Earlier this week, a group of Vermont democrats, independents and progressives introduced House Bill 499, which would legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use and cultivation in the state, as well as allowing for recreational cannabis stores to open up in the Green Mountain State.

Towns in Massachusetts can not ban medical marijuana centers outright, but they are allowed to enact zoning regulations on where dispensaries can be located. State Attorney General Martha Coakley handed down that decision yesterday in response to a Wakefield, Mass. passing a law that prohibited marijuana centers from operating in that town.

A Marijuana Policy poll of 600 Minnesota voters underscores the need for medical marijuana reform in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The poll, conducted earlier this month, shows that 65 percent of Minnesota voters would support changing the law to allow for medical marijuana in that state.

There were some big moves in Maryland with regards to medical marijuana late last week. On Friday, state health secretary Joshua Sharfstein said that the governor’s office would support measures that would create dispensaries in the state.

Illinois is one step closer to having medical marijuana laws on the books after a bipartisan subcommittee approved HB0001 to move into the House for a full vote. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time bills have made it this far only to find their demise before the entire House.
If passed, the Illinois medical marijuana bill would allow patients to possess up to two and a half ounces, which they could replenish at one of 60 proposed, state-regulated dispensaries every two weeks. Herb would be grown in 22 cultivation facilities scattered across Illinois.