Tag Archives: medical marijuana

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a bill into law today partially legalizing medical use of marijuana. The bill was previously approved by the state Senate in a 42-4 vote. The law comes riding a wave of popularity for liberalization of marijuana laws. In April a national Pew study found that 52 percent of respondents were in favor of outright legalization, and a poll released yesterday by Fox News found an overwhelming 85 percent of Americans in favor of legalization for …

Employees in Colorado can still be fired for testing positive for marijuana, an appeals court ruled last week. Medical use of marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2000, and the state legalized the drug outright last year when the electorate voted “yes” on Amendment 64. However, Brandon Coats found out the hard way that employees can still get the boot for a positive drug test. Coats, a quadriplegic who uses medical marijuana to control muscle spasms, was fired from …

U.S. companies large and small legally deduct the expenses of doing business from their gross profits before paying income tax, but purveyors of marijuana (in states where possession is legal and where prescription marijuana is dispensed) cannot deduct those expenses and thus wind up paying a much higher federal income tax than other businesses. As NPR reported in April, “Section 280E” of the tax code (enacted in 1982 to trap illegal drug traffickers into tax violations) has not been changed …

Most revelers at this year’s annual 4/20 celebration on the University of California – Santa Cruz campus were able to celebrate in traditional fashion — by smoking marijuana at the stroke of 4:20 — without police interference. But one ambitious individual was dealt a heartbreaking buzzkill when his two-pound joint was seized by campus police. In raw video uploaded to YouTube, officers can be seen toting away the massive joint while its former owner followed and voiced his objections. “You’re …

With 4/20 approaching, we’ve published weedblog.com’s infographic on the legalization of pot, and you can stare at it for hours. Pass the Doritos, Mary Jane. Currently, the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, which is a real downer for proponents of legalization. (Substances on Schedule 1 are considered to have high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use.) But opinions differ, as 18 states and D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical use. In the last …