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Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
The Flawed Science of Cannabis Impairment Detection: The Need for Evidence-Based Reform by David Kim As state after state abandons the failed experiment of marijuana prohibition, a critical public safety challenge remains largely unaddressed: how do we accurately and fairly identify individuals whose cannabis use has rendered them dangerously impaired …
Article • February 15, 2025 • from CLN March, 2025
Study Reveals Best DNA Recovery Spots on Drug Baggies by James Mills by James Mills In a world of theoretical experiments, it’s rare to find one that’s directly applicable for law enforcement in the real world. This may just be one of those rarities. A recent study from Flinders University …
Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024
Landmark Drug Possession Reform Based on Unproven Allegations Reversed in Oregon by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Knott   Oregon legislators passed H.B. 4002 on March 1, 2024, with support from both Democrats and Republicans on a 21-8 vote. Gov. Tina Kotek’s office indicated on March 7 that she …
Article • August 1, 2023 • from CLN August, 2023
Filed under: Drug Testing, War on Drugs
Roadside Drug Tests: Failed Technology From the Failed War on Drugs by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso Field test kits are touted as an easy way for law enforcement to determine if an unknown substance is in fact a narcotic. Millions are used each year by police during traffic stops, …
Ninth Circuit: Government’s Inflammatory Arguments in Sentencing Memorandum and at Sentencing Hearing Implicitly Breached Plea Agreement Promise Not to Recommend Sentence in Excess of Low-End Guidelines Range by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Government’s inflammatory arguments in its …
Article • May 25, 2023
Maryland Cops Stop People Based on Smell of Pot Despite Being Legal in State, Lawmakers Pass Bill to End Abusive Practice by Miles Dyson by Miles Dyson Maryland lawmakers have passed a bill that will restrict police officers’ ability to search people based on the smell of marijuana. The bill, …
Article • March 30, 2023
Another Chapter in Cops’ False Narrative That Mere Contact With Fentanyl Is Deadly – Cleveland Police K-9 Given NARCAN After Fentanyl Exposure by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott A police K-9 involved in the execution of a search warrant for a 27-year-old drug trafficking suspect on March 15, …
Article • July 15, 2022 • from CLN August, 2022
Fourth Circuit: South Carolina Marijuana Law Not a Categorical Match to Federal Law for ACCA Sentencing by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a defendant’s convictions under South Carolina law for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in …
Article • July 15, 2022 • from CLN August, 2022
Fifth Circuit: District Court Miscalculated Sentencing Guidelines Range by Implausibly Finding Defendant Would Use All Cash Proceeds of Drug Sales Seized to Purchase More Meth to Resell by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the …
Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022
Idaho Supreme Court Announces Prospectively Testimony by Drug Recognition Expert Requires State to Comply With Expert Witness Disclosure Requirements of Rule 16(b)(7) by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Idaho announced, “that henceforth, testimony from drug recognition expert requires the state to comply with the expert witness …
Article • May 1, 2022
Bribery and Drug Charges Results in 8 Year Sentence for Former Corrupt NYPD Officer by Brooke Kaufman by Brooke Kaufman Former NYPD officer Robert Smith, 45, of Plainview, NY, was sentenced to 97 months in prison for accepting bribes and attempting to transport heroin. Smith previously called himself one of …
Article • March 28, 2022
50 Years After Nixon’s Commission Declared Criminal Laws Were ‘Too Harsh’ on Pot Users, the Federal Ban Remains in Place by Brooke Kaufman By Brooke Kaufman March of 2022 marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon’s National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse issued its report, Marihuana: A Signal of …
Article • December 9, 2021
Policy Paper Cites Benefits of Eliminating Federal Marijuana Prohibition by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Data collected concerning the positive impact on federal incarceration rates and their cost if marijuana were to be decriminalized are impressive. Ending the federal marijuana prohibition would reduce incarceration costs by $571.8 million …
Article • October 15, 2021 • from CLN November, 2021
California Supreme Court: Furnishing Drugs Resulting in Overdose Death Does Not Automatically Trigger Great Bodily Injury Enhancement by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The Supreme Court of California held that a conviction by itself for furnishing a controlled substance to someone who subsequently suffers injury from its use is insufficient, …
Article • September 15, 2021 • from CLN October, 2021
Filed under: Drug Overdose, War on Drugs
The Legacy of Len Bias by Jayson Hawkins How death of basketball star helped launch unjust war on drugs by Jayson Hawkins On June 19, 1986, Len Bias died of cardiac arrhythmia caused by a cocaine overdose. Bias was a basketball superstar at the University of Maryland and had been …
Article • August 15, 2021 • from CLN September, 2021
Police Target People of Color for Cannabis Crimes Despite Legalization by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Five more states joined the growing list of jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized or decriminalized. But the new laws are a hodgepodge of regulation. Some states explicitly changed the laws to prevent …
Article • August 2, 2021
Filed under: War on Drugs, junk science
Imaging of Fingerprints Using Mass Spectrometry Enables Scientists to Distinguish Between Persons Who Touched Cocaine Versus Those Who Ingested Cocaine by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney Melanie Bailey, a forensic scientist at the University of Surrey, revealed that by using a high-resolution mass spectrometry (“HRMS”) method to detect cocaine in …
Article • May 15, 2021 • from CLN June, 2021
Filed under: War on Drugs, Costs
The Costs of the War on Drugs by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins Political efforts have been underway to withdraw troops and bring an end to America’s military involvement in Afghanistan. While this two-decade old conflict is considered by many to be the longest war in U.S. history, that ignores …
Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021
Washington Supreme Court: Prosecutor’s War on Drugs Comments Denies Fair Trial by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of Washington held a prosecutor committed flagrant and ill-intentioned misconduct by framing a defendant’s prosecution as representative of the war on drugs. The Court’s opinion was issued in an …
Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: No Probable Cause to Search Cellphones Merely Possessed in Proximity to Drugs and Guns by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held on October 21, 2020, that there was no probable cause to search cellphones found on someone who was found in close …
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