State & Local Legislatures

Wisconsin won't be the 15th state to approve medical marijuana, at least not this year. The session ended yesterday with no Assembly floor vote.

Medical marijuana is coming to the nation's capital. The question now is how good the DC City Council will make the program. Some advocates are happy with the progress, while others fear the restrictions could doom the program to fail.

Legal needle exchanges may be coming to Colorado -- if a bill before the state Senate passes. But injection drug users in Boulder already benefit from an exemption allowing exchanges, and drug users in Denver can take advantage of an underground exchange.

There will be no marijuana decriminalization in the Granite State -- at least not this year. A veto-wielding governor managed to scare off the state Senate after the House passed it overwhelmingly, but activists aren't giving up. Instead, they are vowing to return until the legislature gets it right.

A Maryland medical marijuana bill won an important Senate committee vote this week, but with time running out for the legislative session, it looks to be stalled in the House.

Maine is about to become the latest state to set up a medical marijuana dispensary system. The measure has passed the legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.

After years, the DEA has yet to move against the psychedelic member of the mint family, salvia divinorum. But that hasn't stopped various states from moving to regulate it or -- more often-- ban it outright. Minnesota could be the next to ban it, but Maryland has a less freaked-out idea: Just limit it to adults.

New Jersey MS patient John Ray Wilson was convicted of growing marijuana in December. The state legalized medical marijuana in January. But Wilson was still sentenced to five years in prison last week.

Will Rhode Island be the next state to decriminalize marijuana possession? It just took a big step in that direction this week, as a special legislative commission endorsed the idea.

The Illinois legislature apparently doesn't have enough serious issues to deal with, so it's launched an attack on the dreaded blunt wrap.