State & Local Legislatures

New Jersey lawmakers today will seek to change rules proposed by the Christie administration over medical marijuana. Some lawmakers say the rules don't follow the intent of the law they passed earlier this year to make New Jersey the 14th state to allow medical marijuana.

As numerous cities get set to levy voter-approved taxes on medical marijuana retailers, some municipalities in northern California are already moving aggressively toward creating government-sanctioned marijuana farms to help supply them. Cities hope to rake in even more tax revenue from medical marijuana cultivation, which has remained in the shadows although it has been legal in the state since 1996.

Lawmakers are deciding whether Illinois will become the 16th state to legalize medical marijuana. Illinois lawmakers are in Springfield for a veto session and SB 1381 is one of the bills up for discussion. The bill was written by state Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton), a former prosecutor.

The City Council tweaked its medical marijuana ordinance today to ease restrictions that would have drastically reduced the number of dispensaries allowed to continue operating in Los Angeles. Councilman Paul Koretz said that under the original ordinance, "we would have, I believe, unintentionally and erroneously disqualified some dispensaries...and these (amendments) would reinstate some that I believe would have been removed by mistake."

The story of Oakland as the premier cannabis city in the United States starts with the coalescing, more than a decade ago, of an open-minded city council, an impoverished downtown, and a handful of determined activists.

Today, the District published a revised set of rules and regulations for the city's medical marijuana program, which is set to kick off in earnest in January 2011. But despite the hopes of many, the system being put in place to regulate the growth, sale and use of medical marijuana hasn't gotten any less restrictive.