The Feds are at it again. Their relentless attempt to shut down the largest medical marijuana shop in the world, Harborside Health Center, continues. After losing a recent court judgement that said they couldn't evict Harborside under federal forfeiture, the Feds are now making the argument that the state and city cannot stand in their way of seizing the dispensary. 
 Back in July, the federal govern ...

  Progress towards a sensible drugs policy is glacially slow, but the latest report from the Home Affairs Select Committee on Britain's ineffectual prohibition laws suggests the balance of opinion at Westminster may be tilting towards common sense at last. Sad to say, the Government shows few signs of following suit. Not only is there much to be welcomed in the committee's conclusions – there is also m ...

  Customers have been drifting into Jay Fratt’s alternative pipe and tobacco shop, Smokin J’s, in the days since Washington state’s marijuana law took effect, wondering when cannabis would take its place on the shelves next to the handblown glass pipes. Hold on, he told them. Fratt is, before anything else, a businessman, and he quickly realized there was a lot of smoke in the details. First of all, th ...

New legislation in Washington state went into effect this week that legalizes for the first time in ages the possession of marijuana. Federal law still says otherwise, though, setting up the Justice Department to make some serious determinations. Even as smoking up became protected by state law in Washington starting Thursday, coast-to-coast prohibition as provided by a long-standing federal ruling remains ...

Marijuana is set to become legal in Washington following a ballot initiative that has put the state at loggerheads with the federal government, despite record levels of support for nationwide legalization. Washington Initiative 502, which makes it legal for adults aged 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, will go into effect on Thursday. State penalties for possession will officially be eli ...

The Justice Department has a big decision to make. Parts of new laws in Colorado and Washington that legalize small amounts of recreational marijuana will take effect early next month. The Obama administration needs to choose whether it will sue to stop the legislation or let those states go their own way — even though the drug remains illegal under federal law. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, ...

Cannabis Science, Inc. (NASD OTC: CBIS) has appointed Michael J. Goldblatt, Ph.D., the former Director of Defense Sciences at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the Company's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Dr. Goldblatt holds extensive experience in successfully pioneering next-generation technologies, including host-oriented therapeutics for infectious disease.  He received his B.A ...

The president of the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Raymond Yans, wrote a threatening letter to the U.S. government to challenge marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington. Apparently the voters in Colorado and Washington were unaware that they would have to not only fight off the federal government, but global drug czars as well in their effort to exercise their local sovereignty ...

A mirthful online guide to marijuana use, put together by police in Seattle, has become an internet hit as the authorities in Washington state gear up for the changes brought about by Initiative 502 – the election-day ballot measure that legalised the drug. The "Marijwhatnow?" post on the Seattle Police Department's Blotter blog attempts to explain the do's and don'ts under the new measure, which comes into ...

When one thinks of marijuana tourism, Amsterdam is usually the first place that comes to mind. With over 700 cannabis cafes and 1.5 million tourists per year, much of Amsterdam's tourism industry is due to marijuana. 
 In the near future Amsterdam may have some stiff competition for marijuana tourists. Shortly after the states of Colorado and Washington passed legalization initiatives on Election Day, specu ...