marijuana

“Yeah, we’re over fire code,” a security guard said with a laugh and a shrug while eying the crowd at Bernie Sanders’ jam-packed town-hall meeting Saturday night. Around 5,000 people showed up to see the left-wing dark horse give his first stump speech in Colorado since launching his presidential campaign in May. People of all ages – mostly white – filled the air-conditioned gymnasium at Denver University well before the event was billed to start, though latecomers – or on-time comers – could still watch a live video feed on the outdoor lacrosse field.

In an editorial over the weekend, the New York Times editorial board called on the federal government to repeal the ban on pot, citing that in the “more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana,” the ban has inflicted “great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.”

As Washington plows toward the legalization of pot, it's finding that getting the cannabis market off the ground has been even tougher than anyone imagined. Among the frustrated are growers who have been waiting months for permission to start raising their bar-coded plants; advocates who wish more public health messaging had been done by now; and would-be pot vendors who say bad luck, minor oversights on their applications, or errors by state officials have torpedoed otherwise promising efforts.

There is a bill in the New Jersey legislature that would legalize marijuana use and subject it to taxation, but Governor Chris Christie has signaled that he will veto the bill if it passes. But looking at Colorado's track record and windfall tax receipts, one must ask the question, "why?"

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday defended the Obama administration's guidelines to banks conducting transactions with legal marijuana sellers as congressional Republicans questioned whether the guidance amounts to tacit federal approval of a drug illegal in most states. The Justice and Treasury departments issued a roadmap in February that would allow the new businesses to make payroll, save money and pay taxes, a move that enables the legalized marijuana industry to operate in Colorado and Washington state.

Quinnipiac University released another new batch of poll results from Colorado today, outlining how voters in the state feel about legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage. According to the poll, voters strongly believe that legalizing marijuana has been good for Colorado (52-38 percent). Of particular note are the numbers from voters 18 to 29 years old, of whom a whopping 81 percent back same-sex marriage.

John Paul Stevens is making a lot of news these days at the age of 94, and his latest comments will have people talking again. In part of interview released on Thursday by NPR, the retired Supreme Court Justice said he’s in favor of legalized marijuana.

A New Jersey lawmaker is planning to introduce a bill that would legalize marijuana, but it's not likely to go far as long as Chris Christie is governor.

Blacks in the U.S. are almost four times as likely as whites to be arrested for possession of marijuana, even though whites report higher rates of usage than blacks