Latest Marijuana legalization News

Rulings move pot, justice reform measures closer to ballot

Aug. 7, 2020 10:43 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Maricopa County judges on Friday rejected challenges to two proposed voter initiatives, one implementing criminal sentencing reform and the other legalizing recreational marijuana. If the rulings are upheld after expected appeals to the state Supreme Court and if enough qualifying signatures...

This photo provided by KBAK-TV shows former Kern County sheriff's deputies Derrick Penney, left, and Logan August in court in Bakersfield, Calif., on Sept. 11, 2018. The pair have entered pleas and will serve jail time for conspiring to sell marijuana that had been seized by law enforcement, prosecutors said Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. (KBAK-TV via AP)

Ex-deputies plead no contest to stealing seized pot

Aug. 7, 2020 4:30 PM EDT

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Two former California sheriff’s deputies have entered pleas and will serve jail time for conspiring to sell marijuana that had been seized by law enforcement, prosecutors said. Derrick Penney and Logan August had previously pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy...

Louisiana man serving life for $30 drug sale set to be freed

Aug. 7, 2020 2:41 PM EDT

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — Prosecutors in Louisiana have agreed to release a Black veteran serving a life sentence in prison without parole over a $30 marijuana sale, according to his defense attorneys. The decision reached Thursday in Vermilion Parish will allow Derek Harris to be freed after nine years in...

FILE - This May 11, 2017, file photo shows Andre Shavers, who runs a marijuana delivery business, on a street in Oakland, Calif. California faced off in court Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, against some of its own cities that want to overturn a government rule allowing home marijuana deliveries statewide, even into communities that banned commercial pot sales. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

California, cities battle over marijuana home-delivery rule

Aug. 6, 2020 5:32 PM EDT

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — California faced off in court Thursday against some of its own cities that want to overturn a government rule allowing home marijuana deliveries statewide, even into communities that banned commercial pot sales. In a potential setback for at least some of the cities, the judge...

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2019, file photo, bottles of extracted cannabis oil are displayed during a press conference at Thailand's Health Ministry in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal from the Public Health Ministry that would allow health professionals, farmers and medical patients to grow, produce and export cannabis and its products. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Thai Cabinet approves draft law expanding access to cannabis

Aug. 4, 2020 9:18 AM EDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal from the Public Health Ministry that would allow health professionals, farmers and medical patients to grow, produce and export cannabis and its products. Deputy government spokeswoman Trisulee Trisaranakul said Public Health Minister...

Mitch Westmoreland talks about the hemp research that he is working on at Utah State University on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 in Logan, Utah. Ninety years ago, hemp researchers at Utah State University grew cannabis for rope and had no way to test the THC content in crops other than smoking it and monitoring the effects. Research halted in 1970 when then-President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act. Now that it’s legal to grow once more USU researchers are back at it — only this time, they’re using technology and testing to determine the optimal ways to grow the plant for high yield and cannabinoid content, and what that means for Utah growers. (Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP)

USU researchers debunk myths to find optimal hemp growth

Aug. 3, 2020 10:53 AM EDT

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Ninety years ago, hemp researchers at Utah State University grew cannabis for rope and had no way to test the THC content in crops other than smoking it and monitoring the effects. Research halted in 1970 when then-President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act. Now that...

Mississippi farmers can start applying for hemp license

Aug. 2, 2020 5:23 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi farmers or those interested in becoming farmers can start applying for hemp grower licenses. The Daily Leader reports the license application period began Saturday and runs through Oct. 31 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Industrial hemp has been promoted as a...

2 arrested, thousands of marijuana plants seized by feds

Jul. 30, 2020 2:17 PM EDT

BOSTON (AP) — Two people federal authorities say operated a massive illegal marijuana growing operation that was cultivating thousands of plants at multiple locations are heading to court, prosecutors said Thursday. Weiqing Li, 41, and Li Qin Li, 49, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with...

FILE - Delegate Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat, calls for a special session to approve additional licenses to grow medical marijuana during a news conference April 12, 2017, in Baltimore. The former Maryland state lawmaker has been sentenced to two years in prison for taking bribes for legislative favors. U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake on Wednesday, July29, 2020, ordered former Del. Glenn to pay $18,750 in restitution. Glenn represented parts of Baltimore as a state delegate. The 69-year-old Democrat resigned in December and pleaded guilty in January to a bribery-related charge and honest services wire fraud. Glenn admitted that she accepted five bribe payments totaling $33,750 over an 11-month period in 2018 and 2019. Glenn told Judge Blake that she hopes other public officials can learn from her mistakes. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

Ex-Maryland lawmaker gets 2 years in prison in bribery case

Jul. 29, 2020 4:55 PM EDT

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — A former state lawmaker who helped create Maryland's medical marijuana industry was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison for taking bribes for legislative favors, including votes to benefit a medical marijuana company. Cheryl Glenn, a Democrat who represented parts of...

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at the William

Biden vows to fight racial inequality with economic agenda

Jul. 29, 2020 4:26 PM EDT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promised Tuesday that his economic agenda would combat long-standing racial inequalities as he sought to draw another sharp contrast with President Donald Trump. Biden said the Republican president is exacerbating social discord across the...

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