Los Angeles may have an estimated 1,000-plus pot retailers — which pretty much blows all other cities (and state) counts out of the water — but other states are becoming medical cannabis powerhouses of their own.The Massachusetts Medical Society’s “Answer Page” recently crunched the numbers on medical cannabis patients across America and concluded that California is not king. That title goes to Colorado, with Oregon coming in second.
The L.A. Weekly (begrudgingly) has the full story.
| Dakta Green. |
Dakta Green wants to legalize cannabis. He’s open about his cannabis use – you kind of have to bee when you’re the co-coordinator of New Zealand NORML, you’ve been arrested for operating a place that openly allows the use and sale of herb – and has been a major an advocate for New Zealand repealing and reforming their marijuana laws.
And now Green is running for mayor of the Ruapehu District (roughly the same as a county in the United States) on the North Island of New Zealand on a cannabis reform/lowering electricity costs platform.
Don’t expect any major changes in marijuana policy from the White House any time soon (okay, if you were expecting major changes in the first place you were in for a disappointment).
At a press briefing yesterday, CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest if marijuana rescheduling was on the president’s radar these days after what seems to be a rapid public opinion shift on all things marijuana over the last few years. The answer? Our president isn’t even considering it — at least, not now.
Has the U.S. Justice Department given approval for Colorado and Washington to move forward with implementing legal marijuana sales to adults over 21 by simply not saying “no”?
Colorado and Washington officials seem to think so, according to reports released this week from Talking Points Memo and the Huffington Post.
| Mary McNeil/Flickr. |
| Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu. |
Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu says that police need more options in dealing with marijuana possession charges and decriminalizing the possession of 30 grams or less at the federal level could save millions in court and police costs.
Chu delivered his message to his peers earlier this week at the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police annual meeting. The association also passed a resolution urging the government to provide alternative ways of dealing with the “crime” of low-level marijuana possession.
| U.S. Customs and Border Protection. |
Add scuba diving across the St. Clair River to your list of marijuana smuggling methods that don’t work.
U.S. Border Patrol arrested a Canadian man around 1 a.m. Monday morning in Michigan after he surfaced from the river with a dry bag with about eight pounds of Canadian herb inside.
A new poll suggests that the war on drugs is even more unpopular than Congress.
A survey from last month showed Congress with a 12 percent approval rating. However, a new poll finds that only 4 percent of respondents feel we’re winning the war on drugs, while 82 percent disagree — and a national marijuana-reform advocate thinks Colorado’s example is likely to inspire even more people to give peace a chance. Denver Westword has the full story.
For almost two years now, medical marijuana patients the state of Delaware have been sitting in limbo waiting on their state to enact medical marijuana dispensary laws passed in May of 2011.
Thankfully, they won’t have to wait much longer as Gov. Jack Markell announced last week that lawmakers will establish the rules and implement the program soon.
The New Jersey Senate has caved in to Gov. Chris Christie’s demands, altering a medical marijuana bill that would have eased access for suffering children to make it more restrictive.
The 34 to 1 vote means that children will have to have two doctors signing off on a child’s recommendation for medical cannabis, one of which has to be a child psychiatrist. The new bill also expands the available forms of medicated edibles, but limits those new forms to children only – a baffling move to anyone who has researched medical cannabis for even five minutes online could tell you.
| Medical marijuana activist Eric Stevens. |
Reefer common sense is taking over Miami Beach. When voters go to the polls in November to elect a new mayor, they will also get the chance to answer a non-binding straw ballot question on whether the city commission should adopt a resolution urging the federal government and the Florida Legislature to decriminalize and approve the medicinal use of marijuana in the Sunshine State.
The Miami Beach City Commission quietly approved the straw ballot language in July as a compromise with a pro-pot organization that had collected more than 8,000 signatures from voters in support of a measure to remove criminal penalties for anyone caught with small amounts of weed. Miami New Times has more.