While Florida only has a very limited CBD-only medical marijuana law on the books, it is starting to look like a much broader medical marijuana ballot initiative could pass. That would mean the Sunshine State could soon be awash in legal marijuana grow operations, and Miami-Dade county wants to make sure they don’t miss the boat on a potential financial windfall.
| Photo: Alejandro Mejía Greene/JubiloHaku via Flickr Creative Commons |
The Public Safety Committee in the California state legislature shot down AB2500 last week, a bill crafted by Assemblyman Jim Frazier that would have made driving with any trace of THC in your system illegal, and punishable by DUI conviction.
Frazier attempted to lump cannabis in with actual drugs like meth, cocaine, and heroin in a bill that was unreasonably strict, even after Frazier’s original language for it got slashed for being so unjust.
Starting today, new rules go into effect in Uruguay regulating the legal sales of cannabis to adults. But don’t go planning your vacation there yet, stoners. It remains illegal for non-Uruguayans to purchase or consume cannabis.
And even for those Uruguayans who want purchase, grow and use it are going to face some stiff regulations.
The two-month period during which Colorado farmers could register to grow industrial hemp for the 2014 growing season closed on May 1. And as of 4:30 p.m. that day, state records show that 42 people or businesses were approved to grow hemp and another 53 had applied but were not yet approved.
And there may be more on the way. Colorado Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Christi Lightcap says more applications may trickle in, since they simply had to be postmarked — not received — by May 1. A few of the applicants stand out, including a county government and Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Our colleagues at the Village Voice asked New Yorkers in Union Square what they think of New York’s pot history — of course, at least one person claims marijuana activism was first sparked here in the ’70s, along with the the foundation of High Times magazine — and about its future. Most people videographer Saila Huusko spoke with on Saturday praised the benefits of marijuana as a medicinal aid –but as the performance by Redman in the video shows, it’s also probably the single best party drug to ever exist.
Yesterday, Minneapolis state Sen. Scott Dibble’s medical marijuana bill passed its final committee hurdle in the Senate, paving the way for a floor vote in that chamber.
Dibble’s bill, which allows patients to vaporize marijuana but not smoke it, is still more liberal than the medical marijuana bill making its way through the House. In fact, Heather Azzi, political director of Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, tells us the House version is fundamentally unworkable because it would implicate both state employees and doctors in federal offenses.
Don’t assume for a second that people who enforce our laws actually follow them.
Broward County drug court judge Gisele Pollack, who has had a history of substance abuse (ncluding one time when she arrived to work drunk) was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early last Friday. Pollack, who just a month ago took leave of her duties to deal with her personal problems, is now facing several charges, including DUI with damage to property or persons and failure to use due care.
The big medical marijuana compromise announced last week by Minnesota House leaders has gone over about as well as the Hindenburg with medical marijuana activists, but state Sen. Scott Dibble (D-Minneapolis) says a more liberal version of the bill in his chamber is still very much alive.
The House bill isn’t opposed by law enforcement, and Gov. Mark Dayton has said that’s a necessary condition for him to sign medical marijuana legislation into law. But in related news, the bill wouldn’t allow anybody to actually smoke marijuana. Qualifying patients would be able to use a vaporizer, “but only under direct, in-person supervision and the control of a licensed health care provider.”
Minneapolis City Pages has the local angle.
| Sheila Gallagher. |
It’s not necessarily the type of issue that school superintendents take up, but would-be state schools chief Sheila Gallagher says legalizing pot to pay for schools is among her top priorities.
Gallagher, who is running for the statewide position, says that current attitudes around cannabis are changing. People are going to use cannabis, she says, so why not tax it and put the money to good use: the state’s children.
President Barack Obama would arrest you for trying to purchase three-quarters of a ton of marijuana, but when his administration does exactly that it’s business as usual.
According to a Drug Enforcement Administration, the amount of marijuana being grown by the federal government at the University of Mississippi will increase this year to 1,430 pounds of pot.