Today the Connecticut House of Representatives approved a bill, passed by the state Senate two days ago and endorsed by Gov. Dannel Malloy, that makes possessing less than 14 grams (about half an ounce) of marijuana a "noncriminal violation" punishable by a $150 fine. By the time the House acted, the Senate had moved on to another piece of drug legislation, voting unanimously to make possession of synthetic marijuana punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. "For the life of me," said Senate Republican Leader John McKinney, "I don't know how I'm going to explain to my constituents one penalty for the fake pot and another for the real pot." The bill also bans salvia divinorum.

More on fake pot here. More on the salvia ban wagon here.