Late last month, the U.S. House voted to defund DEA medical marijuana raids in Colorado and other states that have legalized MMJ — an unprecedented development that was greeted with cheers by many cannabis reformers.
But the next step in the legislative process — passage by the U.S. Senate — hit a snag despite support by two extraordinarily odd political bedfellows: Kentucky’s Rand “Son of Ron” Paul, a firebrand touted in many quarters as a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, and New Jersey’s Cory Booker, a liberal Democrat and unapologetic pal of President Barack Obama.

For a year-plus, we’ve shared claims of pot profiling from drivers who say they were pulled over on bogus pretenses in other states simply because their vehicle had Colorado license plates. For instance, a 65-year-old was told she fit the profile of a drug smuggler because she didn’t fit the profile of a drug smuggler and a man was pulled over due to a rental car records snafu that didn’t really exist.
Out-of-state agencies tend to deny that they profile despite evidence suggesting they do — and a new report offers possible reasons why such efforts happen. Videos below show three Colorado drivers getting pulled over in Idaho for the most minor of infractions, but in each case, troopers found weed.

New York state Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is sick and tired of watching the New York City police abuse their power while the mayor’s office does nothing but make empty promises. From January to March, police made more than 7,000 arrests for marijuana possession in NYC, and 86 percent black or Hispanic – all after NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to right the increasingly crooked ship.

Rebecca Maez was sentenced on Friday to ten years in prison for the death of cannabis advocate Jenny Kush. Maez, 28, was drunk and driving the wrong way in an HOV lane on I-25 last September when she collided head-on with a car being driven by Kush’s boyfriend, Jeremy DePinto, who was injured in the crash. Kush, his passenger, was killed.
Maez pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and assault last month. At an emotional sentencing hearing on Friday, she pleaded for forgiveness as Kush’s loved ones told the judge about the amazing mother, daughter and friend that they lost. For the rest, head over to the Denver Westword.