News

• March 19 2013

  comments ( 0 ) view

  Australian Committee Considers Medical Pot

  According to a high-ranking hospital official in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), cannabis can indeed assist those coping with terminal illnesses by providing pain management and subsequently improving patients' quality of life in their final months.    Professor Michael Cousins, director of the Pain Management Research Institute at the Royal North Shore Hospital informed a NSW parliamentary committee that dying patients should have access to medicinal …More

• March 19 2013

  comments ( 0 ) view

  Five Questions for William Breathes

  As HIGH TIMES prepares to invade Colorado on 4/20 for our third Denver-based cannabis event, we caught up with Colorado’s premier cannabis critic. William Breathes is the nom-de-fume of the Westword’s medical marijuana dispensary critic and marijuana beat reporter. He’s been reviewing dispensaries in the Mile High City for the newspaper since 2009. Follow him on twitter – @williambreathes.   How did you become the "medical marijuana critic" for …More

• March 19 2013

  comments ( 0 ) view

  Maryland Senate Passes Marijuana Decriminalization!

  Earlier today, the Maryland Senate passed SB 297 by a vote of 30-16. The bill will now move to the House of Delegates where it will need to be approved by the House Judiciary Committee and the full House of Delegates before being sent to Gov. O’Malley.

  

  Dan Riffle, MPP Deputy Director of Gov’t Relations

  
  If S.B. 297 is passed in the House and signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, it would no longer be a criminal offense to possess up to about one-third of an ounce of marijuana in Maryland. Instead, police would simply issue a citation, and violators would pay the $100 ticket by mail. No arrest, no jail, just a small fine. That’s still not as good as Colorado or Washington, but it’s a dramatic improvement.

  Also on the agenda in Maryland today was a hearing for H.B. 1453, which would tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. MPP’s Dan Riffle testified in support of the bill, which was the first of its kind to get a hearing in the Maryland Legislature.