For more than two decades, “harm reduction” was official policy in San Francisco. As a formerly homeless heroin and fentanyl addict in recovery, I saw firsthand how this policy, which tried to make illegal drug use “safer,” devastated the city. In my six months on the street in 2018, I watched harm-reduction groups hand out free drug paraphernalia; in the years since, I’ve seen harm-reduction workers distribute crack and meth pipes—without telling users how to get treatment.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed a sweeping executive order Monday issuing pardons for more than 175,000 marijuana and drug paraphernalia convictions.

The mass order for low-level possession charges will be given to nearly 100,000 people, The Washington Post reported.

Moore said the decision is intended to address decades of social and economic injustice, including Marylanders of color being denied housing, employment and educational opportunities based on minor criminal records.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) made history Monday with a mass pardoning of more than 175,000 marijuana convictions, a move he said would changes the lives of tens of thousands of Marylanders after the state legalized recreational cannabis last year.

“We know that legalization does not turn back the clock on decades of harm that was caused by the war on drugs,” Moore said during a pardoning ceremony at the State House on Monday.

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order pardoning an estimated 175,000 of marijuana-related convictions on Monday.

The Department of Justice will significantly loosen federal cannabis restrictions, marking the biggest shift in drug laws in more than half a century.

The change follows a decade of seismic changes in cannabis policies across the country, with 24 states legalizing possession for adults — representing more than half of the U.S. population — and 38 states establishing medical marijuana programs.

A major Massachusetts hospital group has reviewed studies showing that “Black pregnant people” are more likely to be tested and reported for drug use than “white pregnant people,” and they have come up with a stunning solution: Stop automatically reporting to state child welfare agencies babies born with illegal substances in their systems.

Gov. Tina Kotek has made it official: Drug possession will soon be a crime once again in Oregon.

On Monday, Kotek signed House Bill 4002, which both expands funding for substance abuse treatment and makes possessing small amounts of hard drugs a misdemeanor beginning Sept. 1.

In a three-page signing letter, Kotek appeared to address the limitations and challenges of a law that gives individual counties sweeping power to design their own ways to implement the policy shift.

Oregon’s Bottle Bill, which offers cash refunds for empty bottles and cans, was a landmark piece of legislation when it first passed in 1971.

Since then, it’s served as a model for similar bills in nine other states and led to some of the highest recycling rates in the nation.

According to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which runs the beverage container return program, Oregon had a 90.5% redemption rate in 2023.