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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: marijuana legalization

marijuana legalization stories: 47 news summaries

1 - 20 of 47 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Fla. Man to Smoke 
 115,000th Joint 

Feat earns him world record for cannabis consumption

Nov 20, 09 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) - He set the bar high and smoked the competition. Irvin Rosenfeld, a 56-year-old stockbroker from Fort Lauderdale, will toke his way into the record books today by smoking his 115,000th joint. The best part: It's completely legal. "Yep, provided by Uncle Sam," Rosenfeld told NBC Miami . "... More »

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Florida • medical marijuana • cannabis • marijuana legalization • Fort Lauderdale • weed

 Nation's First Marijuana 
 Cafe Opens in Portland 

It welcomes those licensed to smoke it legally

Nov 14, 09 12:19 PM CST
(Newser) - A cafe in Portland, Oregon, made a little history yesterday when it became the first in the nation to legally open its doors to pot smokers. The Cannabis Cafe welcomes those who are licensed by the state to smoke marijuana for medical reasons. It doesn't sell pot to members—that's... More »

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marijuana • cannabis • marijuana legalization • Portland • NORML • Portland, Oregon • cafes

 Hard-Up  
 Calif. Town 
 Out of Joint 
 Over Pot Influx 

Green gold rattles community

Nov 3, 09 1:50 AM CST
(Newser) - A hard-scrabble northern California town has been turned topsy-turvy since the folks with tokes moved in. Thousands of pungent marijuana plants pack fields and yards in tiny Hayfork, population 1,900, where a quarter of the residents are poor. The local Timberjacks football team recently moved its halftime huddle to... More »

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California • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • marijuana distribution • pot • Hayfork

 Calif. Holds Hearings on 
 Legalizing Pot 

Hopes high as 3 measures head for ballot next year

Oct 28, 09 3:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - The push to legalize—and, especially appealing at the moment, tax—marijuana is picking up momentum in California, with legislators holding hearings today on what would be the first such law in the nation. Organizers are currently collecting signatures to put three separate pot legalization initiatives on the ballot next... More »

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California • law • Arnold Schwarzenegger • medical marijuana • legislation • marijuana • marijuana legalization • pot

david sirota

Drug Policy Hypocrisy:
Hero Lance Is Selling Beer

And yet Phelps is vilified for smoking pot

Oct 24, 09 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Michael Phelps smokes a bong at a private party and becomes Public Enemy No. 1. Lance Armstrong signs a deal to hawk beer for Anheuser-Busch and—nothing. Therein lies a lesson about our nation's "absurd drug policy," writes David Sirota. Alcohol is the demonstrably more dangerous drug, yet... More »

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Michael Phelps • alcohol • beer • marijuana • marijuana legalization • Lance Armstrong

Kathleen parker

 Legalizing Pot 
 May Be Women's Work 

Today's users don't fit the stoner stereotype: Parker

Oct 21, 09 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Good for AG Eric Holder for announcing that the Justice Department will let medical marijuana laws stand, writes Kathleen Parker—at last, the 14 states that give cannabis to the chronically ill won't face further raids by the feds. But it's not enough: 44% of Americans favor full legalization, and... More »

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medical marijuana • marijuana • cannabis • marijuana legalization • Eric Holder • Kathleen Parker • women's issues

Life Not Groovy for Licensed
Pot Sellers

New Mexicans left fearing both feds
and criminals

Oct 10, 09 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - New Mexico has started handing out licenses to nonprofit medical marijuana producers and distributors in an effort to avoid the kind of dispensary free-for-all seen in California—but that's not making those involved sleep any easier. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, meaning growers, distributors and users—fearing both... More »

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New Mexico • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization

 Help Wanted: Pot Critic 

As pot grows semi-legal, connoisseurs wanted

Oct 5, 09 12:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - In the midst of media layoffs, one Colorado newspaper is actually hiring: It’s looking for a pot critic. The number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver has exploded to more than 100 this year, and the alt-weekly Westword wants someone with a legit medical need to evaluate which are... More »

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newspaper • Denver • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • critic

Argentina Court Rules Pot Prosecution Unconstitutional

Decriminalization of personal use growing trend in Latin America

Aug 26, 09 2:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Argentine supreme court yesterday ruled against punishing personal use of marijuana, calling such laws unconstitutional, the BBC reports. Argentina joins a growing wave of Latin American countries supporting decriminalizing personal use of the drug, a marked contrast to US-backed drug war policy. Perhaps hoping to deflect criticism from churches... More »

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Latin America • Argentina • marijuana • marijuana legalization

 Pot Backlash 
 Grows in 
 Mendocino 

Culture is changing in a way that locals don't like

Jul 27, 09 4:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hey, man, things aren't so cool anymore with marijuana farming in Mendocino County. Sure, it was great for years while "steel-haired" California hippies tended their crops, but things are getting out of hand, reports the Washington Post. Little kids started coming to school reeking of pot, while outsiders,... More »

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California • crime • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • pot • Mendocino

 Calif. Stoked About Pot Profits 

Some call for legalization; others say it makes no difference

Jul 19, 09 12:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even if they’re not legal without a doctor’s recommendation, marijuana sales are far from clandestine in California, and some say the state should finish what it started and just legalize pot for everyone, the AP reports. “The culture has gone so far beyond the law,” says... More »

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California • medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • marijuana distribution

(Newser) - Advocates and critics of marijuana are wielding scientific data as the debate over legalization becomes one about addiction, the New York Times reports. "Science really has proven, if anything, that cannabis is likely one of the safest substances we can interact with,” says one marijuana legal reformer. But... More »

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drug addiction • marijuana • marijuana legalization • potency

(Newser) - A pro-legalization group has launched a statewide ad campaign in California stressing that pot smokers want to pay taxes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Marijuana Policy Project ads feature an "actual California marijuana consumer" who points out that regulating and taxing marijuana could help save services being cut... More »

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California • marijuana • marijuana legalization • Marijuana Policy Project • advertising campaign • taxation

(Newser) - President Obama promised to use the Internet to give Americans a greater voice in government—but in keeping that promise, he’s given America’s fringe a chance to shout at him, the New York Times reports. When the administration asked for ideas on how to make the government more... More »

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Barack Obama • Internet • marijuana legalization • UFOs • conspiracy theory • transparency • Obama administration • President Obama • birth certificate • Beth Simone Noveck

OPINION

 We've Lost the War on Drugs 

It's time for a new approach: Kristof

Jun 14, 09 7:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - The war on drugs has been waged for 40 years, but despite spending $44 billion annually, “the drugs have won,” writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. A former police chief notes that “drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency—... More »

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War on Drugs • drugs • marijuana legalization • legalization • decriminalization

Legal Pot Backers Target 2010 Calif. Vote

Advocates step up efforts to have legalization put on next year's ballot

Jun 11, 09 10:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Advocates of marijuana legalization—and taxation—have stepped up their efforts to include the issue on California's November 2010 ballot, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Backers say the tide of public opinion has turned strongly in favor of legalizing and taxing pot for personal use, especially in light of its... More »

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California • Arnold Schwarzenegger • marijuana • marijuana legalization • Oakland • Jerry Brown • state budgets

Schwarzenegger: It's Time to Talk About Legalizing Pot

California Gov. says he would welcome debate on legalization, taxation

May 6, 09 4:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - California's governor would welcome a debate on terminating the state's ban on recreational use of marijuana, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that while it isn't time for the state to start treating marijuana the same as alcohol, the legalization issue should be discussed—especially in light of... More »

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California • Arnold Schwarzenegger • marijuana • marijuana legalization • governor • Tom Ammiano

WWJD? OK Medical Pot: Pastors

60 Ill. clerics push lawmakers on  cannabis measure

Apr 29, 09 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - More than 60 Illinois religious leaders want state lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana, saying their faith compels them to show mercy, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Jesus lived his life healing those where he could and bringing those to the absence of pain," said one minister. "This... More »

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drugs • medical marijuana • religion • Illinois • marijuana legalization

 Pot Holiday Goes Mainstream  

Goofy 'holiday' becomes touchstone for legalization advocates

Apr 20, 09 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Marijuana enthusiasts will toke up today in celebration of 420, the pot holiday that corresponds to the code for pot consumption across the nation, the Monitor reports. The term 420 was hatched in 1971 by a dozen high school pot smokers who used to meet at 4:20 in the... More »

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marijuana • marijuana legalization • legalization • holiday • NORML • 4/20 • High Times • stoner

(Newser) - The government is pushing “false information” about pot, medical-marijuana advocates pushing for updated policy told a federal appeals panel yesterday. Citing a federal law that prohibits the government from spreading inaccurate information, they say there’s overwhelming evidence marijuana eases pain and anxiety among chronically ill patients, the Los ... More »

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medical marijuana • marijuana • marijuana legalization • Obama administration • President Obama

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