17th state decriminalizes marijuana; two others vie to be 19th in authorizing medical use… Pot mags not treated as porn in Colorado… More adults admit to cannabis use… and more!
LEGISLATION & LAW ENFORCEMENT
L.A.Times // Vermont’s governor signed a bill yesterday lowering the penalty for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. He called it “a common sense move.” Vermont is the seventeenth state to decriminalize small amounts of the plant for personal use.
MMJ Business Jrln. // Cannabis possession was a felony in Nevada as recently as the 1990s. Now our neighbor to the east is on track to become the nineteenth state to authorize medical use. That is, if New York doesn’t beat them to it.
The Nevada Assembly approved SB 374 on Monday. It now goes to the governor, who is against recreational use, but is open to the idea of medical dispensaries.
On the other side of the country, the New York Assembly also approved a bill on Monday favoring medical marijuana, 95 – 38.
Read more here.
SacBee // In California, the sponsor of AB 473 said the bill “held the answer to many of the problems that many of our communities are having with medical marijuana.” Not enough of Assembly member Tom Ammiano’s colleagues were convinced of that last Friday. The measure failed.
ASA // Advocacy group Americans for Safe Access saw “big problems” with AB 473 and see its defeat as a chance to make changes when the next measure to create a statewide regulatory system is proposed.
Westword // Pot magazines (ex. High Times) don’t have to be sold under the counter after Colorado’s Attorney General rules that it’sunconstitutional to classify such publications the same way as pornography.
SFGate // Arrests for cannabis possession in San Francisco are notably higher among blacks than whites, according to an ACLU report quoted on Tuesday...
SFGate // …Not true, says SFPD, in a statement on Wednesday.
AGRICULTURE
Real Pharmacy.com // Alfalfa is out and hemp is in for a farmer in Colorado, who has planted the first legal hemp crop in 60 years.
SURVEY & STUDY
SFGate // Nearly half (48%) of US adults answered “yes” when asked if they had ever used cannabis, according to a Pew Research Center poll. That’s up from 40 percent three years ago. It’s worth clicking on the link to see the accompanying NORML ad featuring New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
USA Today // Even moderate use of cannabis can increase academic problems for college students, according to a ten-year study conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland.
Another study cited in this article says exactly one third of college students admitted to marijuana use last year.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Art Research Office // “Weed Museum” is the name of an exhibit of cannabis-related art at the Art Research Office gallery on Water Street in Santa Cruz. The opening is this evening, part of Downtown Santa Cruz’s First Friday event.
HuffPost // “If Republicans were smart,” says Bill Maher, “they would steal marijuana from the Democrats as a freedom issue.” He made this statement last week on his program, “Real Time,” while also taking President Obama to task on the issue. See the whole “editorial” here.
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