Oregon pro-pot activist Paul Stanford has announced he will not have enough signatures to get his legalization proposal on the November ballot.
Stanford made the announcement last week on his Cannabis Common Sense internet show, saying it would be impossible to collect the needed signatures by the July 3 deadline and blamed much of it on the popularity of another legalizaiton measure from New Approach which has received widespread funding support.
According to Washington state officials, the first recreational marijuana dispensary licenses will be issued July 7.
But could high prices, low supply and a better value in the medical and black markets keep sales down? Some dispensary owners think so.
For the first time in its history, Minnesota NORML plans to draft a marijuana legalization bill for consideration during the next legislative session. Marcus Harcus, the new associate director of the organization, tells us “the precedent that was set in Colorado and Washington gives me hope that it’s a reasonable fight.”
Discussions about the bill are preliminary at this point, but some of the details will be hammered out during an upcoming MN NORML strategic planning retreat, Harcus, who came to NORML from Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, says. Legal experts will be brought in to help write the bill, he adds.
| V1ctorCasale/Flickr |
There is only one thing worse than a judge cracking jokes, and that’s a southern judge cracking jokes in a Georgia courtroom. Unless, of course, he is busting the balls of some crooked local cops.
That was the case in Athens, Georgia last week when U.S. District Judge Clay Land ruled that sheriff’s deputies might’ve violated the civil rights of two young suspects during a warrantless witch hunt for weed.
Following in the footsteps of Portland, Maine last year, activists in York, Maine say they have collected enough signatures to get a pot legalization measure on the November city ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would make the possession in the city of up to one ounce of pot legal for adults 21 and up. The penalty is currently a $600 fine.
| AndrewTaylor/Flickr |
Due to some of the more archaic marijuana laws in the country, the state of Missouri is not necessarily known for producing huge yields of high grade cannabis. As a result, those who want bulk amounts of the good stuff around those parts often tend to get it shipped in from other states, but the consequences can be pretty extreme.
Arizona voters won’t be deciding on whether to legalize limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and up this year.
It’s not the most surprising result, but the group that had been gathering petition signatures, Safer Arizona, released a statement on its Facebook page marking the end of the group’s effort. The Phoenix New Times has the details.
April saw a lot more than crop-watering showers in the marijuana world. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, about $22 million in recreational pot was sold in April, up nearly 60 percent from January, when retail sales started.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana sales — which still far outpace recreational sales — dropped from about $34.47 million in March to $31.7 million in April. April medical marijuana patient figures aren’t available yet, but the state’s MMJ registry has been slowly increasing over the past few months and had 115,208 patients as of March 31.
| jlwelsh/FlickrCommons |
| Sign posted at the Ritz Ybor Amphitheater in Tampa, FL |
Matthew Heller is a Florida business owner with a company by the name of HornBlasters. He sells air-horns to folks who feel that their vehicle just needs more horn. He cruises around the Tampa area in a massive blue pickup truck with his company’s name emblazoned on the sides, and his namesake product wired smartly throughout for ultimate horn-honking capabilities.
Mr. Heller likes his horns loud, and his rap music even louder, so one night this past February, he hopped in his big blue truck and made his way over to the local music venue to catch a hip hop concert. Though no doubt confident that the implied threat of an infernal racket of horns going off if any alarm should be sounded would ward off any would-be car thieves, Heller had no idea who might end up snooping around his truck that night.
| www.weedmaps.com |
Leading up to the statewide California election this past Tuesday, it is probably safe to say that a majority of voters in San Diego did not realize that they were casting ballots either for, or against, safe access to medical marijuana in the city.
There were no particular referendums for reefer, no specific ballot measures for medical marijuana, but the disappointing results in the city’s District Attorney race, and a rightward-shift in the too-powerful City Council, are reportedly the result of low voter turnout.
It was a tough day at the polls for pro-cannabis activists in America’s Finest City. Another in a disheartening string of crushing blows against any legitimacy for medical marijuana in San Diego.