The “war on drugs” has become a chief target for Democratic presidential hopefuls who use outsized rhetoric to say drug laws, particularly those regarding marijuana, are filling the nation’s prisons and jails with nonviolent offenders who shouldn’t be behind bars.

Front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed “low-level offenses that are primarily due to marijuana,” while Sen. Bernard Sanders said states should consider legalizing marijuana out of fairness.

Wall Street CEOs aren’t held accountable, “and yet we are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana,” Mr. Sanders said.

There is only one problem with the rhetoric: It is factually wrong.

The gradual legalisation of cannabis across US states is a triumph for the American Dream, says Sarah Dunant.

With February's Nevada caucuses fast approaching, the Review-Journal is publishing a 10-editorial series on policies and government reforms all candidates should be able to get behind. The fifth policy goal we'd like all presidential candidates to champion: removing marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

Marijuana laws are among the most perplexing laws in the nation. While federal law bans any and all uses of the drug, many states allow the possession, production and use of marijuana for medical purposes. Meanwhile, since the federal government argues that federal law trumps state law, the federal government can, in theory, prohibit the use of marijuana anywhere it wants to, and the states can't do anything about it.

George Hackney Sr. finally received the call he had been waiting for. The Florida Department of Health told him on Monday, Hackney Nursery will join four other Florida nurseries in producing medicinal marijuana for the state.

It has been a long journey since spring of 2014, when Gov. Rick Scott signed off on the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act. The legislation divided the state into five regions with one license each to cultivate low-THC marijuana and process its oil into medicine to treat children afflicted with a severe form of epilepsy and cancer patients.

WSIL -- Medical marijuana may be legal in Illinois, but the Associated Press has found the state is cracking down on at least three physicians over the issue.

The AP says a Marion physician is among them.

He's Doctor Bodo Schneider and News 3 did a story on him back in May as the state was preparing to make medical marijuana legally available.

Dr. Schneider could get his medical license revoked at a hearing on Tuesday.

News 3 was unable to reach him Sunday because his office was closed.

But the Chicago Sun-Times says state regulators accuse him of "charging dozens of patients to pre-certify them to receive medical marijuana despite not being their treating physician --- which is required under Illinois law."

Could one of the most important entitlement programs for seniors ever cover a medical marijuana prescription? Here's what would need to happen.

There are certainly no shortage of issues as we head into the 2016 elections, some of which include terrorism/national security, U.S. economic growth, prescription drug inflation, and of course marijuana.

The California Adult Use of Marijuana Act, the so-called “Sean Parker Initiative”, is gathering more support, with Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project now considering backing it, and the recent bombshell news of ReformCA board member Richard Lee openly supporting it.

I’ve spent the holiday weekend going through every word of the 60-page initiative. To make understanding it easier, I’ve created the Hyperlinked Text of the California Adult Use of Marijuana Act which you can download for free as a PDF. It contains my notes on understanding the sections of text cannabis consumers most want to know about, including:

Medical marijuana is already available for sale in a local dispensary, and now, local cultivators have been given the green light to begin growing strains, according to Illinois Department of Agriculture.

While the region is still a few months away from seeing locally grown medical marijuana in the dispensaries, both cultivators in Southern Illinois — in Murphysboro and Anna — are beginning the process.

Tom Jennings, co-manager of Ieso, the cultivation center at Southern Illinois Airport, said there is a 23,000 square-foot greenhouse at the facility and the entire footprint of the building is 46,000 square feet.

Will Florida, the nation’s third most populated state, catch up with the 23 other states that have made it legal for patients to buy, possess and use marijuana as medicine?

The answer is a positive maybe.

Keith, 80, and Jeanne Shell of Bradenton signed a petition in September petition supporting an amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. The “Floridians for Freedom” effort seems to be a long shot as a February deadline for signatures draws near. STAFF PHOTO / THOMAS BENDER

The United for Care medical marijuana advocacy group is poised to take a second stab at a constitutional amendment in the presidential election cycle of 2016.

Whether in response to that or on their own, several Republican legislators have put forward their own proposals.