D.C. legalization leader reschedules 4/20 to protest Obama.

A warning about the fragility of marijuana reform from comedian Bill Maher, right, inspired activists in Washington, D.C., to plan an April 2 smoke-out in front of the White House. The protest is being led by Adam Eidinger, shown at left presenting a peace pipe to staffers of Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

President Barack Obama may smell something familiar on April 2 when marijuana activists inspired by comedian Bill Maher host what they believe will be a massive act of civil disobedience in front of the White House.

A Nelson District Court judge struggled to find an appropriate sentence for a woman who cultivated cannabis to help treat her multiple sclerosis.

Fiona Porter, 45, told the court on Monday that she grew cannabis for personal medicinal use after medication prescribed to treat her multiple sclerosis left her unable to see, walk or speak properly at times.

Police found 11 mature cannabis plants growing among tomatoes and corn at her Takaka home on February 9.

Porter told police that she blended leaves from the plants and consumed them.

Choosing to appear without legal representation, Porter explained to judge Peter Hobbs that she gave up growing cannabis in 2011 after being reprimanded by the court.

There is a sense of fear we feel when we hear people using the word ‘Addict’.

As children we are taught to mind our own behaviour and stay away from those that don’t. If we are caught doing something ‘naughty’ at school, we are scolded or punished until we learn not to do it. As we grow older we worry less about our own bad behaviour, however what remains the same is a firmly rooted sense that there is right and wrong behaviour and those who act out should still be met with a consequence as we did in our childhoods.

There is a sympathy we feel when we hear people using the word ‘illness’.

Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron called for cannabis legalisation in the UK. The party is proposing to table a motion at their annual conference to legalise and regulate medicinal and recreational cannabis. 

Gary Malcolm, Liberal Democrat Councillor in Ealing, gave VolteFace his personal case for drug reform.

Many people ask why I think that cannabis should be legalised, given that I have never smoked a cigarette in my life.

As a graduate in Genetics, my biological and scientific background leads me to form policies based on evidence, while my guiding liberal philosophy leads me to want people to have the chance to make their own decisions.

A medical marijuana amendment has a good chance of passing this year, found a new Florida poll released Tuesday.

According to the Public Policy Polling survey, 65 percent of registered voters said they support the medical marijuana constitutional amendment. The survey found 28 percent said they were opposed to it, while 7 percent of respondents said they weren’t sure.

A former Orange County political activist who helped draft recent marijuana legalization initiatives was arrested in Texas last week on suspicion of transporting more than $1 million worth of cannabis.

Samuel Hershel Clauder II, 64, was driving a Chrysler minivan outside Wichita Falls on Feb. 22 when a Texas trooper stopped him for a traffic violation, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A police dog signaled it smelled narcotics in the vehicle, the release said. In the back seat, authorities said, the trooper discovered duffel bags containing 174 pounds of marijuana.

In a telephone interview with the Register on Monday, Clauder said that “all of the numbers are extremely exaggerated.” 

Last month, we reported about Denver NORML's plan to introduce a marijuana social use initiative for the 2016 ballot.

And when we chatted with Denver NORML executive director Jordan Person about a marijuana raid in Colorado Springs that she saw as an example of why such an initiative was needed, she suggested that the measure should be ready to go in a matter of weeks.

Person's estimate was spot-on. Denver NORML has now submitted an initiative dubbed the Denver Responsible Use Initiative.

Medical marijuana could be available to an estimated 215,000 Ohioans with qualifying medical conditions by 2018 if voters okay a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

A year after Ohioans soundly defeated ResponsibleOhio’s for-profit plan to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes, a national group with a successful track record in other states is pushing a medical marijuana-only issue for the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

WINNIPEG—The chief of the Mathias Colomb First Nation says he is filing a complaint after being accused by a security screener at the Winnipeg airport of having marijuana in a sacred medicine pouch.

Chief Arlen Dumas says he flies a lot and usually doesn’t have any problem, adding he understands how difficult the job can be.

But he says in this recent incident, the screener was aggressive and insulting.

Dumas had been travelling home with his 16-year-old son, who was born with cystic fibrosis and was having a medical check for a recent double-lung transplant.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is already investigating a similar complaint involving another Manitoba indigenous leader.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A national group seeking to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio has released its proposed language for a constitutional amendment it wants voters to decide in November.

The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project wants to make Ohio the 24th state along with the District of Columbia with similar laws legalizing medical marijuana.

The proposed ballot language released Tuesday calls for large growers to pay an initial licensing fee of $500,000 to the state. “Patients” deemed eligible to buy and use marijuana products would pay a maximum of $40 a year for an identification card.