WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and rapper Fat Joe led a White House discussion Friday on easing marijuana penalties, with Harris saying it’s “absurd” that the federal government classifies marijuana as more dangerous than fentanyl, the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths annually the United States. Harris, a former state prosecutor … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor London Breed on Thursday pledged even more improvements under a pair of controversial public safety proposals voters approved this week that expand police powers and force some welfare recipients into drug treatment, marking a shift from the city’s staunchly progressive policies. She also made the case in her annual State of … Read more
Oregon is poised to step back from its first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law with a new measure approved by the state Senate that would reinstate criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of some drugs. The law, which took effect in 2021, decriminalized possession and personal use of all drugs, including small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, … Read more
SALEM, Ore. — A bill recriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs was passed by the Oregon Legislature on Friday, undoing a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law as governments struggle to respond to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history. The state Senate approved House Bill 4002 in a 21-8 … Read more
MIAMI — South Florida rapper Kodak Black was freed from jail Wednesday after a federal judge sentenced him to time served for a probation violation, though a drug trafficking case from 2022 remains ongoing. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami handed down the sentence nearly two weeks after a drug possession charge was … Read more
NEW YORK — A convicted drug dealer reluctantly testified Monday that Jam Master Jay — known for his anti-drug advocacy as part of the groundbreaking rap group Run-DMC — got involved in cocaine trafficking to pay his bills. Ralph Mullgrav gave the first public testimony about the alleged drug dealing that prosecutors claim was the … Read more
NEW YORK — Two men accused of murder in the death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay are set to go on trial Monday, more than 20 years after the trailblazing DJ was shot in his New York City recording studio. Opening statements are scheduled in Brooklyn federal court for the murder trial of Karl … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who sued Mississippi over state regulations that he says censor business owners by preventing them from advertising in most media. In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills said he agreed with Mississippi’s argument … Read more
SALEM, Ore. — Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping new bill that would undo a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid rampant public drug use during the fentanyl crisis. The bill would recriminalize the possession of small amounts … Read more
NEW YORK — Rapper Travell “G. Dep” Coleman, who walked into a New York police precinct in 2010 and admitted to committing a nearly two-decade-old cold case murder to clear his conscience, has been granted clemency by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Now 49, Coleman has served 13 of a 15-year-to-life sentence. With his sentence being commuted … Read more
