The first cut of Colorado's excise tax on wholesale recreational marijuana has been thrown into this fiscal year's pool of cash grants for capital improvements at public schools.

Three local projects are among the 26 statewide that are receiving funding.

Another three area school districts and a charter school will get a check in the mail next week from a $2.28 million appropriation from state marijuana sales taxes to pay for behavioral health counseling and drug prevention education.

But many districts say they have little hope of seeing any of the collections.

Another day, another botched police sting.

A Florida family seeks justice after their son Jason Westcott, was killed by members of a SWAT team, during a “drug raid” on his house which yielded only $2.00 worth of marijuana.

An ‘internal investigation’ absolved officers of any wrongdoing though police only found .02 grams of marijuana in Westcott’s home.

“They have IA, they have internal investigations but when you police yourself, you have that veil of concern by the outsider,” said attorney T.J. Grimaldi.

On Tuesday, attorney T.J. Grimaldi, representing the family of Westcott, informed the city that family would be filing a lawsuit, after finding numerous “glaring inconsistencies” in police statements in the aftermath of the killing.

The three medical marijuana bills left standing in Sacramento must now pass through the gauntlet of state Legislature scrutiny and recommended changes by Gov. Jerry Brown’s office after clearing a final round of committee hearings this week.

North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, called the discussions on the bills a “team effort.”

“Both the Senate and Assembly appropriations (committees) passed each bill out and each bill is dependent on the other, which means we are all working together to pass the first medical cannabis legislation in 20 years,” he said.

Yesterday was a historical day for all of us who want to see medical cannabis reintroduced as a legal available medicine in Sweden. 
Andreas Thörn, 36, from the city of Västerås was (to his delight and big surprise) acquitted in the lower District Court of Västmanland for growing his own medical marijuana at home.

The “crime” he committed was growing and using cannabis to ease his pain, which he contracted some 20 years ago in a motorcycle accident. Ever since then he has been in a wheelchair. Cannabis seems to be the only medicine that works in this case.

This week the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) published a list of the “Top 50 Most Influential Marijuana Consumers,” which is meant to show that former and current pot smokers can achieve “high levels of success or influence” despite weed’s reputation  for making people stupid and lazy. I’m not sure this is a lesson Americans still need to learn, but it is interesting to see how prohibitionist politicians deal with the pot in their pasts.

CHICAGO (AP) — Supporters of an Illinois doctor who's in trouble for a marijuana recommendation say his case could have a chilling effect on other doctors' participation in the state's medical cannabis pilot program.

Dr. Joseph J. Starkman, 36, faces possible suspension or revocation of his license for multiple violations of the Medical Practice Act. Starkman finished his testimony Friday, said Stephanie Wolfson, an attorney for Starkman who was at the hearing.

Medical marijuana was OK’d by Michigan voters with a 63% yes vote in 2008, yet implementation is always controversial. This week? A state official nixed treating autism, infuriating many parents . . .

Gov. Rick Snyder’s top state regulator on Thursday rejected a state panel’s advice to allow medical marijuana as a treatment for autism.

The decision followed three years of efforts by parents of autistic children, their lawyers and supporters to have Michigan become the first state to specify that marijuana could be used to treat autism.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Supporters of an effort to legalize medical marijuana hope to begin gathering signatures in early September.

Last week, members of Green the Vote filed paperwork with the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office indicating their intent.

The chief executive officer of the BC Pharmacy Association wants the newly regulated medical cannabis dispensaries in B.C. to be restricted from calling themselves "dispensaries."

Where have they been for the last 18 years?

While the new dispensary bylaws in Vancouver seem to trace out a distinction between non-profit "compassion clubs" and dispensaries, I don't think you'll be seeing too much confusion from Vancouverites on what exactly is being dispensed at these locations.

THE Health Committee of the House of Representatives pushed for the creation of a technical working group (TWG) on Thursday to aid in the creation of the bill legalizing medical marijuana.

According to a statement issued by the AAMBIS-Owa Partylist, the TWG would allow medical experts and stakeholders to help legislators in writing a better version of the bill that would be beneficial to the public.

AAMBIS-Owa Rep. Sharon Garin said a provision in the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 could be useful in paving the implementation of the House Bill.