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The number of wiretaps authorized by state and federal judges in criminal investigations jumped 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to a report released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Courts authorized 2,376 criminal wiretap orders in 2009, with 96 percent targeting mobile phones in drug cases, according to the report. Federal officials requested 663 of the wiretaps, while 24 states accounted for 1,713 orders.

Not one request for a wiretap was turned down.

On Thursday, Washington became the first state to officially legalize marijuana, soon to be followed by Colorado as their new laws legalizing the drug for recreational use go into effect. A survey out Friday shows what Americans want the federal government to do about the states whose drug laws clash with national laws: Leave them alone. Fifty-one percent of Americans in the new HuffPost/YouGov poll said that in the two states that have legalized marijuana use for adults, the federal government should exempt any adults following state laws from federal drug law enforcement.

PROBABLY HOMELESS AND LOOKING FOR SHELTER. A 38-year-old man brought a prescription pill to the police station Monday and asked to be arrested for drug possession. Christopher Dennis Dollar came into the police station lobby and handed the pill to an officer, according to a news release from the DeFuniak Springs Police Department. He told the officer that he needed to be arrested for possession of Xanax without a prescription. Dollars was charged with a third-degree felony for possession of drugs without a prescription.

Courts authorized 2,376 criminal wiretap orders in 2009, with 96 percent targeting mobile phones in drug cases, according to the report. Federal officials requested 663 of the wiretaps, while 24 states accounted for 1,713 orders.

Not one request for a wiretap was turned down.

The state sheriff's association pushed the idea Tuesday, saying the move would help them make drug arrests and curb a growing problem of prescription drug abuse. But patient advocates say opening up people's medicine cabinets to law enforcement would deal a devastating blow to privacy rights.

From the article: "Acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S. and sends 56,000 people to the emergency room annually. About 200 of them die, and the FDA estimates 120 of those deaths are linked to prescription drugs with acetaminophen."

Imagine if cannabis was HALF as dangerous as this stuff anyone can buy without a prescription.

We, the undersigned people of the United States of America respectfully request that the President of the United States of America grant us his assurance that he will permit the peaceful withdrawal of any State, territory and/or tribe from the Union of the United States of America, should such an action be undertaken.

"It is the number of Americans sick with preventable diseases, not the number of uninsured Americans, or the cost of prescription drugs that is of most concern. More affordable prescription drugs are not what we need – reduced need for prescription drugs is what we need.. More than increasing access to care, we need less requirement for care. To truly improve the health of the American people and reduce health care spending, Americans must take control of their own health."

Under a controversial 2005 domestic security program passed by Congress and known as Real ID, states were required to issue more secure licenses initially by May of 2008, extended to December 2009 and now to May of 2011. DHS said 46 states are not in compliance with the requirements, and 13 have passed laws refusing to participate.