Publish an incorrect dispensary address, and you could go to jail.
You heard right: Under a proposed law, any local group or company who publishes an incorrect address for a dispensary would be guilty of a felony, and subject to a mandatory $10,000 for each violation.
That’s just one of several new ideas by a trio of prohibitionist Arizona lawmakers who want to tamper with the state’s medical-marijuana program and prevent an adult-use measure from ever making the ballot.
Comedians had a great year in 2017. Anyone concerned with the political health of America? Not so much. No matter what part of the liberal-conservative spectrum you fall into nowadays, the argumentative state of bipartisan politics is both entrenched and insufferable. If Democratic Senator X does something despicable, his supporters will quickly counter by bringing up something equally or more despicable that Republican Senator Y did three months before.
All of this bitch-ass-ness had been stressing me out before Ol’ Jeffy stuck his nose in our legal cannabis. After he announced the end of several federal cannabis protections dating back to 2009, anyone supporting Colorado’s pot sector became paranoid — and it wasn’t from smoking too much Haze. But alas, I’m a stoner, not a political analyst. So instead of giving you hot takes on how to fix this country (you have Facebook and your dad for that), here are ten strains that will help you deal with the mockery all of these fuck boys in Washington, D.C., have been making of our country.
Arizona residents on probation or parole would no longer be able to consume cannabis to relieve their pain or other ailments under a newly proposed law.
Arizona Republican Vince Leach, R-Saddlebrooke, introduced several anti-medical-marijuana bills last year that went nowhere, including one that would have stopped the state from offering registration discounts to food-stamp recipients. This time, he’s targeting people on probation…
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo rescinding the Cole Memorandum and other federal pot protections dating back to 2009 on January 4. Colorado’s elected officials — from Governor John Hickenlooper to Mayor Michael Hancock to the entire congressional delegation — were quick to condemn the move and vow to fight any attempt to prosecute law-abiding businesses in this state. But in the meantime, how does the Sessions memo affect you?
Four states legalized recreational marijuana in the 2016 election, following in the footsteps of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. But in the year since, only Nevada made retail pot sales a reality. While California and Massachusetts are moving forward to enact permanent legislation and issue licenses for pot establishments, the future of weed in Maine, the fourth state where residents voted in favor of legalization, is at a standstill after a veto by the Republican governor.
Approved by Colorado voters in November 2012, legal marijuana is now becoming mainstream in Colorado – but not without its fair share of controversy. New laws and regulations surrounding medical and recreational pot, a recent rise in legalization opponents thanks to United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s fear-mongering actions, and consolidation in Denver’s dispensary scene have all generated plenty of buzz.
For a rundown of what cannabis issues people have been talking about most this year, check out our ten most-read pot stories of 2017:
Shortly after Amendment 64 passed on November 6, 2012, the flood of questions began. How much pot can I buy from a dispensary at one time? How many plants can I grow in my house? Why do I want to eat half my body weight in fried chicken after I smoke? To answer all of these inquiries effectively, Westword created a new position: the Stoner.
Though he doesn’t look like the sharpest tool in the shed, our Stoner has been here for all of your cannabis questions since it was legalized recreationally. Questions have ranged far and wide in the five years since voters spoke up (and toked up); keep reading for links to the the ten most interesting, relevant and ridiculous we’ve received:
Four more states have allowed recreational cannabis sales since Colorado started the trend in January 2014, and three others have passed laws legalizing it. So why does Denver still feel the need to bring in government officials from around the globe to talk about pot?
April 4, 2016, was a big day for Matt Hobson — and it was very nearly a big day for Colorado’s cannabis industry.
Momentum for federal cannabis reform may be slowing down under the current presidential administration, but the industry has never had more lobbyists in Washington, D.C., than it does now. And few have been lobbying longer than the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which visited Capitol Hill last week to advocate for a number of pot-friendly bills and amendments.