| Wikipedia commons. |
Eleven Seattle-area medical marijuana shops were told to shut down by the Drug Enforcement Administration for being within 1,000 feet of schools. The letters take a similar tactic to one federal agents used in 2011 and 2012 in Washington and other states.
“The DEA enforces federal drug laws and these letters have nothing to do with any pending legislation or state law,” a DEA spokeswoman told the Seattle Times .
| TokeoftheTown.com |
As we reported back in March, Louisiana legislators are considering a bill that would have dropped marijuana possession from the mandatory minimum sentencing laws that help in the clogging of state prison systems.
House Bill 103 is gaining momentum, moving through committee this week and on to the House floor. The Advocate reports it was a pretty lively discussion, with several legislators pointing out the stupidity of sending people away for 20 years or more for a single joint to other, more pig-headed colleagues hell-bent on punishing pot users.
| Minnesota state house. |
Two identical medical marijuana bills were introduced to the Minnesota House and Senate today, opening the door for a serious discussion on allowing marijuana for approved medical conditions in that state.
The bills would not only allow patients to grow and possess cannabis, but it would also create a medical marijuana dispensary system regulated by the state health department. The law would also allow reciprocity with medical marijuana patients from other states so long as their license is current.
Earlier this week a Florida man explained to an Indian River County Sheriff’s deputy that the pants he was wearing where the cop found crack cocaine and marijuana were not his but were, in fact, stolen pants.
Not only that, but he claims the pants he pilfered were from a church. Broward-Palm Beach New Times has the rest.
Maryland is set to be the 19th state to approve of a state medical marijuana program after Gov. Martin O’Malley announced earlier today that he would be signing the bill at a ceremony tomorrow.
While it sounds great – and no doubt will provide medical benefit to some patients – the program is arguably the strictest in the country and probably won’t start serving patients until at least 2016 according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
Nearly 40 percent of the nearly 9,090 medical marijuana patients in New Mexico are on the registry for post-traumatic stress disorder.
That means nearly 3,700 percent of the New Mexico is relieved today after the Department of Health ruled that PTSD will remain a qualifying condition for the state medical marijuana registry.
| Lindsey Rinehart. |
Lindsey and Josh Rinehart support medical marijuana legalization via Compassionate Idaho, with Lindsey using pot to treat her multiple sclerosis. Last week officers received a report from a school involving an eleven-year-old who is said to have eaten some marijuana and felt ill afterward.The eleven-year-old wasn’t one of the Rineharts’ kids, but cops say they subsequently traced the weed to the family’s home, where they say they found pot and paraphernalia in areas where her kids could get access to them.” Hence, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare took custody of the kids.
And now Project SAM, a national anti-marijuana organization, is getting involved and pointing to new laws in nearby Colorado as part of the problem. Denver Westword has more.
| Speaker of the House John Boehner. |
The daughter of anti-marijuana Republican U.S. House speaker John Boehner is marrying a ganja-toking Rastafarian from Jamaica.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Lindsay Boehner is engaged to Jamaican national Dominic Lakhan, who lives and works in Florida as a construction worker. Linsay Boehner and the dreadlocked Lakhan – who both reside in Florida – are set to marry this weekend, according to the New York Daily news.
| Mt. Rainier behind Tacoma, Wash. |
Last May, a Tacoma, Wash. cop pulled over Joseph Robertson for speeding. The cop said he smelled marijuana in the car, and after a search police ticketed Robertson for marijuana possession and took his stash in addition to a driving without a valid license charge.
Since then Robertson, who is a medical marijuana patient, had the pot charge dropped says he should get his bag of meds back – and the municipal court has agreed. Twice.
| Kansas City. |
A successful marijuana reform effort in St. Louis could pave the way for policy changes across Missouri — and key cannabis advocates say they are now looking toward Kansas City.
Statewide advocacy group Show-Me Cannabis says it is in the very preliminary stages of pushing for so-called “decriminalization” in Kansas City just like the bill that the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed last week. The Riverfront Times has the rest.