State & Local Legislatures

A bill to protect the guns rights of legal marijuana users has been filed, hempsters hit the halls of Congress, a new medical marijuana bill is filed in Pennsylvania, and more.

A Maryland gubernatorial candidate and a Maine legislator both call for marijuana legalization, politicians are in trouble for using drugs (at least one of them a bonafide hypocrite for it), and marijuana law reforms appear to be advancing internationally, except in one Australian state. That's just for starters.

Federal agencies are beginning to work on the banking problem for medical marijuana businesses, the District of Columbia is looking at why its program is so tiny, and New Mexico can't keep up with medical marijuana demand. And there's much more, too.

There's a lot going on in the world of drug policy. Here are the stories we noted in our new Chronicle AM daily survey this week.

And the beat goes on. From the West Coast to the East Coast and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, medical marijuana is on the agenda.

Remember Bernie Goetz? He made the news again over the weekend, and so did Florida's medical marijuana initiative. There's also drug policy news from around the world.

Marijuana and medical marijuana activism continues, a prescription drug monitoring bill moves in Pennsylvania, a West Virginia official jumps to conclusions on drug testing results, and Israelis are switching from hash to buds.

State level marijuana legalization activists look ahead, Colorado announces hemp farming rules, Denver backs away from a backyard pot-smoking ban, and strife continues in Mexico.

Budweiser sponsors a medical marijuana campaign event in Arkansas, California localities continue to grapple with regulating the business, and there is action afoot in Utah. And that's not all.

Uruguay appears poised to legalize marijuana Friday, the Afghan opium crop is at an all-time high, and the ACLU issues a report on people doing life without parole for nonviolent offenses. And there's more.