The Hawaiian Islands have historically been known for exporting fresh fruits and nuts, dank coffee beans, and sunburnt tourists. While the many legends of amazing pakalolo strains like Kauai Electric, Kona Gold, and the infamous Maui Wowie have made their way to the mainland over the years, extremely strict anti-cannabis state laws, and a lack of will to reform them, have kept Hawaii’s finest weed a well-kept secret.
One high-ranking state lawmaker hopes to change that, though, and in the process help turn marijuana into Hawaii’s new number one cash crop.
Browsing: Legislation
Ever since Colorado’s medical marijuana boom, law enforcers have been worried about people driving stoned
| Toke of the Town |
— and these concerns likely helped motivate strict open-container laws related to marijuana.
But now, following the launch of recreational pot sales, one of Colorado’s most powerful legislators has introduced a bill that would make it more difficult to prove an open-container violation — and a marijuana attorney sees the move as a positive one.
Michael Roberts at Westword has the rest of the story.
Though he spared exactly zero words regarding cannabis, drug policy, or criminal justice reform in his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama and his administration have been increasingly more vocal on these issues as he settles into his second, and final, term in office.
Both the President and Attorney General Eric Holder in the Department of Justice have earned few friends and little trust in the cannabis community, but both wings of the Executive Branch have vowed to address the undeniable fact that when it comes to victimless, drug-related crimes, our criminal justice system is broken. This past Thursday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee took an historic step to begin the long overdue reform process.
| Brandon Marshall/Westword |
In the November elections of 2012, 63% of the voters in Massachusetts approved Question 3, the state’s newly proposed medical marijuana law, making the Bay State the 18th state in the nation to legalize ganja use for medicinal purposes. With Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island already respecting patients’ rights, and New Hampshire looking to follow in Colorado and Washington’s footsteps, all of New England will soon enjoy safe access.
Back in Massachusetts, in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Question 3 medical marijuana law, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health sparked the process this past Friday by granting the first 20 official licenses for prospective storefront medical marijuana dispensaries.
A pair of Pennsylvania senators has introduced legislation that would legalize the cultivation of state-regulated CBD-rich cannabis plants and the production of high-CBD oils and tinctures, but the rest of the cannabis plant would remain illegal.
Senate Bill 1182, sponsored by Sens. Daylin Leach and Mike Folmer, would legalize a specific strain of cannabis bred in Colorado by one specific medical cannabis shop that has been made famous through several high-profile media specials. Both lawmakers say the bill is aimed to help children suffering from severe seizure disorders.
Red state are going green. We have recently reported that Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Alabama, which are all predominantly republican, are making strides towards legalization, or at least decriminalization, of marijuana.
Today we are adding another to that list — Wyoming.
Oklahoma is not a state where you want to get caught with pot. First-offenders caught with even a flake of bud face up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines. Cultivation or sales can net you anywhere from a mandatory two years to life life in jail.
State Sen. Constance Johnson, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, says it’s time to change that. Johnson has introduced Senate Bill 2116, which would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of pot for adults 21 and up as well as the personal cultivation of up to five plants. The bill would also license commercial growers and retail marijuana stores as well as lessen penalties for those under 21.
| New Hampshire state house. |
Adults in New Hampshire are one step closer to being able to use, purchase and cultivate limited amounts of cannabis after the state house yesterday gave preliminary approved to a legalization proposal.
House Bill 492, modeled after Colorado’s marijuan laws, would legalize up to an ounce of pot for personal possession for adults 21 and up. It would also legalize personal cultvaiton of up to six plants as well as establish a system for allowing sales of recreational cannabis through licensed, taxed storefronts.
Washington state medical marijuana patients have been under attack by lawmakers attempting to force the state’s existing medical cannabis providers and patients into the heavily-taxed, limited recreational cannabis program. Namely, that attack has come in the form of House Bill 2149, which restricts home growing and forces existing medical clinics to follow recreational rules and laws.
The bill would essentially guts the medical program according to many patients and activists. Lawmakers say the law is justified and medical dispensaries have been running too unregulated for too long. But a newly-proposed bill stemming from a group of patients and physicians could protect the current medical program by introducing a regulatory system catered specifically for medical marijuana.
| High CBD Purple Diesel oil. |
Florida state representatives made drug law history yesterday when they held the first ever Florida legislative hearing on a specific medical therapeutic use of marijuana. The topic was “Charlotte’s Web” a strain of the cannabis said to be greatly effective in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy.
In some folks’ view, a great advantage of high CBD strains is that it is has no euphoric effect. Bummer. But if that’s what it takes to get the stuff out of the arms of John Law and into the hands of patients, so be it.