One of the lighter moments of Wednesday’s epic slog of a Republican presidential primary debate came when former Florida governor Jeb Bush joked that his mother, the former first lady, would not be happy that he admitted having smoked marijuana “40 years ago.”

The line got a fair amount of laughs from the audience, but it also came amid a broader debate among the candidates over federal drug laws. Defending marijuana legalization, Sen. Rand Paul asserted that “kids who had privilege like [Bush]” are often given a pass when it comes to admitting past drug use, whereas people from poorer backgrounds — often minorities — are more likely to go to prison for using marijuana.

'Historic' marijuana bill spotlights the importance of initiatives

SACRAMENTO — It’s commonplace for legislators and commentators to criticize the “excesses” of direct democracy and propose reforms that limit the ability of voters to enact laws — or at least insert lawmakers more deeply into the initiative process. Yet a recently passed bill, approved in the final moments of the recently concluded legislative session, showcases why voters continue to take important matters into their own hands.

CannaVoices proudly announces the release of the book, The Cannabis Manifesto, written by Steve DeAngelo promotional bonuses and launch.

Tampa, Florida (PRWEB) September 18, 2015

CannaVoices, a premiere legal medical cannabis digital media company, proudly recognizes leader in the industry Steve DeAngelo’s new book The Cannabis Manifesto set to launch September 2015.

Since the advent of the television modern American presidential debates have become steadily more theatrical, now focused mostly on political pageantry and whether candidates can pull off a selfie or a fist-bump without looking confused or senile. Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate offered plenty of bizarre moments for the canon: Jeb Bush suggested that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill; Donald Trump claimed to have witnessed a baby get autism from a vaccine; Rand Paul said his Secret Service code name would be "Justice Never Sleeps."

Toledoans’ vote to decriminalize marijuana has implications for voter turnout, campaigning, and public policy Issue 1 supporters convene on election night to hear vote results.

BOSTON (CBS) – Cristina Barbuto started a great new job last year.

It lasted one day.

“I felt discriminated against,” Barbuto told WBZ. “I felt like, this is wrong, this can’t be.”

As a condition of her employment, Advantage Sales and Marketing gave Barbuto a drug test.

“I wanted to be honest, so I was up front and honest with my supervisor and said, ‘You know, I am going to fail this part of the drug test, so I just wanted to make you aware,’” she explained.

Barbuto has Crohn’s disease. When she’s suffering from a flare up, the pain can be excruciating. From time to time, she relies on her prescription for medical marijuana.

Aphios Corporation, a green biotechnology company based in Massachusetts that uses environmentally sustainable technologies, recently announced it was awarded the Phase II portion of a Fast Track SBIR grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the production of cannabidiol (CBD) from marijuana. The compound is expected to be an effective therapeutic agent for multiple sclerosis and other disorders affecting the central nervous system (CNS).

In a visit to Denver, Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley said he is looking to Colorado as he considers whether to support federal legalization of marijuana. But for now, he said, it's a step too far.

"I think we still have to watch, and we have to learn in Colorado and Washington state," he told reporters after a meeting with marijuana industry and legalization advocates Thursday. "I'm not there yet, but I am watching very closely what's happening."

The focus on the issue is emerging as a hot topic in the 2016 presidential campaign amid questions about how the federal government should respond to the increasing number of states moving toward legalization.

A campaign to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older in Arizona has picked up 75,000 signatures already, an achievement that makes the proposal ever more likely to appear on the state's 2016 ballot.

J.P. Holyoak, chair of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, says today that his group is about one-third of the way toward its goal to turn in 230,000 signatures before the July 2016 deadline. More than 150,000 signatures are needed to qualify for the ballot, but ballot-measure campaigns always shoot for a much higher number knowing that many will be thrown out for various reasons.

Bush admitted in previous interviews and again during Wednesday's Republican presidential primary debate smoking marijuana while attending the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

"He didn't go to jail," Paul told students at the University of Nevada-Reno on Thursday. "Why? Because he was rich, and he was elite, and he was going to a very special school."

Paul said he didn't begrudge Bush's education, but said that Bush supports policies that disproportionately result in minority and lower-income young people going to jail for lengthy sentences.

"What I do have a problem with is he still wants to put kids in jail for marijuana," Paul said. "What I was upset with Jeb Bush was his hypocrisy."