Sunday, January 31, 2016 3:08:44 PM
Medical Marijuana Is Now Legal In All 50 States Thanks To Congress
January 29, 2016 7:08 pm·
The federal ban on medical marijuana is finally a thing of the past. Slipped inside a major budgetary spending bill that was purported to
prevent the government from shutting down, is an interesting earmarked section that finally lifts the federal ban on medical marijuana.
The relevant excerpt of bill H.R. 83 text reads as follows:
--
“Sec. 538. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana. Sec. 539. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (“Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
--
Cassandra Fairbanks, of the Bipartisan Report, notes that “The measure allows states to implement their own policies regarding
medical marijuana, meaning the Department of Justice is now barred from interfering with state medical cannabis laws.”
http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/01/medical-is-now-legal-in-all-50-states-thanks-to-congress/#
.. which i guess must mean the chat around Federal Law and medical marijuana in this one is now redundant ..
Marijuana Reform Takes a Step Back in an Unlikely State
Bad news for supporters of legal marijuana: One state's highest court recently announced it was voiding a decriminalization ordinance that passed last April.
Sean Williams
(TMFUltraLong)
Jan 30, 2016 at 11:41AM
Nonetheless, residents in Kansas' largest city, Wichita, passed their own ordinance in April 2015 that eased the penalties associated with first-time marijuana possession and paraphernalia offenses. The proposal essentially made a first-time offense of possessing less than 32 grams of marijuana punishable by a $50 fine. Current state law in Kansas allows for fines of up to $2,500 and up to one year in jail for a first-time offense of the same nature. Overall, there were 20,075 "yes" votes (54%) in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana within Wichita.
But it appears that vote won't matter. Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court voted 7-0 to overrule the Wichita ordinance on account of filing and disclosure rules that were never met. The Kansas Supreme Court advised Wichita that it was required to follow certain protocols to ensure that residents of Wichita fully understood what they were voting for in April. Because that criteria wasn't met, the highest court in Kansas is voiding the ordinance.
Image source: Office of Public Affairs via Flickr.
This isn't the first time
Of course, this isn't the first time we've witnessed the law standing in the way of marijuana's expansion at the state level. Oklahoma and Nebraska have filed a lawsuit against Colorado that seeks to overturn Colorado's recreational marijuana law. The reasoning? Both states suggest that drug crimes have increased in their state due to the inability of Colorado to properly regulate the flow of legally grown marijuana into retail channels. Should Nebraska and Oklahoma be victorious, it could open a Pandora's Box, as it would essentially be allowing federal law to trump state law.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/30/marijuana-reform-takes-a-step-back-in-an-unlikel-2.aspx
though the latter one seems to stand as a beacon for citizens to ensure they get their introduction of ordinance procedures right.
January 29, 2016 7:08 pm·
The federal ban on medical marijuana is finally a thing of the past. Slipped inside a major budgetary spending bill that was purported to
prevent the government from shutting down, is an interesting earmarked section that finally lifts the federal ban on medical marijuana.
The relevant excerpt of bill H.R. 83 text reads as follows:
--
“Sec. 538. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana. Sec. 539. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (“Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
--
Cassandra Fairbanks, of the Bipartisan Report, notes that “The measure allows states to implement their own policies regarding
medical marijuana, meaning the Department of Justice is now barred from interfering with state medical cannabis laws.”
http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/01/medical-is-now-legal-in-all-50-states-thanks-to-congress/#
.. which i guess must mean the chat around Federal Law and medical marijuana in this one is now redundant ..
Marijuana Reform Takes a Step Back in an Unlikely State
Bad news for supporters of legal marijuana: One state's highest court recently announced it was voiding a decriminalization ordinance that passed last April.
Sean Williams
(TMFUltraLong)
Jan 30, 2016 at 11:41AM
Nonetheless, residents in Kansas' largest city, Wichita, passed their own ordinance in April 2015 that eased the penalties associated with first-time marijuana possession and paraphernalia offenses. The proposal essentially made a first-time offense of possessing less than 32 grams of marijuana punishable by a $50 fine. Current state law in Kansas allows for fines of up to $2,500 and up to one year in jail for a first-time offense of the same nature. Overall, there were 20,075 "yes" votes (54%) in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana within Wichita.
But it appears that vote won't matter. Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court voted 7-0 to overrule the Wichita ordinance on account of filing and disclosure rules that were never met. The Kansas Supreme Court advised Wichita that it was required to follow certain protocols to ensure that residents of Wichita fully understood what they were voting for in April. Because that criteria wasn't met, the highest court in Kansas is voiding the ordinance.
Image source: Office of Public Affairs via Flickr.
This isn't the first time
Of course, this isn't the first time we've witnessed the law standing in the way of marijuana's expansion at the state level. Oklahoma and Nebraska have filed a lawsuit against Colorado that seeks to overturn Colorado's recreational marijuana law. The reasoning? Both states suggest that drug crimes have increased in their state due to the inability of Colorado to properly regulate the flow of legally grown marijuana into retail channels. Should Nebraska and Oklahoma be victorious, it could open a Pandora's Box, as it would essentially be allowing federal law to trump state law.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/30/marijuana-reform-takes-a-step-back-in-an-unlikel-2.aspx
though the latter one seems to stand as a beacon for citizens to ensure they get their introduction of ordinance procedures right.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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