Category: Law & Politics

(3,816 posts)

News and commentary on cannabis law and politics

May 13, 2014
05/13/2014
Use the Pot Leaf to Distinguish Medibles?

Use the Pot Leaf to Distinguish Medibles?

High Times says Colorado has a public relations issue that must be dealt with, products infused with marijuana, “medibles.” As stories about children and some adults mistaking...
May 13, 2014
05/13/2014
NY’s Medical Marijuana Bill: Glaucoma Out, Rheumatoid Arthritis In

NY’s Medical Marijuana Bill: Glaucoma Out, Rheumatoid Arthritis In

Recent amendments to New York medical marijuana legislation would include not allowing it to be used for glaucoma, but for rheumatoid arthritis, the bill’s Senate sponsor said. She...
May 13, 2014
05/13/2014
Marijuana Co-op Member Says State Can’t Tax a Federal Crime

Marijuana Co-op Member Says State Can’t Tax a Federal Crime

  Washington state can’t make a member of a medical marijuana co-op pay thousands of dollars in marijuana tax because he’s being federally prosecuted for it, the...
May 13, 2014
05/13/2014
Poll: Slim Majority in Connecticut Backs Legalizing Recreational Pot

Poll: Slim Majority in Connecticut Backs Legalizing Recreational Pot

By a slender margin, Connecticut voters back legalizing marijuana for recreational use, with the strongest support coming from those under 30, according to a Quinnipiac University poll...
May 12, 2014
05/12/2014
Strictly Business: Marijuana Debate Far From Over

Strictly Business: Marijuana Debate Far From Over

It seems like every day brings a new surprise in the awkward transition of marijuana from outlaw status to social acceptance. In the blending between those ready...
May 12, 2014
05/12/2014
New York City’s New Boss, Same as the Old?

New York City’s New Boss, Same as the Old?

A new report released this week by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project reveals that marijuana arrests have actually increased in New York City under the new leadership...
May 12, 2014
05/12/2014
Internet Links Medical Marijuana Patients and Sellers

Internet Links Medical Marijuana Patients and Sellers

Many patients in Massachusetts received certificates from physicians allowing them to obtain marijuana for an array of conditions. But with dispensaries not expected to open until the...
May 12, 2014
05/12/2014
GOP Congressman Threatens to Block DC Decrim Law

GOP Congressman Threatens to Block DC Decrim Law

Even as the House held a first hearing on the District of Columbia’s recently passed decriminalization law, at least one Republican congressman is threatening to file legislation...
May 12, 2014
05/12/2014
Colorado Lawmakers Set Up Banking System for Marijuana Industry

Colorado Lawmakers Set Up Banking System for Marijuana Industry

Colorado lawmakers moved the marijuana industry away from its cash-only roots on Wednesday when they approved the world’s first financial system for marijuana businesses. The plan sets up...
May 9, 2014
05/09/2014
Colorado’s ‘Cannabis Credit Co-Ops’ Won’t Solve the Marijuana Banking Problem

Colorado’s ‘Cannabis Credit Co-Ops’ Won’t Solve the Marijuana Banking Problem

Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, financial institutions are reluctant to serve state-licensed marijuana businesses. These businesses currently operate almost entirely on a cash-only basis, which...
May 9, 2014
05/09/2014
Officer’s Record May Help Rapper He Arrested

Officer’s Record May Help Rapper He Arrested

A cop accused of falsely arresting rapper Meek Mill over a supposed pot odor cannot exclude evidence of prior unwarranted searches based on similar “smells,” a federal...
May 9, 2014
05/09/2014
Health Insurers Just Say No to Marijuana Coverage

Health Insurers Just Say No to Marijuana Coverage

Patients who use medical marijuana for pain and other chronic symptoms can take an unwanted hit: Insurers don’t cover the treatment, which costs as much as $1,000...
May 9, 2014
05/09/2014
Chronicle Book Review: Hemp Bound

Chronicle Book Review: Hemp Bound

Hemp Bound: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Next Agricultural Revolution by Doug Fine (2014, Chelsea Green Publishers, 145 pp., $12.16 PB Amazon) Hemp shouldn’t have anything...
May 8, 2014
05/08/2014
Medical Marijuana Update (2014.05.07)

Medical Marijuana Update (2014.05.07)

A bid to ease access to medical marijuana for vets failed in Congress, but not by much; California continues to grapple with local regulation issues, limited CBD...
May 8, 2014
05/08/2014
This Week’s Corrupt Cops Stories (2014.05.07)

This Week’s Corrupt Cops Stories (2014.05.07)

More jail guards gone bad, a Florida cop slinging steroids heads for prison, a California cop stealing pain pills from the elderly does too, and so does...
May 8, 2014
05/08/2014
Federal Government to Increase Its Supply of Marijuana for Clinical Research

Federal Government to Increase Its Supply of Marijuana for Clinical Research

Federal agencies are moving forward with plans to increase the US government’s production of research-grade cannabis. Last week, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) publicly announced in the Federal...
May 7, 2014
05/07/2014
Federal Judge Denies Washington Family’s State Law Defense

Federal Judge Denies Washington Family’s State Law Defense

U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington rejected the planned medical marijuana defense of Larry Harvey, 70, his wife Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, 55,...
May 7, 2014
05/07/2014
Nevada High Court Delays Marijuana Advice for Lawyers

Nevada High Court Delays Marijuana Advice for Lawyers

Members of the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday asked for more time before deciding on a request from the State Bar to provide legal protections for lawyers...
May 7, 2014
05/07/2014
London School of Economics Report Calls for New Approaches to Drug Policy

London School of Economics Report Calls for New Approaches to Drug Policy

A report from the London School of Economics released Monday night outlines the enormous negative outcomes and collateral damage from the war on drugs and calls for...
May 7, 2014
05/07/2014
New Rules in Uruguay Create a Legal Marijuana Market

New Rules in Uruguay Create a Legal Marijuana Market

Uruguay has published regulations for a new, legal marijuana market, a measure approved by lawmakers there in December. The law and the new regulations make Uruguay the...