Marijuana and Cannabis News
Nearly 80 percent of Kentuckians approve of legalizing medical marijuana and roughly a quarter of the state would be open to outright legalization, according to a poll released last week.
How to go about that, though, seems to be up in the air.
The Illinois senate Friday approved House Bill 1, which would create a state-regulated medical marijuana patient program as well as authorize state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries. Lawmakers say they have created one of the strictest programs in the nation.
But Governor Pat Quinn says he's still considering the bill, though he told reporters earlier today that he remains "open minded" on the issue. Lt. Gov. Shelia Simon has publicly expressed her support for the bill.
Every month for the last five months, cannabis activists, advocates, and supporters gather together in downtown Philadelphia in a pro-marijuana protest they have dubbed Smoke Down Prohibition". 
Adam Kokesh.
It's been peaceful for the last four rallies, but that changed last Saturday. Philly police waited for the crowd to spark their ceremonial spliffs, then rushed the mic and pulled guest speaker and Libertarian talk show host Adam Kokesh from the stage, arresting him in front of his supporters on charges of resisting arrest.
Pot by itself was not much of a factor in injury and fatal crashes probed last year by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Fewer than 1 percent of suspected impaired drivers involved in such crashes tested positive for nothing but marijuana.
Wikipedia.
Drivers suspected of impairment in crashes that hurt or killed people in Phoenix, Chandler, and Scottsdale were rarely found to be impaired by marijuana, according to research from the Phoenix New Times. Meanwhile, alcohol is believed responsible for five to 10 times the number of crashes caused by drivers impaired by all other illegal drugs combined. The New Times has the rest.
It was an eventful week in medical marijuana news with groundbreaking discoveries happening in laboratories around the world. 
In addition to finding out that cannabis can lower risks for bladder cancer and diabetes, scientists this week announced several other interesting findings regarding our favorite plant.
Big pharma/tobacco/ag is coming for our pot: this much we know. With a market potential of "billions" being floated around, they certainly won't leave it in the hands of Joe Grower. 
When Colorado passed the most permissive cannabis laws in the history of the world this week, stakeholders did everything they could to prevent the corporate takeover of "Phizanto Morris" in the state. That's what they'll tell you, at least. In reality, they just fucked over toking entrepreneurs in 49 states, D.C., and whatever Puerto Rico is these days.
Vermont farmers will likely have one more option of what to cultivate this summer after the state legislature Monday gave final approval to Senate Bill 157 which lifts a state ban on hemp farming. 
Wikipedia commons.
The bill still has to be signed by the governor, but so far he hasn't made any indications that he will veto it.
A proposal to decriminalize marijuana across the state will have a hearing this morning at the Missouri House of Representatives -- which appears to be the farthest this effort has ever gone in the legislature. It will not, however, make it much farther this time around given that today is the last day of the legislative session.
Still, supportive lawmakers and marijuana reform advocates from Show-Me Cannabis are celebrating the opportunity to have the issue finally debated in this setting. "It's a big step forward for Missouri," State Rep. Rory Ellinger, a University City Democrat, tells the Riverfront Times, which as the rest of this story.
No, its not going to make you stoned. It's could make you fat, though. A butcher in Seattle has begun serving pork from pot-fed pigs, and says the taste is hog-heaven.
BB Ranch.
Cassandra Sawywer with the Seattle Met uncovered the tip the other week in talking with the head butcher of BB Ranch butcher shop at the Pike Place Market in Washington. He dubbed them "pot pigs", and came up with the idea with Bucking Boar Farms owner who already serves pigs used vodka grains from a nearby distillery.
Morgan Loew, a 
Morgan Loew. douchebag reporter with Phoenix's CBS 5, had a hunch: that only young and healthy people were getting a medical marijuana card from doctors who didn't really care about following the rules. Sick people be damned.
So what did he do? He faked his way into getting a card with a real ailment: a sore back. He saw both a chiropractor (to build up a history) as well as the doctor who recommended cannabis for what Loew described as "distracting" pain that limited his ability to run.
