Despite Marijuana Reform, the War on Drugs Still Targets People of Color

"Over 50 people a day are still being arrested for it in New York City alone. Most of those arrests, predictably, are happening in communities of color. The new numbers for New York City’s 2017 marijuana arrests just came out and they hardly budged — arrests declined by about 1 percent, disappointing many advocates and attorneys who took the mayor’s word on this issue."

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Jeff Sessions Should Ask Cancer Patients about Cannabis

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions is actively lobbying Congress to overturn existing law prohibiting federal interference in state medical-marijuana policy. As someone who believes in strong constitutional limits on federal power and the rights of patients to choose, I am deeply disappointed. And as a cancer survivor who wanted the choice for myself, I wonder: does Sessions have any idea what it’s like?"

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Vermont Becomes the Ninth State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana

"Today Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed a bill making his state the ninth to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the first to do so through the legislature rather than a ballot initiative. The new law, which takes effect on July 1, allows adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public, to grow up to six plants (two of them mature at any one time) per household, and to keep whatever they produce."

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Black helicopters and ‘Ride of the Valkyries’: The war on pot in California

"Still fighting the culture wars, Reagan and his advisers decided early on that marijuana was the biggest drug threat facing the country. And so a couple of years into his first term, federal and California officials came up with a battle plan to target cultivation in the northern part of the state. The phrase 'battle plan' isn’t much of an exaggeration here."

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Illinois Bill Would Give Voters Opportunity to Legalize Marijuana; Foundation to Nullify Federal Prohibition

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Jan. 22, 2018) – A bill introduced in the Illinois Senate would set the stage to legalize recreational marijuana during the 2018 mid-term elections in November. Sen. William Cunningham (D-Chicago) introduced Senate Bill 2275 (SB2275) on Jan. 10. The legislation would authorize a ballot referendum for the 2018 elections to give the voters…

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California Bill Would Allow Marijuana Business Owners to Deduct Expenses from State Taxes, Help Nullify Federal Prohibition

SACRAMENTO. Calif. (Jan. 17, 2018) – A bill filled in the California Assembly would sever a link between state and federal tax law, allowing individuals to deduct expenses from legal marijuana businesses for state income tax purposes. Passage of the bill would encourage the growth of the legal marijuana market in California and further nullify unconstitutional…

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Both Sides of the Aisle Fire Back At Jeff Sessions’ New War on Weed

"With legal marijuana enjoying consistent majority support in opinion polls—a Pew poll released Friday at support at 61%--the blowback has been immediate, fierce, and across the board. Feeling particularly vulnerable, legal pot state Republicans howled especially loudly."

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