Category: Law & Politics

(3,816 posts)

News and commentary on cannabis law and politics

March 7, 2013
03/07/2013
Arizona Senator Working to Regulate Medical Marijuana

Arizona Senator Working to Regulate Medical Marijuana

Arizona Republican Senator Kimberly Yee has authored 4 bills relating to medical marijuana. Senator Yee wants to allow medical marijuana research on college campuses, medical marijuana infused...
March 7, 2013
03/07/2013
Buy Your Tickets for the NORML Mid-Atlantic Conference on March 16th

Buy Your Tickets for the NORML Mid-Atlantic Conference on March 16th

NORML is pleased to announce the first ever Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference in Philadelphia, PA is just over a week away. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS The conference...
March 7, 2013
03/07/2013
Medical Marijuana Moves Forward in Illinois

Medical Marijuana Moves Forward in Illinois

A bill to allow Illinois residents to use medical marijuana in the treatment of their debilitating medical conditions moved one step closer to becoming law Wednesday, when...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
Congressman: Ex-DEA Chiefs ‘Arrogant’ to Press for Pot Law Nullification

Congressman: Ex-DEA Chiefs ‘Arrogant’ to Press for Pot Law Nullification

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) on Tuesday blasted 8 former heads of the DEA for pressuring the Obama administration to crack down on laws legalizing the recreational use...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
Decision On WA State Marijuana Consultant Taking Time

Decision On WA State Marijuana Consultant Taking Time

Washington’s Liquor Control Board has delayed the announcement of the new state marijuana consultant hired to advise the board on the implementation of I-502. The board received...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
Hawaii Senate Decriminalizes Possession, But Keeps it Illegal

Hawaii Senate Decriminalizes Possession, But Keeps it Illegal

Love is hate. Freedom is slavery. And if Hawaii has its way, pot will be decriminalized but illegal. Its state senate unanimously passed a proposed law that would...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
Ex-Heads of Marijuana Prohibition Industry Call on DOJ to Keep Mexican Marijuana Cartels in Business

Ex-Heads of Marijuana Prohibition Industry Call on DOJ to Keep Mexican Marijuana Cartels in Business

Eight former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a joint statement Tuesday, calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to prevent Colorado and Washington from...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
More Overreaching Arguments Against Marijuana Legalization by DEA Chiefs and the UN

More Overreaching Arguments Against Marijuana Legalization by DEA Chiefs and the UN

The International Narcotics Control Board, a UN agency, and eight former DEA administrators came out swinging this week against marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington. The INCB says the...
March 6, 2013
03/06/2013
If You Want To Break Federal Law, It’s Better to Be a Banker Than a Medical Marijuana Provider

If You Want To Break Federal Law, It’s Better to Be a Banker Than a Medical Marijuana Provider

According to Matt Taibbi, in his latest Rolling Stone exposé on the banking and financial industry “Too Big to Jail,” HSBC “helped to wash hundreds of millions of dollars...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Public Benefits Drug Test Bill Advances in Kansas

Public Benefits Drug Test Bill Advances in Kansas

The Kansas Senate Thursday approved a bill requiring welfare and unemployment benefits recipients to undergo drug tests if there is “reasonable suspicion” they are using drugs. But...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Medical Marijuana Bill Likely Dead in Iowa Legislature

Medical Marijuana Bill Likely Dead in Iowa Legislature

A proposal to legalize marijuana for medical use in Iowa likely is dead for this session. A Senate subcommittee approved the bill Monday, but the panel’s chairman,...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Appeals Court Ruling Throws Wrench in Maritime Drug Prosecutions

Appeals Court Ruling Throws Wrench in Maritime Drug Prosecutions

special to Drug War Chronicle by Clarence Walker, freelancewriter82@gmail.com America’s war on drugs overseas was dealt a heavy blow in the federal courts late last year. In November,...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
NJ Governor Claims He’s Not Sabotaging Medical Marijuana

NJ Governor Claims He’s Not Sabotaging Medical Marijuana

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie denies sabotaging the medical marijuana system in the state. “I do not want people flying to New Jersey, getting off a plane, going...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
PTSD and MMJ for Colorado Vet: A Legal Quagmire

PTSD and MMJ for Colorado Vet: A Legal Quagmire

In 2003, US Navy Corpsman Jeremy Usher (now 31) returned to Colorado from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Usher, serving as combat medic, was shot in the...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
CO Sheriff’s Office: No Objective Test for Marijuana DUI

CO Sheriff’s Office: No Objective Test for Marijuana DUI

Aspen police and Pitkin County Sheriff’s have made no marijuana DUI arrests. Sheriff’s Office records manager Charlie Matthews: “I wouldn’t say it’s so much a policy as that...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Petition – DEA, Stop Misleading the Public About Medical Marijuana

Petition – DEA, Stop Misleading the Public About Medical Marijuana

William R. Sherman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San Diego Field Division, has declared an outright war on medical marijuana patients...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Medical Pot a Huge Part of Silicon Valley

Medical Pot a Huge Part of Silicon Valley

San Jose has 106 pot clinics, more than four times the number in San Francisco and twice as many per square mile as LA. Marijuana use is “extremely...
March 5, 2013
03/05/2013
Police Kill OKC Man in Convenience Store Drug Deal

Police Kill OKC Man in Convenience Store Drug Deal

An undercover police officer shot and killed an Oklahoma City man while attempting to arrest him after observing a suspected drug deal Friday. Marcus Dewayne Patterson, 35,...
March 4, 2013
03/04/2013
France Considers Marijuana-based Drug for Muscle Pain

France Considers Marijuana-based Drug for Muscle Pain

The French government is considering legalizing Sativex, a marijuana-based nasal or mouth spray for muscle pain, such as people with multiple sclerosis. Sativex would be the first authorized use...
March 4, 2013
03/04/2013
Amendment 64 Task Force Finished Recommendations

Amendment 64 Task Force Finished Recommendations

Colorado’s Amendment 64 Task Force finished its work as February came to a close. After months of work and several public meetings, the task force has done...