The Obama administration says Nebraska and Oklahoma have not described a genuine controversy with Colorado.

In a brief filed on Wednesday, the Obama administration urges the Supreme Court not to hear Oklahoma and Nebraska's challenge to marijuana legalization in Colorado. "Entertaining the type of dispute at issue here— essentially that one state's laws make it more likely that third parties will violate federal and state law in another state—would represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of this court's original jurisdiction," Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. writes. 

The Solicitor General of the United Sates says that recreational marijuana is Colorado’s business and there is no need for the U.S. Supreme Court to review claims from Nebraska and Oklahoma that they are owed something because the legal weed is being trafficked beyond the Centennial State’s borders.

(Reuters) - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday approved language of a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions, paving the way for a vote next year.

Supporters must gather enough petition signatures to ensure the measure will be placed on the 2016 ballot.

United With Care, a medical marijuana advocacy group, said on its website it needs to secure 683,149 signatures by Dec. 31 to bring the amendment to a popular vote. Some 400,000 Florida residents have already signed the petition, the group said.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia allow marijuana use for those suffering from a range of ailments, from HIV to glaucoma and cancer to epilepsy.

Carrie Fisher and Ellen DeGeneres took the streets to sell exclusive tickets to the Star Wars premiere for charity.

Leia has assumed a little part in Fisher’s Postcards From the Edge and Pie in the sky Drinking, yet she’s essential to the book the on-screen character is now dealing with, The Princess Diarist (out April 26), which is separated from old diaries Fisher kept while recording Star Wars. “She’s a wonderful actress”.

After her co-star Oscar Isaac, who plays X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron in the sci-fi film, asked her about her inspiration for reprising her role of Leia, she replied, “I asked the early, young Carrie Fisher what it would be like 48 years later … oh wait it’s 40″.

TENNESSEE (December 17, 2015)- Michael Brooks is a resident of a small town in Tennessee where any form of cannabis use is illegal, including medical marijuana, found a cure for his life-threatening hepatitis c by using cannabis oil. Michael learned that he had hepatitis c several years ago after suffering physical issues to the point of being unable to participate in his two young sons lives most days. At one point Brooks was bleeding from his eyes due to acquired hemophilia as a result of hepatitis c. Michael was taking all of the traditional pharmaceuticals he could in hopes of finding some relief to no avail. Michael shared, “I have been known to smoke cannabis, but had never heard of cannabis oil”.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service says it's illegal to mail materials containing advertising for marijuana products, even in states that have legalized the federally controlled substance.

The policy statement released this week comes in response to a letter from Oregon's Congressional delegation asking the service to clarify its policy on the issue.

In November, a memo distributed in the Portland postal district said it was unlawful for newspaper outlets to run marijuana ads and use the U.S. mail for delivery.

A deputy U.S. marshal from Florida has admitted robbing marijuana dealers at gunpoint in Yuba City.

Clorenzo Griffin, 38, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Sacramento to conspiring to commit a robbery. As part of his plea agreement, Griffin admitted that he planned, financed and participated in the robbery, according to a U.S. attorney’s office news release. He also stated in the plea agreement that he was a deputy U.S. marshal.

Griffin’s co-conspirators, Andre Jamison, 40, and Rodney Rackley, 24, both of Miami, previously entered guilty pleas in the case. U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller last week sentenced Jamison to seven years and three months in prison. On Wednesday, she sentenced Rackley to six years in prison.

In a brief filed with the Court on Wednesday night, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli argues in part that the case is not properly before the Court.

The case highlights the tension between a state -- Colorado -- that has chosen to legalize marijuana, and others, such as Nebraska and Oklahoma, who say they are having difficulties protecting their borders from the increased flow of the drug.

Last spring, the Supreme Court asked for the administration's views as the justices decide whether to take up the case.

As in 2014, the omnibus spending pill includes pro-pot and anti-pot amendments.

As expected, this year's omnibus spending bill extends a provision that bars the Justice Department (which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration) from interfering with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. The bill also includes a rider aimed at preventing federal interference with the cultivation of commercial hemp in states that allow it. At the same time, the bill renews the congressional ban on commercial marijuana regulation in Washington, D.C.

Members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will vote Thursday on a proposal to grow and process marijuana on the reservation and sell the product at tribal-owned stores in Portland and other Oregon cities.  

If the referendum passes – and the state signs off on the plan – Warm Springs would be among the first tribes in the country to enter the commercial cannabis market. The tribes expect to have results Friday.  

It's a trend fueled by a federal memo issued last year that said the government would treat tribes as they do states when it comes to legal pot. But debate over cultural, economic and health risks, as well as complex legal issues, has most Native American tribes moving slowly on marijuana initiatives.