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British Columbia's partial retreat from an experiment to decriminalize drug possession reveals a political shift in Canada over combating the opioid crisis. The mood was cautiously optimistic and the message [...]

In February 2021, Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs, via a ballot initiative known as Measure 110. The idea was to treat addiction as a public health [...]

More than a decade ago, I met a scared 15-year-old who was trying to recover her life after having been kidnapped by a pimp and sold for sex. Melanie Thompson [...]

Democrats, with some Republican support, voted 220-204 to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances, moving to catch up to the states. WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation [...]

The court's decision follows years of organizing by women across Latin America for greater protections and more rights, and significant shifts in the region's legal landscape. BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- Having [...]

When I took my first client as a sex worker in the 1980s, I had no other choice. It was right after the fall of the dictatorship in Argentina. As [...]

There are two competing bills in New York: One would punish pimps and customers, while the other would decriminalize the entire trade. TS Candii first traded sex at age 13, [...]

Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, offered draft legislation to remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances and begin regulating and taxing it. WASHINGTON -- Senator Chuck Schumer of [...]

Taking their cue from Trump, absolutists are going all out to overturn Roe v. Wade. South Carolina last month became the latest state to pass a so-called heartbeat ban, criminalizing [...]

There were 38 statewide citizen initiatives being decided across the country on Tuesday, about half the level of the last presidential election. OAKLAND, Calif. -- The march to decriminalize drugs [...]

The coronavirus pandemic has put a dent in the signature-gathering process, but voters still managed to put forward dozens of measures nationwide. SAN FRANCISCO -- If ever there was a [...]

Supporters say a bill being considered by the City Council in the nation's capital would protect prostitutes. Critics say it would be a boon to sex traffickers. WASHINGTON -- Tamika [...]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand's government said on Monday that it would try to pass a law decriminalizing abortion, taking on an issue that the nation's lawmakers have long [...]

Texas lawmakers thought they were clear: The bill they overwhelmingly passed allowing the growth and sale of hemp had nothing to do with legalizing pot. ''This is no slippery slope [...]

Here's one story about how a marginalized group won its rights. Early in the morning of June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan's [...]

Only a few days ago, millions of Americans probably had never heard of psilocybin, the active agent in psychedelic mushrooms, but thanks to Denver, it is about to get its [...]

SYDNEY, Australia -- State lawmakers in Queensland voted on Wednesday to decriminalize abortion, scrapping a century-old law that had made it an offense punishable with prison time and making it [...]

There are many reasons to find fault with modern India. The grinding poverty. The crippling caste system. A culture in which sexual attacks against women often go unpunished. The rise [...]

Argentina's Senate is set to debate a bill on Wednesday that would legalize abortion for pregnancies up to 14 weeks. The vote, in a predominantly Catholic nation that is also [...]

JERSEY CITY -- Every city in America knows that it's a bad idea to prosecute low-level, nonviolent marijuana offenses. It wastes scarce municipal resources and does nothing to enhance public [...]

BUCHAREST, Romania -- The Romanian Parliament approved changes to the criminal code in unusually swift fashion this week, overhauling abuse-of-power legislation that critics say will have damaging and long-lasting effects [...]

For the ninth straight day, Elena Filip bundled up in her fur-trimmed ski suit and left her Bucharest apartment for Piata Victoriei -- Victory Square -- outside the government headquarters. [...]

PARIS -- After days of emotional debates and intense lobbying, delegates from Amnesty International voted on Tuesday to support a policy that calls for decriminalization of the sex trade, including [...]

PARIS -- The question of what should be done about prostitution is as old as the profession itself, but the issue is now front and center again, as a leading [...]

PARIS -- The question of what should be done about prostitution is as old as the profession itself, but the issue is now front and center again, as a leading [...]

People in Philadelphia caught with small amounts of marijuana or smoking it in public may soon face no more than a written citation and a modest fine as the City [...]

WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia on Wednesday moved closer to easing restrictions on marijuana, as city lawmakers advanced a measure that would decriminalize possession of up to one ounce [...]

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill Thursday that made the state the 17th to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Under the law, possession of less than 1 ounce [...]

ALBANY -- The Democrats who control the State Assembly, many of them black or Latino residents of New York City, saw a proposal to decriminalize the open possession of small [...]

Dean Skelos, the majority leader of the New York State Senate, shows a serious lack of good sense in opposing Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to decriminalize possession of small amounts [...]

The Ann Arbor city attorney, Stephen K. Postema, called an initiative decriminalizing marijuana for medical treatment unenforceable and in conflict with state and federal laws. City voters passed the measure […]

The government reintroduced legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Under the plan, anyone possessing 15 grams (about half an ounce) or less would be issued a fine […]

The government reintroduced a bill in the House of Commons to decriminalize use of small amounts of marijuana. Under the measure, anyone possessing under 15 grams -- about enough for […]