Utah’s lawmakers are getting a little desperate in their search to alleviate the state’s $700 million budget shortfall. One in particular, state Sen. Chris Buttars, is now proposing that Utah cut costs by eliminating the 12th grade, or at least giving students the option of skipping their senior year of high school. Well, I have a better idea for how Utah could bring in new revenue and keep kids in the classroom at the same time. If Utah really wants to rake in the big bucks, the state should tax…

California has had legal medical marijuana for over 13 years, and more than 80% of Americans support patients' rights to use it. But none of that mattered to Christian Hughes’ employer, who fired him for testing positive for marijuana that he uses under his doctor’s recommendation to treat injuries related to an auto accident. Hughes, 33, was the on-site manager for a senior apartment complex in Anderson, California until his recent termination by MCA Housing Partners. The resident senior citizens…

I posted the story a couple weeks ago about a medical marijuana lab in Denver being raided by the DEA, but it turns out the lab inadvertently led agents to their doors. According to Betty Aldworth, the lab’s director of outreach, employees were caught off guard by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s visit because they did everything they could to be in compliance with DEA requirements, even formally applying for an analytical lab license. "We didn't need to do that, but we thought it was the right…

This is just ridiculous. Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested 74-year old Canadian citizen, grandmother, and healthcare support worker Homenella Cole. The charge? Possession of marijuana. Twenty-nine years ago. Cole was in her mid-forties at the time. Is this really the most important thing border patrol agents could be doing with their time?

Ongoing efforts to reform marijuana laws in Rhode Island received a huge endorsement today from the state’s largest newspaper. In this editorial, the Providence Journal calls for the decriminalization of marijuana, writing that “[t]he pursuit of nonviolent marijuana users puts enormous strain on the justice system, feeds corruption and wastes taxpayer dollars that could have been used more effectively elsewhere.” This call for sensible marijuana reform comes just days before public hearings will…

Kansas was the first state to embrace alcohol prohibition, and one of the last to end it. Now, could it become the 15th to pass medical marijuana? Yesterday, Kansas state Representative Gail Finney (D-Wichita) introduced a medical marijuana bill. Finney suffers from lupus, which makes her sympathetic to those with diseases such as cancer and HIV, and Finney thinks the chronically ill should be allowed to use the medicine that works best for them without having to fear being arrested or thrown in…

Yesterday, lawmakers in Colorado unveiled a bill that could severely restrict the progress of medical marijuana in that state. Among other changes, the bill would place an 18-month moratorium on any new dispensaries, force existing establishments to reopen as nonprofit “medical marijuana centers,” and impose severe limitations on who can grow marijuana or work in a dispensary. In response, medical marijuana advocates, led by the group Sensible Colorado, filed a statewide ballot initiative that would…

MPP director of California policy Aaron Smith discusses the effort to tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, and the failure of marijuana prohibition, on NBC. 02/01/2010

President Obama’s CitizenTube forum concluded today with questions about ending marijuana prohibition receiving the most votes, by far. Yet, an answer to the most popular question was absent from the president’s address, which took place on YouTube this afternoon. Last year, when marijuana reform questions topped the president’s “Open For Questions” forum, the president at least answered -- albeit without serious consideration to the issue. Obama needs to realize something: ending marijuana prohibition…

President Obama released his budget requests for FY 2011 today, requesting $3.5 million less for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign than he did in FY 2010. The media campaign, which is run by the drug czar’s office, has for years emptied its coffers on absurd anti-marijuana advertisements that veer so far from the truth they’re laughable. Take, for example, this ad, which insinuates that marijuana use can lead to rape. This is a particularly dishonest approach considering that alcohol, a…