Though qualifying Minnesota medical marijuana patients will only have the option of vaporizing and eating concentrated forms of marijuana, at least they’ll have access. Less than two months ago medical marijuana seemed dead, at least as far as this legislative session was concerned. But during a press conference this afternoon, Scott Dibble and Carly Melin announced that the Senate and House have come together on a medical marijuana compromise.

When Missouri drug task forces seize assets they believed were used in a crime, state law says they have to give it to the state school fund. However, cops don’t trust state lawmakers to use it for that purpose, so they bypass the rule and use a federal program to keep the money for themselves.
The remarks describe a process that has been well-known to property-rights activists for years (Daily RFTreported on it back in 2010), but they’ve nonetheless provided new fuel for those who aim to reform forfeiture laws, especially since the topic has received more attention in the national media lately. The Riverfront Times has more.

Colorado medical and retail marijuana testing labs licensed by the Marijuana Enforcement Division can no longer accept and test private samples dropped off by patients and caregivers. Legally, they’re only allowed to test marijuana from state-licensed marijuana facilities.
Officials say the move keeps the state out of the federal government’s cross-hairs by maintaining a tight lock on marijuana inventory. But it also punishes home-growing patients who want to know what they are putting in their bodies and prevents objective, third-party tests from being conducted on products currently for sale.

Since legal sales of recreational marijuana got underway on January 1, state agencies have made a big push in regard to so-called stoned driving. Witness the Colorado Department of Transportation’s “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign, which features a series of public-service announcements with a light touch.
Data revealing the scope of the problem has been hard to come by, as we’ve been reporting for months. But this weekend, we got anecdotal evidence from a Larimer County checkpoint that driving under the influence of alcohol remains a much, much larger issue than does its drug-related counterpart.