Update 4/18/14: Sorry Rhode Island, no pot legalization – no matter how limited – for you this year. After meeting yesterday, the state House Judiciary Committee decided to table seven marijuana-related bills until next year.
Lawmakers were apparently not swayed by public testimony earlier this week in favor of legislation that would have legalized sales of up to an ounce of cannabis at a time to adults 21 and up as well as the personal cultivation of one plant at a time.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday reiterated to a crowd of about 500 students and parents that recreational marijuana laws in his state aren’t changing under his watch. It sends the wrong message to kids, he says.
Apparently locking up their brothers, sisters and parents for up to six months for as little as a joint does send the right message in Christie’s world.

Here’s your “no shit” statement for the day: Legalizing limited amounts of marijuana in Colorado has not lead to an increase in crime in the Centennial State so far (nor will it ever).
According to data from the Colorado Department of Public Safety, crime has pretty much gone down in the Denver area in the last three months. Is it because everyone is getting stoned? Probably not. But it couldn’t hurt.

Support it or not, Americans find the legalization of marijuana to be an inevitable thing according to a Pew Research Poll released this week. Seventy-five percent of the nearly 2,000 adults polled said that marijuana will be legally sold and taxed in this country eventually.
Notably, 54 percent said that marijuana should be legalized for adults and 76 percent said marijuana possession of small amounts isn’t worth going to jail over.