decriminalization

Cops wearing cameras catch a case of "contagious accountability"; More towns are telling cops to stop busting pot; and the people pushed back the Feds on the kratom ban.

Earlier this month, I wrote about how Insys Therapeutics, a drug company that sells only fentanyl, a powerful and often deadly opioid, has been fighting marijuana legalization efforts in Arizona. Well, it’s not just the pharmaceutical industry that is bankrolling anti-marijuana campaigns; the alcohol industry is in on it, too.

Insys Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that sells fentanyl, an opioid painkiller 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin, is fighting pot legalization in Arizona with the most powerful weapon in business and politics: money. [1]

An increasing number of doctors believe marijuana should be legalized.

After the state House voted in favor of the medical marijuana bill, marijuana activists were biting their nails for fear the Senate would find a way to slow or stall the bill, but the bill passed last week.
Supporters knew they’d been successful, as Governor Tom Wolf had vowed to sign it into law. And the governor did not disappoint. Wolf signed the bill on Sunday, making Pennsylvania the 24th state in the nation to embrace marijuana as a legitimate form of medical treatment.
Wolf said:

Marijuana may help heal a lot – epilepsy, cancer, migraines, depression, and the list just keeps growing. But it’s not perfect. Using marijuana can mar your judgement, or so suggests the results of a recent study which found people who visit Colorado to partake in a little ganja wind up in emergency rooms more often than Coloradans.

Given the mounting evidence concerning marijuana’s healing potential and the fact that legalization in states has not spurred true conflict and only served to produce tax revenue, I think it’s about time for Congress to proactively reschedule marijuana. But will they listen?

The third-time possession of marijuana in Louisiana results in a criminal felony, but the city of New Orleans hopes to become a positive influence on the overly-strict rules governing pot use in the state.

The Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) unanimously voted last week against the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, adding to a growing number of opponents to a proposed ballot measure that would decriminalize cannabis in the state.

Toledo, Ohio is decriminalizing pot use. A measure passed last September was recently upheld by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and local prosecutors to maintain a city ordinance that takes the sting out of marijuana use. Hopefully this act will be copied across America.