Mexico City Council is debating allowing private marijuana smoking clubs as well as the private cultivation of cannabis plants as a way of easing drug-related crime in the violence-torn nation.
While the idea makes perfect sense to supporters and anyone with a set of eyes who can see marijuana prohibition has failed, Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto says he’s against the measure and any legalization efforts.
You need further proof that marijuana attitudes are rapidly changing in this country? Here’s your sign: former presidential candidate Sen, John McCain, a republican from Arizona, now says he’s open to marijuana legalization.
Yeah, you read that right. The guy who called marijuana a “gateway drug” as recently as 2007 is saying he’s changed his mind.
Smoke a joint, go to jail? Not too much anymore. Not in California. In 2010, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law making possession of less than an ounce of weed a ticket-worth infraction.
Now State Sen. Mark Leno has seen his bill that would allow non-violent drug possession convicts to be tried as misdemeanor cases pass the state assembly this week. The law would expand the lax stance on having a little in your pocket (so long as you’re not a violent felon) to other drugs. LA Weekly has the rest.
The Marijuana Policy Project has placed another sports-related pro-marijuana billboard, this time targeting the National Football League and their harsh penalties for players caught using cannabis.
That policy is especially harsh in Colorado and Washington where the use, possession and cultivation of limited amounts of marijuana are now legal, MPP spokesman Mason Tvert says.
The Washington Liquor Control Board, which is charged with regulating Washington’s emerging retail cannabis industry, released a new set of proposed rules Wednesday. Among (many) other things, the laws limit the number of dispensaries that will be allowed to operate in the state to 334.
Of the 334 shops, Seattle will have as many 21 according to Jake Ellison over at Seattle PI. King County has the potential for the most, with 61 stores. People can own up to three dispensaries or 33 percent of the local market, whichever comes first.
| Chris Perez. |
Cleveland Indians pitcher Chris Perez was arrested in June after police say a package with about ten ounces of pot was delivered to his house via a packaged addressed to his dog, Brody.
Despite the insistence at the time of Perez’s wife Melanie, police didn’t buy that Brody the dog wasn’t capable of interstate drug trafficking and the husband and wife were arrested and charged with marijuana possession.
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin yesterday says he is now open to discussing the regulation and legalization of limited amounts of marijuana for adult use following the announcement by the Justice Department that marijuana businesses will be allowed to operate in Colorado and Washington. But, he says Vermont should let those two states test the waters before Vermont takes the plunge.
“I think we should learn from Washington and from Colorado,” Shumlin told reporters yesterday. “But I don’t think we should let them get too far ahead of us.”
According to the National Survey on Drug Use, annual marijuana use by Americans age 12 and up in2012 rose to 7.3 percent, about .3 percentage points higher than in 2011 and 1.5 percentage points higher than in 2007.
The test was compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration from surveys given to about 70,000 people aged 12 and up.
The newly-released federal policy on recreational marijuana has been as a go-ahead by many marijuana-related businesses who feel that
But according to Forbes writer Robert Wood, the new DOJ policies won’t do anything to change how the IRS views marijuana businesses as completely illegal enterprises, nor will it help protect marijuana business owners from violating federal tax laws.
| Scarsdale PD. |
| Michael Beasley. |
The Phoenix Suns finally got rid of Michael Beasley. Beasley, best known for his role as a frequent customer to the Scottsdale Police Department, also played basketball on occasion, as he was payed millions of dollars to make a negligible contribution to one of the crappiest teams in the National Basketball Association.
Phoenix New Times has the full story.