marijuana legalization

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Toker Fired After Legally Smoking Pot Has His Job Back

Agency says the incident with Michael Boyer was just a misunderstanding

(Newser) - Some parts of the story are still in dispute, but all parties seem to agree on one fact: Michael Boyer, the first man in Spokane, Wash., to legally purchase recreational marijuana on Tuesday, has his job back. According to NBC News , TrueBlue Labor Ready, Boyer's former (and once-again present)...

Washington's 1st Legal Pot Buyer Got Canned

Mike Boyer says his boss made him take a drug test, which he failed

(Newser) - Mike Boyer made history on Tuesday in his tie-dye as the first person to legally buy recreational marijuana in Spokane, Wash. Less than 48 hours later, Boyer tells KREM 2 News , he was out of a job. The security guard says that after making his 4-gram purchase at a local...

Legal Pot Hits Washington, With a Lot of 'Buts'

Sales expected to start tomorrow

(Newser) - Twenty months after Washington voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the first licenses for legal sales will be issued today, and sales will start tomorrow, as early as 8am. Seattle will have just one pot shop to start; Vancouver will have as many as three; Tacoma could have four....

Clinton Sees 'Unresolved Questions' on Pot Laws

Ex-president supports states' rights—much like Hillary does

(Newser) - Bill Clinton still isn't inhaling, apparently—or at least he's not high on America's wave of marijuana legalization efforts, Politico reports. On Meet the Press, the ex-president sounded more like a states-rights advocate when David Gregory asked about Colorado's legalization of weed. Clinton did joke about...

Lawmaker May Accidentally Make Pot Legal in DC

Maryland congressman's attempt to tighten law could backfire

(Newser) - A Maryland congressman who meant to take a stand against looser marijuana laws in Washington, DC, might end up making them even looser thanks to the legal fine print in his amendment. The Washington Post lays out the somewhat convoluted scenario surrounding Republican Andy Harris' legislation: To begin with, recall...

Pope: No Legalizing Drugs
 Pope: No Legalizing Drugs 

Pope: No Legalizing Drugs

Francis calls drug addiction 'an evil'

(Newser) - Pope Francis condemned the legalization of recreational drugs as a flawed and failed experiment today, lending his voice to a debate which is raging from the US to Uruguay and beyond. Francis told delegates to a drug-enforcement conference in Rome that even limited attempts to legalize recreational drugs "are...

Jamaica Loosens Ganja Laws
 Jamaica Loosens Ganja Laws 

Jamaica Loosens Ganja Laws

Possessing a spliff will no longer be a crime

(Newser) - Nearly 40 years after reggae great Peter Tosh sang "Legalize It," the Jamaican government is beginning to take his advice. Justice Minister Mark Golding has unveiled sweeping reforms to the country's drug laws, including allowing possession of up to two ounces of marijuana, known on the island...

Guide: I Totally Warned Dowd About Pot

'She got the warning,' asked him to roll her a joint, says My 420 Tours operator

(Newser) - One time, Maureen Dowd accidentally ate 16 times the recommended dose of pot candy and got so high in a Denver hotel room that she thought she "had died and no one was telling me." Dowd wrote about the experience in yesterday's parable/column on the growing pains...

Maureen Dowd Got So, So Stoned
 Maureen Dowd 
 Got So, So Stoned 
OPINION

Maureen Dowd Got So, So Stoned

Her 8 hours 'in hallucinatory state' underscore problems with Rocky Mountain highs

(Newser) - With Colorado's marijuana legalization effort still working through some bugs, Maureen Dowd decided to play investigative reporter, Cheech and Chong style. And what better way to do that than chowing on a marijuana candy bar in the name of journalism? Problem: The candy bar's packaging gave little indication...

In Colorado, Pot Industry Gets a Bank Account

Marijuana businesses will pool money in cooperatives

(Newser) - Colorado lawmakers have approved the world's first financial system for the marijuana industry, a network of uninsured cooperatives designed to give pot businesses a way to access basic banking services. The plan, approved yesterday, seeks to move the marijuana industry away from its cash-only roots. Banks routinely reject pot...

Colorado's New Woe: Hash Oil Explosions

They're on the rise, and officials aren't sure how to handle

(Newser) - One unfortunate side effect of Colorado legalizing marijuana: Hash oil explosions are on the rise. So far this year, 10 people who tried to make hash oil in home labs have ended up in the state's only certified adult burn center with serious injuries, compared with 11 in all...

Justice John Paul Stevens: Time to Legalize Weed

It's not that different from booze, he says

(Newser) - In a development Gerald Ford probably didn't see coming when he appointed him to the Supreme Court back in 1975, Justice John Paul Stevens says it's time to legalize marijuana. The 94-year-old, who retired in 2010, compares alcohol to marijuana in an interview with NPR and says there'...

Colorado Lights It Up With (Legal) 4/20 Bash

Tens of thousands throng Denver for pot holiday

(Newser) - Potheads in Colorado aren't letting a little thing like the fact that The Man says it's OK deter them from lighting up a 4/20 weekend that's suddenly gone mainstream: As CNN reports, the Mile High City is throwing itself a party that by some estimates has attracted...

First Death Linked to Legal Colorado Weed

Teen jumped to his death after eating pot cookie

(Newser) - For the first time since Colorado legalized weed for recreational use, a coroner has listed "marijuana intoxication" as a contributor to a death. Wyoming student Levy Thamba was in Denver on spring break with three friends when he jumped to his death from a Holiday Inn balcony after eating...

Colorado Court Reverses Some Pot Convictions

Defendants were in legal limbo after state legalized possession

(Newser) - Advocates of pot legalization have a little something extra to cheer about in Colorado. A state appeals court ruled that people who were appealing their possession convictions when Colorado voters legalized small amounts are in the clear, reports Reuters . It's not expected to affect a large number of cases,...

DC's New Punishment for Pot Possession: $25 Fine

Mayor says he'll sign measure; advocates don't expect lawmakers to intervene

(Newser) - Unless federal officials intervene—a move advocates describe as unlikely—Washington, DC, will soon partially decriminalize marijuana. The city council voted 10-1 yesterday to nix jail time for possession of up to an ounce and smoking at home, instead imposing fines of just $25 for those offenses. That's a...

Calif. Gov: Stoners Will Be Our Downfall If Pot Is Legal

Jerry Brown says we won't be 'alert' enough

(Newser) - Jerry Brown thinks legalizing marijuana would put California and the rest of America at a competitive disadvantage, because we'd have too many stoners. Toward the end of a brief Meet the Press interview yesterday, the California governor was asked about Colorado and Washington's legalization moves. It was just...

Colorado Should Release Non-Violent Pot Offenders

Matt Ferner wonders why this isn't already happening

(Newser) - Earlier this week, a fake news story claiming that Colorado was releasing people imprisoned for pot crimes went viral. The story was meant as a joke—"but in all seriousness, why is this not happening?" writes Matt Ferner in the Huffington Post . A number of advocates have called for...

How Dangerous Is Driving Stoned?

 How Dangerous 
 Is Driving Stoned? 
in case you missed it

How Dangerous Is Driving Stoned?

Experts say fighting drunk driving should be priority

(Newser) - With marijuana now fully legal in two states and others set to follow , should authorities be cracking down on stoned driving? Experts say doing so could be tough, because standard field sobriety tests aren't very good at detecting tokers, and the outcome depends a lot on how used to...

Feds Ease Up on Banks Dealing With Pot Businesses

But not all are convinced that new 'guidance' is sufficient

(Newser) - The Obama administration today gave banks a road map for doing business with legal marijuana sellers without getting into trouble, a step by the federal government toward enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it. The guidance issued by the Justice Department and Treasury Department was...

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