3 Senators Propose Ending Prohibition to Expand Access, Research A historic Senate medical marijuana bill unveiled Tuesday would dramatically reshape the landscape for the plant, nearly 80 years after it was effectively criminalized. The bill, introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N. J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana and eliminate the ambiguity surrounding related state laws. It would untie the hands of veterans' doctors when it comes to recommending the drug and those of bankers when it comes to providing business services to the industry. It would also facilitate very limited interstate trade, expand research and shift marijuana out of the most severe category in the federal government's drug classification. [continues 406 words]
It officially became legal to consume and grow marijuana in Alaska on Tuesday. That means the state is the third to legalize the drug in as many years, but it is hardly the last. Voters in Oregon and Washington, D.C., have also approved legalization, and advocates plan to take advantage of shifting public opinion to target other states this year and next. Here's a look at how the patchwork of existing laws compare, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, which played pivotal roles in passing some of the legalization laws. [continues 432 words]
Support it or not, there's no denying that this was a watershed year for marijuana. Within hours of the new year, the nation saw the first legally sanctioned sales of marijuana for recreational use in modern history. Throughout, states considered and often passed expanding access to the drug and, as recently as last weekend, Congress was interfering in D.C.'s pot policies and promising to stay out of the states. Here are 22 of the most significant moments for marijuana in 2014. [continues 904 words]
A ballot measure that would have made Florida the 24th state to allow medical marijuana failed Tuesday as voters considered initiatives that touched on some of the most important economic and social issues facing the country. Constitutional Amendment 2, which would have granted access to the drug to Floridians with "debilitating diseases," needed 60 percent of the vote to pass. The measure mustered just 57 percent support with nearly all precincts reporting. The fight in Florida was defined largely by two wealthy men, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and local personal-injury lawyer John Morgan, and helped set the tone of an expensive election season for ballot measures. [continues 613 words]
Advocates of legalizing marijuana should be pleased: Legalization has strong support in Delaware, a 2016 target for the movement. Legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use enjoys 56 percent support in the state, while just 39 percent oppose legalization, according to a new poll from the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication. And the breakdown was the same when the sample was limited merely to registered voters, says Paul Brewer, CPC's associate director for research and professor in the Department of Communication and Department of Political Science and International Relations. [end]
Two States Expect $811 Million From Taxes on Marijuana Sales If a pair of new government forecasts prove true, Washington and Colorado would see more than $800 million in extra revenue over the next few years thanks to marijuana sales. At the least. The estimates, both released in recent days, differ greatly in what they predict and over what time period. But together they show that the plant, now legal to purchase in both states, could generate at least $811.2 million for the trailblazing states before 2020. Washington can expect $637 million by 2019, while Colorado can expect $174.5 million through the fiscal year that ends in 2017, according to state estimates. [continues 302 words]
Organization Seeks Ballot Measures in 2016, Adds California to Its List When it comes to politics, it's never too early. The fate of marijuana legalization in two states and the nation's capital won't be decided until November, but advocates are already proceeding with their 2016 campaigns in three other states. The Marijuana Policy Project, the advocacy group that played a vital role in helping to pass legalization in Colorado, has already formally announced committees to push legalization in Arizona, Massachusetts and Nevada and plans to file paperwork with the California secretary of state Wednesday to form a campaign committee there. [continues 282 words]
Now 40 Years Old, High Times Launching Partnerships, an App Go ahead, get the jokes out of your system. The staff of High Times, the counterculture drug magazine, has heard them all before. For 40 years, they've put up with stoner quips and stereotypes. "People have this idea that we sit around and get high all day," says Danny Danko, the magazine's senior cultivation editor and author of its field guide to marijuana strains. But as High Times celebrates its 40th anniversary with a special November issue that comes out Tuesday and is the largest in its history, the laughs are fewer and further between. [continues 660 words]
States that allow medical marijuana have 25 percent fewer deaths from prescription drug overdoses, a team of researchers reports in a newly released academic paper, suggesting that expanded access to marijuana, often used for its purported pain-alleviating qualities, could have unintended benefits. As awareness of the addiction and overdose risks associated with painkillers such as Oxy-Contin and Vicodin grows, "individuals with chronic pain and their medical providers may be opting to treat pain entirely or in part with medical marijuana," Colleen L. Barry, an associate professor in the department of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a statement. Barry was the senior author of the study, which was conducted by researchers from the Bloomberg School and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. [continues 276 words]
A coalition of groups is running a full-page advertisement in the New York Times this weekend, advocating against the maturing movement to legalize marijuana. The ad comes in response to a New York Times editorial series launched last weekend arguing for an end to marijuana prohibition. The newspaper's editorial board advocated for an end to the federal ban on the drug. The ad features a businessman with the pasted-on head of a hippie, a visual metaphor for what the groups warn is the disconnected perception and reality of legalization. [continues 234 words]
A slow start to sales, high taxes and easy-to-get medical marijuana may translate to lesser-than-expected revenue from Washington state's newly legal recreational pot market, according to a report from Moody's, the credit rating agency. Marijuana for recreational use went on sale in Washington this month and is taxed three times - 25 percent each at the production, wholesale and retail levels - in addition to state and local sales taxes. Combined, the trio of taxes translate to an effective rate of 44 percent, Moody's found. [continues 275 words]
DENVER - At 8 a.m. on New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a former Marine named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Mr. Azzariti's transaction Wednesday - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and 50 mg of Truffles for an additional $9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 860 words]
On Groundbreaking Law's First Day, Lines Long, Future Unsure DENVER - At 8 a.m. on New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a former Marine named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Azzariti's transaction - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and 50 mg of Truffles for an additional $9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 514 words]
DENVER - At 8 a.m. on New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a Marine veteran named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Azzariti's transaction - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and 50 mg of Truffles for an additional $9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 765 words]
If Broad Legalization Succeeds, Other States May Quickly Follow Suit Denver - At 8 a.m. New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a former Marine named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Azzariti's transaction - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and some pot-laced chocolate truffles for an additional $9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 1008 words]
Supporters Hope Ballots in California, Other States Will Include Issue by 2016 DENVER- At 8 a. m. on New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a former Marine named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Azzariti's transaction - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $ 40 and 50 milligrams of Truffles for an additional $ 9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 1008 words]
