Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota Tuesday voted on recreational marijuana legalization measures. Maryland and Missouri approved the measures while Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota disapproved of the measures. Maryland Question 4, on the ballot as a constitutional amendment, was approved by a vote of 65.54 percent to 34.46 percent. [...]
Search Results for: marijuana
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach Wednesday unveiled plans for the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in keeping with an election promise made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lauterbach presented the Federal Government’s key issues paper, including key regulations: (1) the minimum age limit for sale and purchase shall be 18 years of age; (2) the acquisition [...]
Biden implements US, EU data privacy framework in new executive order
US President Joe Biden Friday signed an executive order to implement a data privacy framework between the European Union and the US. The order on “Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities” outlines the steps the US will take to implement the privacy framework agreed upon in March after the EU Court of Justice [...]
US President Biden pardons all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession
US President Joe Biden Thursday pardoned “all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.” Biden explained that criminal records for marijuana possession have negatively impacted “too many lives,” particularly those of black and brown people through disproportionate conviction rates. Biden urged state governors to pardon marijuana possession offenses at their respective state levels. He [...]
FBI reports homicide increase in 2021, experts warn data is misleading
The FBI Wednesday released its 2021 annual crime report, estimating that murders reported in the US increased from 22,000 in 2020 to 22,900 in 2021, constituting a 4.3 percent increase. The overall violent crime volume decreased by 1 percent across the US from 1,326,600 incidents in 2020 to 1,313,200 incidents in 2021. The amount of [...]
Eighth Circuit rejects challenge to Nebraska ballot initiative signature requirement
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Wednesday rejected a request from a group of medical marijuana supporters to block a provision in Nebraska’s constitution that establishes a signature requirement for ballot initiatives. The group, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM), is a registered ballot campaign committee in Nebraska that initiated petitions to put [...]
Kenya dispatch: Deputy President candidates face off on corruption, Bhang legalization
Kenya’s Deputy Presidential debate was held Tuesday at the Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CEUA) in Nairobi. The debate was divided into two tiers. The first tier involved the Deputy Presidential (DP) candidates whose popularity ratings, based on three recent opinion polls, stand below 5 percent, while the second tier involved candidates who have polled [...]
Trump-affiliated businessman sentenced to 20 months in prison for political donation offenses
The Department of Justice said Wednesday that Lev Parnas, a businessman involved in the Trump-Ukraine affair, was sentenced to 20 months in prison on multiple charges relating to soliciting donations from a foreign national. Parnas was convicted on charges of “conspiring to make political contributions by a foreign national along with solicitation and aiding and [...]
California’s 1996 ballot initiative protecting medical marijuana users from state criminal prosecution kicked off the modern marijuana reform era in the United States. In part due to federal prohibition, state medical marijuana laws prompted an array of interesting and intricate legal questions. Some issues concerned the reach of federal law after state reforms. Could doctors [...]
President Joe Biden Tuesday pardoned three convicted felons – Abraham Bolden Sr., Betty Jo Bogans and Dexter Jackson – and commuted the prison sentences of 75 others. The individuals granted clemency came at the recommendation of the Department of Justice’s pardon attorney. The first to be pardoned was Abraham Bolden Sr., a former Secret Service [...]