Legalization

Kansas City marijuana supporters overwhelmingly supported reduced penalties for marijuana possession last week, and the new city law has already taken effect.  Voters approved a citizens petition initiative that reduces the maximum fine in city court from $500 to $25 and eliminates possible jail time as a penalty for possessing 35 grams or less of pot, about 1 1/4 ounce.But pot possession is still illegal, and a guilty plea would involve a drug conviction.

The New Hampshire Senate is currently debating the details of a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession. Last month, the state House overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that would make possession of an ounce or less of pot a violation, not a crime. The bill would prohibit police from arresting anyone possessing that small amount of weed, and set a fine of $100 for a first-time offense.

“The prohibition is crumbling,” Matt Simon, New England political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said.

Through 90-plus days under Donald Trump’s reign, not a week has gone by without some new controversy arising around the president and his administration. Week after week, month after month, another critical budget cut or jarring accusation regarding connections to the Russian government sends the U.S. tailspinning deeper into uncertainty. Last week, we witnessed the rising role of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the intensification of war in the Middle East, and aggravated interactions with North Korea.

With medical marijuana legislation on the books in states throughout the U.S., the need for services that connect patients with doctors and cannabis products has become apparent. Web services like Nugg and Presto Doctor assist prospective patients obtain their medical marijuana card via online video consultations with local doctors. Others, like the San Francisco startup Eaze, go a step further by also providing home delivery services and an extensive cannabis marketplace.

With medical marijuana legislation on the books in states throughout the U.S., the need for services that connect patients with doctors and cannabis products has become apparent. Web services like Nugg and Presto Doctor assist prospective patients obtain their medical marijuana card via online video consultations with local doctors. Others, like the San Francisco startup Eaze, go a step further by also providing home delivery services and an extensive cannabis marketplace.

A majority of Americans and Canadians believe that marijuana should be legal. The governments of the two countries, however, appear to be moving in very different directions.Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been a staunch opponent of legalization for years, recently ordered a review of an Obama-era policy under which the federal government agreed not to interfere with state laws on marijuana, as long as the states took steps to regulate its distribution and use. Mr. Sessions’s apparent goal is to make Washington the ultimate authority.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, by contrast, would decentralize authority.

In Northern California, weed and wine rule the land. With cannabis legalization officially on the books though, and a regulated retail market on the near horizon, worrisome reports have set vino and bud as rivals fighting over employees and intoxication-industry market share.

Say goodbye to citations and hello to handcuffs, Tennessee. According to the Tennessean, Governor Bill Haslam signed a law on Wednesday that effectively nullifies city-sanctioned cannabis decriminalization in the state’s two largest cities.

It was big news in Texas yesterday when local legislators in Dallas passed a decriminalization law aimed at keeping low-level possession offenders out of jail. In states without medical or recreational weed laws on the books, decriminalization goes a long way in protecting cannabis users from the long reach of the War on Drugs.

As a freelance journalist based in Berlin, I regularly have to travel to internationally for my work. As a cannabis patient with a daily prescription of 300mg THC, taking my medicine inside the EU has always depended on the official in charge of border control. My Canadian or Dutch flowers from the local pharmacy were just as legal in the Netherlands, Italy or Czech Republic as in Germany, but cannabis was still an illegal substance mentioned in Appendix 1 of the Narcotic Drugs Act in my home until March 2017.

The Canadian government has introduced two long-expected bills that would legalize recreational marijuana across the country by next July.

“Despite decades of criminal prohibition, Canadians – including 21% of our youth and 30% of young adults – continue to use cannabis at among the highest rates in the world,” said MP and former Toronto police chief Bill Blair. “The proposed legislation, which is introduced today, seeks to legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis.”

The responsibilities of legalization would be divided between state and local governments.