Tag: weed

Minnesota’s Fastest-Growing City Bans Smoking Weed in Public Places

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The fastest growing city in Minnesota, and one of the fastest growing suburban communities in America, has banned the use of smokeable marijuana in its public spaces. And they’re doing it for the kids, according to city leaders.

The Lakeville City Council voted this week to create a new ordinance that prohibits the smoking of cannabis and hemp in public places — including parks, streets, sidewalks and other outdoor spaces where people can gather. Violation of the new ordinance, which takes effect immediately, is a petty misdemeanor, punishable by a $300 ticket, according to a city report on the measure.

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Pennsylvania Committee Passes Pro-Marijuana Resolution, Calls for New Federal Law

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the federal government to remove marijuana from the top section of its controlled-substances list. 

Called House Resolution 420 — an allusion to 4/20, a day of celebration for many pot smokers — the measure sponsored by state Representative Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) asks federal officials to move cannabinoid products off of Schedule I. The topmost of five illicit drug categories, Schedule I includes substances the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) characterizes as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” 

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Recreational Marijuana Legalization Proposed in Pennsylvania Senate

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania state senators announced Friday they will draft a bill to legalize adults’ recreational use of marijuana. 

In a memorandum asking colleagues to join their effort, Senators Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) and Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) cited CBS News polling suggesting two-thirds of Keystone Staters from varied communities back legal cannabis intake. The senators suggested making pot licit could boost the commonwealth’s agriculture industry and generate scads of new tax revenue. They mentioned 2021 testimony by the state’s nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office averring that legal adult consumption could bring between $400 million to $1 billion into the state Treasury annually.

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Wisconsin Governor Evers Seeks Recreational Marijuana Legalization

Bradley Vasoli
Tony Evers

Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) is preparing for a potential battle with the Republican-run Wisconsin Legislature over the legalization of recreational marijuana. 

Evers is gearing up to present his biennial budget requests to lawmakers in February and has said there is “no question” he will ask the legislature to permit adults to use cannabinoid substances for fun as he did in his most recent budget proposal earlier this year. 

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Church Sues Police Department, City for Taking Its Weed and Shrooms

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A religious organization in Oakland, California, that celebrates controlled psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana use is suing the city, the police department and one of its officers for allegedly violating its First- and 14th-Amendment rights in connection with a 2020 raid that seized substances from its building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Oakland police raided Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants that year, taking cash and roughly $200,000 in mushrooms and cannabis following claims it was running an unpermitted cannabis dispensary, the outlet reported. The church is accusing authorities and one particular officer of discriminating against its religious beliefs.

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Bill to Legalize Marijuana Clears First Hurdle in Virginia Senate

The Center Square

Legislation that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Virginia jumped another hurdle Friday when lawmakers advanced the bill through the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee.

Senate Bill 1406, sponsored by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, would legalize the recreational sale and use of marijuana for adults age 21 or older in the commonwealth. It narrowly advanced through the committee on an 8-7 vote with support from every Democrat and opposition from every Republican.

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Ohio Republican Joins Cannibus Caucus in Pushing for Greater Marijuana Protection from Federal Government

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH-14), along with the entire Congressional Cannabis Caucus, introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to protect state marijuana policies by strengthening states’ rights. The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, the “STATES Act” for short, would function to amend existing laws, specifically the Controlled Substances Act. It would, essentially, give states that have set their own policies on marijuana regulation the right to have those laws take precedence over the existing federal laws. Even as various forms of marijuana use become legal across the country, it remains illegal at the federal level. As previously reported: The 2018 Farm Bill, passed with bipartisan support, legalized the production of industrial hemp. This is the primary source of CBD Oil. Hemp producers immediately jumped into producing the substance. Though products containing THC cannot cross state lines, THC products derived from hemp face no similar restriction. Supporting the bill, the Drug Enforcement Agency DEA removed CBD as a Schedule 1 narcotic. As a result, it is no longer considered among the most dangerous of drug products. While CBD seemed poised for national expansion, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still has the authority to regulate the sale of CBD and have aggressively stepped up efforts…

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Ohio Sells 42 Pounds of Medicinal Marijuana in First Weeks of Legal Sales

Andrew Shirley

Ohio sold $330,000 of medicinal marijuana in 12 days. According to the Marijuana Business Daily, that’s almost double the sales rate of, both, Hawaii and Massachusetts when they legalized the drug. These strong numbers are made all the more impressive by the fact that Ohio marijuana prices are almost five times more expensive than if bought illegally and that only four locations are currently open and selling in Ohio. While it’s too early to say what is driving these strong numbers, Ohio’s complicated relationship with other drugs might be a major motivating factor. Of Ohio, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, Ohio, by far, has the highest opioid prescription rate as well as the highest opioid overdose death rate. While many Ohioans may be concerned that marijuana legalization is simply victims of drug addiction switching from one drug to another, it actually has positive implications for the future of the Buckeye State. Marijuana use does carry side effects, however, these effects are far less severe than opioid abuse. Furthermore, a heroin user is 19 times more likely to have started out by abusing an opioid prescription. Marijuana is somewhat more complicated. While historically it has been considered a “gateway drug,” new reports and insights reveal that…

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DFL Lawmakers Introduce House Bill 420 to Legalize Marijuana in Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

DFL lawmakers took the first concrete steps to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota Monday by introducing companion bills in the Minnesota House and Senate. House File (HF) 420, sponsored by Rep. Mike Freiberg (D-Golden Valley), and Senate File (619), sponsored by Sen. Melissa Franzen (D-Edina), would make it legal in the state of Minnesota for a person “ 21 years of age or older” to “cultivate, possess, purchase, transfer, use, and consume cannabis, cannabis products, and cannabis accessories.” The House version of the bill already has 15 co-sponsors, while the Senate version has just two, though one is Republican Sen. Scott Jensen (R-Chaska). The bills would allow employers to adopt a policy that “prohibits the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products in the workplace” or working “while under the influence of cannabis.” They would not, however, allow an employer to “discipline or discriminate against an employee or prospective employee because the employee or prospective employee has metabolites of cannabis in the employee’s or prospective employee’s blood.” Additionally, with some exceptions, residential landlords would not be allowed to prohibit “the possession of cannabis or cannabis products or the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products by nonsmoking means by a tenant who…

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Pro-Legalization Protesters Mock and Shout Down Minnesota Mother Who Lost Son to Impaired Driver

Anthony Gockowski

A Wednesday press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol kicked off what is sure to be an emotional and divisive debate over the legalization of marijuana. The press conference was called by Smart Approaches to Marijuana Minnesota, and both Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom and Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie were in attendance. But supporters of legalization repeatedly mocked and interrupted the speakers throughout their remarks, and essentially hijacked the news conference by the end of it. In one case, Sandy Melville, a woman who lost her son to an inebriated driver, was shouted down by protesters when she attempted to discuss how the issue has personally impacted her. “Minnesota road safety will be compromised even further by impaired drivers if this ridiculous initiative passes. Alcohol is legal, easy to get, hence the 24,000 DUI arrests a year. Legalizing recreational marijuana will likely cause a huge increase in DUI arrests,” Melville said, but was interrupted by sarcastic jeers from protesters. “It should be illegal. We should be a dry state,” one protester exclaimed. “If you can’t support cannabis, you can’t support alcohol,” another added. “You can’t support cigarettes either.” Melville went on to reveal that her son was “thrown 51-feet”…

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