TEMPLE TERRACE -- Dropping a giant joint in favor of the "USS Maryjane" seemed to smooth the waters for a pro-marijuana entry in this year's Temple Terrace Fourth of July Parade. The new float designed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws featured the flag-festooned ship crewed by some military veterans and painted with the slogan, "Hemp for Victory." The theme plays off a World War II film from the Department of Agriculture that praised the nation's hemp farmers for their work in creating strong ropes from the stalks of marijuana plants for the armed forces. [continues 227 words]
Walk into a medical marijuana dispensary in New Jersey and the first thing to hit you is the stink. Weed's scent is a sour blast that seems to reek of citrus, diesel, and skunk. At the Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, charcoal air purifiers -- encased in gleaming steel and larger than jet engines -- are strategically placed through the facility. It's hard to say whether their presence tempers the odor, which is generated by thousands of cannabis plants growing under lights in the same building. [continues 707 words]
On a cool, rainy day, more than 200 people crowd under a tarp in the parking lot of Big Mama's Restaurant, bidding on bicycles, air rifles and marijuana posters to raise money to support a jailed local legend. They have a lot of work to do, because Cornbread Mafia leader Johnny Boone, captured in Canada and returned to Kentucky after eight years as a fugitive, faces life in prison if convicted on his third strike, for growing 2,421 marijuana seedlings on a farm. In 29 states and the District of Columbia, marijuana is legal for recreational or medicinal purposes, or both. But the federal government, while giving a virtual free pass to growers in states where marijuana is legal, continues to seek long mandatory minimum penalties against defendants in Kentucky and other states where it is not. [continues 1276 words]
There are good days for West Tarricone. Days when she can laugh and live like any other 9-year-old. Days when she can play with her brother, Blake, and watch "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on her iPad. But there are also bad days. Days when her body weathers 100 seizures. Days when it has closer to 1,000 - some lasting more than 90 minutes. Lately, she's been having more good days thanks to Connecticut's new experiment with medical marijuana. [continues 2285 words]
Independence Day is a celebration of freedom. But on this July Fourth, for the first time in more than a century, our freedoms in Massachusetts include the ability to legally buy, possess, and use marijuana. These privileges took effect in December, after voters approved a ballot question on recreational pot use. And that measure remains the law of the land, despite state legislators' ongoing debate over a rewrite of the rules. But it's worth remembering that this freedom is heavily qualified. So, after consulting with law enforcement experts and studying guidance issued by state officials, here are some recreational marijuana do's and don'ts. [continues 786 words]
A Philadelphia city councilwoman says she will try to block a medical marijuana dispensary from being located in her East Mount Airy district. "This is not a debate about the merits of medical marijuana -- which the community and I both support -- but it is solely about the proposed use at this location," Parker said in a statement, citing concerns about public safety and security. "I remain vehemently opposed to this site." State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Phila.), who lives four blocks from the proposed dispensary, said he was happy to have one in the neighborhood. But Rabb said he believes the two-story structure is "specifically an awful location." [continues 278 words]
A new state law allows pot sales at county fairs, but will yours go green? A minor clause in a recently passed California State Senate bill could lead to a dramatic increase in funnel cake sales at county fairs across the state. On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB-94, which combined the medical and recreational marijuana laws into one set of rules. The massive bill includes a section that allows for cannabis sales on state-owned fairgrounds -- either at county fairs or during private events -- provided certain conditions are met. These include securing proper permits and, in the case of county fairs, having a designated enclosed space for pot. No recreational marijuana sales are legal until Jan. 1. [continues 546 words]
Medical marijuana permits leave losers fuming in Pa. The Pennsylvania Department of Health today announced the names and locations of companies that will be permitted to sell medical marijuana in the state. The reveal came in a news release issued Thursday at 1:15 p.m.. Each of the 27 winners have the right to operate three storefronts. Though there were 81 dispensaries allowed by law, many applicants chose not to ask for additional outlets. As it stands, only 52 will open sometime next year. [continues 287 words]
In fact, since decriminalization took effect, police have cited 73 percent fewer people than they arrested for possessing weed during the same time period in the year prior to decriminalization. And if mayoral candidate Jim Kenney has his way, citations for marijuana users may become a thing of the past, too. "I'm not interested in issuing citations, either. We'll get to that conversation at the appropriate time next year," Kenney told the Daily News. "As time goes on, I don't know if there's going to be a need for any kind of punishment." [continues 1129 words]
BOSTON -- After a week of sharp divisions and heated rhetoric over the future of the state's recreational marijuana law, it's now up to a conference committee of six legislators to try and sort everything out. On one hand, there's a House bill that infuriated pro-marijuana activists by proposing a major overhaul of the voter-approved law. On the other, a more restrained Senate bill won praise from the groups behind the November ballot question. Democratic Rep. Mark Cusack, the House bill's lead author, suggested before the votes that the two chambers were in about 80 percent agreement on their respective approaches. [continues 569 words]
RENO, Nev. -- Nevada's marijuana regulators may have found a way around a judge's order that threatens to block the state's first recreational pot sales scheduled to begin next month. Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed onto an emergency regulation intended to allow recreational sales to begin July 1 at some existing medical dispensaries. Nevada Department of Taxation spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein says the agency plans to issue recreational retail licenses next week even if it doesn't approve any distribution licenses caught up in a Carson City judge's court order. [continues 59 words]
Criminal charges filed against petition circulators accused of falsifying signatures on petitions for the marijuana-legalization ballot issue in 2015 show that people must be careful, Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien said. "It serves as a cautionary note that people circulating petitions need to be very careful and follow the law when they are gathering signatures," O'Brien said. "People need to be careful to only sign their own names." O'Brien commented Friday as four cases continued to move through Delaware County Common Pleas Court. [continues 176 words]
A Wilson man said Friday that he was under the influence of marijuana when he caused a fatal crash last summer in Porter. Michael A. Buchalski II, 22, of Randall Road, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and driving while impaired by drugs, in exchange for a two-year sentence - one year on each count - in the Niagara County Jail. State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr. scheduled sentencing for Aug. 11. The judge also revoked Buchalski's bail and sent him to jail immediately to begin serving his time for causing the death of Michael G. Willimott Jr., 38, of Niagara Falls. [continues 389 words]
On the heels of a House rewrite Wednesday of the state's adult-use recreational marijuana law, approved by voters in November, local reaction has been mixed. Increasing the tax rate on marijuana sales from 12 percent to 28 percent and allowing local governing boards to ban or limit pot stores without asking local voters are among the more significant changes in the House bill. On Thursday, the debate over reshaping the law shifted to the state Senate, where a more modest set of revisions to existing law appeared headed for passage. [continues 925 words]
CARSON CITY, Nev. -- The Latest on the legal battle of the launch of Nevada's recreational pot sales The deputy director of Nevada's Department of Taxation says state regulators still intend to have the necessary licenses in place July 1 to start selling marijuana for recreational use despite an ongoing lawsuit over the regulations. Anna Thornley testified in Carson City District Court on Monday that the state has planned since February to have the "early start" program up and running by July to start bringing in tax revenue before a permanent system must be adopted on Jan. 1, 2018. [continues 630 words]
Members of a West Toledo church that describes itself as "an alternative medicine and naturopathic healing center" demonstrated outside the Lucas County Courthouse today in support of the woman they call their head medicine woman. Charmaine Rose Bassett, 56, is held in the Lucas County jail on felony charges of aggravated possession of drugs, aggravated trafficking in drugs, and trafficking in marijuana. Bassett, who founded Anyana-Kai at 3344 Secor Rd., was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury after Toledo police raided the church and seized marijuana and illegal mushrooms. The indictment alleges she sold the marijuana and mushrooms to members who paid a fee to join the church. [continues 188 words]
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Saying its time has come, state Sen. Morgan McGarvey on Wednesday called on the legislature to consider legalizing medical marijuana to relieve pain and suffering of terminally ill people. "It's 2017," McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat, told members of the joint House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. "I think it's time we had a conversation about medical marijuana without snickering." Members of the committee took no action on legislation McGarvey is proposing for the 2018 legislative session but no one spoke against the proposal and some committee members spoke in favor of the measure that went nowhere in the past two legislative sessions. [continues 676 words]
Donald Trump was not elected president to renew crackdowns on marijuana in states that have legalized it for medicinal or recreational purposes. Last week, it was revealed that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a private letter to congressional leaders dated May 1 asking them to lift the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prevents the Justice Department from meddling with state medical marijuana laws. "I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime," Sessions wrote, citing no evidence linking medical marijuana to the "historic drug epidemic" or violent crime increases. [continues 370 words]
Despite the upheaval of the current presidential administration, some things just haven't changed, like acting DEA Chief Chuck Rosenberg's Obama-era insistence last month that "marijuana is not medicine." Though he also stated that he'd "be the last person to stand in the way" if medical uses of marijuana rise through the FDA process. (Here's where we count on Sue Sisley's research in Phoenix.) But Rosenberg doesn't seem to pay attention to what happens in Phoenix. If he did, he might hear about a small clinic using marijuana to treat opioid addiction. [continues 582 words]
The state has put out new rules for testing marijuana planned for medical use. With businesses expected to get state licenses in January to sell marijuana in California, the top regulator said Thursday that they will be given up to six months to comply with a requirement the pot be thoroughly tested by a licensed laboratory. State pot czar Lori Ajax said it may take months for enough testing labs to be properly screened and licensed to handle the supply of marijuana expected to be sold in California starting next year. In addition, many existing medical marijuana dispensaries will have untested supplies when licensing begins, she said. [continues 168 words]
