Why does the Washington State Legislature want to undermine medical cannabis? New Approach Washington’s Alison Holcomb and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes with Initiative 502 clearly stated that if passed, it would have no effect on medical cannabis laws. Both repeatedly reassured voters that “I-502 won’t harm patients.”

Senate Bill SB 5052 is an effort by the Legislature that could doom our medical cannabis patient rights. This bill could bring harm and even death to many medical cannabis patients. Why would the lawmakers do this?

Immediately, three reasons grab my attention: knowledge deficit, power, and greed. Let’s examine this.

LANSING, MI -- A new group seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan has a jump start in the race to the 2016 ballot.

The Michigan Cannabis Coalition -- one of three groups that may launch pot legalization petition drives -- plans to submit proposed language to the Secretary of State on Thursday for review by the Board of State Canvassers prior to public circulation.

Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, who has years of professional experience as a cardiology nurse practitioner, said Thursday any decision on legalizing medical marijuana should be determined by the federal Food and Drug Administration, not state lawmakers.

"If this is a legitimate medication, it really means the FDA needs to weigh in on this issue. That is what we do with other medications. I think that makes sense," Upmeyer told reporters at the Iowa Capitol.

Upmeyer, a Clear Lake Republican with a master's degree in nursing, was joined by House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, who made it clear he believes the medical marijuana issue is dead in the House.

"I don't expect us to debate a bill on medical cannabis this year," said Paulsen, a Hiawatha Republican.

LANSING – Michigan would legalize the use of marijuana for recreational use under the proposed wording of a ballot initiative submitted to the state.

Once authorized by the Board of State Canvassers, the Michigan Cannabis Coalition's initiated law would require roughly 252,000 valid voter signatures before going to the Republican-led Legislature. If lawmakers rejected the bill or took no action, it would receive a statewide vote in November 2016.

The initiative announced Thursday is being supported by six to eight anonymous people from the agricultural, real estate, insurance and education sectors. Spokesman Matt Marsden says Michigan could add jobs and tax revenue by legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The latest hearing on the subject suggests supporters of legislation that would legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania have their work cut out in the State House.

Indications are that support for medical marijuana is strong in the state Senate, but members of the House seem less enthusiastic.

After a lengthy hearing Wednesday during which members of law enforcement stressed the need for strict regulatory control if it is legalized, Republican Matt Baker – chairman of the House Health Committee – said he’s still not sold on medical marijuana:

Internationally, drug policy is at a crossroads: the debate is shifting from a paradigm based on criminalising drug users, to a more public-health-oriented approach. But is this only a change in rhetoric, or a sign of real political reform? We asked activists who have been attending the CND for several years. 

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president in 2012, tells The Daily Caller he is gearing up to run for the White House again.

“Unless something catastrophic happens in my life, I hope to do that,” Johnson said in an interview at The Daily Caller’s newsroom in Washington on Wednesday.

Johnson — the former governor of New Mexico who ran for president as a Republican in 2011 before dropping out to run on the Libertarian Party ticket — said “there’s no real rush” to announce though he is actively preparing for a campaign.

After being elected to his second term as president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff wanted to make clear that it intends to follow the steps initiated by Uruguay, and analyzed in other countries in the region regarding the legalization of marijuana. It was the Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo, in charge of communicating that during the four years of the new term "legalization of drugs is not on the agenda".

The clarification was given in response to proposed bipartisan opposition to propose the decriminalization of drugs as a method to avoid saturating prisons. But Cardozo explained that Rousseff's government will not solve the problem of overcrowding in prisons legalizing drugs, but building more prisons.

If you have overwhelming evidence that something isn’t working, would you continue to do it? If I was running a business that was failing, and saw no signs of improvement, I would shut it down and try a new approach.

The evidence calling for an end to the failed war on drugs is clear – we should be treating drug use as a health issue not a criminal issue. The world needs a new approach to drug policy.

U.S. President Barack Obama gets a tour of the Bob Marley Museum from a staff member Natasha Clark (L) in Kingston, Jamaica April 8, 2015. While in Jamaica Obama will meet with leaders of CARICOM, the Caribbean Community nations, before continuing on to Panama for the Summit of the Americas. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- President Obama, who arrived here Wednesday evening for a meeting with Caribbean leaders, made an unscheduled nighttime visit to the Bob Marley Museum.

"I still have all the albums," Obama, in rolled up shirtsleeves, told museum guide Natasha Clark, as he toured the home in central Kingston where the Jamaican reggae great lived from 1975 until his death in 1981.