Matt Mernagh shows full color photographs of 150 common different cannabis strains and reviews the smells, tastes and effects of each strain. Each cannabis strain features a high quality color photograph of the strain and a review that is a guidebook for any cannabis smoker as a strain guide to s mell, taste and effects too many of the most common cannabis strains that a smoker will encounter at dispensaries. I have also used the Marijuana Smoker’s Guidebook to look up many of the strains grown on 420 Magazine to see how the buds appear as well as smell, taste and smoking effects to co nsider if the strain may help medical conditions.

This book is a smoker’s guidebook to cannabis strains written by the only Canadian medical marijuana patient legally allowed to posses and grow his own cannabis by court order! In the introduction Matt Mernagh chronicles his activism wit h the Toronto Hash Mob and arrests that led to his 5 arrests and court struggle. During his 4 year struggle, monthly court sessions and 13 day trial Matt Mernagh and lawyer Paul Lewin interviewed people across Canada about their inability to access the federal government’s medical marijuana program that resulted in the largest victory against prohibition ever achieved struck down Canada’s marijuana laws for personal possession and growing.

Marijuana Smoker’s Guidebook also covers:

• How can you tell if you have stellar weed
• How to tell quickly if your dealer is selling great ganja or dank bud
• How to tell if your marijuana has mold
• How to tell if your marijuana has been sprayed for taste or weight
• How to tell if you have an Indica or Sativa before you smoke it
• How to moderate your cannabis consumption
• How to tell if you’ve got indoor or outdoor grown grass
• How to tell if you have organically or chemically fed marijuana
• How to tell how potent your cannabis is
• Advice for my medical marijuana friends

Here is the strain review of White Widow:

“A true cannabis champion. White Widow’s lively spiciness has garnered a legendary reputation. The aroma is close to peppery and will prickle a well-trained toker’s nose. Best of all White Widow voluptuous, unique smell exactly matches its flavor. Anticipate a black pepper and cinnamon explosion with every exhale and a pleasant body-relaxing buzz. However, there’s no dullness. Instead, White Widow has an alert, active quality, making it wonderful for intense mental activity. You’re going to be chilled and relaxed, but focused. This is excellent pot for social functions. White Widow is the mother of a long lineage of White marijuana strains and it continues to be a staple on many Dutch coffeeshop menus. A whole sub category of cannabis is dedicated to White strains and they’re my favorite; White Widow, White Rhino, and Great White Shark. I’m always on the hunt for great White strains.”

Whether you enjoy high quality cannabis photographs, grow cannabis and wish to see how the buds appear when cured or are a recreational or medical patient who is seeking a guide to cannabis strains smell, taste and effects this book will find a place in your collection!

At $15 USD this book is a great value for the information it contains!

Author: Matt Mernagh
Book Review by KingJohnC Product Reviewer
Publisher:Green Candy Press: A Whole New Flavor!
Purchase The Marijuana Smoker’s Guidebook: Marijuana Smoker’s Guidebook: The Easy Way to Identify and Enjoy Marijuana Strains

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Boosters of industrial hemp often fondly refer to the plant as a wonder crop, usable in everything from building materials to batteries to breakfast cereal. Since Colorado voters legalized both hemp and marijuana with the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012, hemp advocates have been buzzing about the state’s promise as a manufacturing hub for this dizzying array of products.

Yet even as Colorado farmers made history this fall with the first legal commercial hemp harvest on U.S. soil in 57 years, it’s unlikely that much of their bounty will go toward the plant’s diverse list of potential uses. Instead, hobbled by a longstanding federal ban on shipping hemp seed across state lines, most Colorado hemp farmers are squirreling away their seed supply, using this year’s harvest as a source of next year’s supply in an attempt to vastly increase planted acreage in 2015 with Colorado-grown seed stock.

“In an ideal world, we’d grow between 1,500 and 2,000 acres of hemp next year,” said J.R. Knaub, a 37-year-old farmer in Sterling who has been growing corn, sugar beets and alfalfa for the last 20 years and this year planted around 2 acres of hemp. “But getting seed will be the biggest task we have to conquer.”

The federally induced seed shortage has already stunted the growth of Colorado’s hemp industry: Last spring, farmers registered with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to plant nearly 1,600 ac res of hemp. Yet seed shortages, poor germination rates and inexperience with the crop limited their harvest this fall to about 200 acres, according to Zev Paiss of the Rocky Mountain Hemp Association. “This year, because it was so hard to get seed, people were buying whatever they could get a hold of, and it wasn’t always the best seed,” said Paiss. “Because of that, I’ve heard that the amount of germination farmers achieved varied widely.”

Farmers saving hemp seeds
In light of the shortage, Colorado hemp farmers appear to be prioritizing seed saving this fall over other potential uses for their hemp crops. The state Department of Agriculture requires hemp farmers to submit a form at least 30 days before harvest detailing what they plan to do with their plants, and as of late September, 27 farmers had written that they plan to use their crop primarily for seed saving purposes. Just 14 farmers had plans to experiment with making construction materials, textiles, medicines and other hemp-based products, and only one farmer planned to sell seed to other growers this fall.

“We are at the very beginning of rebuilding a complicated industry,” said Paiss. “All the farmers are going to be holding on to their seed this year and building seed stock. There will be almost no seed available for sale to new businesses [next] year.”

The federal ban on hemp has its roots in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The act made it illegal to transport the plant or its seeds across state lines without a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which can be hard to get. Since Colorado voters legalized industrial hemp in 2012, farmers have found ways to import seed from other countries, but many are reluctant to discuss the details of those legally nebulous arrangements. Plus, there’s no guarantee that seeds they import from hemp-producing nations like Canada and China will successfully clear U.S. Customs.

There are cracks forming in the façade of federal hemp prohibition: The 2014 farm bill contained a provision allowing colleges and universities to cultivate industrial hemp for research purposes without fear of federal interference, and 19 states have laws on the books permitting such pilot projects, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eight of those states, including Colorado, California, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia have passed laws removing barriers to more widespread hemp production.

If Colorado farmers can save hemp seed successfully this fall, the acreage planted there next spring should grow substantially from this year’s levels. Paiss says that the seed saved from 2 acres of industrial hemp should be enough to plant at least 20 acres next year, which he says is a conservative estimate. Bill Billings, president of the Colorado Hemp Project, says depending on the hemp variety and production methods, an acre worth of seed could be enough for 100 acres next year. Even if the ban on seed transport persists, farmers will likely continue smuggling seed from abroad next year to supplement what they can grow.

And despite the seed shortage, there are some plans afoot to use part of this year’s hemp harvest for research and development — it is possible, after all, to save some seed while putting the rest of the plant to immediate use. Over the next few years, Colorado entrepreneurs are hoping to build processing plants to make hemp-based pharmaceuticals, textiles, energy drinks and myriad other products.

Billings says he’s working with a Boulder, Colorado-based company to develop hemp-based carbon electrodes for batteries and other applications that could make expensive materials like graphene unnecessary. Ryan Laughlin, the farmer who harvested a much-publicized hemp crop on his Springfield, Colorado farm in 2013 before state hemp regulations were finalized, is selling this year’s harvest to Cannabis Therapy Corp. of Boulder, which makes hemp and cannabis-based pharmaceuticals. And a firm called American Hemp Ventures recently won approval to build an experimental hemp processing plant in Logan County in the eastern part of the state.

Over time, the hope is to replace many imported hemp products with domestically produced alternatives. “Right now we import $580 million per year in hemp products into the U.S.,” said Paiss. “We are talking about tapping into a half-billion dollar industry over the next few years.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Denverpost.com
Author: Nelson Harvey
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Hemp harvest legal in Colo. for first time – The Denver Post

Oregon voted Nov. 4 to legalize marijuana, the latest and most significant milestone in the state’s long history with pot. Here’s a look at key dates:

1973: Oregon becomes the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making it a ticket more akin to a traff ic offense.

1998: Oregon voters approve marijuana for medicinal use. The program allows people with certain qualifying medical conditions to grow their own marijuana or have someone do it for them. Patients in the program are allowed to possess up to three mature plants, four immature plants and up to one ounce of marijuana.

2004: Oregon voters reject ballot measure that would allow retail sales of medical marijuana to patients.

2005: Oregon Legislature increases the possession and plant limits under the medical marijuana program. Patients can possess up to 24 ounces and grow a total of six mature plants and 18 immature ones. The legislature also creates grow site registry and a card for people responsible for the grow site. The law includes a provision allowing growers to be reimbursed for the cost of utilities and supplies but not labor.

2010: For a second time, Oregon voters turn down a ballot measure that would allow retail sales of medical marijuana.

2012: Oregon voters reject Measure 80, a marijuana legalization effort that set no limits on personal possession and cultivation for people 21 and older.

2012: Oregon lawmakers approve a medical marijuana dispensary registry system, regulating an already robust retail market for medical cannabis. (According to the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the dispensary program, 196 establishments have been licensed since March, 89 of them in Portland.) The legislature makes it a misdemeanor for possessing more than an ounce and less than four ounces, previously considered a felony. The legislature also repeals a law that suspended the driver’s license of a person cited for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana.

2013: The Oregon Legislature passes law allowing local governments to impose moratoriums on medical marijuana dispensaries for up to a year. Lawmakers also required the Oregon Health Authority to draft rules addressing labeling and packaging of marijuana-infused edibles to make them unattractive to children.

2014: Oregon voters say yes to legal marijuana, two years after Colorado and Washington did the same. The law allows anyone 21 and older to possess and grow marijuana and it creates a taxed and regulated system for retail sales.

July 1, 2015: Changes to the criminal statutes take effect. People 21 and older will be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana in a public place and up to 8 ounces in their home. The law also allows up to four marijuana plants per household.

Jan. 1, 2016: The Oregon Liquor Control Commission must have rules in place for the production, processing and sale of marijuana.

Jan. 4, 2016: State must begin receiving licensing applications for production, processing and sale of marijuana. The law does not specify when the state must begin issuing licenses or when stores will open; marijuana advocates expect stores to open sometime in the first half of 2016.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Legal marijuana in Oregon: A look at the state’s pot history | OregonLive.com

Health Canada’s troubled medical-marijuana program is again under fire, with the launch of the first court challenge by a company denied a government licence to grow the product commercially. Lawyers for New Age Medical Solutions Inc., which has a grow facility in rural British Columbia, filed a motion in Federal Court last week against Health Minister Rona Ambrose, asking that a judge review the decision not to grant a licence.

The company, founded and run by marijuana activist Sam Mellace, applied almost a year ago to become a licensed producer, under new Health Canada rules that are creating a billion-dollar commercial industry. Health Canada rejected the application Aug. 10, saying the firm had not hired an acceptable quality-assurance specialist. Mellace retained the Toronto firm Chaitons LLP, which is seeking the court’s permission to extend a deadline for legal actio n. Papers were filed last week. Mellace could not be contacted and his lawyer declined comment.

An Ottawa lawyer who specializes in assisting companies with their grow applications to Health Canada said the case may trigger other legal challenges from companies denied licences. “I know, spe aking to many applicants, that nobody really wanted to be the first one,” said Trina Fraser. “The barn door is open now.… There’s a feeling there’s strength in numbers.”

Health Canada swamped
As of last month, 226 applications had been refused, said Health Canada spokesman Sean Upton, who confirmed the department has been advised of the legal challenge. Health Canada has been swamped with more than 1,100 applications from firms wanting to cash in on an industry the government says could be worth $1.3 billion in a decade. Only 22 licences to produce have been issued, none in the last few months, while some 291 are still in process. (About half of all applications have been returned as incomplete.)

Fraser said the approval process has slowed to a crawl, prompting other complaints to Health Canada as investors get nervous about whether there will be any payback. “Everybody’s going bananas, out of their minds, frustrated with the process,” she said. “A lot of these applicants have already started or finished construction, they’ve got investors to answer to, and they’re burning through money like crazy.”

Canada’s commercial medical marijuana industry kicked into high gear in April this year. The department has dramatically changed the rules of supply, from a cottage industry in which approved patients grow their own or buy from small producers, to a free-enterprise system with no limits on the number the large-scale growers charging what the market will bear. The changeover has come with problems, including a so-far successful court challenge that allows some patients to continue to get their supply under the old rules, three product recalls and complaints about the initially high cost of medical marijuana in a free market.

Company may shut down
Mellace has a 6,000-square-foot facility near Mission, B.C., now empty and not in production. He said he has invested some $1 million in the project, half of it for research and development, and that he planned to employ between 60 and 150 people.

“The failure of the minister to issue the company a licence is highly prejudicial and will cause the company to have to shut its operations,” says the court filing in Toronto. Many of the 291 firms with pending applications for a lucrative production licence have their own grievances, as an opaque approval process leaves them guessing about when, if ever, they’ll get a licence. “They’re changing the rules as they go,” said Fraser, who has acted for or spoken to dozens of applicants. “There was certainly a first-mover advantage because the bar is much higher now.”

Health Canada, she said, has cranked up security requirements since the first wave, leaving firms now in a “never-never land, security-clearance abyss.” Many businesses still in the queue are hurting financially, their lawyers say. Simply assembling the paperwork for a credible application is about a $50,000 investment, followed by leasing costs for facilities and payroll, which can drive costs over a million dollars.

Fraser cites documents she obtained under the Access to Information Act as showing that what had been a two- to three-month application process in 2013 has become an 18- to 24-month ordeal, partly because new security requirements appear to have created a backlog at the RCMP, which does inspections under the new program.

Vancouver lawyer Kirk Tousaw, who has worked with many applicants, agrees that Health Canada’s processing has ground to a halt. “The application process has essentially come to a standstill and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people that want to be growing and selling medical marijuana to sick Canadians that have had their applications disappear into the void.”

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Cbc.ca
Author: DeanBeeby
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana applicant takes Health Canada to court – Politics – CBC News

State health officials on Friday approved a highly coveted license for Boston’s first medical marijuana dispensary, selecting Patriot Care Corp. to operate a facility near Downtown Crossing. The company, which was already provisionally approved to open a dispensary in Lowell, also won permissio n Friday for a location in Greenfield, making it the only company positioned to run three dispensaries in Massachusetts.

In addition, state officials said they would allow another company to move forward with plans to open dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton — a decision that drew sha rp criticism from some critics who allege the company has received special treatment. The Patrick administration put the plans of the company, New England Treatment Access, on hold in August after the Globe reported that its chief executive had falsely claimed to be a college graduate on the firm’ s applications to the state.

The licensing process has been slowed by repeated disclosures, from media and competing applicants, about questionable backgrounds of some company officials and misrepresentations. No dispensaries have opened, despite state officials’ initial prediction they wou ld open by this past summer. On Friday, Karen van Unen, chief executive of the state’s medical marijuana program, said in a news release, “I am pleased with the steady progress we are making and expect the first dispensaries to open later this winter.”

Two other companies received permi ssion Friday from state health regulators to move forward with medical marijuana dispensaries: Coastal Compassion in Fairhaven and MassMedicum in Taunton. To date, Massachusetts has conditionally approved 15 applicants across the state, which still must pass inspection and win local zoning approval before they can begin growing and selling marijuana. No dispensaries have been selected for the counties of Hampden, Berkshire, Dukes, and Nantucket.

“We are concerned about underserved counties,” van Unen said in a brief telephone interview. She said the state hopes to start accepting more applications for dispensaries in the spring. Patriot Care spokesman Dennis Kunian said the company does not have a timeline on when it might be open for business in Boston. He said company officials have spoken to some Boston city councilors and neighborhood groups about its proposed dispensary at 21 Milk St. and will begin the process of seeking approval from city officials.

“We have a lot of work to do and we are very excited,” Kunian said. “We want to do the city proud.” Patriot Care has faced legal challenges and questions about its dispensary operations in Washington, D.C., and Arizona. The company also applied for a license in Connecticut, but was not selected by regulators there.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh had urged the state to restart the dispensary process earlier this year, following allegations that some winning applicants provided false or misleading information that made it appear that they had had support from elected officials. On Friday, Walsh’s press secretary, Kate Norton, issued a statement saying, “The City will work with our partners at the state level to ensure that any dispensary in Boston complies with all local regulations and guidelines.”

The state announced Friday that it has allowed New England Treatment Access to proceed with plans for dispensaries in Brookline and Northampton, months after the Patrick administration said it halted the plans because the Globe had reported the company’s director, Kevin Fisher, falsely claimed to be a college graduate.

At the time, the governor said, “I’ve said before: If you lie on the application, that is, from my perspective, a nonstarter.” Van Unen said the state decided to let the company keep its conditional approval partly because Fisher had resigned and was no longer associated with the company. “We feel NETA is in a position to meet the standards we expect them to meet,” she said.

The decision angered a group of Brookline residents who had lobbied regulators to remove the company from consideration after the problems with Fisher’s resume were revealed. “It undermines the whole process that someone can lie on the application and, for reasons that aren’t clear, be reconsidered,” said Gordon Bennett. “What’s changed?” he asked. “If they were put on hold earlier, why are they being taken off hold now?”

Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for NETA, said the company “remains well prepared and educated on this emerging industry with some of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the fields of medicinal marijuana standards and practices.” The state’s selection progress has been plagued by controversy for the past year. Voters approved a ballot initiative in November 2012 that legalized marijuana for medical treatment. The state is authorized to select up to 35 nonprofits to open dispensaries around the state, including at least one, but no more than five, in each county.

In January, state regulators announced that they had granted preliminary approval to 20 of 100 applicants seeking to open dispensaries. But the state launched a more thorough examination of the companies after the media and losing applicants raised concerns about misrepresentations, financial arrangements, and conflicts of interest involving several of the companies, as well as the backgrounds of their principals. A number of lawsuits were filed against the state by losing applicants.

In June, state health regulators announced that they had eliminated nine of the 20 remaining applicants, including a company led by former US Representative William Delahunt that had proposed dispensaries in Taunton, Plymouth, and Mashpee. Reasons for rejection ranged from questionable corporate structures that appeared to violate requirements that the companies operate as non-profits; misrepresenting local support; and omitting one investor’s drug conviction.

Dr. James Kurnick, chief executive of MassMedicum, said his company was relieved to be selected for Taunton. “It’s been a long process, and we have put lot of time, money, and effort into this,” said Kurnick, a cancer researcher and part-owner of two biotechnology companies. “We are a medical group, and we hope we can do this in a medical fashion.”

Tim Keogh, president of Coastal Compassion, said the company hopes to open its Fairhaven facility in fall 2015. “I want to assure the town of Fairhaven and the local community that our top priority is the safety of the patients and the public and we pledge to work transparently throughout the process.” State health officials on Friday approved a highly-coveted license for Boston’s first medical marijuana dispensary, selecting Patriot Care Corp, which is already set for a similar facility in Lowell.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Bostonglobe.com
Author: Shelley Murphy and Kay Lazar
Contact: Contact Us
Website: State approves Boston’s first medical marijuana dispensary – Metro – The Boston Globe

Marijuana activists who have longed for decades to end America’s drug war pocketed more major victories Tuesday, with Oregon and the nation’s capital approving recreational pot use. The advocates believed they also have another win, too, in Alaska, as a legal pot measure held a steady lead.

The only major loss for drug-law reformers came in Florida and even there, a medical marijuana proposal earned 58 percent – just shy of the 60 percent required to pass. The victories came in a midterm election that saw a low turnout and an electorate that handed Republicans back control of t he U.S. Senate for the first time since 2006. The results emboldened marijuana activists as they prepare legalization efforts in California, Massachusetts, Maine and other states in the next presidential election year.

“We’re starting work right now for 2016,” said Joe Brezny, who’s l eading a campaign to legalize marijuana in Nevada. “The other side is in trouble if we’re doing this well in a Republican midterm year.” Legalization opponent Kevin Sabet called the votes “a bit of a wake-up call before 2016,” noting that drug policy groups had spent millions on the legalization campaigns, vastly outspending opponents. “This is going to make our side redouble our efforts to find donors who can put forth real money,” said the president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, adding that if they can get the resources to get their message out, voters could make informed decisions.

Sabet pointed to the result in Florida as well as votes in five Colorado cities banning marijuana dispensaries in saying, “I think we’ve slowed the legal marijuana freight train.” The measures were among many that appeared on ballots, with voters approving ones to raise the minimum wage in four states, passing expanded gun background checks in Washington state and rejecting abortion-related measures in two states.

In California, drug war opponents welcomed a vote that reduces penalties, from felonies to misdemeanors, on possession of small amounts of drugs – including cocaine and heroin. The pot votes, however, were considered by many to be the first real test of marijuana reform’s popularity since Washington state and Colorado passed the nation’s first legal pot laws in 2012, boosted then by the higher turnout among young people typical of presidential election years.

Tuesday’s vote saw voters in the District of Columbia make it legal to possess up to two ounces of pot and up to three mature marijuana plants for personal use, but it does not provide for the legal sale of marijuana. That’s left up to the D.C. Council. The measures in Oregon and Alaska would follow Colorado and Washington state in setting up regulation and taxation systems.

“It was an extraordinary day for marijuana and criminal justice reform, and all the more remarkable on a night the Democrats were getting beat up so bad,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a major legalization backer. Some voters in Alaska said marijuana was essentially legal in the state anyway, thanks to a 1975 state Supreme Court decision that possession of small amounts in the home is protected by citizens’ right to privacy.

“It’s just a waste of cop time and court time and it’s pretty much harmless, as far as I’m concerned. We’ll break even on making money on taxes on it,” voter Scott Jenks said. Gayle Boyer, who said people shouldn’t be arrested for using marijuana, voted against the measure, saying there were too many unanswered questions about legalization – and the experiments going on in Colorado and Washington state. “We need to let them be the guinea pigs,” she said.

Advocates, opponents and the U.S. government have closely watched Washington and Colorado to gauge the impact on the black market, drug use among teens and impaired driving, among other areas. In both states, adults over 21 can purchase marijuana, including potent extracts and edibles, at state-licensed dispensaries.

Colorado allowed sales to begin at the start of the year, by letting its already-licensed medical dispensaries begin selling for recreational use. There have been some concerns over the strength of edibles sold, prompting plans for new rules there. In Washington, where there is no regulated medical industry, legal marijuana’s rollout has gone more slowly. Colorado is on track to bring in about $84 million this year from medical and recreational pot taxes and fees. In Washington, where recreational pot sales began in July, the tax collections have totaled more than $7 million.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Sacramento.cbslocal.com
Author: The Associated Press
Contact: Contact Us
Website: California The Next Battleground In Marijuana Legalization Fight « CBS Sacramento

Voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. have voted to approve sweeping pro-marijuana legalization, according to a CNN projections. The three wins have pro-legalization activists enthused and many are already looking towards 2016, when ballot initiatives in states such as California, Massach usetts, Maine, Nevada and Arizona are likely to be put to voters.

In Oregon, the law legalizes personal possession, manufacture and sale of marijuana for people 21 years of age and older. Mimicking similar plans in Washington State and Colorado, the Oregon law will also create a commercial re gulatory system for the production, distribution and sale of marijuana. Alaska’s law is similar to Oregon and would tax and regulate the production, sale and use of marijuana, making the use legal for people over 21 years old

Washington, D.C.’s proposal, while scaled back compared to the others, allows for a person over 21 years old to posses up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use and grow up to six cannabis plants in their home. It also allows people to transfer up to one ounce of marijuana to another person, but not sell it.

The issue is not fully resolved for the District of Columbia, however. Because of its unique status as a district, not a state, Congress has the authority to overrule D.C. laws and some lawmakers have signaled that they would likely work to overrule the popular vote. Pro-marijuana activists heralded the victories as “huge” on Tuesday.

“It’s always an uphill battle to win a marijuana legalization initiative in a year like this, when young people are so much less likely to vote, which makes today’s victory all the sweeter,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance said about Oregon. “The pace of reform is accelerating, other states are sure to follow, and even Congress is poised to wake from its slumber.”

Wins in Washington, D.C. also have activists hoping for federal recognition. “With marijuana legal in the federal government’s backyard,” said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, “it’s going to be increasingly difficult for national politicians to continue ignoring the growing majority of voters who want to end prohibition.” Not all news was positive, however, for marijuana activists on Tuesday, however.

Voters in Florida gave the thumbs down to medical marijuana in the the Sunshine State earlier in the night, according to a CNN projection. The measure – which is one of many on ballots in 2014 – would have legalized the use of medical marijuana in Florida and would have tasked the state’s Department of Health with regulating it. Because the measure would have altered Florida’s constitution, supporters needed 60% for the question to pass. Only 57% of voters voted yes, compared to 43% who voted no with 91% of vote reporting.

Marijuana has been a surging issue of late. In 2013, according to Gallup, more Americans supported legalization than those who opposed it. Just 14 years earlier, those who opposed it had over a 2-to-1 advantage. A 2014 Pew Research poll found that 54% of Americans supported making marijuana legal. Ever since voters in Colorado and Washington allowed the sale of legalized marijuana in 2014 (after voters decided to legalize years before), the push for more marijuana legalization has become a popular nationwide effort. The laws in Oregon and Alaska are similar to what Colorado and Washington State passed and would allow recreational sale and taxation of the drug. Both votes are expected to be close, with polls mixed on the results.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Cnn.com
Author: Dan Merica
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Oregon, Washington, D.C. legalize marijuana – CNN.com

“You did it! Isn’t this amazing?” Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer said to a room full of supporters in Portland on Tuesday night after being reelected. But he wasn’t celebrating his own win, he was celebrating another victory for legal pot. “You knew we could do better than the failed polic y of prohibition,” Blumenauer said.

Voters in Oregon on Tuesday chose to follow Colorado and Washington state in passing a ballot measure that will create the country’s third legal market for recreational marijuana. Measure 91, which passed with 54% of the vote, makes it legal for residen ts 21 and older to possess and grow marijuana, and tasks the state liquor control commission with regulating the substance. A similar proposal in Alaska remained to be decided as of late Tuesday night.

Legalization advocates also won a victory in Washington, D.C. With nearly 70% of the vote in favor, residents in the nation’s capital adopted what some industry experts call a “soft legalization” measure. While the District won’t have a regulated market like Oregon, it’s now legal for residents 21 and older to possess up to 2 oz. of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants at home, as well as give 1 oz. of marijuana to someone else, without payment. Selling pot is still not allowed.

The D.C. news comes with caveats for residents ready to celebrate: the new rules apply only to those who live in the three-quarters of D.C. that is not on federal land, where the substance remains verboten. Congress also has the power to step in and supersede the actions of D.C. officials.

Guam became the first U.S. territory to legalize medical marijuana, joining the District of Columbia and 23 states. But legalization advocates lost a their battle for a similar proposal in Florida. After deep-pocketed advocates on both sides spent millions, the measure to legalize medical pot got 57% of the vote but needed 60% to pass. Big spenders like casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who shelled out $98 in the 2012 elections, donated roughly $5 million to defeat the measure. For now, this bellwether remains more purple than green.

South Portland, Maine, legalized marijuana in a somewhat symbolic vote, while voters in Lewiston, Maine, shot down a similar proposal. The measure makes it legal for residents to possess up to 1 oz. of marijuana, though consuming or displaying weed in public remains illegal. More important, the drug remains illegal on a state and federal level, and the measure did not address taxation or regulation of a legalized market. Portland, Maine’s largest city, passed a similar measure in 2013.

News Moderator – The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Time.com
Author: Katy Steinmetz
Contact: Contact Us
Website: 2014 Midterm Elections: Marijuana Votes in Oregon, Washington DC