GENERAL
Gallup Poll
Title: Support for Legal Marijuana Use Up to 60% in U.S.
Author: Gallup
Date: 19 October 2017
URL: http://news.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx
Extract:
- Highest percentage of support recorded in 47-year trend
- Favoring legalization is up among all age groups in the past decade
- Large majorities of Democrats, independents favor legalization
A roundup within a roundup ! Here’s what MJ Biz think are the important issues of the past week
Week in Review: Massachusetts’ MMJ upgrades, WA tracking issues & possible Rhode Island expansion
Title: Just-Retired Top US Global Narc: Marijuana Rescheduling Likely
Author: Marijuanamoment.net
Date: 28 October 2017
Extract: Until last month, he was the top international anti-drug official in the U.S. Now he says it is likely that the federal government will have to reclassify marijuana as more states enact legalization.
ARIZONA
Title: Here We Go Again: Medical-Cannabis Extracts at Arizona Dispensaries Deemed Illegal
Author: Phoenix New Times
Date: 23 October 2017
Extract: “This is a big deal,” said Phoenix cannabis attorney Tom Dean, who’s worked on several prominent cases involving the state’s medical-marijuana law. The problem is that the law, which was approved narrowly by voters in 2010, includes a definition for marijuana and “any mixture or preparation thereof.” Yet Arizona’s criminal code on pot, written prior to 1960, defines both marijuana and a strange substance called “cannabis,” which comes from marijuana resin but apparently isn’t marijuana. It’s officially a “narcotic” under this old law, carrying a stiffer felony designation and penalties. Earlier this month, authorities told a grand jury that a 26-year-old Prescott man with a valid medical-marijuana card was not legally allowed to possess a few grams of extracted resin, or “cannabis” — despite the fact that half or more of the products for sale at Arizona dispensaries contain extracted resin.
MAINE
Title: Legislature reconvenes with pot law facing host of questions: One bill launches the regulatory market, setting specific tax rates, license tiers and rules, while the other postpones licensing until January 2019.
Author: Press Herald
Date: 23 October 2017
URL: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/10/23/legislature-reconvenes-with-pot-law-facing-host-of-questions/
Extract: “Marijuana is an economic freight train, and we can either jump on or let it pass us by,” he said. “It is a good fit for Maine. It’s tied to our agriculture, our entrepreneurial spirit. It’s unique and a little difficult, like us. Maine can be a leader in this market, if we want it.”
MISSOURI
Title: New bill would allow for use, sale and growth of marijuana in St. Louis
Author: STL Today.com
Date: 25 October 2017
Extract: ST. LOUIS • A bill filed this week that would allow marijuana to be used, sold and grown in St. Louis aims to reduce disproportionate penalties for existing violations and free up time for police to focus on crimes with victims.
The bill, sponsored by Alderman Megan Green, 15th Ward, would stop enforcement of any laws that permit “the civil or criminal punishment for the use or possession of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia against any individual or entity,” except under certain circumstances.
Civil or criminal penalties could be enforced on anyone using marijuana under the age of 21, selling to someone under 21, or possessing more than 2 ounces of marijuana or more than 10 marijuana plants for cultivation. Under the measure, consumption of marijuana anywhere but on private residential property would be limited.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Title: New Hampshire Committee Takes First Steps Towards Marijuana Legalization
Author: Civilized
Date: 23 October 2017
URL: https://www.civilized.life/articles/new-hampshire-first-steps-marijuana-legalization/
Extract: A bill that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state of New Hampshire has cleared the first bar towards becoming a reality. The New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee passed a recommendation that the full legislature should allow a pending bill that would legalize marijuana to become the law. The current proposal would legalize cannabis for anyone 21-years-old or older, and would institute a retail tax on the drug.
RHODE ISLAND
Title: New study commission on legalizing marijuana in RI meets for first time
Author: WPRi.com
Date: 25 October 2017
URL: http://wpri.com/2017/10/25/new-study-commission-on-marijuana-legalization-meets-for-first-time/
Extract: PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The 19 members of a new study commission to look into legalizing recreational marijuana in Rhode Island met for the first time Wednesday, setting up plans to take testimony and study data from other states over the next several months. The commission was formed by the legislature earlier this year, tasking the members with studying the effects of legal marijuana and reporting back its findings. Its members include legislators, law enforcement officials, mental health and medical professionals and advocates from both sides of the debate.
TENNESSEE
Title: Tennessee Ad Hoc Committee on Medical Cannabis gives insight into new legislation
Author: Fox17
Date: 26 October 2017
Extract: NASHVILLE, Tenn.–The Tennessee Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Medical Cannabis met on Thursday to continue the debate on legislation surrounding medical cannabis. Rep. Jeremy Faison, Co-Chairman of the committee, laid out changes to the proposed legislation he and others on the committee plan to file. While Faison says it will be among the “strictest medical cannabis bills in America, but that’s fine with me because I want the people who need it most to have it.”
