Browsing Marijuana News

According to the Associated Press, the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, signed a bill into law today that legalizes medical marijuana for the nation. The bill was signed after passing with flying colors in a 67-2 vote in the Czech Senate (on Jan. 30), Lower House in early December. Patients will need a prescription from their doctor in order to obtain medical cannabis; patients are not allowed to grow their own medicine. In addition, medical marijuana will not be covered by health insurance. The one part of the bill that raises concerns for patients is …

Hawaii’s House Bill 669 died in the state legislature Tuesday, despite its majority support from members of the Committee. The bill would have authorized adults 21 years of age or older to grow, consume or possess limited amounts (up to one ounce) of cannabis for recreational use. House Bill 669 would have also provided for the establishment of cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facilities, lab testing services and dispensaries. An excise tax would’ve been added on all transactions between each establishment as well. The bill failed to make it through the house despite its support from House Speaker, …

This week, a Canadian news magazine got the chance to sit down with U.S. drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, for an exclusive interview that would appear to be the first. Ever since cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Washington and Colorado, many people have been holding their bong rips waiting for a reaction from a federal official. The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy stated explicitly that the federal government will prosecute recreational dispensaries and producers in the two states (once they are licensed), regardless of the growing support for state marijuana legalization. The …

Effective next month, those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana in New York will not be held in custody overnight, says Mayor Bloomberg. New York City is currently the marijuana arrest capitol of the world, with over 50,000 arrests for marijuana offenses in 2011 alone. Of those arrests, almost 94% had no prior convictions and just about 50% had never even been arrested before. In addition, New York City police officers stopped ‘random’ citizens to perform what they call a “stop-and-frisk” 685,724 times in 2011, and 329,897 times in 2012. According to an analysis done by …

Last week the Michigan Supreme Court issued a 4-1 ruling affirming the state’s right to shut down the Compassionate Apothecary (CA) dispensary in Mt. Pleasant, on the grounds that they constitute a “public nuisance.” The court ruled that the dispensary was in violation of the public health code because of the “patient-to-patient” sales enabled by the dispensary. According to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, this ruling would allow prosecutors to shut down remaining dispensaries operating in this manner. Then again, the case did not rule against ALL types of dispensaries, resulting in many businesses refusing to close …

ATTENTION: There has been a change of location for this weekends HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup in Los Angeles. The event will no longer be held at the LA Center Studios unfortunately, because of permit difficulties. Instead, the event will be held at Glendale Studios in Glendale, CA (just outside of LA). Everything else to do with the event will remain unchanged; it will just be 10 minutes away from the original location. HIGH TIMES has stated that Glendale Studios is, “proud to host the Southern California cannabis community,” and that they will be working to ensure that your experience …

As two Democratic Representatives from Colorado and Oregon push for national legalization of cannabis, lawmakers are coming out of the woodwork across the country; each introducing their own statewide versions of tax and regulation, decriminalization, and medical marijuana bills. Kentucky Introduces Industrial Hemp Bill “The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real, and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times, that sounds like a good thing to …

In the wake of Washington and Colorado’s legalization of cannabis, a strong effort is mounting in Congress to make the law changes on a national level as well. Lawmakers from Colorado and Oregon are pushing to tax and regulate the production and sale of cannabis, as well as the industrial production of hemp. Advocates working alongside the lawmakers to push the bills admit that getting the legislation passed this year is a long shot. Nonetheless, they are hopeful because of the recent developments in the newly legalized states. What does the ‘Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act’ do? Democratic Representative Jared …

As we announced to you a while back, the ‘Mile-High City’ is hosting the first ever, official U.S. Cannabis Cup this year on the famous cannabis holiday 4/20. When we first notified you, we didn’t have any ticket information available. The tickets went on sale January 31, and are now available for purchase online. The two-day event will be held at the EXDO Event Center, with the Saturday Night VIP Homegrown Party featuring Slightly Stoopid and …

We’ve released an update to the Medical Jane website that allows users to easily filter the search results by ailment when browsing marijuana strains. As you may or may not know, it is our goal to continually improve the Medical Jane website and community. In doing so, we have decided to release weekly team updates on our progress, as well as provide insight on what we plan on developing next — to create an open platform that thrives off collaborative ideas and creative thinking. “We recommend you use this new tool to find helpful marijuana strains you may not …