Support for weed legalization in the US recently hit an all-time high, but looking at the industry, it's been a long time coming. Sixty-percent of Americans - up from 35% in 2005 - now support legalization, according to a Gallup poll from Wednesday. In addition, legal marijuana is on the ballot in five states in November, support among likely voters is well above 50% in in California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada. Arizona, the fifth state with recreational marijuana appearing on the ballot, is polling at around 50% in support of legalizing. [continues 905 words]
Re: "Colorado Amendment 71 tries to cut down on constitutional red tape," Oct. 4. I disagree with (County Commissioner) Dan Gibb's claim that Summit County voters "don't have a say" regarding the initiative process. Further, stating Amendment 71 has bipartisan support neglects the fact that opposition to Amendment 71 also enjoys bipartisan support, but more importantly includes the private sector, which is the vast majority of voters, rather than a list of inconvenienced politicians. One of the clearest examples of potential harm Amendment 71 may cause comes from realizing it could have prevented Colorado voters from ending cannabis prohibition. Summit County and other rural mountain communities played an important part in that successful initiative process and we should continue having access to it, left unchanged, for when politicians fail citizens. Nationally, politicians either ignore this important issue or fight against it, frustrating the majority of citizens who want to end cannabis prohibition. [continues 409 words]
Just before Prop 205 goes before voters, new dispensary licenses are approved making way for more MJ The Arizona Department of Health Services announced 31 new dispensary licenses last week, bringing the total number of Arizona dispensaries to 130 a month before Prop 205 appears on the November ballot. Nearly 750 potential pot purveyors applied for the limited number of licenses back in August in what many consider a lottery. While the AZDHS reviews applications to direct openings in areas closest to high concentrations of medical patients, nine of the 31 applicants were drawn in a literal lottery with each of the nine being tied with two to five other would-be dispensaries. [continues 469 words]
PORTLAND, Ore. - The budtenders of the Rose City are relentlessly helpful with tips pairing a marijuana strain that is "equal parts fruity and musky" with a stimulating Sichuan dish. As Oregon, the place where empires once clashed over the global trade of beaver furs, glides into a second year of legalized recreational pot, the state is determined to show the world that a certain kind of drug prohibition belongs in history's Dumpster. Soon, with the likely passage of legal pot in California next month, all of the West Coast - from the tundra of Alaska to the sun-washed suburbs of San Diego - will be a confederacy of state-regulated marijuana use. [continues 730 words]
There are nine state ballot measures regarding the legalization of marijuana that will be voted on this November. Five states will vote to legalize recreational marijuana, while the other four states are voting on legalizing medicinal marijuana. Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada are all looking to legalize recreational marijuana. Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota are proposing medical marijuana legislation. Equity research firm Cowen and Company said that if all five measures pass, the percent of the U.S. population and GDP covered by recreational states would grow roughly four times to 23% and 26% respectively. [continues 503 words]
Doctors in the United States are not terribly concerned about your marijuana use, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Researchers presented a representative sample of 233 primary-care physicians with nine hypothetical patient behaviors -- tobacco use, alcohol use, obesity, etc. -- and asked them how much of a problem they thought these behaviors were on a 10-point scale. Their goal was to suss out differences in doctors' attitudes and treatment behaviors based on their political affiliation. [continues 447 words]
A sense of certainty that recreational, random marijuana use will be legalized, regulated and taxed in California after next month's election lies behind the millions of dollars invested so far in Proposition 64, which would allow adults to grow, buy and possess pot. No more medical marijuana ruses. The sense of inevitability stems partly from the experiences of Colorado and Washington state, where cannabis can be had anytime in very many places and is regulated somewhat like cigarettes. In short, not much. Polls now show between 55 and 60 percent of likely voters favor complete legalization, and national polls indicate almost exactly half of all Americans also want that. Support for freedom to use the weed has never been higher. [continues 592 words]
Granite State cops are bracing for a potential influx of doped-up drivers and pot-smoking teens - even without a marijuana legalization question on the New Hampshire ballot - as Massachusetts and Maine voters could legalize the herb in November. "You're going to have more instances of drugged driving, and it's going to cost the state more money because of the increase in law enforcement and prosecution," said Dalton, N.H., police Chief John Tholl, who is also a state representative opposed to marijuana legalization. "It's just going to be a burden on the legal system." [continues 325 words]
DENVER - Many Californians will vote to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use Nov. 8 because - hell, yeah! But many of the rest of us are hoping for a longer, deeper high from legalization. We're hoping it brings some social justice. That benefit of legalization, I fear, is being a bit oversold in California. Ask Candi CdeBaca. Legalizing pot hasn't started to solve decades of inequities in her neighborhood because not enough people there have made social justice a priority. [continues 908 words]
Will Arizonans make a deal to sacrifice regulatory concerns to eliminate the majority of marijuana felony arrests? Prop 205 trudges towards the ballot amidst mounting concerns from critics. Much of the literature condemning the marijuana legalization initiatives takes issue with the new system the proposition would put in place. On the surface, the law would legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21 and possession outside of the home up to one ounce. Users would also be able to retain the yield from up to six plants within their homes. [continues 644 words]
I've been thinking a lot lately about marijuana. No, it's not what you suspect, I don't smoke the stuff. Nor do I need it to alleviate pain. Rather, it's our country's schizophrenic way of dealing with "weed." Here in Stephenson County is In Grown Farms, which is perfectly legal and is growing marijuana plants to be harvested, packaged and sold at marijuana dispensaries as medicine. You need a doctor's prescription to get it. There hasn't been much controversy about it. Indeed, folks are happy that a new business decided to locate in the Freeport area. There's even talk -- perhaps far-out talk, but still -- of mixing marijuana, legally, with snack foods like pretzels or potato chips. Meanwhile, next door in Winnebago County, the county sheriff's police raided two fields, one near Durand, the other between Rockford and Winnebago, and found what they said was $1 million worth of marijuana plants. These plants were growing illegally. [continues 354 words]
Big Pharma steps up to oppose recreational weed initiative A couple weeks ago, we took a look at opioid use and prescription in Arizona and how states have seen a decrease in opioid overdoses after legalizing medical marijuana ("An MMJ Win," Sept. 1). Well, now it seems one such manufacturer of a fentanyl-based drug is concerned about recreational marijuana interfering with its future business plans. Insys Therapeutics plans to roll out a new line of THC medicine in the near future and decided to donate $500,000 to the Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy to aid the opposition of Prop 205. [continues 528 words]
PUEBLO WEST, Colo. - Out here, in this unincorporated community of 30,000, there are miles of barren scrub-brush dotted with wild sunflowers. Low-slung houses sit on East Gun Powder Lane and North Cougar Drive. There's a Walmart Supercenter, a Little Caesars, a Safeway with a small Starbucks tucked inside. And, throughout the area, a revolt against retail marijuana sales smolders in a state awash in $1 billion of legal pot. Four years ago, Coloradans voted to legalize marijuana for adults, and gave individual localities the opportunity to decide if they would allow retail marijuana shops. [continues 1529 words]
A state government that's already lost hundreds of jobs this year is grappling with how to balance that with the workload that comes with the emergence of an entirely new industry: marijuana. Some Alaska municipalities have a plethora of questions about rules for new marijuana businesses - how to measure the distance from a business to a church? What types of signs can entrepreneurs have? - and the state's Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office doesn't have the time or resources to answer every one. Meanwhile, the digital paperwork for new marijuana business applications just keeps rolling in. [continues 1139 words]
Misleading the public and condescending to grieving parents is one approach to win supporters to your cause, but we can't imagine it's a winning one for the supporters of Question 4. Organizers of the campaign to legalize the recreational use of marijuana sent out a fundraising email last week in which they blurred the lines between general pot use, which the ballot question would legalize, and use of marijuana for medical purposes, which of course is already legal. "If you think people in our state deserve a safer alternative to prescription painkillers, please help end marijuana prohibition on November 8 by donating today," wrote campaign manager Will Luzier, who cites the opioid crisis and deaths from overdoses as an incentive to vote yes. [continues 221 words]
Rulings by two Superior Court judges will give voters a swing at two controversial ballot measures. That's a good thing. The effort to legalize marijuana and the push to increase Arizona's minimum wage to $12 an hour deal with issues that are complex and unlikely to be considered by the Legislature. Arizona's Constitution provides the ballot-initiative process to allow supporters of such ideas the right to go directly to voters to make their case. Arizona voters deserve the chance to decide these timely and important questions. These initiatives aren't simple. Is legalizing marijuana for recreational use the logical next step after voters approved medical marijuana? Should the state see this as a way to allow adults to make their own choices about an intoxicant? Will legalization send the message to young people that Arizona endorses getting stoned? [continues 350 words]
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas Supreme Court was asked Friday to disqualify an effort to legalize medical marijuana over potentially invalid signatures, the second challenge filed against a ballot measure to make the drug available to some patients. Attorney Kara Benca of Little Rock questioned the validity of thousands of signatures that were submitted for the proposal allowing patients with certain medical conditions to buy marijuana. The measure is among two medical marijuana proposals on the November ballot. Benca, who didn't immediately return a message late Friday afternoon, claimed more than 15,000 signatures that were submitted for the proposal should be tossed out. Benca identifies herself in the lawsuit as a life-member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which supports legalizing the drug. [continues 266 words]
Denver Voters Will Determine Social Use at Some Businesses. Days after rejecting a competing measure for the November ballot, the Denver Elections Division on Thursday approved a proposed initiative that would allow social use of marijuana in some businesses. City voters will decide whether regular businesses, such as bars or cafes or even yoga studios, should be able to create indoor or outdoor consumption areas for bring-your-own marijuana products, under certain conditions. The most significant condition would require that an application for an annual or temporary permit receive backing from a neighborhood group, such as a city-registered neighborhood organization or business improvement district. [continues 573 words]
As Voters Ponder Prop. 64, Experts Cite the Effects Pot Can Have on Young Users. SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - Devan Fuentes made it all the way through San Clemente High School without drinking or using drugs. He vividly remembers the first time he smoked pot. He was visiting a friend at Occidental College, and decided the moment had come. "They brought out a giant three-foot bong," Fuentes told me the other day in a rustic coffee shop tucked into this town's historic Los Rios neighborhood. "I heard a lot of people don't get high their first time, so I held it in for a long time, one large hit. Immediately, I couldn't feel my legs." [continues 1001 words]
Supreme Court Rejects the Final Legal Challenge to Ariz. Voter Initiative A voter initiative to legalize recreational marijuana will be on the November ballot after the Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a final legal challenge to the measure. A lower court judge had thrown out the challenge, saying the group called Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy didn't have a right to sue. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry's ruling went on to reject all of the reasons opponents laid out for keeping the initiative off the ballot. [continues 563 words]
A Recap of Successful and Failed Marijuana Bills at California's Capitol. California lawmakers' first legislative session since passing last year's historic medical-pot regulations wraps up this week. And, for the most part, they did good work when it comes to marijuana: Patients' rights were protected, legal bridges between the old system and the new were built, and a lot of bad ideas (and a few good ones) never made it to the governor's desk. First off: Medical-marijuana patients will not face increased statewide taxes at the dispensary, now that a taxation bill is dead for the year. The proposed tax was one of about dozen related laws that were introduced in Sacramento, but mostly died by Wednesday's end-of-session deadline. As of Tuesday morning, here's where the most viable bills stood: [continues 624 words]
Patrick Kennedy, a recovering drug addict, former Rhode Island congressman and member of the nation's most famous political family, is spearheading a national campaign to thwart legalization of recreational marijuana. Hezekiah Allen, a former Humboldt County marijuana farmer like his parents and grandparents, is a Sacramento lobbyist who heads the state's largest group of cannabis growers. They aren't exactly political bedfellows, but the two share a concern over California's Proposition 64 on the November ballot: Both believe it would open the door to Big Marijuana corporate dominance, threatening the culture and livelihood of the small-scale farms entrenched for decades on the North Coast. [continues 728 words]
A Bill Headed to Brown's Desk Would Give Shops a Six-Month Grace Period to Pay $106 Million in Taxes. SACRAMENTO - Estimating that two-thirds of the medical marijuana stores in California have failed to pay sales taxes, state officials on Tuesday took a carrot-and-stick approach to persuade pot shops to pay the $106 million owed. With the state preparing to license medical marijuana shops in 2018, the Assembly sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill Tuesday that would establish a tax amnesty program to help bring scofflaws into compliance with the law. [continues 487 words]
Marijuana is the very definition of a cash crop -and the windfall will only grow if California voters legalize recreational pot in November. But what to do with all that cash? It's a pressing problem and it isn't fixed by Proposition 64. The big hurdle is that the federal government still treats marijuana medical or otherwise as an illegal drug. So major banks and other financial institutions won't take pot businesses as customers for fear of losing their federal charters. That forces dispensaries and other marijuana businesses to deal almost entirely in cash, an invitation to robbery and shady accounting. [continues 692 words]
Democrats Add Plank for 2016 The backers of two competing medical marijuana initiatives found good news in their cause ending up on the platform of the Democratic Party of Arkansas. Members of the party met Saturday to hear speeches and take care of business ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, including approving a platform. One of the planks is on medical marijuana. The plank calls for "the development of a responsible medical marijuana program that will receive patients in need of such relief the freedom to access this remedy." [continues 1172 words]
California politicians have traditionally opposed legalizing marijuana. In 2010, amid fierce debate about the pot legalization measure Proposition 19, every statewide elected official expressed disapproval. In more recent years, officials have suggested they wanted to wait to see how legalization played out in other states. Proposition 64, a recreational marijuana initiative on the fall ballot, is generating a slight thaw in political perspectives on legalizing the drug. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a candidate for governor in 2018, is the measure's highest-ranking supporter. But still many others remain undecided or in opposition. [continues 1093 words]
The town hall meeting, in a cavernous garage on an industrial side street in Gardena, was billed as an opportunity to learn about cannabis from some of the industry's experts. I assumed there would be strong arguments made in favor of Proposition 64, the November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use. But it hardly seemed necessary. From what I could tell, most of those in the room were already on board. Some had recently started businesses or were contemplating how to get a piece of what assuredly is going to be a huge economic pie if Proposition 64 passes. [continues 872 words]
Much of the talk lately has been about the ballot initiative for recreational marijuana use, but Arizona will award licenses for 31 new medical marijuana dispensaries in October. Most will be worth millions of dollars the day they are issued, and all an applicant had to do was find a location that complies with local zoning and pay a $5,000 fee. This sounds simple enough, but there are serious problems. The Arizona Department of Health Services, which awards the licenses lottery-style, doesn't require dispensary applicants be 100 percent compliant with zoning the day of the drawing. [continues 1124 words]
Voters in the commonwealth of Massachusetts will face Question 4 on their November ballot, a measure that mirrors Nevada's Question 2. Both would usher in the commercialization of legalized marijuana. Both initiatives were drafted and are promoted by the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, D.C.. Each is locally sponsored by a "Committee to Regulate and Tax Marijuana Like Alcohol." Surprisingly, the pushback against legalization for the commercial marijuana industry has been much more emphatic in liberal Massachusetts than in Nevada. In May, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker made common cause with three leading Democrats - Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Attorney General Maura Healey. Together, they formed an opposition organization, The Committee for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts. [continues 312 words]
Controversy continued to swirl Friday over a ballot title rewrite for a state question aimed at legalizing medical marijuana. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Thursday released his rewritten version of the ballot title for State Question 788. On Friday, the attorney general's office received several calls thanking the office for the quick turnaround time on the revision and questioning "our rewrite," said Lincoln Ferguson, a Pruitt spokesman. The ballot title summarizes a state question for voters. The revision includes: "This measure legalizes the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma. There are no qualifying medical conditions identified." [continues 874 words]
Among the 17 statewide ballot measures on Californians' Nov. 8 ballots will be Proposition 64, which claims to legalize recreational marijuana use in the state. Plenty of good reasons spring to mind to vote in favor of Prop 64, not the least of which is the new revenue stream it would bring from taxes on the drug, as well as potentially reduced costs in, or at least redirection of, law enforcement. But there are three solid reasons that should give voters pause. First, it's illegal. "It is important to recognize that these state marijuana (legalization) laws do not change the fact that using marijuana continues to be an offense under federal law," says the office of National Drug Control Policy. The federal Controlled Substances Act outlaws cannabis. [continues 515 words]
Elections Medical Marijuana Supporters Say Title Is Now Inaccurate; November Vote Unlikely OKLAHOMA CITY - Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma said Thursday they will challenge the ballot title rewording by Attorney General Scott Pruitt. The ballot title explains the measure to voters. Pruitt on Thursday submitted the ballot title for State Question 788, a measure that if approved by voters would legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma. "There is no way we can let the Pruitt ballot title stand," said Chip Paul, a spokesman for Oklahomans for Health, which secured the signatures to get the issue before voters. [continues 545 words]
PHOENIX - Foes of legalized marijuana asked the Arizona Supreme Court late Thursday to keep voters from ever getting to decide the issue. Attorney Brett Johnson wants the justices to rule that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry got it wrong when she ruled last week that a 2015 change in state law precludes outsiders - including initiative opponents - from challenging the legal sufficiency of the ballot measure. Gentry said that makes all of the alleged flaws Johnson said are in the petitions legally irrelevant. [continues 620 words]
Regulation Would Be a 'Tax Drain' On State, He Tells Counties HOT SPRINGS (AP) - Legalizing medical marijuana would be a drain on the state's resources, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday as legalization supporters asked the state's highest court to dismiss an attempt to block their proposal this fall. The governor also expressed opposition to a casino ballot measure while speaking to the Association of Arkansas Counties. Hutchinson, the former head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said he was concerned about the costs of regulation and enforcement if voters approve legalizing marijuana for some patients. [continues 504 words]
But Supporters of California Bill Say Such Advertising Isn't Possible Polls show that Californians generally support marijuana legalization. But opponents of the state's Proposition 64 have seized on a new message that they hope will persuade voters to reject the ballot measure in November: the idea that legalization would lead to a flood of TV ads for marijuana. The assertion is based on a provision in the measure that states that advertising for marijuana products "shall only be displayed where at least 71.6 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be 21 years of age or older." It mirrors the language of the alcohol industry's self-imposed advertising restrictions. [continues 499 words]
CARSON CITY - State Attorney General Adam Laxalt and other law enforcement leaders declared their opposition Thursday to a Nevada ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana. At a news conference in front of the Legislative Building, Laxalt said Question 2, if approved by voters in November, would harm Nevada children and lead to accidental poisonings, addiction and increased road fatalities. Question 2 would allow people age 21 and older to possess 1 ounce of marijuana for personal use. It would restrict who can grow, test, process and distribute recreational pot to those already licensed to do the same with medical marijuana or who run liquor distributorships. [continues 241 words]
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the Association of Arkansas Counties' 48th Annual Conference Thursday that he will oppose two proposals on the November general election ballot that would legalize medical marijuana in the state. "I will be opposing the two marijuana initiatives," Hutchinson told the conference, which was held at the Hot Springs Convention Center. "You can imagine the enforcement issues and the regulatory issues that are involved with this. I do not see any tax benefits for the state. I see more of a tax drain for the state." [continues 643 words]
Supporters of legalization of medical marijuana on Wednesday vowed to press getting the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot, despite a series of deadlines that make it nearly impossible. On Tuesday, state officials said Oklahomans for Health had collected more than enough signatures to get the issue before voters. Supporters collected 67,761 signatures; the requirement was 65,987 signatures. But a series of deadlines means the question likely will have to wait until June or November 2018, the next scheduled primary and general elections. [continues 469 words]
Last week a group of Missouri prosecutors announced it had taken legal steps to block voter consideration of a medical marijuana proposition on the November ballot. In a news release, the group said it opposes the measure because pot is illegal under federal law. "Missouri law cannot usurp federal law," the prosecutors claim. That doesn't seem to have been a problem in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is sold, but let's leave that aside for the moment. Instead, let's focus on the prosecutors' central argument: state law, they say, must give way to federal law whenever there's a conflict. [continues 383 words]
PHOENIX - Opponents of a voter initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Arizona are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to overturn a judge's decision and block the measure from the ballot. The group called Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy said in a filing that if Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry's ruling stands, "courts no longer have the power to prevent fraud on the electorate." Gentry ruled last week that foes can't challenge it because of a 2015 law. She went on to reject all the opponents' arguments against the initiative. Legalization backers told the high court that Gentry got it right and said the opponents' case was politicized and filled with incorrect arguments. Staff and wire reports [end]
It's A Bad Idea, but SQ 788 Ought to Be on the Ballot If Possible If State Question 788 doesn't make November's ballot, proponents have no one to blame but themselves. Still, in the best spirit of democracy and to save some money, state officials ought to do everything reasonable to get the medical marijuana proposal before voters in November if possible. Secretary of State Chris Benge announced Wednesday that the petition had 67,761 signatures, enough to qualify for ballot access provisionally. (A companion proposal to give proponents of initiative petitions more time to gather signatures fell short of the mark, Benge announced last week.) [continues 367 words]
Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana filed suit Wednesday to stop the state from counting votes cast in November for a proposed initiated act that would legalize the drug for medical purposes. The complaint, filed with the Arkansas Supreme Court, alleges problems with the ballot title of the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act. "It contains misleading statements, omits material information that is essential for a fair understanding of the Act, and is tinged with partisan coloring," the complaint reads in part. According to the complaint, the ballot title "falsely tells voters that the Act limits the use of marijuana"; "gives the false impression that all marijuana will be tested for quality, safety, and potency"; and "fails to tell the voters that the Act permits 'cannabis care centers' to sell food and drink that contains marijuana," among other issues. [continues 699 words]
Prop 205 Moves Forward Despite Effort to Challenge Initiatives Prop 205 appears to be safe for the moment as Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry dismissed charges against its campaign last week. Maricopa and Yavapai county attorneys Bill Montgomery and Sheila Polk were two of the major plaintiffs to file the lawsuit but were joined by the chairman of Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, Seth Leibsohn and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. To nobody's surprise the plaintiffs intend to appeal the judge's decision. However, the ruling decided that not only did the opposition fail to support their claim, but that the state legislature effectively eliminated citizens' ability to legally challenge ballot initiatives, which may not bode well for the lawsuit's future. [continues 764 words]
An initiative petition to let Oklahomans vote on whether to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes has enough signatures to potentially get on the ballot, Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge announced Tuesday. Backers of the petition say they hope to get the issue on the November ballot, but state officials say time constraints may make that impossible. If the issue fails to make the November ballot, voters still might get a chance to vote on it later during a special election or the 2018 primary or general election, officials said. [continues 417 words]
The City Officials Voted 5-4 to Allow a Maximum of Four Retail Shops to Open. Thornton - The state's largest city with an all-out ban on marijuana sales decided Tuesday to allow the nascent industry, but not before hearing an earful from members of the community. The Thornton City Council voted 5-4 to allow retail marijuana shops - capped at four citywide - to open in this northern suburb of 135,000. The city, the sixth largest in Colorado, will start accepting applications from would-be dispensary owners Sept. 1. [continues 379 words]
Leaders of the campaigns for and against the statewide proposition to legalize recreational marijuana use in Arizona appeared at a Yuma forum Tuesday to make their cases to an audience of about 30. The faceoff was sponsored by the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, which has found itself split on the question of Proposition 205, Executive Director John Courtis said at the beginning of the two-hour session, though the statewide Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a major funder of the campaign against it. [continues 1255 words]
Voters May Face Two Pot-Related Measures in November Arkansas voters may yet see dueling ballot proposals to allow medical marijuana in this state. Last week, backers of a second pot-related ballot question, a proposed constitutional amendment, submitted what they say is more than enough signatures to get the issue on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Secretary of State Mark Martin's office is reviewing the signatures now to determine whether there are enough valid signatures to meet the required threshold. [continues 532 words]
A new group has formed to coordinate attacks on the proposed Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act and Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment. State Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe is serving as spokesman for the group, Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana. Members include: the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, the Coalition for Safer Arkansas Communities, the Family Council Action Committee and the Arkansas Committee for Ethics Policy. "Well, it's a very diverse coalition," Bledsoe said in an interview Tuesday. "We decided to put together all of our collective thinking on this because we're unified on the fact that we think the medical marijuana issues would be bad for the state." [continues 500 words]
If Californians legalize marijuana under Proposition 64 in November, legal cannabis sales in the state likely will climb by $1.6 billion within the first year of implementation, according to a report released Tuesday. That would put the state's medical and recreational market on track to hit $6.5 billion in revenue by 2020 up from $2.8 billion in 2015, industry research firms Arcview Group and New Frontier state in the report. And the researchers argue it would serve as a "watershed moment" for the industry in and outside the United States. [continues 868 words]
Collections Are Exceeding Projections Pot smokers are paying even more in taxes than state officials thought they would. According to figures released Monday by the Oregon Department of Revenue, Oregon's recreational marijuana sales tax has generated $25.5 million in revenue so far this year, exceeding projections by millions. In the first quarter of 2016, the Oregon Department of Revenue collected $14.9 million from recreational pot sales. In May and June alone, retail outlets collected $10.6 million in taxes to push the year-to-date total over $25 million. [continues 392 words]
