New Hampshire declares state of emergency over “spice”
Gov. Maggie Hassan has declared a state of emergency to allow public health officials to investigate and quarantine synthetic drugs linked to recent overdoses in Manchester and Concord.
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“V” is for vape — Oxford Dictionaries adds to vocab (what about dabs?)
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Don’t know what “vaping” is? How about “listicle”? Perhaps it’s time to get to know them. The words are joining online Oxford Dictionaries to reflect new language trends.
Graphic: NFL’s pot puzzle amid changing national perspective
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One challenge the NFL faces is how to bring marijuana into the game as a pain reliever without condoning its use as a recreational drug. Redskins defensive back Ryan Clark says, “I know a lot of guys who don’t regularly smoke marijuana who would use it during the season.”
Nobody paying their pot fines in D.C.
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Nearly three dozen civil citations have been issued in the District of Columbia since marijuana possession was decriminalized, but so far none of the fines have been paid.
Utah medical marijuana program: 11 cards issued, several for child patients
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Utah issued nearly a dozen registration cards in the first month of its limited medical marijuana program that allows those with severe epilepsy to possess cannabis extract oil.
Pot taxes: June best month yet for recreational sales in Colorado
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Since January, Colorado has reaped $29.8 million from marijuana, according to June stats reported by the state Dept. of Revenue. That figure includes taxes, licenses and fees from both medical and recreational pot.
Washington weed sales in first month of recreational sales: $3.8 million
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During the first month of legal marijuana sales in Washington state, stores sold just under $3.8 million, which is expected to bring in more than $1 million in state taxes.
Wiz Khalifa skips Texas court date on pot charge, arrest warrant issued
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A warrant has been issued for rapper Wiz Khalifa’s arrest after he skipped a court date on a marijuana possession charge in West Texas.
Washington D.C. residents to vote on marijuana legalization in November
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District of Columbia residents will vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana, setting up another possible fight with Congress over drug laws in the nation’s capital. Activists gathered more than the necessary 22,600 signatures to put the issue before voters.
3 Texans accused in separate Colorado marijuana robberies
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Three people from Texas are accused of stealing pot in two separate robberies of Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries.
Seattle pot tickets: 1 cop wrote 80 percent of citations
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A Seattle police officer has been reassigned after a review found he wrote about 80 percent of marijuana tickets issued in the city during the first half of 2014.
Blue-ribbon weed: Denver County Fair pot showcase kicks off
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This weekend’s Denver County Fair includes a 21-and-over “Pot Pavilion” where winning entries for plants, bongs, edible treats and clothes made from hemp are on display.
Landlord wants Colorado restaurant evicted over pot vending machine
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A real estate firm wants to evict an Avon restaurant for temporarily displaying a marijuana edibles vending machine, claiming the media attention it drew has damaged the reputation of the Chicago company.
East Texas marijuana fields valued at $175 million
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Authorities in East Texas said Tuesday that they have cleared more than two dozen marijuana fields that were discovered over the weekend in the woods and which contained about 100,000 plants worth an estimated $175 million.
Seattle police and pot citations: trending toward homelessness, race
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An analysis of the first six months of Seattle police enforcement under new marijuana laws finds homeless people and African-American males are more likely to be ticketed for public pot use than anyone else.
Oregon to vote on recreational marijuana in November
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Voters rejected a legalization measure two years ago, but little money was spent promoting it. By contrast, New Approach Oregon, the group behind this year’s initiative, has received contributions from some of the same donors who backed successful marijuana initiatives in Washington and Colorado.
Pot for posterity: Legal marijuana mementos head for Seattle museum
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The first recreational marijuana sold legally in Seattle is headed to the Museum of History and Industry.
Mysterious package at hotel brings in Seattle bomb squad; it’s just pot
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What some might consider really good room service drew the Seattle police bomb squad when a lumpy plastic-wrapped package was found outside a vacant room at a downtown hotel. Its contents: six pounds of marijuana.
Cheyenne Frontier Days’ proximity to Colorado pot not a big worry
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Organizers of Cheyenne Frontier Days and local police don’t see a cause for specific concern about wider use of marijuana bought legally next door in Colorado.
Nugs in nation’s capital: How long will D.C. decriminalization last?
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The District of Columbia’s law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana takes effect Thursday, July 17. But it’s not clear how long the law will last.
Medical marijuana rules under review by Colorado Board of Health
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New rules for the medical marijuana program in Colorado are under consideration by the state Board of Health Wednesday.
Damaging Thornton house fire blamed on setup for pot growing
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Authorities are blaming a destructive house fire in Thornton on a small marijuana growing operation in the basement.
L.A. marijuana farmers market temporarily shut down by court order
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A Los Angeles judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the operation of an outdoor medical marijuana farmers market.
No pot allowed at the office: Seattle City Attorney cops to breaking rule
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Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has admitted he broke a drug-free-workplace rule when he bought marijuana on the first day of legal sales in Washington state.
Early Washington pot tax haul: $150,000 from handful of stores
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Washington will haul in nearly $150,000 in excise taxes from the first three days of legal marijuana sales — and that doesn’t include state and local sales taxes.
PTSD added to Arizona medical marijuana conditions list
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Arizona residents who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder will be able to legally use marijuana to help alleviate their symptoms under a decision announced Wednesday, July 9, by the state’s top health official.
More Washington pot shops plan to open as weed sales get rolling
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Washington’s slow rollout of its legal marijuana market spreads to more cities Wednesday, one day after big crowds lined up outside the state’s first licensed pot shops.
Photos: First day of weed sales in Washington
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Here are scenes from across Washington as the state kicked off recreational marijuana sales on Tuesday, July 8. Frantic shop preparation, growers’ deliveries headed out on trucks, patient crowds lining up, jubilant purchasers and more.
Washington recreational marijuana sales get underway with big crowds
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Washington became the second state Tuesday to allow people to buy marijuana legally in the U.S. without a doctor’s note.
Worrisome Washington weed issues: short supply, lab logjam likely
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The state’s Liquor Control Board has been warning of shortages when the first stores open. The board plans to issue the first 15 to 20 retail licenses July 7, with shops allowed to open the next day if they’re ready. It’s not clear how many that will be.
Connecticut pharmacists, docs gather to learn about medical marijuana
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As Connecticut’s new medical marijuana program moves closer to becoming fully operational, pharmacists and physicians were briefed Wednesday on the particulars of the drug.
Lawsuits over seized weed spark policy changes by police
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Police in some medical marijuana states who once routinely seized illegal pot plants by ripping them out by their roots and stashing them away in musty evidence rooms to die are now thinking twice about the practice.
Smelly feet: Man’s sizable sock stash discovered at courthouse
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Authorities say a Connecticut man who told his probation officer he wasn’t foolish enough to bring drugs into a courthouse had been hiding 19 bags of pot in his left sock.
Nevada pot farm leaves big mess; volunteers clear 700 lbs. of debris
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Nabbing the bad guys was only part of the challenge facing federal officials who shut down an illegal marijuana garden growing on U.S. rangeland in remote wilderness in northeast Nevada’s Snake Mountains.
25.4 tons of weed destroyed in five-day Albanian police raid
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A five-day raid on a lawless southern Albanian village which netted huge amounts of marijuana and heavy weapons shows the government’s determination to tackle drug gangs, the prime minister said Friday.
Fort Collins is going recreational starting Friday, June 20
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Fort Collins’ first licensed seller of recreational marijuana plans to open on Friday. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports Organic Alternatives got its city license on June 13 after the city lifted a temporary ban on such businesses.
De Beque trustees OK recreational marijuana sales sites
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Town trustees in De Beque have voted to allow marijuana growing operations and retail sales in the business district and on town-annexed land near Interstate 70.
Florida Gov. Scott signs “Charlotte’s Web” medical marijuana bill
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Florida will start allowing cancer and epilepsy patients to use a strain of low-potency marijuana next year under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Scott.
Beer hops to buds: Lab testing transforms in Yakima, Wash.
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A new laboratory has opened in a building that once analyzed hops for beer-makers, but the green matter going under the microscope now is hop’s more notorious cousin, marijuana.
Ariz. court ruling adds PTSD to medical-marijuana conditions
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A recent court ruling has added post-traumatic stress disorder to Arizona’s list of debilitating conditions that qualify for medical marijuana treatment.
Hershey sues Colorado pot candy maker TinctureBelle
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Hershey is suing a Colorado marijuana edibles company that makes four pot infused candies that it says closely resembles its iconic products.
Pot banking: Colorado co-op plan signed into law
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Seeking to move marijuana businesses away from cash-only operations, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation Friday that tries to establish the world’s first financial system for the newly legal industry in Colorado.
House votes to give medical marijuana states freedom from fed interference
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The GOP-controlled House voted early Friday in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana. The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House debated a bill funding the Justice Department’s budget.
Minnesota OKs medical marijuana, but law has many caveats
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Minnesota joined the ranks of 21 other states Thursday where marijuana is a legal medicine with a law that is one of the nation’s most restrictive.
Wiz Khalifa arrested on pot charge in Texas, tweets jail selfie
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Authorities say rapper Wiz Khalifa was arrested Sunday in West Texas on a charge of marijuana possession. The performer from Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, was stopped at an inspection checkpoint at the El Paso airport.
Kentucky hemp on track again with federal permit for seeds
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Hemp seeds will be sprung from confinement and planted in Kentucky soil in coming days after federal drug officials approved a permit Thursday ending a standoff that had imperiled the state’s experimental plantings this spring, agriculture officials said.
Police: “Are you smoking marijuana?” — Driver: “Why, yes I am, Officer”
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Massachusetts police say a Springfield man blew through a stop sign and also blew a cloud of marijuana smoke when he was pulled over.
Hickenlooper signing Colo. bills addressing pot edibles, concentrates
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A measure to study changes to how marijuana edibles should look to prevent accidental ingestions by children is getting signed into law in Colorado.
Fixing hemp farming problems a priority, says U.S. Ag Secretary
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s trying to work with the Department of Justice to allow the importation of hemp seeds for cultivation.
Texas teen could face life in prison after police find pot brownies, hash oil
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A Texas teenager accused of making and selling brownies laced with marijuana and hash oil is facing a punishment that could include anywhere from five years to life in prison.
