The International Narcotics Control Board is criticizing the decision by Colorado and Washington voters to regulate and control marijuana, saying that such a move violates international drug control agreements.

As the Guardian reported on March 5, 2013:

Launching its annual report in London, Raymond Yans, the INCB president, said that the successful ballots in Colorado and Washington to legalise the use of cannabis for recreational purposes and the fact that Massachusetts had recently become the 18th state to allow the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes violate the international drug conventions.

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) has once again introduced legislation in Congress which would require states to mandate drug testing for recipients of welfare benefits. As the Memphis (TN) Commercial-Appeal reported on March 4, 2013:

German news magazine Der Spiegel recently interviewed Harvard's Professor Jeffrey Miron on legalization.

In the piece, Miron estimated that the US "could save $85 billion to $90 billion per year" if it legalized drugs. Miron also said:

"If you believe in anything that the Americans claim to believe in -- freedom, individuality, personal responsibility -- you have to legalize drugs. The maxim should be that you're allowed to do it if you're not harming anyone else. There is an assumption that you're harming someone when you take drugs, but the scientific data doesn't support this hypothesis."

The Norwegian government is considering a proposal to decriminalize the smoking of heroin as a harm reduction move to reduce the rate of overdose. Agence France-Presse reported on March 1, 2013, that:

The move would make smoking heroin an offense on par with injecting it, which is illegal in Norway but tolerated.

Oslo's municipality already operates a site where heroin addicts can inject drugs under safer, more hygienic circumstances than they would have had access to otherwise.

"The number of fatal overdoses is too high and I would say it's shameful for Norway," Health Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told daily Dagsavisen.

We are sad to report that the co-founder and President of Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, passed away on September Fifth, 2020. He is sorely missed.

Kevin was one of the nation's foremost authorities on drug policy issues. He worked on a wide array of drug related issues since he graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1980.