The Associated Press

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Colorado bill seeks to standardize marijuana lab testing

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A bill approved by its first committee in the state Legislature would create statewide laboratory standards for the state’s 18 pot-testing labs. Currently the labs are certified by state health authorities, but they don’t have uniform rules for testing pot for potency, homogeneity and contaminants, as required by state law.

To the gov’s desk: Georgia is slated to be the next medical marijuana state

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Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal plans to sign a sweeping medical marijuana bill into law on Friday in an 11 a.m. ceremony on the Capitol steps, an ecstatic state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, said Wednesday.

Marijuana edibles must get new look, Colorado lawmakers agree

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Edible marijuana sold in Colorado must have a new look. That’s according to state senators from both parties who rejected a bill Wednesday to loosen a requirement that pot cookies and candies not look like regular foods.

Oregon man accused of blowing pot smoke into his year-old baby’s mouth

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An Oregon man has been accused of blowing pot smoke into the mouth of his year-old child. Officers said they responded to a report of a domestic argument at the Beaverton home of 22-year-old Christopher Robert Kling on Sunday night when a family friend gave them a smartphone video of Kling drawing smoke from a glass pipe and blowing it into the child’s mouth.

Intel from Snoop Dogg: Don’t get in Willie Nelson’s way over munchies

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Snoop Dogg shares the story of the time he collaborated with country legend Willie Nelson on the song “My Medicine.” They worked on the track in Amsterdam, where inspirational weed smoking gave way to a major case of the munchies.

Georgia MMJ bill progresses, now with 8 health conditions

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After more than four hours of haggling and sometimes rancorous debate, Georgia’s powerful Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday passed its own version of a House bill that seeks to allow medical marijuana to be used for eight medical conditions, deleting only one diagnosis in a measure pushed by state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.

In Mexico, new demand for ‘the good stuff’ grown in U.S., Europe

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As legalization spreads in the United States, weed smokers in Mexico increasingly want better quality — either importing boutique pot from the U.S., or growing it illicitly using techniques developed abroad.

Denver company AmeriCann backs Illinois medical marijuana grower

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A medical marijuana business in far southern Illinois intends to start construction this month of a 27,000-square-foot facility that would produce a first harvest in late fall.

Senate bill seeks to lift federal MMJ restrictions

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Two Democratic senators and a possible Republican presidential candidate joined forces Tuesday to push a bill to remove federal prohibitions on medical marijuana in 23 states where it’s already legal. The measure also would reclassify marijuana to Schedule II.

Georgia family now living in Colorado watches MMJ debate in home state

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It is unlikely that Georgia legislators won’t pass some kind of bill; the question is what it will allow. The General Assembly has two radically different bills in front of it; only one of them would make cannabis oil available soon.

‘Kettle Falls’ trial: Federal pot law at forefront for Washington jury

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A federal trial of medical marijuana growers in Spokane could go to the jury Tuesday after closing arguments. The “Kettle Falls Five” case is seen as a sign of federal willingness to go after marijuana growers in a state where medical marijuana has been allowed for more than a decade and voters approved recreational marijuana more than two years ago.

Federal trial starts for three ‘Kettle Falls’ Washington state pot growers

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The federal case involving Washington state marijuana growers near Kettle Falls is seen as a barometer of the willingness of federal prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases in a state that had medical-marijuana laws in place and has since legalized recreational marijuana.

Hot topic: Colorado lawmakers look at stricter medical marijuana rules

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Colorado’s most controversial marijuana-related bill of the year is up for its first test in the Senate on Thursday. A measure to crack down on medical pot users faces a hearing.

Update: D.C. mayor says marijuana plan will proceed

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Washington’s mayor says marijuana will become legal in the nation’s capital despite a threat from Republicans in Congress that city leaders could face prison time for implementing a voter-approved initiative.

Historic new ganja laws in Jamaica for Rastafari religious use, MMJ program

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After many years of dialogue about the culturally entrenched drug, and emboldened by changes to drug laws in U.S. states, Jamaica’s Parliament has given final approval to an act decriminalizing small amounts of pot and establishing a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry.

Alaska officially kicks off marijuana legalization

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Alaska on Tuesday became the third U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults, but it was a subdued milestone. Unlike in Colorado and Washington state, there were no street parties and public smoking displays in Alaska’s biggest cities.

Stripped-down Colorado MMJ review bill gets initial OK in Senate

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A bill to renew the state’s medical pot regulations won preliminary approval in the Senate on Wednesday. The bill entirely avoids a bigger marijuana fight looming next week for the Senate — what to do about marijuana caregivers.

Legalizing California is focus for 1,000 pot proponents gathering in S.F.

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Marijuana legalization proponents are gathering in San Francisco this weekend to hear about efforts to add the nation’s most populous — and arguably most pot-infused — state to the four others where it is now legal for adults to buy and use the drug recreationally.

Washington state Senate OKs new medical marijuana rules

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A measure seeking to reconcile Washington state’s medical marijuana industry with its heavily taxed recreational sector passed the Washington state Senate on Friday.

Stonington High School in Conn. compared to prison after drug sweep

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A Board of Education member has criticized the use of police dogs in a search for drugs at Stonington (Conn.) High School in December.

Colorado pulls in $76M in marijuana taxes and business fees for 2014

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Colorado finally knows how much tax revenue it collected from recreational marijuana in the first year of sales, and the haul was below estimates — about $44 million.

Virginia legislature OKs cannabis oils for treating epilepsy

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The Virginia General Assembly has passed legislation to allow use of two derivatives of the marijuana plant for treating severe epilepsy. It’s the first effective medical marijuana legislation to win approval in Virginia, according to its House sponsor, Del. Dave Albo.

Senate unanimously OKs Michael Botticelli to stay on as U.S. drug czar

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President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve as U.S. drug czar, Michael Botticelli, won unanimous approval in the Senate. Botticelli said last week that the federal government should not interfere with the District of Columbia’s move to legalize possession of marijuana for recreational use.