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Many young people are aware that they have a statistically near zero risk of ever falling ill from coronavirus. Fortunately bribes may work....?

Get stuck and take a puff. Cannabis activist group DC Marijuana Justice plans to offer weed gift bags to those who get the COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s capital, the organization has announced. “We are looking for ways to safely celebrate the end of the pandemic and we know nothing brings people together like cannabis,” wrote DCMJ co-founder Nikoas Schiller in a press release for the initiative, dubbed “Joints for Jabs.” The group plans to hand out free ganja baggies at Washington, DC, vaccination sites, both to commemorate what is hopefully the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic...

A bill that would legalize recreational adult use of marijuana was presented and discussed in a Virginia General Assembly subcommittee Tuesday morning. If the bill passes, recreational marijuana could be legal in the commonwealth in two years. "The prohibition of cannabis in the commonwealth and in our country has failed, and with this bill is a step forward in recognizing that in a responsible way," said state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), who sponsors the bill. The bill would legalize possession and use for anyone 21 and older and allow people to grow up to two mature marijuana plants at home...

... "In just a few hours, though, my heart had fallen harder and faster than I can remember. Like all of you, I watched as a gang -- organized, violent, and mad they'd lost an election -- laid siege to the United States Capitol," she added. "They set up gallows. They proudly waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the halls. They desecrated the center of American government." "Once authorities finally gained control of the situation, these rioters and gang members were led out of the building not in handcuffs, but free to carry on with their days," Obama...

In the 1990s, it was our collective national will to do what was necessary, however distasteful to some, to rescue our society from catastrophe.As the nation prepares for the incoming Biden-Harris administration the new president promises will be “the most progressive in history,” many drug policy practitioners wonder with trepidation what this will mean for the country’s drug crisis. Record levels of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, not to mention surging tonnage of cocaine and black market marijuana, are pouring across our borders at the hands of ruthless Mexican drug cartels, directly fueling ever-increasing overdose deaths and crime. So leftists’ stated...

According to a Pew survey published one year ago, 91% of Americans think that medical marijuana should be legal, and 62% agree that marijuana in general should be legal. Opposition to making marijuana legal, at 52% in 2010, fell to 32% by November of 2019. In other words, American’s enthusiasm for embracing marijuana is on the rise. In all, 15 states plus Washington DC have now made marijuana legal for recreational purposes for adults over the age of 21, and 33 states have made marijuana legal for medical purposes. Not a Gateway, but Not Desirable EitherFor most people, marijuana is...

WELLSTON, Oklahoma—One day in the early fall of 2018, while scrutinizing the finances of his thriving Colorado garden supply business, Chip Baker noticed a curious development: transportation costs had spiked fivefold. The surge, he quickly determined, was due to huge shipments of cultivation supplies—potting soil, grow lights, dehumidifiers, fertilizer, water filters—to Oklahoma. Baker, who has been growing weed since he was 13 in Georgia, has cultivated crops in some of the world’s most notorious marijuana hotspots, from the forests of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle to the lake region of Switzerland to the mountains of Colorado. Oklahoma was not exactly on...

New York State Assembly Democrats are mulling an array of new and higher taxes on the rich as well as legalization of mobile sports betting and marijuana to address a fiscal crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. The lawmakers discussed raising taxes to close a projected massive budget deficit next year during a grim, private remote meeting held all-day on Wednesday. “If there was an idea to raise money, it was discussed today,” Assembly Education Committee Chairman Michael Benedetto (D-Bronx) told The Post afterward “Everything was discussed at great length.” The tax talk session comes as the New York City...

@RepThomasMassieThe marijuana bill: Imposes new taxes, creates new federal crimes, creates new offices & programs at existing federal agencies, and in general gives federal government executive branch bureaucrats almost unlimited power to issue whatever regulations and rules they so choose.

Lots more government lockdowns coming your way, just in time for Christmas! For your own good of course. But don’t worry, your government overlords are working overtime on the really important things. Like cannabis.The House on Friday passed a comprehensive reform bill ending federal prohibitions on marijuana in a historic vote that marks the next significant step forward in the growing movement to legalize cannabis in the U.S.. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level and would remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and expunge federal convictions for non-violent marijuana...

n Friday the U.S. House passed a historic bill that would end the federal prohibition of marijuana and expunge many cannabis-related convictions. It’s the first time the full House has considered —let alone passed — such a bill.The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act), made it through the House by a 228 to 164 vote. Nearly every Democrat supported the measure, while just five Republicans voted for it. Six Democrats voted against the bill.The bill, introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.), would eliminate conflict between state and federal law and allow states to set their own marijuana...

This is how they roll in San Francisco. Smokers in the Golden Gate City have been banned from smoking tobacco in their apartments, but smoking a marijuana joint inside is perfectly fine, officials announced Tuesday. The Board of Supervisors approved the new law in 10 to 1 vote, making San Francisco the largest city in the country to adopt the tough measure against tobacco smokers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Lawmakers originally proposed to ban marijuana smoking in buildings, but they reversed their position after cannabis activists protested

Kolb and his son traveled from their home in San Mateo for a ski trip in Lake Tahoe and were staying at a cabin ... when Kolb woke up before dawn and began pacing around the cabin. He woke up his then 16-year-old son and asked him to get medical help... Kolb’s son called 911 and reported his father was acting odd and was “in a dream-like state,” according to court documents. He told the dispatcher his father had a history of temporal lobe epilepsy and that they had smoked marijuana together before going to bed. Temporal lobe epilepsy can...

Home cultivation has emerged as a clear sticking point in cannabis reform across many states.While it faces pushback, including from several cannabis brands, home grow is making incremental progress in medical and adult use markets, and ushering in a variety of parameters to meet state needs. The issue has made more progress than other key advocate issues, such as social equity. Yet, industry professionals say more could be done to improve access and curb industry greed.Those supporting home grow believe that it is a way to provide affordable cannabis to low income individuals, as well as to those customers who...

The push to legalize recreational weed in New Jersey includes a new “social equity” tax that would benefit communities of color disproportionately affected by drug laws. Bills by both the Senate and Assembly allow the Cannabis Regularly Commission to levy an optional Social Equity Excise Fee for programs aimed at alleviating racial disparities

If you’ve ever filled out a Form 4473, you’re familiar with the Question 11e: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or other controlled substance?” In case you thought there was any ambiguity with regard to medical marijuana, you were wrong. Indeed, there is a warning in bold right underneath the question that clarifies: “Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized or for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.” Regardless of what one...

...But according to David Downs, the California bureau chief of cannabis-focused website and news outlet Leafly, the underlying factors that gave rise to these cases in the first place haven’t really gone away. Perhaps more than any outlet, Leafly has investigated these poisonings extensively. “What we found was that the structure of the market and the incentives to adulterate products had not changed. The profit motive still exists, you still make more money, fooling consumers and being unfair to them, such that the promise of injury was still there,” Downs said. Though the CDC said it would stop tracking the...

According to the Associated Press, Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed Prop 207 this month to legalize the possession and usage of recreational marijuana. The Mint Dispensary in Tempe, Arizona is taking advantage of the drug's popularity with their latest concoction: cannabis-infused turkey gravy for the non-traditional Thanksgiving spread. While Prop 207 has passed, the state has not yet officially legalized recreational marijuana. Therefore only patients possessing a medicinal marijuana card will be able to purchase a warm Thanksgiving meal customized with a dose of cannabis now through Thanksgiving Day. The featured sides include cranberry sauce, cornbread, and -- of course --...

A historic bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level is expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives in December. This would be the first time a chamber of Congress has ever voted on removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. Cannabis was included as what is called a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. Schedule I drugs are defined as having a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, ecstasy and peyote. “I write to share the busy Floor schedule we have...

Members of the House of Delegates expect it to pass. In the Senate, they give it “slightly better than 50-50 odds.” And Gov. Ralph Northam’s office says he’s “certainly open to it.” Proposals to legalize recreational marijuana in Virginia are set to get their first serious hearings when the General Assembly convenes in January and, at least for now, it looks like there’s a decent chance they could succeed... The movement in Virginia comes after voters in four states overwhelmingly approved referendums legalizing marijuana, bringing the total nationwide total to 15. If lawmakers in Virginia move forward, the state would...