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News
Lawmakers In 5 States Tell Feds To Back Off
By Lucia Graves
Source: Huffington Post
Washington, D.C. -- Elected lawmakers in five states have a message for the federal government: Don't interfere with state medical marijuana laws.
In an open letter to the federal government, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle called on the government to stop using scarce law enforcement resources on taking pot away from medical marijuana patients.
"States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states," the lawmakers explained in their letter.
Last Updated on Sunday, 08 April 2012 04:59.
Pot Raid Rattles Top Cannabis Crusader
By Daniel B. Wood, Staff Writer
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Sherman Oaks, Calif. -- Richard Lee, one of the highest profile marijuana activists in America, has announced he plans to give up ownership of his marijuana businesses in Oakland, Calif.The man who opened Oaksterdam University, the nation’s first college to teach students about the cannabis industry, and who bankrolled a failed ballot initiative to legalize the adult use of marijuana, says a federal raid this week has convinced him it’s time to step aside. The raid seized his assets, plants, bank accounts, records, and computers.
Last Updated on Sunday, 08 April 2012 04:57.
Hazy Marijuana Laws
Editorial
Source: Los Angeles Times
California -- Richard Lee has been one of the state's most visible activists for liberalized marijuana laws, having spent $1.5 million of his own money supporting an ill-fated ballot initiative in 2010 to decriminalize recreational use. But Lee is also an entrepreneur in the legally cloudy arena of medical marijuana, and on Monday the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration raided his home and his hemp-related ventures, including Oaksterdam University, a trade school focused on the marijuana industry.
Rally Protests Federal Raid on Pot Trade School
By Lee Romney, Joe Mozingo and John Hoeffel
Source: Los Angeles Times
San Francisco -- Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at City Hall here Tuesday to demand federal respect for state and local marijuana laws, a day after federal agents raided the state's first pot trade school and a related dispensary across the bay in Oakland.The San Francisco rally and march to a nearby federal building was planned before Monday's raid. But the sweep on businesses owned by prominent marijuana activist Richard Lee emboldened protesters and brought denunciations from local officials and lawmakers in five states with medical cannabis laws.
Last Updated on Sunday, 08 April 2012 04:52.
Panelists Debate State of Medical Marijuana in RI
By Cara Lemire, Contributing Writer
Source: Brown Daily Herald
Rhode Island -- Ellen Smith would be dead in her home state of New Jersey, she said. Speaking during “Rhode Island and the State of Medical Marijuana,” a panel sponsored by Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Smith told an audience of roughly 30 people that the unavailability of medical marijuana in New Jersey means she could not access the drug that could alleviate her painful disorder.
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, pressured by the Obama administration, halted the opening of medical marijuana dispensaries last September after the state’s federal prosecutor warned that the dispensaries could face legal challenges.
Last Updated on Sunday, 08 April 2012 04:54.
