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"Radical" Russ Belville's List: 420 Headline News

    • The surviving corrections officer who pleaded guilty to charges related to the discovery of marijuana butter at his home will not face jail but must pay a $10,000 fine and potentially testify against two other officers.

        

      Brian Tennant, a 20-year veteran of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, told a judge Thursday, Dec. 4, that he never meant to break the law.

        

      “I pick up prescriptions for my wife,” Tennant told Kent County Circuit Judge Dennis Leiber. “I believed I was operating within the law.”

    • Police say Tennant’s wife, Christine Tennant, was a medical marijuana patient under the caregiving of Timothy Scherzer.
    • The D.C. Council unanimously passed temporary legislation yesterday that will prohibit an employer from drug-testing potential employees for marijuana before a conditional job offer has been made.

        

      The bill, the "Prohibition of Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing Emergency Act of 2014" was introduced by Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) in March of this year, and explicitly states that an employer cannot test a potential employee for marijuana use until after an offer for employment has been made. After an employee has been hired, however, they "must still adhere to the workplace policies set forth by their employer."

        

      “The citizens of the District voted for Initiative 71, to legalize marijuana, and this bill will protect citizens who legally smoke marijuana but are then subsequently penalized for it through loss of employment opportunities,” Orange said in a statement. “The bill aims to prevent the loss of a job opportunity for job seekers who have used marijuana prior to receiving a job offer but it does not remove an employer’s right to prohibit the use of drugs at work or at any time during employment.”

    • An amendment blocking the legalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia is on the table as appropriators negotiate bills and policy riders to incorporate in the year-end spending package.

       

      “It seems like the marijuana issue has been kicked up to the ‘big four.’ So that’ll get settled,” Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., said Tuesday, referring to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees who are negotiating the spending package. Crenshaw heads the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over District funding.

       

      The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., prohibits federal and local funds from being used to legalize or reduce penalties for marijuana possession, use and distribution. Harris’ amendment was included in the spending bill that passed the House in June, but was not included in the Senate version.

       

      If enacted, the amendment would reverse the decriminalization of marijuana, which took effect this summer, and block an attempt to legalize the drug in the District. In November, D.C. voters overwhelmingly voted for the legalization measure.

    • he said conversations with rank-and-file Republicans — and leadership’s reluctance to take a hard-line stance on legalization in the past — indicate GOP leaders will not push for the rider to be included.
    • Early Wednesday, about 30 medical marijuana growers and cannabis concentrates producers crowded into a U.S. Bancorp Tower with a view of the Willamette River to talk shop and policy. The group included cannabis producers from across the state, including outdoor marijuana growers from southern Oregon.

       

      The group, formed by Portland criminal defense lawyer Amy Margolis, is part of the Oregon Growers PAC, a political action committee formed to influence statewide marijuana policy.

       

      Among the topics the group discussed Wednesday:

       

      Marijuana testing.

    • A fourth Washington state judge says cities and counties can ban licensed marijuana businesses within their jurisdictions. 

      The state Attorney General's Office says Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Michael Evans issued his ruling Wednesday in a case brought against neighboring Clark County. The plaintiffs, Emerald Enterprises LLC and John M. Larson, had argued that Washington's legal pot law did not leave room for such local bans.

       

      But the judge disagreed, joining judges in Benton, Chelan and Pierce counties. The rulings comport with a legal analysis issued by Attorney General Bob Ferguson early this year, in which he said nothing in Washington's legal pot law explicitly overruled local zoning authority.

       

      The plaintiffs in the Pierce County case have appealed to the state Supreme Court, which has not announced whether it will accept it.

    • Bill Downing isn’t sure if the medical cannabis products he sells at his Allston store are legal. He also said he doesn’t care whether or not they are.

       

      Downing operates CBD Please in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. Through his Lincoln Street store he sells medical marijuana that he believes is legal because it is made from hemp oil.

       

      But the Department of Public Health forced Downing to shut down a previous store, and the Boston Police Department told WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Lana Jones that it is “looking into the legality” of the newest operation.

       

      Downing, meanwhile, argues that cannabidiol (CBD) is the medically active ingredient in hemp and it is not an intoxicant. He does not have a medical marijuana license.

    • Marijuana products at Downing’s store include roll-on and rub-on salves, sprays, capsules, and scalp and haircare items.

       

      According to Downing, the items do no have THC, which is the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana.

    • More than 400 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city have been closed, and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer says he is now taking aim against the creator of a pot delivery app.

       

      Officials say the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has filed more than 200 criminal cases against 743 defendants, including both dispensary operators and property owners, effectively closing 402 medical marijuana dispensaries in the 17 months since Feuer took office.

    • Nestdrop, also used for alcohol deliveries, announced in October that it planned to expand into medical marijuana delivery. That started in mid-
       November, Feuer said.

       

      Feuer wants a Superior Court judge to issue a cease-and-desist order that would stop Nestdrop LLC from delivering pot, contending that it is doing business unlawfully and circumventing Proposition D, which limited the number of medical pot dispensaries int hecity.

    • The clock is ticking on the state’s first decisions concerning the licensing of medical marijuana in Illinois.
    • Only licensed physicians can write a prescription for medical marijuana, and under terms of the Illinois law, any pot must be consumed in the patient’s home. A total of 60 dispensaries will be licensed to fill prescriptions statewide. So far, 211 have applied.

               

      It isn’t clear how many dispensaries will be located in the City of Chicago.

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    • House Republicans are fighting to roll back the District of Columbia's recently passed marijuana legalization initiative
    • Republicans are insisting on including a provision in an omnibus spending bill that would ban the District from using local funds to carry out the legalization measure, which was passed overwhelmingly by ballot initiative in November.

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    • Six months after Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in Minnesota, makers are poised to start growing.

       State officials on Monday announced the two companies that will grow, process and sell medical cannabis to Minnesotans next year under the state's new law.

       LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions were chosen from among 12 applicants. They'll distribute the medication through eight sites across the state, the Minnesota Health Department said.

       State officials hope to have the products ready for sale by July. Minnesota Medical Solutions said its cannabis greenhouse in Otsego will be up and running this week.

       Lawmakers passed the strictest medical marijuana law in the country earlier this year. It prohibits smoking of the drug and requires instead that it be manufactured in pill or oil form.

       Medical marijuana will only be available to patients suffering from about 10 conditions including ALS and cancer.

    • Fired UA marijuana researcher's team secures nod for Colorado grant
    • After her research team secured preliminary approval this week for a $2 million grant from the state of Colorado to study how marijuana affects veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, a metro Phoenix doctor said she no longer needs an Arizona university to house the study.

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    • A Virginia state senator has introduced a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
    • Under the proposal, the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana would be decriminalized. Currently, that's punishable by a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

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    • Uruguay’s national marijuana program safe after runoff election
    • Tabare Vazquez’s victory in Uruguay’s presidential election is a show of support for the leftist coalition that has governed the country for the past decade and allows the government to proceed with its plan to create the world’s first state-run marijuana marketplace.

       

      Vazquez, a 74-year-old oncologist who was president from 2005 to 2010, topped center-right rival Luis Lacalle Pou of the National Party 53 percent to 40 percent in Sunday’s vote.

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    • "Two or three years ago, a kilogram of marijuana was worth $60 to $90," says Nabór, a 24-year-old pot grower in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa. "But now they're paying us $30 to $40 a kilo. It's a big difference. If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they'll run us into the ground."
    • "This is dangerous work to cultivate it and to sell it. If the army comes, you have to run or they'll grab you. Look here, we're only getting $40 a kilo. The day we get $20 a kilo, it will get to the point that we just won't plant marijuana anymore."

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    • USA TODAY purchased nearly $500 worth of marijuana and marijuana-infused foods known as edibles, and then had it independently tested to check for potency and accuracy in labeling.

      We bought 10 samples of marijuana with names like Blue Dream and Golden Goat, and 10 samples of edibles that included chocolate, hard candy and straws filled with a sugar-and-marijuana mix. The samples were tested by an independent lab because the law prohibits state-certified marijuana labs from testing for anyone but the licensed marijuana industry.

      Our testing results revealed wide variation in the strength of the marijuana, even when it was sold under the same name. For instance, three samples of what was sold as "Blue Dream," a popular strain known to give a euphoric high tested at 13.54%, 13.63% and 18.73% THC.

      Our testing also revealed wide variation in the marijuana-infused edibles. Most of them were weaker than advertised on the label. One product claimed 50 mg of THC, but only contained 19.22 mg, our testing showed. Another product, a chocolate bar, claimed to contain 80 mg but contained only half that.

    • School officials Monday flatly turned down a $14,000 donation from a local marijuana farmer, taking a strong stand against youth marijuana use.

       

      “We’re not taking it; end of story,” said Ray Tolcacher, Prosser School District superintendent.

       

      The donor, Randy Williams, now is looking for another local recipient.

       

      “I never thought it’d be a problem to give money away,” said the owner of Fireweed Farms, a marijuana producer north of this city of 5,800.

       

      Williams’ next choice is the Prosser branch of the Boys & Girls Club. The youth nonprofit will “evaluate internally,” said Brian Ace, executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties.

       

      Next in line would be the VFW, Williams said.

    • After a litany of public testimony in support of her request, the Astoria Planning Commission approved Fausett’s plan to expand Sea of Dreams Childcare into a commercial storefront at 2911 Marine Drive, behind her father-in-law’s property management company and The Farmacy, a medical marijuana dispensary.
    • City Planner Rosemary Johnson said that while dispensaries must be at least 1,000 feet from schools, there’s no regulation regarding their proximity to child care facilities. Staff recommended approving the Fausetts’ request.
    • The conversation about whether New Mexico should join other Western states in legalizing marijuana is cranking up as state lawmakers prepare for the 2015 legislative session.

       

      Rep. Bill McCamley, a Democrat from southern New Mexico, took his case for legalization to fellow lawmakers Tuesday during a meeting of the interim Health and Human Services Committee.

    • McCamley also estimates that the state could save over $33 million in costs associated with police, courts and corrections if marijuana is legalized.

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    • on, if not the reality, of legalized marijuana in Georgia on the table.

      Democratic state Sen. Curt Thompson introduced two bills - one allows for the sale of full plant medical marijuana for people with certain illnesses. The second would allow regulated retail stores to sell marijuana to adults. Thompson would tax the drug and earmark the money for education and transportation projects.

    • Thompson's bills would be much more extensive than the plan defeated in the last legislative session that would have allowed the use of cannabis oil for medical reasons.

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    • As more states and governments pass laws to decriminalize or legalize pot, the Commonwealth of Virginia is now the next state getting ready to tackle weed.

       

      A Virginia State Senator will bring his marijuana decriminalization bill to Richmond this January.

       

      "This is not going to legalize marijuana. It is going to make it no longer have a criminal penalty," said Senator Adam Ebbin, (D) 30th District, Virginia.

       

      He says too many African Americans are going to jail and too much money is being spent.

       

      "We are spending $67 million dollars of taxpayer funds to enforce marijuana prohibition," said Sen. Ebbin.

       

      Under the current law, a first offense will cost someone $500 and 30 days in jail.

       

      Sen. Ebbin's bill would reduce the fine to $100 and would only be a civil offense - like a parking ticket.

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