brooks County sheriff is being i...
Although it has the support of the governor and the public, a Vermont bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana is stalled, held hostage by a hostile House speaker, the Barre-...
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is blocking three Senate bills that seek to prohibit new synthetic drugs. Rand spokesperson Moira Bagley confirmed to the Lexington Herald-Leader that he has had a "hold&quo...
As part of a deal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits through 2012, Congress will allow states to drug test people applying for those benefits.
The murder and "disappearance" of vast numbers of Colombians is part and parcel of the U.S.'s policy to "drain the sea [the civilian population] to kill the fish [the insurgents]."...
As part of a deal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits through 2012, Congress will allow states to drug test people applying for those benefits.
All 16 of the cannabis coffee shops in the city of Haarlem have united in opposition to the Dutch government's Weed Pass program, which would bar foreigners from entry to the coffee shops and make...
A member of a Parker County, Texas, combined task force shot and killed an armed man during a drug investigation Friday afternoon. The as yet unidentified man becomes the 12th person to die in US dome...
The proposed budget is remarkable for how closely it hews to previous years, especially in regard to the allocation of resources for treatment and law enforcement.
As part of a deal approved Friday to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits through 2012, Congress has given its okay to allow states to drug test people applying for those benefits. The...
The proponents of a Colorado initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol turned in 12,000 additional voter signatures Friday in a last bid to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative needs on...
A Clay County, Florida, sheriff's narcotics detective and a man he was investigating as a methamphetamine suspect were shot and killed in an exchange of fire Thursday evening. Narcotics Detective...
An initiative that seeks to reform California's three-strikes sentencing law appears to have the financial wherewithal to qualify for the November ballot after philanthropist and drug reform suppo...
Over the past 15 years, an estimated 10,000 opiate overdoses have been successfully reversed with naloxone by people present at the scene of an overdose.
Tony Bennett, during his emotional remarks, suggested we should look to Amsterdam for answers.
Medical marijuana patients are taking to the streets Thursday, Feb. 16, to protest the Obama administration's clampdown on medical marijuana across the country. And then, there's the action at...
The Obama administration this week released its Fiscal Year 2013 National Drug Control Budget, and it wants to spend nearly $26 billion on federal anti-drug programs. Despite all the talk about the st...
February 21, 1971: The United States joins with other countries in signing the international Convention on Psychotropic Substances, in Vienna, Austria. [image:1 align:left]February 16, 1982: During a...
After spending weeks sharing stories about his life, texting and flirting, one 18-year-old honor student fell in love with the cop who busted him.
A lethal combination of benzos and booze may have killed Whitney Houston. Is one of the most overprescribed (and profitable) drugs in America really that dangerous?
Creationists want to tell school kids that evolution is just an opinion. One cancer survivor explains why this is so dangerous.
Behind the NYPD's beating of Jateik Reed and the killing of Ramarley Graham is a long history of police harassment.
Since California voters made it the first medical marijuana state in 1996, other states have come on board at a rate a little better than one a year. Now, 15 years later, 16 states and the District of...
Drug poisoning is now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, but the government is ignoring crucial ways to change that tragic fact.
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is again speaking out on drug legalization. He said in a Saturday radio interview that he would propose legalizing drugs in a forthcoming meeting with regional l...
A state trooper transporting marijuana, a pair of cops ripping off drug cash, a constable smuggling across the Mexican border, and a cop with a bad pain pill habit make this week's hall of shame.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) Friday suspended the regulation-writing and licensing process for the state's medical marijuana dispensaries, essentially killing medical marijuana in a state whose...
State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse.
State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse.
Some people might think that drug policy reform is a fringe issue. But reformers have won plenty of mainstream support, and achieved international victories.
If the bill passes, Washington will be the first state to legalize the possession and commerce of marijuana, sending the state on a collision course with the federal government.
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is again speaking out on drug legalization. He said in a Saturday radio interview that he would propose legalizing drugs in a forthcoming meeting with regional l...
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is again speaking out on drug legalization. He said in a Saturday radio interview that he would propose legalizing drugs in a forthcoming meeting with regional l...
[image:1 align:right]A Des Moines man has died after apparently falling from an apartment building balcony as he attempted to evade police executing a drug search warrant. Kirby Praseuth, 28, becomes...
A marijuana legalization initiative in Detroit was improperly barred from the ballot in 2010, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The appeals court decision overturned the ruling of a Wayne Co...
The February 2012 MAPS E-mail Newsletter is now available online.
It will be moms who come to rescue their children from the deadly grip of prohibition, and police against the drug war are eagerly ready to support them in this quest.
An initiative that would legalize the limited possession of marijuana in the state of Washington and tax and regulate its commerce is headed for the November ballot to be decided by the voters after t...
The push to mandate drug testing for recipients of public benefits is sweeping statehouses across the country this year, but in two states, those efforts hit a roadblock this week. In South Dakota and...
Here is an article from our friends at Harm Reduction International, writing about a truly appalling situation (another one) to emerge from Russia -affecting our dear friends and peer activists at And...
Mexican army troops seized an astounding 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in the western state of Jalisco, the Mexican military announced Wednesday night. That's an amount equal to half of all the...
A brief journey through time, from ancient Sumeria to modern New Jersey, uncovers the mysterious origins of the world's most beloved substances.
State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse. Legalization bills are...
Busy, busy, busy, at every level from federal rescheduling through bills in the states to local decision-making. The medical marijuana world continues to be very active. [image:1 align:left]Alabama...
[image:1 align:right]February 9, 1909: Congress passes the Opium Exclusion Act. February 14, 1929: St. Valentine's Day Massacre symbolizes the mob violence of the Prohibition era. February 12, 1...
At the same time public support for marijuana legalization reached record highs, Obama shifted from one time medicinal cannabis sympathizer to White House weed-whacker.
In a groundbreaking move, the New Mexico legislature has approved a proposal to study how to enhance and expand the state's already cutting edge harm reduction programs, including a look a medical...
Two of our four bad apples this week come from the Big Apple, one for planting drugs and one for transporting them. Of the other two, one picked the wrong friends and the other picked the wrong wife.
Awash in a whirlpool of proposals to subject welfare recipients to drug tests, legislators in two states, Missouri and Tennessee, are proposing that legislators themselves should undergo drug tests. I...
The campaign was found to have an unusually high number of invalid signatures, and now has 15 days to collect enough valid signatures to cover the shortfall.
Stanton Peele writes refreshingly once again in Psychology Today this month, about a remarkable development from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), in the States. This...
Stanton Peele writes refreshingly once again in Psychology Today this month, about a remarkable development from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), in the States. This...
We remember -and we are angry. This is a letter sent by INPUD’s Exec Director Eliot Albers, to the Peruvian Ambassador following the deaths of 27 people in a‘rehab’ facility in Lima. The facilit...
We remember -and we are angry. This is a letter sent by INPUD’s Exec Director Eliot Albers, to the Peruvian Ambassador following the deaths of 27 people in a‘rehab’ facility in Lima. The facilit...
As we reflect on the great milestones the black community has reached, we cannot forget the drug war that continues to hold many back.
Rhode Islanders are ready to decriminalize and maybe even legalize marijuana, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). The poll found nearly...
Since Mayor Bloomberg became mayor a decade ago, the NYPD has arrested nearly 350,000 young Black and Latino for low-level marijuana possession.