Latest Recreational marijuana News

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2020, file photo, a billboard in San Diego advertises a cannabis dispensary. The state Bureau of Cannabis Control on Thursday said billboard companies must stop selling space for cannabis marketing and take down existing ads on roads that cross state borders. The new regulation covers about three dozen state and interstate routes. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File)

California says some highway marijuana billboards must go

Jan. 23, 2021 1:05 AM EST

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In a downer for California's legal marijuana industry, regulators say some highway billboards advertising such products must come down. The state Bureau of Cannabis Control on Thursday ordered billboard companies to stop selling space for cannabis marketing and take down existing...

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo, marijuana grows at an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. Top prosecutors in the vast majority of Arizona counties are dropping all existing possession of marijuana cases even before a new voter-approved law eliminating criminal penalties for having small amounts of the drug takes effect when results of the Nov. 3, 2020 election are certified. An Associated Press survey of county attorneys received responses from 13 of 15 elected county attorneys, all of whom said they were either immediately dropping existing cases or in one case pausing prosecutions and planning to drop them when Proposition 207 goes into effect. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

Arizona, 15th state with legal pot, sees recreational sales

Jan. 22, 2021 7:35 PM EST

PHOENIX (AP) — Legal sales of recreational marijuana in Arizona started on Friday, a once-unthinkable step in the former conservative stronghold that joins 14 other states that have broadly legalized pot. The state Health Services Department on Friday announced it had approved 86 licenses in nine of the...

Burlington voters to decide whether to host cannabis shops

Jan. 21, 2021 12:53 PM EST

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Burlington voters will be deciding on Town Meeting Day in March whether Vermont’s largest city should become host to shops that sell recreational marijuana. The City Council decided to put the measure before voters on Town Meeting Day, WCAX-TV reported. If approved, some of...

New Mexico state Sens. Shannon Pinto, D-Tohatchi, left;Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, top; Carrie Hamblen, D-Las Cruces, bottom; and Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, right, stand for the opening of a 60-day legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Santa Fe, N.M. Fences, roadblocks, police and troops encircled the building as a precaution against federal warnings about the potential for violence. Plexiglass partitions have been installed on the floor of the House and Senate to protect legislators from coronavirus infection, and the Capitol is closed to the public to blunt the contagion. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

New Mexico lawmakers look for solutions to hobbled economy

Jan. 19, 2021 9:31 PM EST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers confronted daunting challenges as they began a 60-day session Tuesday amid an unrelenting coronavirus pandemic and concerns of violence at a Statehouse guarded by troops and encircled by fencing, barricades and mobile security cameras. Proposals aimed at reviving...

Editorial Roundup: Nebraska

Jan. 18, 2021 10:00 AM EST

Omaha World-Herald. Jan. 15, 2021. Editorial: Challenges are daunting, but Omaha area makes progress on mental health front Omaha-area residents suffering from a mental health crisis face heavy burdens. So, in many cases, do hospitals and law enforcement officers who struggle to find an available facility to help...

Illinois collects $62M in cannabis revenue for neighborhoods

Jan. 17, 2021 4:04 PM EST

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois has collected $62 million from legalized marijuana sales that's earmarked for helping minority businesses and neighborhood development, but the money hasn't been spent yet, according to a published report. The reasons include problems with the state's system to hand out new...

FILE - Nate Diaz is seen at a news conference for the UFC 244 mixed martial arts event in New York, in this Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, file photo. The UFC will no longer punish fighters for using marijuana in most cases, making a major change to its anti-doping policy. The world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion won’t allow fighters to compete while under the influence of cannabinoids, but the promotion recognizes that MMA fighters often use marijuana for pain management or relaxation. Diaz is among many fighters who already used marijuana actively when not in competition. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

UFC won't punish fighters for marijuana use in policy change

Jan. 14, 2021 4:50 PM EST

The UFC will no longer punish fighters for using marijuana in most cases, making a major change to its anti-doping policy. The world's largest mixed martial arts promotion confirmed Thursday that it will no longer worry about positive tests for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, unless it...

FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2020, file photo provided by the New Mexico Office of the Governor, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs a $330 million economic relief package aimed at helping small businesses and out-of-work New Mexicans while at the State Capitol in Santa Fe, N.M. From lockdowns in tribal communities to the economic and social fallout that has reverberated throughout New Mexico, the coronavirus pandemic dominated headlines in 2020. New Mexico had among the toughest public health restriction in the nation early on as Grisham called for the closure of gyms, salons and other businesses deemed nonessential. Public gatherings were banned, sports were cancelled, curbside became the norm, funerals were frowned upon and schools were forced to go virtual. (New Mexico Office of the Governor via AP, File)

New Mexico governor announces priorities for legislation

Jan. 13, 2021 4:27 PM EST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enthusiastically backed recreational marijuana and a crackdown on predatory lending as she outlined her list of top priorities for 2021 legislative session on Wednesday. The endorsements include major initiatives that have been championed by the...

Annual Colorado pot sales surpass $2 billion for first time

Jan. 13, 2021 1:31 PM EST

DENVER (AP) — Marijuana sales in Colorado in November pushed the industry's annual revenue over $2 billion for the first time since cannabis was legalized for recreational use by a 2012 ballot measure. Recreational and medical sales for marijuana accounted for about $175 million of revenue in November,...

Illinois Editorial Roundup:

Jan. 12, 2021 9:29 PM EST

January 12, 2021 Chicago Tribune Don’t rush criminal justice reform in Springfield Criminal justice reform is both a pressing issue and a complex one. It involves the most basic function of government: public safety. It implicates the life, liberty and property of individual citizens. It affects government...

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