REFORML.org

Low rate of convictions and short sentences a lack of significant deterrent, police say The head of the Kelowna RCMP has lashed out at the courts, criticizing them for not being tough enough on people involved with marijuana grow operations, saying the lack of significant deterrents allow grow ops to proliferate. Kelowna RCMP [...]

GEORGETOWN, Colo., March 10 (UPI) — A Colorado man was found guilty of possessing marijuana as he tried to make his case that his religious beliefs necessitate cannabis use, records showed. Trevor Douglas, 25, Tuesday told a Georgetown court a conviction would violate his First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, the Denver Post reported. [...]

We question whether state lawmakers have the authority to create a dispensary system.  Why not put it before the voters? Medical marijuana legislation pending in the state legislature could legitimize hundreds of dispensaries, and we don’t think that honors the intent of voters who approved narrowly drawn access for sick people.  While state lawmakers may [...]

MONTPELIER – A legislative effort to provide eligible patients with safe and legal access to medical marijuana could inch forward this week when a Senate committee decides whether to create state-sanctioned dispensaries for the drug. The Senate Committee on Government Operations is scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill that would establish [...]

Anchorage, Alaska — Every competitor now running the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be tested for alcohol and illegal drugs on the trail for the first time in the history of the 1,100-mile race — a change defending champion Lance Mackey believes is directed at him. “I know for a fact,” said the three-time [...]

Why decriminalize marijuana when drugs are central to many of the problems relating to gangs, teenage suicide, teenage violence and low academic achievement? Anyone close to the issue — teachers, police officers, counselors, and parents — can speak to this with certainty: Kids have been reaching out for guidance and direction for [...]

The big debate on marijuana, for both medical and non-medical use, is heating up all around the nation – perhaps nowhere more so than here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I know how I feel, but I am interested to see how others from all corners of the nation – or [...]

I don’t know what it is with Maui legislators and marijuana, but in the past, it was state Rep.  Joe Bertram III who tried to have the state all but roll joints for the pot smokers, and this year it’s state Sen.  J.  Kalani English. English wants the state to go beyond legalizing marijuana for [...]

Providence, R.I. — A retired police officer and the proprietor of an organic eatery make an odd couple when it comes to trying to overturn marijuana laws in this tiny state, but Jack Cole and Josh Miller are giving it their best shot. Mr. Cole, 71 years old, is a veteran of decades with the [...]

Michigan — It’s not unheard of for a voter-ordered change in state law to require additional work by the Legislature. Constitutional amendments and initiatives do leave strings dangling, details missed. But the move afoot at the Capitol now to tinker with the state’s new medical marijuana regime has a different feel to it. This seems [...]