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Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday formally opposed an initiative on California's fall ballot to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. Feinstein said the measure, Proposition 64, lacked protections for children and motorists and would clash with medical marijuana guidelines signed last fall by Gov. Jerry Brown.
States that legalized medical marijuana -- which is sometimes recommended for symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety or depression -- saw declines in the number of Medicare prescriptions for drugs used to treat those conditions and a dip in spending by Medicare Part D, which covers the cost on prescription medications, according to new research. Because the prescriptions for drugs like opioid painkillers and antidepressants and associated Medicare spending on those drugs fell in states where marijuana could feasibly be used as a replacement, researchers said it appears likely legalization led to a drop in prescriptions.
I recently returned from a car trip to Southern California. As I crossed over the state line on Interstate 15, I was met with an large electronic sign stretched across the road reading, "Zero Tolerance Zone."
Barack Obama has roughly six months left in office. Will he end the country's war on marijuana before the clock runs out? But rapper Prince Ea isn't ready to stop trying.
Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is sticking up for marijuana after 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney last week said smoking the drug "makes people stupid." "I do not agree with that," Johnson told CNN's Erin Burnett in an interview scheduled to air Sunday on "OutFront."
Republicans say a budget bill approved Thursday in the state Assembly gives pot farmers preferential treatment over the rest of the agriculture industry. The bill allows licensed marijuana growers to use water from natural rivers, streams or lakes without state approval or environmental assessment.
On Tuesday the Calaveras supervisors plan to ink agreements for post Butte Fire tree services and to help grease the skids for permanent cannabis regulations. As part of the county's Butte Fire phase two recovery efforts, the Calaveras County supervisors anticipate signing a $1.2 million professional services agreement with Tetra Tech, Inc. It is estimated that over 5,800 fire-damaged public hazard trees along Calaveras County roads within the burn scar need to be removed.
Alaska regulators were applauded Thursday as they approved the first licenses for legal marijuana growing and testing facilities - another milestone for the fledgling industry. Priority was being given to growing and testing operations to ensure that retail stores will have legal product to sell.
Columbus -- Random thoughts following lawmakers' marathon pre-recess sessions and on what might happen when they return to the Statehouse near year's end: / Getting It Done: The Ohio House and Senate showed that their members can put the pedal to the metal when they want to, moving dozens of bills in a two-day period. After years of balking, they agreed to legalize medical marijuana, via a state-regulated system that should be in place within two years.
File photo/The Clarion-Ledger -- Used for medicinal research, marijuana plants grow in a facility on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford. File photo/The Clarion-Ledger -- Marijuana plants are raised in the grow room at the University of Mississippi for research purposes.
Backers of a constitutional amendment that would have legalized medical marijuana said they were not pressured by state lawmakers to abandon efforts to put their measure on the November ballot. Legislators may have been attempting to head off the amendment, but Saturday's announcement came as a surprise.
Instead, because the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 801, Et. Seq , prohibits "manufacture, distribution, and dispensation" of cannabis and any transfer or deposit of monies yielded from cannabis sale may be deemed "money laundering" in violation of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, 31 U.S.C. Section 5311-5330 , most banks, credit unions and credit card companies refuse to provide marijuana growers, processors or dispensers with financial services.
It was a productive week in the fight to legalize marijuana in the United States. Some of the most important news comes from the halls of Congress, where both chambers have finally agreed that veterans deserve hassle free access to medical marijuana.
In April, the US Drug Enforcement Administration said that it would review marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug, considered the "most dangerous class" of substances. While the DEA's announcement is a positive sign, many drug-policy experts think that it's unlikely the agency will actually decide to change marijuana's classification, despite a dramatic shift in public sentiment about the drug.
Democrats in the Ohio Senate could play a key role in determining whether state lawmakers are able to pass a medical marijuana bill that passed the House last week. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles explains why.
Arizona voters passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act in 2010, legalizing medical marijuana, but in November 2016 rejected Proposition 205, which sought to legalize marijuana for recreational use for people 21 and older. In 2013, President Barack Obama's administration announced that it would not crack down on states that legalize marijuana.