When a driver registers a .08 or higher on a blood-alcohol test, drawing an OUI and all the expensive, life-altering consequences that come with it, there is little doubt that they were impaired while driving.

In fact, many people are at least slightly impaired well before they reach that level, but the law gives those people some leeway by setting the strict standard high enough so that unimpaired drivers are not mistakenly charged and prosecuted.

Since there is no test for marijuana analogous to the blood alcohol measurement used to enforce drunk-driving laws, police will have to use other ways to judge driver impairment. File photo

A FORMER Scottish justice secretary has branded the so-called war on drugs a failure and called for a sweeping reform of laws governing the use and possession of illegal substances.

Kenny MacAskill is by far the most senior British politician to back decriminalisation and said Scotland should to get the power to introduce the kind of liberal drug legislation currently being implemented in other countries.

Speaking in a personal rather than party capacity, Mr MacAskill said: "My view is that we should look to treat drugs as a public health problem rather than a law and order one.

"We should stop locking up young people and the, frankly, the poor.

"This is the direction of travel all over the world in countries like the United States and Portugal.

Marijuana has America seeing green in more ways than one.

The currently illicit drug has been gaining momentum at a rapid pace this decade with more than half of all respondents in national polls now offering a favorable opinion of marijuana. It's even pushed its way into the presidential debate spotlight, forcing the candidates to step into previously taboo territory and choose a position. Marijuana is also offering hope for medical patients with a variety of ailments in the 23 states where medical marijuana is currently approved.

Charles “Fred” Cundiff received word Friday that President Barack Obama had cut short his life sentence. The 69-year-old logged onto his prison email and thanked Beth Curtis, who had stumbled upon his case years ago as she advocated for her brother, another senior citizen handed a life sentence long ago for nonviolent marijuana crimes.

In his email, Cundiff asked Curtis to convey his gratitude to two others who clamored for his freedom. The email system he was using costs inmates 5 cents per minute and, he told Curtis, “[I] don't have enough money to take care of all this.”

Cundiff has been behind bars since 1991 and will need to pinch nickels another year.

President Obama extended a federal “cease fire” in the 20-year war on state medical cannabis programs on Friday evening, when he signed theFY 2016 omnibus appropriations bill. The bill contains the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment which prohibits the Department of Justice from interfering with state medical cannabis laws (Sec. 542, page 223).

New Jersey’s Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee has given unanimous approval to legislation that would explicitly prohibit employers from firing or discriminating against an employee for participating in the state’s medical cannabis program.

Under the proposed law (Senate Bill 3162), which was passed 6 to 0, employers can only fire an individual for their medical cannabis use if it clearly impacts their job. The measure has now been sent to the full 40-member Senate, where its passage is expected. If given approval in the full Senate, it will head to the Assembly before going to Governor Chris Christie for final consideration.

A new effort in the District seeks to educate residents about what is and isn’t legal when it comes to using marijuana.

After going into the community to find commonly held misconceptions about marijuana — both its effects and the laws in D.C. — a work group established by the Departments of Health and Behavioral Health launched the Blunt Truth DC initiative.

“We want to make it clear K2 is not the same thing as marijuana. K2 is illegal,” said Bruce Points, a local public health adviser.

Points helped launch the initiative intended to prevent underage use of marijuana in the city with a website offering information on slang for parents, videos and community resources.

The Irish minister responsible for drugs strategy is calling for the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of drugs, including class A substances like heroin.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has told the BBC that the "Just Say No" message, taught in schools, is ineffective and "a lie".

The Irish Labour Party politician has called for a more sympathetic approach to dealing with addicts.

He emphasised that what he was proposing is decriminalisation

Image captionMr Ó Ríordáin said drug users should not be criminalised for their sickness

This means that people would, in practice, not face prosecution, but it does not mean the legalisation of drugs.

Amid a rash of medical marijuana cultivation bans, patients are cheering one potent legal victory this winter. Growing medical marijuana is not a crime, a California appeals court ruled earlier this month in a precedent-setting case. 

Cities and counties can cite patients in civil court for what amounts to nuisance violations, but the Health and Safety Code of California is clear: Qualified patients growing medical cannabis are not committing crimes.

In December of 2014 there were laws put in place that were supposed to protect legal medicinal marijuana from backlash from the DEA. The law only protected legal businesses and patients – or at least it was supposed to. Leave it to the DEA to find a loophole in any situation – they were still seizing crops, inventory and more from perfectly legal (within their state’s rights) marijuana dispensaries or patient homes.

In order to not let them get away with the same thing twice, this year it seems the government will be taking a slightly different approach. Instead of offering only to protect the businesses under specific circumstances they will simply lose around half of their budget.