| Updated Vermont state seal. |
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.
| Bell peppers on top of a bunch of dirt weed. |
Add fresh vegetables to your list of things that won’t deter drug dogs.
A Mexican national discovered that tip the hard way on Tuesday when police found more than a ton of marijuana stashed half-assed under a few green bell peppers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the find while the man was attempting to enter the United States through a commercial facility in Nogales with the load in a tractor-trailer. Phoenix New Times has the rest.
| BBC reporter Heather Alexander. |
It’s always interesting to see the take on American medical and recreational cannabis from our friends across the pond. This recent report from the BBC on legalization in Colorado is proof of that, with the reporter singling out the ski resort town of Breckenridge as the potential American version of cannabis-friendly Amsterdam in the Netherlands. As a Coloradan, I highly doubt that will be the case — but the report does bring up a few interesting ideas.
| TokeoftheTown.com |
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.
| Flikr.com |
Sgt. Gary Wiegert of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department supports changes in local marijuana laws so that minor offenses would not needlessly drain police resources. That’s why he decided to work on the side as a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, a group that advocates for pot reform in Missouri. But metro police officials were not pleased with this activity — and have made efforts to block this lobbying. At least those are the allegations from Wiegert and his legal team, who will be filing a lawsuit this week that accuses the department of suppressing his free speech rights.
Sam Levin at The Riverfront Times has more on this.
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.
Opponents of legalization measures often complain about all manner of potential societal harm, including possible negative impact on employment and job productivity.
Now, such critics have new ammunition with which to make their case — a study that shows the percentage of people failing drug tests is at its highest point in five years. Denver Westword has the story.
| TokeoftheTown.com |
Update 6/12/2013: Hawaii’s proposed decriminalization bill that would have set a $1,000 fine for possession of up to an ounce has been changed, dropping the fine back to it’s original proposed limit of $100. It comes with a catch, though, the decriminalized amount would also be dropped to a 20 grams – eight short of the ounce originally promised. Money collected from fines would go toward the state general fund.
| Rory Meeks, from Facebook. |
Rory Meeks lives a daring life. When he’s not busy dodging a raging bull in the rodeo ring as a rodeo clown and bullfighter, he’s also apparently been busy dodging law enforcement around Jones County, Iowa. That is until April of 2011 when he was arrested for cultivating marijuana.
On Friday, Meeks was convicted in a Cedar Rapids federal court on one count of conspiracy to manufacturing marijuana. During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that Meeks had set up grow locations near corn and soybean fields and other hidden spots and spent all summer going around from location to location tending his crops.
| Copenhagen. |
Copenhagen officials are considering a measure that would create a three-year legalization study to help curb gang activity and create a “better life for average cannabis users.” Interestingly, the current proposal calls for cannabis to be imported from Colorado and Washington where voters recently passed bills legalizing small amounts of cannabis for personal use.
