Legalize It

Eric Holder says U.S. banks will be able to accept accounts from state-legal marijuana operations

By William Breathes on January 24, 2014 Legalize It, News

In what would be a major shift towards the acceptance of cannabis by the federal government, Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday announced that banks and credit card companies would soon be allowed to open accounts with state-legal cannabis operations.
For years banks have denied or closed accounts with medical dispensaries because banks are federally insured and are barred from dealing with money they know comes from a federally-illegal operation. It’s caused the businesses to become cash-heavy targets for robberies in California and Colorado.

Colorado congressman invites President Obama to tour a state-legal grow facility

By William Breathes on January 24, 2014 Legalize It, News, Say what?

Jared Polis.

Earlier this week, we posted about President Barack Obama’s latest marijuana comments: He told the New Yorker that pot isn’t more dangerous than alcohol, and considers it to be less risky “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.”
With that new take, Boulder, Colorado Democrat Representative Jared Polis has written a letter to the President and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid inviting them to tour a Colorado dispensary and grow. Read the entire letter over at The Latest Word.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is no friend to marijuana

By Jack Daniel on January 23, 2014 Legalize It, Medical, Opinion

After New Jersey Governor Chris Christie caught his breath from the walk to the podium to give his 2nd-term inauguration speech on Tuesday, he made a lot of headlines by vowing to “end the failed war on drugs”.
His plan, an inevitable failure in its own right like so many others’ before him, is to treat “addiction” with treatment, rather than incarceration. Of course, he makes no mention of those already unfairly incarcerated in New Jersey on trumped up drug charges, and how to…ahem… balance those scales. As Jacob Sullum writes for Forbes, why should otherwise law-abiding citizens be forced into a situation where they may be forced to decide between rehabilitation and incarceration?

Maryland lawmakers to introduce bill legalizing limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21+

By William Breathes on January 21, 2014 Legalize It, News

Three Maryland lawmakers say they are crafting a bill that would legalize cannabis use and possession for adults 21 and up in an effort to curb illegal drug trafficking and funnel new tax dollars to schools and drug treatment programs.
The Marijuana Control Act of 2014 would also allow Marylanders to cultivate up to six plants at home.

Puff, Pass and Paint offers a 420-friendly art experience in Denver

By William Breathes on January 21, 2014 Culture, Legalize It

Like most artists, Denver painter Heidi Keyes, seen here, was looking to expand her artistic endeavors. Then, a friend told her to create a Colorado-style version of the popular Sip and Paint/Canvas and Cocktails events already happening: “Why not some kind of 420-friendly painting class?”
And with that, Puff, Pass and Paint was born, gaining steam and clients faster than Keyes could ever have imagined. Westword caught up with Keyes this week to find out more about how she managed to become a professional artist and what it’s like finding her way within the state of Colorado’s new marijuana laws.

Thirty recreational pot shops now open for business in Denver

By William Breathes on January 20, 2014 Legalize It

yesterday’s Denver Bronco win, everyone in this city is plenty high (Go, Broncos!). But for those who’d like to augment that euphoria, there are now thirty fully licensed retail pot shops in Denver. Late Friday, the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses updated its list of the establishments that have gotten both their state and city licenses, and although the pace has slowed a bit since the hectic days before recreational sales started on January 1, license-holders report that the process has been relatively slow and steady.
Denver Westword has a list of all of the recreational marijuana stores now fully licensed in Denver, Colorado.

Obama: Marijuana “experiment” in Washington and Colorado must move forward

By William Breathes on January 20, 2014 Legalize It, News

President Barrack Obama thinks Colorado and Washington are blazing a trail with marijuana legalization the rest of the nation should consider, telling the New Yorker that racial disparity in marijuana arrests need to end.

“It’s important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished,” Obama told the New Yorker.

Washington D.C. residents overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization for adults

By William Breathes on January 17, 2014 Legalize It, News

Earlier this week we told you about Washington D.C. council and their push to decriminalize cannabis in our nation’s capitol. They might want to set their sights a little higher.

According to a Washington Post poll, 63 percent of D.C. residents want to legalize marijuana for adults. It didn’t matter what age, race or ethnicity either. Everyone wants it. Even half of those who opposed legalizing it think that something needs to be done about the current laws.

CNN reporter’s awesome contact high from reporting about Colorado pot

By William Breathes on January 17, 2014 Legalize It

CNN’s Randi Kaye appears to have really enjoyed the week she spent covering recreational marijuana sales in Colorado. Especially hilarious: A giggly, occasionally incoherent Kaye looking absolutely shit-hammered during a conversation with host Anderson Cooper thanks to time she spent in a limousine with folks who “whipped out” something really big — a joint as big as a cannon, she said.
Ready, aim, fire! See the video over at The Latest Word.

Punk legend Henry Rollins on legal pot in Colorado and Washington

By William Breathes on January 16, 2014 Legalize It, Opinion

Henry Rollins.

Henry Rollins doesn’t smoke pot, but he doesn’t give a damn if you decide it’s right for you. That’s the way the entire country should approach pot legalization, according to the spoken-word poet and founder of hardcore punk band Black Flag:
“I think smoking pot is a monumental waste of time, so I don’t do it. However, I am not at all interested in keeping you from it. If America can regulate, tax and sell alcohol and tobacco – two wildly addictive and potentially harmful substances – you would think legalizing marijuana shouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle.”
Read more in Rollins’ weekly column for the LA Weekly’s music blog, “West Coast Sound”.

Browsing: Legalize It