Though he spared exactly zero words regarding cannabis, drug policy, or criminal justice reform in his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama and his administration have been increasingly more vocal on these issues as he settles into his second, and final, term in office.
Both the President and Attorney General Eric Holder in the Department of Justice have earned few friends and little trust in the cannabis community, but both wings of the Executive Branch have vowed to address the undeniable fact that when it comes to victimless, drug-related crimes, our criminal justice system is broken. This past Thursday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee took an historic step to begin the long overdue reform process.
| Brandon Marshall/Westword |
In the November elections of 2012, 63% of the voters in Massachusetts approved Question 3, the state’s newly proposed medical marijuana law, making the Bay State the 18th state in the nation to legalize ganja use for medicinal purposes. With Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island already respecting patients’ rights, and New Hampshire looking to follow in Colorado and Washington’s footsteps, all of New England will soon enjoy safe access.
Back in Massachusetts, in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Question 3 medical marijuana law, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health sparked the process this past Friday by granting the first 20 official licenses for prospective storefront medical marijuana dispensaries.
Lawmakers in Mexico City fed up with the social and financial cost of marijuana criminalization in their city are floating the idea of decriminalizing up to 35 grams of cannabis.
Currently the possession of up to five grams of marijuana is legal in Mexico under 2009 minor drug possession reforms aimed at curbing police corruption and crime. It’s done nothing to end cartel violence, but so far hasn’t been a major issue.
| Arkansas AG Dustin McDaniel |
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel ruled that a marijuana legalization measure that repeals state laws on marijuana possession, use and cultivation for being too vague.
This is the second time that McDaniel has rejected the ballot proposal. And no, he is not unclear as to what “repealing all laws related to cannabis” means, nor does he seem to have a personal grudge against pot. Basically, the proposal just doesn’t make sense.
As we’ve reported before, Arizona law allows for medical marijuana dispensaries around the state, but one county has been fighting a battle against legal pot shops (and private patients). Of course, it’s Maricopa County, so nobody is really that surprised.
Thankfully, the fight for a medical-marijuana dispensary on unincorporated Maricopa County land won a key victory on Wednesday with the Board of Supervisors lifting its ban on the shops. But the five Supervisors — one Democrat and four Republicans — and the county attorney continue to see the case as their ticket to overturning the state’s voter-approved medical-pot law. The good people at the Phoenix New Times have the details.
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Somebody in Miami has been watching too much Cheech and Chong. Miami-Dade cops say they have uncovered a huge pot growing operation in the city that was hidden in a camouflaged underground swimming pool.
Which, honestly, is one of the most bad-ass grow spots we’ve ever heard of. It seriously is straight out of Nice Dreams and probably wouldn’t have been discovered if it hadn’t have been for the blunders of the current caretakers of the property.
| Florida voters won’t get a chance to approve a medical marijuana ballot measure until November, but already ganjapreneurs are moving in. Take Jeremy Bufford. |
Jeremy Bufford, proprietor of Medical Marijuana Tampa. He is preparing to open a chain of 15 dispensaries with a quality control-lab, and next week will launch his school for medical marijuana workers and entrepreneurs in Tampa.
He has already hired five people and expects to hire 350 more, plus trigger a mini-real estate boom assuming the initiatve passes and he signs leases on the properties he’s already scoped out. His website is already advertising for 15 positions from “lead botanist” to “delivery driver” to “executive chef” to “professor of cannabis.”
The Broward-Palm Beach New Times spoke to Bufford at length about his preparations and predictions for the medical marijuana industry in Florida.
The halls of the Minnesota Department of Revenue in St. Paul bustle with form-weary taxpayers. It’s late morning as I approach the counter looking to declare possession of a gram of weed.
A blonde receptionist in a black sweater looks at me curiously. She reaches for the phone to alert staff upstairs of my presence. I stay calm and grab an empty seat. Jesse Marx at the Minneapolis City Pages has the full story.
Arizona voters “narrowly oppose” marijuana legalization, according to the latest poll on the issue.
Scutari and Cieslak Public Relations’ poll is the fourth poll conducted on the issue in the last year, all by different polling companies. Two of the polls have showed voters supporting legalizing marijuana, and the other two show a majority of voters against it. The Phoenix New Times has the full story.
Despite the completely false claims by British newspapers today, a British woman was not poisoned by the marijuana she smoked.
News out of the U.K. today of 31-year-old Gemma Moss is straight out of the pages of the early 1900s American Reefer Madness. According to the (shady) reports, Moss collapsed after having a joint and nobody is sure why – so the coroner decided to chalk it up to “cannabis toxicity” and “cannabis abuse.” Apparently the coroner has never actually been to medical school, because cannabis isn’t toxic.
And this belief in cannabis poisoning seems to be widespread across the pond.