Reason’s Nick Gillespie calls out George W. Bush’s drug czar, John P. Walters, for his written delusion in Politico that the current drug war has victory around the corner. Walters peddles reefer madness by stating legalization would create a nation of zombie addicts and that adults are incapable of personal responsibility… exactly what hasn’t happened in the 23 medical and 2 recreational cannabis states.

A ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in Oregon will be on November’s ballot after supporters collected more than 100,000 signatures (only 87,213 needed). If passed, the new law would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to eight ounces and to grow up to four plants. Marijuana would be taxed at $35 an ounce and $5 per plant.

Even with the start of legal recreational marijuana sales 5½ months ago, burglaries and robberies at all pot businesses in Denver are on pace for their lowest total in three years, according to figures from the city’s Department of Safety.

Investors around Illinois are jockeying for positions in the marijuana business as they wait for the state’s new medical marijuana law to kick in, which will allow up to 22 marijuana growing centers and 60 dispensaries as part of a four-year pilot program. And some of them are politically connected.

After predictions that New Jersey’s medical marijuana program could serve tens of thousands of patients, only 2,342 have signed up. Fingers point at the lack of doctor participation, to pot quality at NJ dispensaries and not being able to sell edibles.

A high-ranking state senator in New York has expressed that he has no plans to move the medical marijuana bill out of his committee, reports The Poughkeepsie Journal....

According to a new report from the Marijuana Arrest Research Project, in the first four months of 2014, the NYPD made 80 low level weed possession arrests a day and the statistics have stayed the same as in 2013.

After nearly a decade of research, scientists at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute recently published online in the British Journal of Pharmacology, which suggest that cannabinoids may help treat breast cancer. Treatment with cannabidiol (CBD) was found to reduce breast cancer metastasis by up to 75%, and a synthetic cannabinoid called O-1663 was even more potent.

Colorado recorded its biggest recreational marijuana tax haul yet in April, topping more than $3.5 million in sales and excise taxes on over $22 million in revenue. Overall, though, medical marijuana sales continued to outpace recreational sales, with lower-taxed medical-marijuana stores doing more than $31 million in sales during the month.

On Thursday, June 12, 2014, a new law is to be implemented in City of Denver parks / public green spaces: the consumption, use, display, transfer, distribution, sale, or growth of marijuana in any park will be prohibited. Infractions will be punishable with a $150 fine, escalating with repeat offenses.

A bill gaining traction in Philadelphia City Council would make possessing small quantities of marijuana only a civil violation, with a $25 fine. Councilman Jim Kenney says Philly police spend about 17,000 hours annually to process those arrested with less than an ounce of weed and it disproportionately affects minorities. However, there is no guarantee that other law enforcement agencies in the city would follow suit. 

Hershey has sued TinctureBelle LLC, a Colorado company, over punny pot product names that the chocolate goliath believes are too close to its trademarked Reese’s, Heath, Almond Joy and York brands.

Sacramento County, California supervisors are expected today to limit the indoor growth of marijuana to nine plants per house in unincorporated areas. The indoor restriction comes nearly two months after the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to ban outdoor marijuana growth.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation Friday that tries to establish the world’s first financial system for the newly legal marijuana industry in Colorado. It would allow pot businesses to pool money in cooperatives and move away from cash-only operations; however, without the blessing of the Fed, it’s more of a symbolic action.

Cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid in marijuana, may help Parkinson’s disease sufferers overcome sleep problems, a new study from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil has found. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) causes people to act out their dreams, which occurs frequently in patients with Parkinson’s and is challenging to treat.

The Temporary Platform Committee of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) today passed an amendment to the Healthcare and Nutritional Supplements plank of the proposed 2014 RPT Platform that would allow Texas doctors to prescribe marijuana. The plank will be voted on by the permanent platform committee then, if it passes, to the body of the RPT convention.

Medical marijuana growers in northern California’s Lake County were banned from growing cannabis outdoors Tuesday when voters approved an outdoor-growing restriction proposed by county supervisors.

A new British study finds children with high IQs are more likely to use drugs as adults than people who score low on IQ tests as children. The data comes from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which has been following thousands of people over decades. 

The Leaf Online explains CB1 and CB2 receptors, which are the main receptor sites for the body’s endocannabinoid system. A scientific understanding of these receptor points, and how the 70+ cannabinoids interact with them and with each other, is crucial to the future of using cannabis as a medicine.

Marijuana coffee is coming to the state of Washington, and the product is promising consumers a caffeinated buzz. The cold-brewed cannabis-infused coffee, called Legal, is expected to hit the market in early July.