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.
Florida wants medical marijuana. Days after the state legislature for the first time sent a bill to the governor’s desk legalizing some pot — namely, a low-THC strain used to help children with epilepsy — a new poll out this morning makes it crystal clear where voters stand on the full legalization of medical marijuana.
The latest poll from Quinnipiac University shows 88 percent of voters support the idea. A majority of those polled also backed legalizing small amounts of weed for personal use.
Earlier this month, Colorado state Senator Linda Newell, sponsor of two controversial bills intended to clarify the definition of a drug-endangered child, refuted claims that the measures could criminalize any parent who legally smoked marijuana. Nonetheless, the measures failed this week after a tricky political maneuver. They actually passed before a reversal in fortune — and were nearly revived yesterday prior to perishing for good.
Newell believes the bills were mischaracterized by critics and undermined by politics that pitted kids’ safety against the interests of the pot industry. The reality is that her bills were poorly written and didn’t protect anyone, but don’t expect her to understand that.
As we predicted when we reported on San Diego’s restrictive new medical marijuana ordinance that was passed back in February of this year, pro-cannabis advocates in the city filed a lawsuit late last week to attempt to stop the new proposal in its tracks.
Earlier in the month of February, Toke of the Town reported that a California judge in Kern County had ruled in favor of cannabis activists who argued that a recently approved and highly restrictive ordinance had created a de facto ban on storefront medical marijuana dispensaries in the region.
Those activists then took it a step further, citing the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing that the new ordinance was literally making people drive too far to get their weed, in turn creating undue amounts of air pollution. Lo and behold, the judge bought it and the ban was lifted.
Austin, Texas officials say that synthetic smokable drugs often mislabeled as “synthetic marijuana” by the media are to blame for at least 15 calls for physically violent and unconscious individuals Wednesday evening. Many people turn to this crap, popularly called “Spice” or “K2”, as an alternative to smoking marijuana because the chemicals don’t show up on drug tests.
Yesterday, medical marijuana’s House supporters announced a big compromise they hope will be amenable to law enforcement and signed into law by pot unfriendly Gov. Mark Dayton.
The compromise, announced at a Capitol news conference by House Speaker Paul Thissen (D-Minneapolis), Majority Leader Erin Murphy (D-St. Paul), and Rep. Carly Melin (D-Minneapolis), “would create a medical cannabis clinical trial, allowing limited participation by children who are suffering and adults with severe illnesses,” a House DFL news release says. The bill gets it’s first hearing today, and could potentially pass before the end of the session.
| globalcannabismarch.com |
What began in 1999 under the name Million Marijuana March, with events in 30 cities across America, is now, 15 years later, a global initiative for the advocacy of marijuana reform with marches, rallies, and events happening in 160 cities across 35 different countries this Saturday, May 3rd.
These days referred to as the Global Marijuana March (GMM), the multinational event is traditionally held on the first Saturday of each month. New York City, Atlanta, and Boston, along with cities like Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Mexico City in Mexico, are just a handful of the cities that will be rallying for cannabis on behalf of North America on Saturday. Joining them will be nations from Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and more.
| Edibles at a Denver dispensary |
The Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division held a session on product potency yesterday at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, where a working group discussed how to make sure that marijuana edible serving sizes are safe for consumers. Much of the talk focused on packaging, and how to make it clear what the side effects of eating a certain milligram level of THC might be.
| Florida Gov. Rick Scott. |
Florida Gov. Rick Scott says he will give his approval to a House bill passed today that legalizes access to high-CBD cannabis for patients with severe seizure disorders as well as cancer and muscle spasms.
The bill will also allow up to five dispensary/grow operations to cultivate high-CBD for sale to patients who can eat it or vaporize it. Smoking marijuana would not be legal. The bill now has to be approved by the Senate by the end of today before the governor can sign it into law.
| Sean Azzariti. See more photos and a video below. |
Earlier this week, an effort to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions legally treatable by medical marijuana in Colorado failed — a development Colorado cannabis advocate Brian Vicente described as “shameful.”
Veteran Sean Azzariti offered emotional testimony in favor of the bill and admits to being frustrated that the effort fell short again, just as it did in 2010 and 2012. But while he’s disappointed, he has new reasons for hope for a change in the future.