Bills, Laws, Court Cases
Ganja Court Cases
-
Pot clinic owner now mayor of California city
SEBASTOPOL, Calif. (AP) — A medical marijuana dispensary owner is riding high after being named mayor of a Northern California city. Sebastopol’s City Council selected 36-year-old Robert Jacob as mayor earlier this week. Jacob runs two pot clinics in Sonoma County and officials believe he’s the first dispensary owner in the nation to serve as a mayor. Jacob has
Read More… -
State Supreme Court to hear medical-marijuana arguments
Medical marijuana will be considered by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday in a hearing that could determine whether voters will decide the proposed state constitutional amendment next November. Question: If the amendment is approved, what would it do? Answer: It would allow doctors to prescribe pot under Florida law. It would require the Florida Department of
Read More… -
Prominent Mexicans urge government to decriminalize marijuana
A broad spectrum of prominent Mexicans, including former ministers, businessmen, artists and a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, on Wednesday urged the government to decriminalize marijuana in a bid to curb gang violence and corruption. Since 2007, about 80,000 people have been killed in turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces, leading to
Read More… -
Marijuana Legalization: NYC’s Next Mayor Will Try to Legalize Weed
Marijuana Legalization: NYC’s Next Mayor Will Try to Legalize Weed © Flickr (North Cascades National Park) The next mayor of New York City will help usher in the decriminalization of marijuana, regardless of which candidate wins the seat. Mayoral aspirants Bill de Blasio and Joseph Lhota, who were selected as nominees to represent their respective
Read More… -
DOJ: States won’t get pass on pot laws
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s decision not to challenge marijuana laws passed by 21 states and the District of Columbia doesn’t mean those jurisdictions have escaped federal scrutiny entirely, a Justice Department official said Tuesday. Deputy Attorney General James Cole told the Senate Judiciary Committee the administration is monitoring the states, including California and Oregon, and
Read More… -
Denver police defend stand down at pot giveaway
DENVER — Denver police are defending their decision to stand down while dozens of people lit up marijuana cigarettes at a free pot giveaway in Civic Center park. Deputy Chief David Quinones tells the Denver Post (http://tinyurl.com/nhfmoc7) the department didn’t want to incite a riot Monday over a petty offense. Hundreds of people lined up to
Read More… -
Congress Holding Hearing On Justice Department’s Marijuana Decision
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is facing criticism over its attempt to straddle the federal law that makes marijuana illegal and state laws that permit recreational use of the drug. In the first congressional hearing since the administration announced a new, permissive enforcement policy, law enforcement and drug-prevention groups and their congressional allies see an
Read More… -
Marijuana Activist May Run for Political Office
Small acts of defiance have sometimes sparked political infernos. December 1955: seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of the bus and touches off the Montgomery bus boycott. August 1980: electrician Lech Walesa hops a fence at the Gdansk shipyards and goes on to lead a strike that opens a crack that spreads
Read More… -
Puerto Rico to Debate Medical Marijuana Legalization
SAN JUAN, PR — Legislators in Puerto Rico are preparing to debate a bill that would allow people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes in this conservative U.S. territory, officials said Thursday. The measure would create a system to legally produce the substance and allow state health officials to regulate it, said Rep. Jose Baez,
Read More… -
Washington State issues how-to regs on growing, selling marijuana
With the eyes of other states – and the US Justice Department – upon them, officials in Washington State have issued draft regulations for growing, distributing, and selling marijuana meant for recreational use. The details announced this week include the number of shops that will be able to sell pot around the state (334, with locations based
Read More… -
Smoke it if you got it
The Obama administration has acquiesced to movements across the country seeking legalized marijuana. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement last week that he’ll ignore federal law and not step in the way of states that have legalized marijuana, for medical purposes or otherwise, is another unmistakable sign of the strength of the pro-marijuana movement. Although
Read More… -
Despite rulings in Colorado, Washington, medical marijuana still a legal risk in Arizona
PHOENIX — A decision Thursday by U.S. Department of Justice not to challenge marijuana legalization by two states does not make Arizona’s own medical marijuana law any more legal or acceptable, key prosecutors said. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said he will not drop his bid to have the state’s 2010 voter-approved law declared illegal.
Read More… -
Federal government eases stance on marijuana
By Joe Mozingo, Ari Bloomekatz and David G. SavageAugust 29, 2013, 7:25 p.m. In a significant policy shift by the Obama administration, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. signaled Thursday that the federal government would no longer interfere in states that allowed commercial marijuana sales as long as they were strictly regulated. The move comes two years after
Read More… -
More states likely to change pot rules, both sides say
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, left, is joined by state Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson at a news conference to discuss the federal government’s decision not to interfere with marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado. (Rachel La Corte / Associated Press / August 29, 2013)SEATTLE — When the Justice Department announced Thursday that it would not interfere with the enforcement of
Read More… -
Senate leader wants legal marijuana hearing next month
Senator Patrick Leahy wants to clear the air in the debate between states and the federal government over the legal use of marijuana, in what could be a significant hearing on the issue in September. Source: United States Fish and Wildlife Service On Monday, Leahy was reserving the oversized hearing room in the Hart Senate Office
Read More… -
Medical Marijuana In Connecticut: Getting Down To Details
Can medical marijuana distributors advertise their product? (Yes, but with certain restrictions). How much can they charge? (Market forces will determine prices). These are just a few of the issues addressed in the 76 pages of regulations for the state’s new medical marijuana program. Tuesday, the General Assembly’s regulation review committee is expected to decide whether the
Read More… -
Delaware governor renews medical marijuana effort
DOVER, Del. — Gov. Jack Markell said Thursday that he is moving forward with a medical marijuana program in Delaware after halting plans last year over fears that state officials could be subject to federal prosecution. Markell signed a medical marijuana bill in 2011 but halted implementation after federal officials indicated that people involved in
Read More… -
Lawyers Debate Best Ways To Sell Marijuana–No Joke
No joke. At the recently concluded American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco–as at most other gatherings–lawyers like to talk. They may be contentious or cooperative, but they do like to talk. Especially about something controversial, and especially about outsmarting the government. From that viewpoint, medical marijuana is a perfect storm. And the lawyers
Read More… -
Ohio Attorney General Rejects Proposed Marijuana Legalization Amendment
COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio’s Attorney General Mike DeWine has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana saying the language in the bill was not “fair and truthful” and omitted key information. The petition for the proposed amendment, the End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012 [sic], was submitted by Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis on August 2, with 2,304 signatures from registered
Read More… -
Alaska, Rhode Island Will Legalize Marijuana Next, Federal Pot Law Will Change In 2019: MPP’s Rob Kampia
As support for marijuana legalization continues to grow, Rob Kampia, the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, believes that momentum will drive two more states to follow Colorado and Washington in legalizing recreational weed in 2014. In a recent interview with Reason, Kampia made several legal pot predictions. “I think the next state to legalize will
Read More…
Recent Comments