Uruguay’s National Drug Board released a report to the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations on shifting drug policy toward a human rights perspective.

The initiative [PDF], proposed on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, consists of 10 guidelines. One point decriminalizes drug use and ends the death penalty for it. Another point emphasizes respect for different cultures and plans to reduce drug use.

Chilean lawmakers approved Tuesday a bill decriminalizing personal cultivation and use of marijuana for both therapeutic and recreational purposes. After the vote, which ended with 65 votes in favor, 39 against and 5 abstentions, the legal text will be sent to the Senate, where it must be passed into law. 

The rule would legalize possession of up to 10 grams of any kind of marijuana, for over 18 years. It also authorizes the personal cultivation of up to six plants and possess up to 500 grams of marijuana at home. Patients should consume marijuana for medical reasons should have the prescription. 

The Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is one of the most honorable awards in the world for musicians and songwriters. And today the Librarian of Congress (yes, that’s an actual position) James Hadley Billington (yes, that’s his actual name) announced that one of the planet’s biggest stoners will receive the top honor this year.

Willie Nelson performs at the Avalon in February 2013 in Hollywood, Calif. (Jerod Harris, Getty Images for H&M)

NEWTOWN – The landscaping company raided by FBI agents Tuesday morning is enmeshed in a lawsuit alleging fraud involving a contract with a minority-owned business on public projects.

The lawsuit claims Evans Landscaping is at the heart of a "malicious civil conspiracy" regarding contracts with both the state of Ohio and the city of Cincinnati. The suit alleges Evans Landscaping officials improperly took public money meant for a minority-owned contractor. Evans Landscaping has also sued, claiming lack of payment from that contractor.

The FBI would not say why it raided Evans Landscaping.

SAN JUAN – Marijuana is the most-used drug among convicted and accused criminals in seven Caribbean countries, according to a new study from Jamaica’s National Council on Drug Abuse.

“The highest proportion was reported in Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the lowest proportion was in St. Kitts and Nevis, while Jamaica reported approximately 75 percent of inmates used marijuana,” NCDA Research Analyst Uki Atkinson said in a statement.

Conducted in 2014, the NCDA survey sought to explore the relationship between drugs and crime in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Many in El Paso would like to see cannabis laws reformed not despite local cartel traffic, but because of it: a military-style border has fractured communities

Of all the weekends for Colt DeMorris to be pulled over by the cops for a broken tail-light, it had to be the one before 4/20.

That day is the unofficial annual holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, and DeMorris is the executive director of the El Paso chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). He was headed home at 2.30am on Saturday from 420 Fest, a music event sponsored by his group. The smell was unmistakable.

An unlikely pair of lawmakers is seeking to promote government research of marijuana.

Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) — who stand on opposite sides of the legalization debate — are co-sponsoring an amendment that would help scientists study medical marijuana.

“Our amendment shows members of Congress with widely varying views on marijuana policy are united in support of building a robust body of scientific information on medical marijuana," said Blumenauer, whose state recently legalized recreational use of the drug.

A political aide to California Senate President pro tempore Kevin de León accepted at least $85 in marijuana products from a pot lobbyist at the end of May before discussing how his boss needed to be “educated” into taking a more liberal stance on medical marijuana.

Health Canada announced today in a group call with all Licensed Producers that the regulatory agency are immediately issuing a section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), which will allow licensed producers to produce and sell “cannabis oil and fresh marijuana buds and leaves in addition to dried marijuana”.

Next year’s legislative session will be the last for Gov. Peter Shumlin, who announced in June that he won’t be seeking reelection in 2016. And some prominent lawmakers are hoping to get a marijuana legalization bill to his desk before he leaves office.

Perhaps no single person has done more to advance the legalization effort in Vermont than Shumlin. The third-term governor came out in support of a tax-and-regulate model back in 2013, and like-minded legislators devoted substantial time to the issue earlier this year.