In a demand for fast - if not furious - action, Congressional investigators have given the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration just one week to produce documents to aid their investigation of a controversial gun-purchasing operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
One of the most deeply imbedded ideas in our political culture is the notion that the public supports harsh drug laws and will punish politicians who deviate from the tough-on-drugs script. Unfortunately, that's precisely why a lot of good ideas never make it out of the conference room. It goes something like this:
The City Council voted on Monday to establish a municipal licensing and regulation system for medical marijuana distribution in Seattle under a new Washington state law that takes effect later this week.
A few months ago, Congressman Jared Polis told the Colorado Independent that he thought it would take a majority of states legalizing medical marijuana or otherwise liberalizing their laws before Congress would be likely to do anything at the federal level.