In a speech in Mexico City on Friday, President Obama shut the door on any possibility that he’ll support efforts in his second-term to legalize certain recreational drugs and said, “I’ve been asked, and I honestly do not believe that legalizing drugs is the answer.”

Legislation sponsored by Ron Wyden (D- Oregon) and Lisa Murkowski of (R-Alaska) would require Super PACs to reveal their sources of money, which spent $1 billion to influence 2012 elections. Let’s see who funds the Super PACs that back war on pro-cannabis politicians.

As much as I love the cannabis scene home in the Bay Area, three of us were lucky enough to travel and spend this historic 420 weekend...

High Times reports the US Price, Kind and Mids indices all finished March below their previous month’s average, after experiencing rebounds in average pot prices last month. The Kind Index experienced the biggest drop-off, down $12 from February, to $398 per ounce.

UNICEF’s “Report Card 11” found that countries with more liberal drug laws had lower rates of youths who smoked marijuana than nations with stricter penalties. Canada was #1 with 28% of youths and the US #5 with 22.05%. In the Netherlands, where the weed laws vary from city to city, 17.05% of kids smoked last year, and only 10.5% smoked in Portugal, where marijuana has been decriminalized.

A new report prepared for Congress from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concludes the feds have no easy options to fight Washington & Colorado on legal marijuana, as it probably falls under the states’ “power to decide what is criminal and what is not.” The report analyzes court precedent and lays out what the DOJ and the Obama administration might do to enforce federal law.

 

Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, said Tuesday “For about 40 years, we’ve decided that [prison] is how we solve almost every problem, whether it’s homelessness or drug addiction, we’ve gotten to a place where black men in this country are three times more likely to be incarcerated than black men in South Africa during apartheid when they were the world’s leading [jailer].”

Arthur Frommer’s February prediction that pot tours would be a 2013 travel trend appears to be on the mark. My 420 Tours has sold 200 packages for World Cannabis Week in Denver (Apr 17-21) from $499 to $850 for 3-5 days. The tour includes an airport pickup to a “420 friendly hotel” as well as sampling cannabis, happy hour parties, concert and admission to the High Times Cannabis Cup on 4/20 & 21.

Veterinarian Doug Kramer thinks that the THC in marijuana could help dogs and other pets with painful conditions that don’t respond to other treatments. Although dismissed by some other pet doctors, Kramer was open to trying it and gave it to his dog who was in pain from untreatable cancer.

A legislative panel decided Friday to propose to tax the newly legal drug at 30 percent; a 15% excise tax and 15% sales tax. If the full Colorado Legislature agrees, voters will be asked about the taxes in November. Will voters choke on marijuana taxes at this level, even if the first $40M goes towards school construction?

In what the Seattle Police Department described as its “first time ever” event, street dealers picked up during a police investigation that only possessed small amounts of marijuana and no outstanding criminal records, were released. However, the SPD did issue them a warning, discouraging future pot sales and to not consume it in public places.

Colorado’s tax receipts over the last fiscal year totaled $186 million from the more than 500 state medical marijuana businesses. State officials expect that next year, with recreational sales approved under Amendment 64, tax receipts will approach $920 million.

After three years of waiting, The Takoma Wellness Center hopes to be one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington DC and may open by mid-April. Patients would be able to buy up to two ounces of marijuana per month so long as they can show their license and a valid registration card.

Kale and basil hydroponic/organic farmer, former MSNBC host, Dylan Ratigan; “I’d like to issue a letter of gratitude to Tommy [Chong] and all the hydroponic marijuana growers in the world. Much as porn made by the Internet, the cutting edge of hydroponic lighting and water flow and nutrient film technique that really has been been perfect as a result of the marijuana industry is the very techniques that we are now benefiting from to yield incredibly nutritious kale, bok choy, swiss chard, basil, bell peppers — you pick it. So, Tommy, thank you.”

Canadian biotech firm Abattis Bioceuticals plans to open a Boulder, Colorado plant to produce kombucha tea containing marijuana-based cannabidiol, or CBD, a substance with purported medical properties. They will license the production through Crudessence Kombucha Inc., maker of Rise sparkling tea.

While the IRS assaults the medical marijuana industry by abusing Section 280E, Wall Street is taking notice of all the M&A activity and the ensuing green rush. Medbox, Inc. (OTC Markets: MDBX), which was featured on the cover of the LA Times Business Section, announced the acquisition of vaporizer manufacturer Vaporfection International Inc.

High Times reports the US Price, Kind, and Mids indices all finished above their respective January averages. The US Price Index jumped up $35 per ounce from January to February to $342, sending pot prices back to December 2012 levels.

The NYPD made 39,218 low-level marijuana possession arrests in 2012 (over 440,000 in past decade), each consuming an estimated 2.5 man hours of police work. Just a little stop-and-frisk to terrorize New York City’s African-American and Latino youths, while pissing away Gotham’s tax dollars.

English soccer club Notts County are using marijuana heat lamps confiscated in police raids to help maintain their field. The heat lamps are being deployed on lighting rigs to heat up the soil and assist the regrowth of grass on the club’s Meadow Lane pitch during the cold winter months.

Seattlepi received a news tip Monday night from The Copenhagen Post’s news editor, Justin Cremer, who explains that city officials in the capital of Denmark are anxious to legalize marijuana there and import cannabis supplies from Washington, Colorado or both.