War on Drugs, Mexico; 420, Planted, Law and Disorder, Colorado, Legalization and Decriminalization; Bad Cops, Frame Jobs, Police Brutality, Mentally Ill, Recording

War on Drugs

• End The War On Drugs, Say Nobel Prize-Winning Economists
• Global drugs war a 'billion-dollar failure'
• Stop The War On Drugs, Says Top Republican
• Is it time to rethink the war on drugs?

Mexico

• Mexico's anti-cartel vigilantes vindicated after tape shows mayor linked to crime boss?
• Mexico legalizes vigilantes fighting drug cartel
• Grand Closing: America's Pot Farmers Are Putting Mexican Cartels Out of Business
• 44 tons of marijuana seized in Tijuana, Mexico; no arrests reported

420

• Why marijuana shops are forced to run like lemonade stands
• Gov. Nixon Evades Questions About Jeff Mizanskey, Man ServingLife in Prison for Pot
• 100+ overdose on synthetic marijuana in Texas in 5 days—While the natural version, which is demonstrably safer, remains illegal.

Planted

• No criminal charges for four Philly officers in 'Tainted Justice' cases—"After years of investigation, federal and local prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against four Philadelphia narcotics officers accused of lying about evidence on search warrants and stealing from corner stores during raids, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey told The Inquirer on Thursday."
  
• 2 former LA deputies accused of planting guns to justify medical marijuana dispensary arrests
• TYT: Cops BUSTED for Planting Drugs in Marijuana Dispensary

Law and Disorder

• DEA raids four Denver marijuana sites related to VIP Cannabis
• DEA Seizes Kentucky's Hemp Seeds Despite Congressional Legalization—Kentucky sues.
• Feds seek prison for rural Washington pot growers
• Sober DUIs for Pot Are 'Absurd,' Arizona Supreme Court Affirms
• TSA finds 81 pounds of pot in checked luggage

Colorado

• Since Denver legalized pot sales, revenue is up and crime is down
• Colorado Symphony Orchestra to host bring-your-own-cannabis 'High Note' concert series
• Colorado Senate OKs co-op banking option for marijuana sellers
• This high-tech vending machine sells marijuana—Colorado followed by Canada.

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Marijuana Bill to Change Schedule Class is Introduced
• Minnesota's Legislature OKs Medical Marijuana
• Retired Supreme Court Justice thinks marijuana should be legal
• Myrick '09, Cornell Forensics Society Debate Marijuana Legalization
• Christie on pot: Colo. law 'not the quality of life we want'
• IL lawmakers to create task force to help legalize recreational use of marijuana
• Springfield City Council Tried to Stop Marijuana Reform Vote, Now Has to Pay Up $225,000—They passed a decriminalization petition originally set as ballot initiative and then immediately repealed it.
• There's A Lot More To Uruguay's Legal Weed Than The $1-A-Gram Price
• Jamaica sees green in ganja—"After more than a century, the island of music and marijuana seems ready for legalization."
• Canadians rally to legalize marijuana
• Bermuda report urges easing marijuana laws

Bad Cops

• Cops can't threaten black suspects with all-white juries to get confession, IN court rules
• Miami police kill 2 unarmed suspects by shooting disabled car 377 times
• License plate reader error leads to traffic stop at gunpoint, court case—"Flagged vehicle did not even match the model of what the woman was driving."

Frame Jobs

• After 17 years in prison, a man walks free when a federal judge rules that officers manufactured evidence
• Circuit Court Overturns Immunity For Law Enforcement Officials Who Sent An Innocent Man To Prison For 22 Years
• Informant who tried to frame shop owner gets 6 to 12 years in prison—"Framed shop owner blasts liar informant, police at sentencing."

Police Brutality

• FBI Agent Who Killed Boston Bombing Suspect's Friend Was Twice Accused of Police Brutality
• Cops Jam Sharp Object Down Teens Throat, Killing Him
• University Place man dies after being tased by deputies
• Police promote commander in 'excessive force' case—"Albuquerque police promoted a commander who was accused in a lawsuit of burning off part a homeless man's ear with a stun gun, officials announced Thursday."

Mentally Ill

• Texas execution halted, court says Texas hid crucial evidence—"The execution of Robert Campbell was halted by a federal appeals court after evidence emerged that Texas had withheld tests scores that suggest Mr. Campbell is mentally handicapped."
• Unarmed man shot by police has mental illness
• Our Criminal Treatment of the Mentally Ill—"Unprepared police and lack of services have turned jails into psychiatric hospitals."

Recording

• Video shows Boynton Beach police officer kicking legs out from under child
• Chicopee woman faces wiretapping charges after allegedly recording her own arrest
• Lapel camera policy APD's most violated in 2013
• Deputy Who Choked Student Gets To Retire, Won't Face Charges
• Argentina: "Anti-Terrorism" Law Set to Land Journalist Years in Prison for Recording Police

420, Medical Marijuana, War on Drugs, Law and Disorder, Prison, Mexico; Easter, Church and State, Creationism, Islamists

420

• How 420 became code for marijuana
• Colorado legalized marijuana tax revs ahead of expectations: Moody's—"Colorado, the first state to tax legalized recreational marijuana sales, expects to bring in an estimated $98 million in revenue this year, exceeding the state's original expectations by 40 percent."
• 3 Months Later, Here's What Denver Looks Like Since Legalizing Marijuana

Medical Marijuana

• Uruguay Considers Using Medical Marijuana To Treat Cocaine Addicts In Prison
• Nurse practitioners added to list of those who can prescribe medical marijuana
• Weed Eases Anxiety, Says the Federal Government
• Corbett wouldn't legalize pot even if toddler grandson needed it
• Boston Mayor Walsh says he aims to block dispensaries—"Urges state to reject applications with errors."
• Pro-pot group files to recall Arizona senator—"A pro-marijuana group is trying to recall Arizona Sen. Kimberly Yee after she refused to hear a bill that would have helped fund research into the effects of medical marijuana on post-traumatic stress disorder."
• Missouri Rep Tells Marijuana Patient To "Get A Job And Get Off Dope"

War on Drugs

• Jesus would end the war on drugs—"Christian leaders issue Easter statement denouncing drug war and mass incarceration of minorities."
• Let's Just Get Rid of the DEA Already—"America's drug cops are determined to keep weed illegal just to maintain their jobs."
• Legalized pot 'makes us fight harder,' top DEA official tells Congressional committee
• DEA raids woman's Shorewood home after she shops at garden center
• Shocking police overreach haunts Southern city: Racial profiling, quotas and secret "conviction bonuses"—"How a federal grant incentivized a police department to go nuts on drug arrests -- and terrorize its community." Salon
• Utah cops warrantlessly search prescription drug records of 480 emergency personnel—"When searching for morphine thief, Utah cops have almost carte blanche powers to search database."
• Law professors demand cannabis legalization—"Over 120 German professors of criminal law are supporting an initiative to legalize cannabis. They have called on the Bundestag to discuss the issue. Merkel's coalition is skeptical."
• Maryland Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

Law and Disorder

• Matt Taibbi: U.S. Should Be Ashamed It Treats Pot Smokers Worse Than Wall St. Criminals
• Remember when legal marijuana was going to send crime skyrocketing?
• LAPD officer gets community service, probation for lying under oath—"A Los Angeles police officer was sentenced Wednesday to community labor and three years' probation for falsely testifying about the details of a 2008 drug arrest."
• Dashcam from traffic stop of driver from legalized marijuana state—"Roseen believes he was profiled by the trooper because he had a Washington driver's license, Colorado license plates and had just crossed into Idaho from Oregon. All three of the other states have some form of legalized marijuana."
• "Free Jeff Mizanskey" Efforts Continue with Billboards and 360,000 Signatures
• 5 Accused of Trafficking Drugs, Using Day Care as Cover
• Woman, unhappy with pot purchase, calls cops

Prison

• Feds to Reconsider Harsh Prison Terms for Drug Offenders
• US Panel Votes to Reduce Drug-Dealing Sentences
• California Governor Jerry Brown Grants Dozens Of Drug Pardons
• Louisianan Given 13-Year Prison Sentence for Possession of Two Marijuana Cigarettes

Mexico

• Tracing the U.S. heroin surge back south of the border as Mexican cannabis output falls WaPo
• The Grisly Reality Behind Soaring Lime Prices—"Mexican cartels are making the citrus more expensive in the United States."
• Mexican drug lord's insider notes may set him free after 10 years—"Vicente Zambada, son of Sinaloa kingpin, struck deal with US to inform on cartels in exchange for reduced sentence."
• Mexico catches No. 2 in once-powerful Beltran Leyva drug cartel
• Mexico prepares first illegal drug financing blacklist—Is HSBC on that list?
• Two drug tunnels, with rail systems, found at U.S.-Mexico border

Easter

• Yes Candida, Christians Did Steal Easter—People like Candida push ignorance to hide the truth.
• Spanish village called 'kill Jews' mulls name change
• There Are No Errors in the Bible, Says Christian Pastor Who Clearly Hasn't Read the Bible
• Papyrus fragment put to test—"None of the testing has produced any evidence that the [Gospel of Jesus' Wife] fragment is a modern fabrication or forgery."

Church and State

• Louisiana Lawmakers Vote to Make the Bible the State Book
• Oklahoma School's 'Hobby Lobby Bible Curriculum' Raises Bias Concerns
• Atheist Witch Hunt: South Carolina Lawmakers Spar Over Appointed Official’s Supposed 'Godlessness'
• Warren mayor says atheist can't put up 'reason station' inside city hall
• After Being Denied "8THEIST" License Plate, New Jersey Woman is Suing State's Motor Vehicle Commission
• Media, rights groups urge court to revisit takedown of anti-Muslim YouTube video—"Media says decision allows subjects of news events to control coverage."
• Pastafarians rejoice as Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is granted permission to register as a religion in Poland

Creationism

• Bill Nye says he underestimated debate's impact
• The Real Darwin Fish—"Why creationists hate Tiktaalik."
• FunnyOrDie: Creationist Cosmos

Islamists

• Islamist plot: six schools face Ofsted special measures—"Six schools implicated in the so-called 'Trojan Horse' plot by extremists to 'Islamise' secular state education face being placed in special measures."
• State schools isolate non-Muslims—"Schools in Birmingham discrimate against non-Muslim students and restrict GCSE teaching to fit in with Islamic beliefs, according to official report."
• 'Sinful': Video of British Muslims dancing to Pharrell Williams's hit Happy comes under attack
• Poster dictates music haram in UK school
• 1,000 Christian, Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam every year in Pakistan: report
• China official says Islamists seek to ban laughter and crying

War on Drugs, Mexico; 420, Medical Marijuana, Police State; Bad Cops, Albuquerque, Brutality; Cooking Met; Prison; Law and Disorder, Trial and Error, Crime; Traffic, Road Rage

War on Drugs

• Discarded tea leaves, false positive drug tests prompt search warrant of family home—"Harte family spent $25,000 to open police records."
• Waiting on a fix: The long, complicated history of America's battle with crack cocaine—"The convoluted history of mandatory minimum drug laws means thousands of prisoners are still serving yesterday's sentences."
• In heroin debate, a detour from sentencing reform
• What I Learned About Stop-and-Frisk From Watching My Black Son

Mexico

• Drug dealers in Mexico 'made to eat children's hearts' to prove their loyalty to Knights Templar leader El Chayo—He got killed by Mexican marines.
• Facebook becomes the new front in Mexico's drug war
• Mexican drug cartel behind lime shortage in U.S.; margaritas feel pinch

420

• Americans finally understand that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol WaPo
• Marijuana's rising acceptance comes after many failures. Is it now legalization's time? WaPo
• Washington, DC Decriminalizes Marijuana
• New Jersey Senator Wants To Legalize Marijuana For Recreational Use
• Colorado approves retroactive reversal of marijuana convictions
• Eric Holder Would Be 'Glad To Work With Congress' To Reschedule Marijuana

Medical Marijuana

• Medical marijuana advocates plead for legalization at Iowa Statehouse
• No, legalizing medical marijuana doesn't lead to crime, according to actual crime stats—And it may actually reduce crime WaPo
• Supreme Court Refuses To Overturn Arizona Marijuana Ruling—"The Supreme Court has refused to overturn Arizona court rulings ordering the Yuma County sheriff to return marijuana that was seized from a woman with a California medical marijuana authorization honored by Arizona."
• NJ Transit sued for suspending employee in medical marijuana program
• Il. Senate votes to extend medical marijuana law to epileptic kids
• Missouri Senate panel weighs medical marijuana
• Group using cannabis oil to treat children's seizures told to shut down by L.A. City Attorney

Police State

• Colorado man sues Idaho police over "license-plate profiling" in marijuana case—"Darien Roseen filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday in the District of Idaho, more than a year after he said he was unlawfully detained and searched for marijuana on the basis of his Colorado license plates."
• The drug war exception to the Fourth Amendment—"The stops and searches of out-of-staters with Colorado or Washington license plates is just a new wrinkle to an old problem." WaPo
• Judge: Cops can stop cars solely on the odor of pot

Bad Cops

• Reason-Rupe Poll: Half of Americans Think Cops Not Held Accountable
• Officer resigned after getting hotel's security footage
• Suburban Cop Charged In Death Of 95-Year-Old WWII Vet
• Off-Duty Deputy Shoots Man After Catching Couple Having Sex in Community Pool
• The LAPD Waited How Long to Suspend 2 Cops Repeatedly Accused of Sexual Assault?!
• Accidental voice mail catches RCMP mocking assault complainant

Albuquerque

• Shooting dead of homeless camper sparks outrage against Albuquerque police - the department that kills more people than the NYPD—The FBI will be investigating this case.
• Anonymous DDoS Attack Hits Albuquerque Police Dept. In Response To Homeless Man James Boyd's 'Murder'
• Albuquerque police-shootings protest turns into 'mayhem'
• Deputy marshal opens fire, witnesses react
• Albuquerque's Shoot-First Police Finally Begin Facing Questions—"The Albuqueruque Police Department has shot and killed 24 people since 2010. Protests ignited in Albuquerque this week. The mayor has written to the DOJ for help. Is that enough?"

Brutality

• Autopsy shows Texas cop fired fatal shot from close range into sarcastic student's back—"A dashboard camera in the officer’s police cruiser did not record the six-minute encounter."
• Police Brutality and Deaf People
• US police kill more innocents than terrorists despite sinking crime rates
• U.Va. Students Sues State, ABC Agents for $40M—They "arrested her believing she had illegally purchased beer when she had bought bottled water." Also, "Daly has said attempted to flee in a panic because the agents weren't in uniform, one pulled a gun and another attempted to smash a window with a flashlight."
• Lawsuit challenges fatal shooting by Miami-Dade police as excessive force—"Although the killing of an armed, suspected pot dealer has been ruled 'legally justified,' his family is suing police for 'wrongful death.'"
  

Cooking Met

• Something rotten in the Metropolitan Police: Corrupt officers may escape justice, thanks to mass shredding of evidence
• Police spies still get free rein to have sexual liaisons, say women suing Met—"Group of eight women behind lawsuit criticise government for failing to ban relationships, attacking 'institutional sexism.'"
• Probe into police use of mass confessions to clear up crime after a single burglar 'admits' 500 break-ins

Prison

• Correction Officer Charged With 'Indifference' in Death of Rikers Island Inmate—"The charge came over a year after the New York City correction officer, Terrence Pendergrass, was said to have ignored a mentally ill inmate's pleas for medical attention." NYT
• Prison book ban plot is full of holes, writers tell Chris Grayling—"More major names join fight against restrictions, while justice secretary claims move is what public wants."
• Jail Officer Who Severely Beat Inmate Can Invoke Stand Your Ground, Court Rules

Law and Disorder

• Sioux Mother Rescues Abused Children, Faces Arrest
• Mom Learns Missing Daughter Was Killed When Hospital Bill Arrives
• Man gives cash to strangers in need, Detained by RCMP, Imprisoned at Hospital, Daughter pleads for release on Facebook
• Man Leaves Prison, Robs Same New Jersey Shoe Store 15 Years Later
• Blundering bomber 'blew himself up after forgetting to put his watch forward and device went off too soon'

Trial and Error

• Man who was fired can sue over inaccuracies in background check, federal judge rules—"Brooklyn Park man claims he lost his job due to a faulty criminal background check. Legislators may revise expungement rules."
• Holyoke woman, sick with cancer, arrested on warrant issued after she failed to renew dog license—"Musser was arrested at her home Friday night on an outstanding arrest warrant issued by Holyoke District Court for failing to appear in court."
• Man rescued during September floods facing backlash for potential lawsuit—"Ortiz is now filing an intent to sue the county and his rescuers for up to $500,000. His attorney, Ed Ferszt, says the rescue possibly took longer than it should have because divers didn't know Ortiz was still in the car."
• Judge wants back on bench after insanity ruling—How can her decisions be still valid after this?
• Michigan judge reprimanded in case of cursing woman

Crime

• Angela Timmons April Fools' prank: Woman arrested after fake text about Virginia College shooting
• Gangs of 'Powerfully Built' Women Are Mugging Tourists on the Streets of Hong Kong
• Police cite mom for lying to 911 that baby was locked in car, when she just wanted help finding keys

Traffic

• Georgia's 'Slow Poke' bill moves step closer to reality
• Towing company employees who seized unmarked police cars sue Salem Police over arrest
• Texas teen gives police officer parking ticket—"Not only did the officer pay the fine — he gave Annie a $40 gift card to Toys R Us."

Road Rage

• Manatee woman who backed into crowd loses license for a year
• Mob nearly beats to death man who stopped to help 11-year-old boy he accidentally struck with pickup in Detroit
• Woman charged $787.33 for two-mile cab ride

War on Drugs, Mexico; Legalization, Decriminalization; Medical Marijuana, Law and Disorder; CIA Senate Spying

War on Drugs

• Holder and Republicans Unite to Soften Sentencing Laws—"Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and libertarian-leaning Republicans have found common cause on eliminating mandatory-minimum prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders." NYT
• NYPD faces five years of oversight after stop-and-frisk ruling
• The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass—"He was a friendless high school loner struggling with autism. So why did an undercover cop target him as a drug dealer?"
• Informants who helped US catch drug lords say rewards have not been paid—"The lure of $5m helped catch Colombian capo 'Don Diego', but the man who turned him in says he is still waiting for the bounty."
• Good Samaritan jailed for six years for punching drug dealer who attacked woman—"Carl Neale jailed for punching violent drug dealer, who was not prosecuted for violent attack on woman which triggered confrontation."

Mexico

• 'El Chapo' Guzman: How the world's most wanted drug lord was finally busted
• Judge denies petition to prevent extradition of notorious drug lord 'El Chapo'
• Philippines raid reveals Mexican drug cartel presence in Asia

Legalization

• Pivotal Point Is Seen as More States Consider Legalizing Marijuana—"A little over a year after Colorado and Washington made the drug legal, more than half the states are considering decriminalizing or legalizing it for medical or recreational use." NYT
• Marijuana legalization on cusp of mass acceptance—"In long journey, drug soars from illegal to popular." Boston Globe
• The Republican Party's Pot Dilemma—"Most Americans favor legalizing marijuana, but most in the GOP do not. Can the party avoid being on the losing side of another culture war?"
• Legal Marijuana Market Exceeds Tax Hopes, Creating Opportunities
• It's official: Pot legalization will be put to a vote in Alaska this August WaPo
• Miami Senator’s Bill Would Allow Recreational Marijuana Use
• Washington issues first legal pot business license—"... launching a new phase in the state's ambitious effort to regulate a market that has been illegal for more than 75 years."
• Just Say No To These 11 Outrageous Arguments Against Legalizing Marijuana

Decriminalization

• D.C. Council Votes to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Marijuana
• Canada: Looser pot laws may be on horizon after input from police chiefs, MacKay hints
• Marijuana in Jamaica: Puff peace—"The island's energy minister, Philip Paulwell, who also leads government business in parliament, has said he will find time this year to decriminalise possession of small amounts of marijuana."

Medical Marijuana

• Gupta: 'I am doubling down' on medical marijuana—"I am more convinced than ever that it is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can, care that often may involve marijuana."
• Georgia: Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Through House
• 'Mommy lobby' emerges as a powerful advocate for medical marijuana for children WaPo
• Minister's daughter: Cannabis 'a gift from God'

Law and Disorder

• DEA Official: 'Every Single Parent' Opposes Marijuana Legalization—Liar.
• Annapolis police chief apologizes for citing hoax story in testimony against marijuana legalization
• Minnesota Wants To Legalize Medical Marijuana, But Police Agencies Are In The Way
• Gov. Jerry Brown on legalized marijuana: 'How many people can get stoned and still have a great state?' WaPo
• 'I'm Going To Prison For Working At A Pot Shop That Was Legal In My State'
• Colorado troopers get training on spotting drivers under influence of pot
• Vancouver PD to feds: We won't shut illegal pot dispensaries—"City won't interfere if illegal stores sell only to patients."

CIA Senate Spying

• CIA and senators in bitter dispute over Capitol Hill spying claims—"John Brennan, CIA director, rebukes intelligence committee as tensions over torture findings explode into public sphere."
• Senate staffers slipped secret CIA documents from agency's headquarters
• Justice Considers Probe of Senate Staffers in Dispute Over Torture Report

War on Drugs, War on War on Drugs, Law and Disorder, Mexico; Obama and the DEA, 420, Decriminalization, Legalization, Prohibition, Colorado, Medical Marijuana; LGBT@Sochi

War on Drugs

• How the Myth of the 'Negro Cocaine Fiend' Helped Shape American Drug Policy—"In 1914, a racist fiction helped sell one of the nation's first drug laws; 100 years later, it's still with us."
• Russell Brand: Philip Seymour Hoffman is another victim of extremely stupid drug laws—"In Hoffman's domestic or sex life there is no undiscovered riddle – the man was a drug addict and, thanks to our drug laws, his death inevitable."
• Britain's war on drugs 'unwinnable', says Nick Clegg—"... and that Britain must end the 'conspiracy of silence' surrounding the issue."
• Ex-officer: War on drugs 'far worse' than a failure
• Florida shelled out more money for drug testing than it saved by denying welfare benefits to people who tested positive for drugs.—Politifact says TRUE.

War on War on Drugs

• Obama Wants to Commute More Drug Sentences—"The administration is urging lawyers to help get low-level offenders out of prison faster." Even the Republicans seem amenable.
• Senators Take Major Step Toward Ending Drug War—By "overhauling the federal government's drug sentencing law."
• War on drugs meets rule of law at Supreme Court—"The war on drugs ran afoul of the Supreme Court Monday. The justices ruled unanimously that a heroin dealer cannot be held liable for a client's death if the heroin was a contributing factor, not the sole cause."
• Indiana Senate panel paves way for growing hemp—"The bill's sponsor, Sen. Richard Young, D-Milltown, said hemp fields flourished in Indiana before and during World War II, but petrochemical industries and other industries later lobbied against hemp – which can also be used to make fuel – to cut competition."
• Victory for Hemp Farmers as U.S. House of Representatives Legalizes the Cultivation of Hemp

Law and Disorder

• 3 Enemas Later, Still No Drugs—"Inequality in America is much more than just an income issue. It's also about our dignity and access to justice." NYT
• Texas Grand Jury Rejects Murder Charges For Man Who Shot Deputy During No-Knock Raid—"Their warrant to raid him was over some alleged marijuana plants an informant said he was growing, as well as some 'illegal guns' the informant said he owned."
• Woman's death in Sherman County jail in Kansas is investigated
• Ind. woman gets 2-day sentence, serves 5 months
• Drug cops want open access to your medical records WaPo
• If the Drug War Is Failing, Where'd All the Cocaine Go?

Mexico

• Mexico legalizes vigilantes, nabs cartel leader
• Drug war: Chilling note found alongside severed heads in Mexico
• Mexican cartel smuggling cocaine into Hong Kong amid booming demand for drugs SCMP

Obama and the DEA

• Obama Says Easing Marijuana Restrictions a Job for Congress—"Implies he might support doing so, but doesn't say so explicitly."
• DEA Chief Slams Obama For Pot Remarks: Reports—Michele Leonhart ought to be canned.
• The President Forgets To Lie About Marijuana, And Prohibitionists Are Outraged
• Mark Kleiman Concedes That Obama Has The Power To Reclassify Marijuana Yet Claims It's Ignorant To Say So—As Rep. Cohen stated: "It is ludicrous, absurd, crazy to have marijuana at same level as heroin. Ask the late Philip Seymour Hoffman if you could. Nobody dies from marijuana. People die from heroin."
• Deputy Drug Czar Admits Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol

420

• Nope, Still No Such Thing as a Fatal Marijuana Overdose
• US marijuana policy edges toward acceptance
• Justice Dept. to adjust banking rules for legal marijuana shops
• Facebook and Google won't sell ads for legal weed
• California Teacher Arrested for Serving Pot-Laced Food at Potluck—Fucking idiot.

Legalization

• Poll results: 71 percent of respondents say Alabama should legalize marijuana
• New Mexico Lawmaker Introduces Bill Legalizing Recreational Marijuana—Will it bring in the revenue?
• Missouri lawmaker files marijuana legalization bill
• N.J. senator says it's 'high time' to legalize marijuana
• Oregon Governor Signals Support For Legal Marijuana
• California marijuana legalization supporters to start collecting signatures for ballot measure
• Alaska moves toward August vote on legal pot
• Uruguay Pres. up for Nobel Peace Prize for marijuana legalization

Decriminalization

• TX Gov. Rick Perry for decriminalization of pot—Not legalization yet, but it's a step.
• D.C. Council Gives Preliminary Approval to Decriminalize Pot
• Bill decriminalizes less than 1 ounce of marijuana in Wyoming
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaks favourably of marijuana decriminalization—He knows what he's talking about. ;)
• New Hampshire Senator Threatens Constituent For Supporting Marijuana Decriminalization

Prohibition

• Wisconsin to Get Tougher on Pot Possession—But not if a state rep gets her way.
• Guam: Attorney says Organic Act prohibits legalization of marijuana
• Senator: I Will "Sit On" Michigan's Pro-Marijuana Bills

Colorado

• Pot buyers add more than $1M to Colorado tax coffers
• Drug Dealers Unfazed By Legal Pot In Colorado—"Despite the state's new laws, smokers are still purchasing pot through their dealers. 'It's human nature; nobody wants to be on a list.'"
• "Need Room to Grow?"—"Marijuana-friendly real estate agents and other enterprising businesspeople looking to make a bundle from Colorado's weed industry."
• Now Playing in Denver: Reefer Gladness—"Denver pot entrepreneurs are so determined to set a good example, they're acting like Shakers." NYT
• TSA seizes pot edibles at Aspen airport, sheriff won't file charges

Medical Marijuana

• Michigan's Medical Marijuana Program Has $23,000,000 Surplus
• Massachusetts licenses its first medical marijuana dispensaries
• Medical Marijuana Strain Has Hundreds Of Parents Flocking To Colorado—Leaving Charlotte to get Charlotte's web.
• Children with epilepsy waiting for medical marijuana—"Mass. General treats more than 2,000 children with epilepsy who have seizures that are resistant to medications, but federal regulators have authorized the CBD study to enroll only 25 children at each site." Boston Globe
• A New Study Says Medical Marijuana Reduces Suicide
• Medical marijuana to go to ballot, Florida Supreme Court rules
• Medical marijuana petition circulating in Nebraska

LGBT@Sochi

• AT&T Protests Russia's Anti-LGBT Law, but Will Other Olympic Sponsors Follow?
• Google Changes Homepage to Protest Russia's Anti-Gay Law
• Pro-gay supporters rally on eve of Games

'JFK, blown away'; Police State, Recording; Prison, Hoosegowed jovenes, Nonviolent Crimes; Racism; War on Drugs, Marijuana, Mexico; War on Terror, Military Money

'JFK, blown away'

• JFK anniversary: The myth and reality
• JFK The Most Popular President In Last 50 Years
• Then and Now: The Assassination of JFK
• Grace Kelly in 1965 interview on JFK: "I felt personally involved" in the presidency Salon
• Stabilized Footage of the JFK Assassination Is Unsettlingly Real
• How JFK Conspiracy Theorists Are Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of His Assassination
• Why The Study Of The JFK Assassination Will Continue -- And Should

Police State

• How License-Plate Scanners Are Eroding Our Privacy—"Police officers don't respond kindly to being videotaped, yet law enforcement agencies on every level are tracking out comings and going via cameras that ID our license plate numbers. Here, PopMech contributor and Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds takes on the slow erosion of our privacy."
• North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood—"Fort Worth police apologize for its role in federal survey."
• Lawsuit: Cops forced man to undergo enemas, colonoscopy on invalid warrant

Recording

• In Miami Gardens, store video catches cops in the act—"Saleh was so troubled by what he saw that he decided to install video cameras in his store. Not to protect himself from criminals, because he says he has never been robbed. He installed the cameras — 15 of them — he said, to protect him and his customers from police."
• Police chief seeks to contain 'rumor mill' regarding accident—"Just minutes before Cincinnati Police Officer Orlando Smith struck a pedestrian in Over-the-Rhine Saturday night, the camera on his cruiser stopped filming."
• Boston policemen complain about new plan to watch their movements—"Anon officer: 'No one likes it. Who wants to be followed all over the place?'" Gee... I dunno.
• New Video Shows D'Paris Williams Screaming in Pain, Unable to Walk Following SFPD Beating
• S.F. police seek cameras to capture whole picture

Prison

• Vicky Pryce: 'Prison clearly does not work'—"Fresh from jail, the economist and author of Prisonomics explains why the system costs too much, locks up the wrong people and does not prevent reoffending."
• Celebs talk mass incarceration in new ad campaign
• Humans shipped across the country!: How America exports inmates to private prisons Salon
• Why America Has a Mass Incarceration Problem, and Why Germany and the Netherlands Don't
• Sweden closes four prisons as number of inmates plummets—"Decline partly put down to strong focus on rehabilitation and more lenient sentences for some offences."

Hoosegowed jovenes

• Half a Life in Solitary: How Colorado Made a Young Man Insane—"A young man was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a dubious trial. And then things got worse."
• Teenager spends 3 years in jail and charges dropped—"20-year-old Kalief Browder may be physically free, but mentally he is still trapped behind bars on Rikers, where every day was a battle to survive."
• Troubled Youth Prison Company Wins Even More Contracts

Nonviolent Crimes

• Over 3,000 US prisoners serving life without parole for non-violent crimes—"ACLU report chronicles thousands of lives ruined by life sentences for crimes such as shoplifting or possession of a crack pipe."
• These 32 People Are Spending Their Lives In Prison For Nonviolent Crimes
• Sentenced to a Slow Death—"A report highlights thousands of prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent crimes." NYT

Racism

• Being White Is Best Defense Against Marijuana Arrest, Recent Studies Prove
• Profiling In Action: Community Leader Alex Peay Handcuffed, Questioned By Police At Train Stop
• Texas court denies appeal to death sentence determined by race—"Testimony from a psychologist in 1997 said Duane Buck posed a risk to society because he was black." Salon

War on Drugs

• 53 Drug Convictions Thrown Out By Philadelphia Judge—"Fifty-three drug dealers, convicted of selling everything from 'crack' cocaine to heroin, have been thrown out by a Philadelphia judge, because testimony and actions of an allegedly corrupt cop may have tainted the cases."
• Boehner Won't Punish Trey Radel After Guilty Plea For Cocaine—Ding, ding, ding.
• 4 charged with severing pot clinic owner's penis
• Stop-and-frisk: only 3% of 2.4m stops result in conviction, report finds—"Report by New York attorney general is first detailed examination of policy deemed unconstitutional earlier this year."
• Uruguay's First Lady and Senator Affirms Drug War Is Lost

Marijuana

• Epilepsy Patients Flock To Colorado After Medical Pot Gives Them Hope
• Poll: Medical Marijuana Favored By Floridians
• Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Heather Mizeur to propose legalization of marijuana WaPo
• Maine pot advocates using momentum for statewide legislation
• Medical Marijuana Raids in Colorado Raise Questions About Federal Forbearance

Mexico

• Mexico mayor 'killed for standing up to drugs cartel'
• Mexico Supreme Court overturns drugs lord's release
• Mexican vigilantes, battling cartel, take over another town
• Mexican drug cartels exploit asylum system by claiming 'credible fear'
• 'Narco Cultura' Is A Disturbing Look At The Mexican War On Drugs & The Idolatry Within

War on Terror

• Terrorism Could Never Threaten American Values—the 'War on Terror' Does
• Pact May Extend U.S. Troops' Stay in Afghanistan—Up to 2024. NYT
• Blackwater Founder Unapologetic on Company's Role in Iraq
• Rand Paul Aids Surprise Guantanamo Bay Win For Obama—"Three Republicans join most Senate Democrats in a vote to loosen restrictions on transferring detainees out of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, potentially opening the door to closing it."
• US publicises $10m reward over Benghazi attack—"State department reveals reward for information on killing of ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Libya."

Military Money

• Accounting fraud is business as usual at the Pentagon, Reuters reports
• Pentagon tries sequester guilt trip—"Pentagon leaders are drafting a plan to cut education, healthcare and housing benefits in an effort to get Congress to end the sequester."
• Another US Navy Officer Implicated In Bribery Scandal, Sacked
• Department of Defense: The Price is Wrong
• Americans Want Improved Social Security and Medicare and Less Military Spending

Good Cops, K9; Road Rage; Fake Rape; War on Drugs, Politics, Legalization and Decriminalization, Medicinal Marijuana, Hemp; NSA Spying

Good Cops

• Florida Cop Buys $100 in Groceries for Woman Caught Shoplifting Food
• Policemen Immediately Go Shopping to Help Crying Girl on First Day of School
• Years later, cop reunites with suicidal man he saved on Golden Gate Bridge
• Police rescue woman from flying to Africa to meet online scammer
• 'We see you, loser': Exuberant Ohio police chief's Facebook page earns 51,000 fans
• NYPD officer's kind act goes viral
• Blast from the Past: Ice Cream!! You Scream!! We All Scream for Ice Cream!!

K9

• Baltimore police officer got a call about a 'vicious' pit bull and this is what happened next
• Police officer adopts abused puppy
• Cops, Firefighters Make Up Rescue Group Saving Dogs From The Streets

Road Rage

• Detroit man killed after hollering at driver to slow down
• Reginald (Reggie) Chance flips bird before arraignment in biker-SUV attack
• Arrested DHS Agent Accused In Another Road Rage Incident

Fake Rape

• Judith Grossman: A Mother, a Feminist, Aghast—"Unsubstantiated accusations against my son by a former girlfriend landed him before a nightmarish college tribunal." WSJ
• Charges dropped against Temple football player accused of rape
• Meg Lanker, Feminist Who Threatened to 'Hate-F*ck' Herself, Cops a Plea Bargain
• Fake teen jailed for false rape claim—"A conman who fooled social services into thinking he was a vulnerable 17-year-old boy before stealing from his foster carers and 'destroying' the life of a charity boss with a false allegation of rape, has been jailed for four and a half years."
• Ohio University student in hiding after website identifies her as 'false rape accuser': school—Unfortunately in this case, the guy running the website is not 100% certain of the girl's identity, and "even if it the woman filmed in the video isn't Cassidy, [Peter] Nolan said he'd have no regrets." Fuck this guy.

War on Drugs

• The War on Drugs Is Over. Drugs Won.
• 'It is time to end the war on drugs', says top UK police chief
• Richard Branson speaks out against 'war on drugs'
• War on illegal drugs failing, medical researchers warn
• The Wasteful War On Drugs Is Doomed By Economics 101
• After 20 Years in Prison, Missouri Man Serving Life Without Parole for Marijuana Asks Governor for Clemency
• NYPD cops confused Jolly Rancher candies for crystal meth: suit
• Mexico drug lord shot dead by clown assassins—"Gunmen in disguise kill lieutenant of once-powerful Tijuana cartel during family children's party."

Politics

• Supreme Court Rejects Marijuana Rescheduling Appeal
• Denver floats new rules that could make even the odor of pot a crime
• Washington state pot use regulations to be approved

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Gallup: For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana—"Support surged 10 percentage points in past year, to 58%."
• Esquire/NBC Poll: Majority of American Center Supports Marijuana Legalization
• Switzerland Decriminalizes Marijuana, Won't Prosecute For Small Amounts Of Weed
• Uruguay to legalize, harvest and sell Marijuana at one dollar per gram
• Mexico City Moves to Legalize Pot

Medicinal Marijuana

• $1.3B medical marijuana free market coming to Canada
• Utah lawmaker will help moms import cannabis extract
• Ohio Mother Moving to Colorado to Treat Daughter's Epilepsy With Cannabidiol Oil
• Post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers qualify for medical marijuana—"The new law, which went into effect... is expected to bring many new patients into Maine's medical marijuana program."
• With only 1 medical marijuana dispensary in NJ, Grandma resorts to buying street pot

Hemp

• Hemp Hemp Hooray: Hoodlab Screens Hemp Documentary Bringing It Home
• Governor Brown Signs California Industrial Hemp Farming Act Legalizing Hemp Farming Under State Law
• Oregon farmer sees potential for industrial hemp in Oregon
• Legal or not, Colorado farmers bringing in nation's first hemp harvest since the 1950s WaPo
• Video of the Day: TV report treats hemp and marijuana like they're the same thing—"Throughout, the piece uses the terms 'hemp' and 'marijuana' interchangeably and makes lots of completely inaccurate stoner jokes."

NSA Spying

• Stop Watching Us: The Video
• Snowden rebuts Feinstein's statement that NSA spying "is not surveillance"—"No telephone in America makes a call without leaving a record with the NSA." Feinstein is full of shit.
• Germany: We Think The NSA May Have Tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cell Phone For Years—Naturally, they're angry.
• NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts—Sen. Sanders calls this 'outrageous.'
• Growing list of countries protest U.S. spying
• The NSA, Narcissism & Nationalism—"If the Germans were tapping our president's phone, Rush Limbaugh would be musing about fire-bombing Dresden. But since we're doing the spying, the right doesn't care. That indifference only weakens the U.S., says Peter Beinart."
• Activist Tweets Former NSA Chief's 'Off Record' Phone Call On Train
• Ron Wyden: The Lonely Hero of the Battle Against the Surveillance State—"The Oregon senator isn't as famous as Edward Snowden or Julian Assange, but his push for limits on the NSA could result in much-needed reforms."

War on Drugs, Mexico, Stop-and-Frisk; Police State, Accountability, Recording, Prison; War on Terror, Military Money, Civil Liberties, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

War on Drugs

• Eric Holder Says DOJ Will Let Washington, Colorado Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect—Could this be the end of prohibition on pot?
• Police Groups Furiously Protest Eric Holder's Marijuana Policy Announcement—"A broad coalition of law enforcement officers who have spent the past three decades waging an increasingly militarized drug war that has failed to reduce drug use doesn't want to give up the fight."
• Study: Marijuana most widely used illegal drug but most deaths caused by painkiller addictions—Cannabis is schedule 1; Oxycontin, schedule 2.
• Widow who pushed for medical marijuana law not allowed to use it
• Mormon mom wants medical marijuana for her sick son—"'No other options are left' for the 11-year-old, she says."

Mexico

• Mexico's Vicente Fox pushes marijuana debate to forefront—"Conservative former President Vicente Fox has become an unlikely leading advocate of marijuana legalization. He says his change of heart stems from Mexico's mounting drug violence."
• 'Mexico's war on drugs is one big lie'—"Anabel Hernández, journalist and author, accuses the Mexican state of complicity with the cartels, and says the 'war on drugs' is a sham. She's had headless animals left at her door and her family have been threatened by gunmen. Now her courageous bestseller, extracted below, is to be published in the UK."
• Mexico Drug War Fast Facts

Stop-And-Frisk

• NYC Council overturns Bloomberg's veto on 'stop-and-frisk'—Signalling the end of its current form, but the 'nanny mayor' ain't backing down.
• Queens stop-and-frisk subject first to sue NYC for false arrest post-ruling
• Stop-and-frisk casualty: N.Y. judges toss gun conviction, citing no cause to search
• Actor Forest Whitaker gets stopped and frisked leaving Morningside Heights deli
• Detroit To Begin Stop and Frisk

Police State

• DEA supplied with access to vast database of AT&T phone records—"Project Hemisphere, which was detailed in slides supplied to the New York Times, included access to phone logs dating back 26 years [NYT]."
• SWAT Cop Says American Neighborhoods Are 'Battlefields,' Claims Cops Face Same Dangers As Soldiers In Afghanistan
• Militarizing America's police forces—Concord NH is "seeking $258,000 from the Department of Homeland Security so they can gird themselves by purchasing a Lenco BearCat G3 armored vehicle."
• Under a New Law, the Police Can Act as Gun Dealers—"A new Texas law will allow the state's law enforcement agencies to bolster their budgets by selling confiscated guns to licensed weapons dealers." Expect more civil forfeitures. NYT
• Property owners livid after feds seize their private land—"It's a valuable, not to mention scenic spot atop a high hill. And he's losing it because of a BP surveillance tower there. [...] It's all part of an effort to tighten up security along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Accountability

• Lawmakers OK NYPD Watchdog, Overriding Vetoes—Bloomberg claims that this "will put the safety of the city in jeopardy."
• Judge plans to appoint monitor for controversial Arizona sheriff—"A federal judge plans to appoint a monitor to watch over the operations of hardline Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office had been found by the judge to have racially profiled Latino drivers during the lawman's crackdown on illegal immigration."
• 'Libtard'-hating police chief's suspension extended indefinitely
• Whatcom sheriff's office pays $62,500 for handcuffing deaf man, silencing him
• Homeless Couple Shot By Sheriff Deputies Awarded $4.1 Million
• Officer is indicated on charges of lying about photographer's arrest—"The officer, Michael Ackermann, claimed that Robert Stolarik's camera flash interfered with a girl's arrest last year, but evidence later emerged that no flash had been used." NYT
• Mississippi Sheriff Indicted on 31 Charges

Recording

• The Cops Should Always Be on Camera—"As a pilot program in Rialto, California, reveals, when cops film all their interactions with civilians and suspects, complaints against officers go down." Tell that to Bloomberg and his thugs.
• After airliner crash, SF chief bans helmet cams—"A San Francisco Fire Department ban on video cameras now explicitly includes helmet-mounted devices that film emergency scenes." Such as running over and killing an air crash passenger.
• Leland officer suspended for arresting video-recording teen

Prison

• Orleans Parish Prison, the most dangerous jail in America
• Federal Judge Approves Force-Feeding California Inmates On Hunger Strike
• What Happened to My Son Should Never Happen Again—13-year-old placed in protective custody solitary confinement after getting gang-raped.
• A Psychologist's Deceptions About Prison Abuse in California
• Prison design faces judgment—"Critic's Notebook: Amid the proliferation of prisons, debate over their future has exposed the facilities, and details of their architecture, to new scrutiny."

War on Terror

• U.S. intelligence agencies spend millions to hunt for insider threats, document shows—"The U.S. government suspects that individuals with connections to al-Qaeda and other hostile groups have repeatedly sought to obtain jobs in the intelligence community, and it reinvestigates thousands of employees a year to reduce the threat that one of its own may be trying to compromise closely held secrets, according to a classified budget document."
• Report Says DNA Test Verified Bin Laden's Identity—"The AP reported in July that the nation's top special operations commander, Adm. William McRaven, had ordered military files about the raid purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they more easily could be shielded from ever being made public."
• Media Outlets Spitting Mad At Obama For Spoiling Their Plans To Cash In On War

Military Money

• Clash With Syria Could be a Windfall for Tomahawk Missile Maker Raytheon
• Grounded TV Marti plane a monument to the limits of American austerity—"The U.S. pays $6,600 a month for a plane — which used to broadcast TV Marti to Cuba — that doesn’t fly."
• Businessman Gary Bolton jailed over fake bomb detectors

Civil Liberties

• The Last Chance to Stop the NDAA
• Plaintiffs win round in Oregon no-fly suit
• Anti-war protesters to cop: We don't need a permit we have the constitution
• Federal Official Declares That Anyone Who Speaks Out Against Lie Detector Tests Should Be Criminally Investigated
• Let's Repeal the Fourth Amendment!—"Because we can't have nice things."

NSA Spying

• Brazil, Mexico summon U.S. ambassadors over espionage reports
• Why the Latest Snowden Leaks about Pakistan Are Scary
• EFF: An Illustration of How the NSA Misleads the Public Without Technically Lying
• Breaking cryptography: The NSA's crypto "breakthrough"
• Q&A: Senator Ron Wyden on NSA Surveillance and Government Transparency—"If we don't recognize that this is a truly unique moment in America's constitutional history, our generation's going to regret it forever."

Surveillance and Privacy

• ACLU: Time to Rein in the Surveillance State
• Judge Says Search Warrants for E-mails Must Be 'Limited' Salon
• California Abruptly Drops Plan to Implant RFID Chips in Driver's Licenses