From Maine to Miami, supporters of the cannabis movement are going to pass a torch symbolically shaped as a joint to garner support and show a united front in the fight to legalize marijuana.

It’s organized by the East Coast Cannabis Coalition (ECCC) and the so-called Unity Cypher begins its journey in Portland, Maine on April 14th, making  stops in NH, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, ME, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL. Along the way, organizers promise an appearance (and great photo op) at the United National General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York City on April 19 and the National Cannabis Festival in Washington D.C. on April 23.

By many accounts, Monday was a banner day for the marijuana movement in the courts. In the nation’s capital, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma to overturn Colorado’s legalized marijuana program, meaning that if the two states’ attorneys general want to continue to pursue the matter, they will have to do so in federal district court.

CHARLOTTE, NC (Steve Harrison/The Charlotte Observer) -

During a traffic stop on Freedom Drive in late 2014, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer found $10 worth of marijuana in Morchello Pearce’s car.

Under N.C. law, the officer had a choice: Give Pearce a citation for possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana or arrest him. The officer arrested Pearce, who is black.

“It was just a little bud,” said Pearce, who works as a chef at an uptown restaurant and bar. “I know the law, and I told him, ‘You could write me a ticket.’ I think he felt like doing that because I was on the wrong side of town.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have released numbers that show that African Americans are arrested for simple marijuana possession at far higher rates than other groups.

“It’s basically like stereotyping, because I don’t have no felony,” said Gerald Laney, who was arrested Thursday night for possession and he feels there is a bias.

Chief Kerr Putney takes issue with that argument.

“If people are dealing drugs out in the open, we're going to have to deal with it,” he said.

Since 2010, arrests for simple possession of marijuana have declined for all groups, but it’s still higher for African Americans. Back then there were 695 blacks, 73 whites and 46 Hispanics arrested; last year it was 336 blacks 29 whites and 13 Hispanics.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A federal indictment accuses a Johnston County attorney and others of growing marijuana for profit at houses in Orange County and concealing the profits.

The indictment said Joseph Lee Levinson, who runs a law office in Benson, received cash and drugs and used his law office to help the operation.

According to the indictment, Aubrey Manasseh Pruitt, Dustin Garrett Fisher and Jotham Walker Pruitt operated a marijuana “grow” business in Orange County from December 2005 to around December 2010. The indictment lists six different locations that were used to grow marijuana indoors.

The indictment said Fisher grew the marijuana in houses obtained by Levinson and Jotham Pruitt.

Hemp Inc (OTCMKTS:HEMP) recently made a parabolic move up after a bill that would make Industrial hemp legal in North Carolina was not vetoed by Governor Pat McCrory meaning it will now be passed into law. This was big news for HEMP which recently announced the purchase of a 70,000 square foot hemp processing plant and decortication line of equipment in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

HEMP has been trading on the bb’s and has been a great barometer of the pot sector in the past making several spectacular moves up both in early 2013 and again in 2014. Currently trading at the bottom of its range Investors are hoping for another breakout.

ASHEVILLE - Police arrested an Asheville man on charges of possessing five baggies of marijuana for sale.

Christopher Antwai Brewster, 27, of Walton Street was also charged with resisting a pubic officer by giving a false name when served with an arrest warrant for a probation violation, according to warrants filed in the Buncombe County Magistrate's Court.

Brewster was being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility with bond set at $15,000.

In other arrests:

Marijuana could soon be legal on the Cherokee Indian Reservation just three hours from Chattanooga.

Leaders of the tribe recently passed a resolution to allow a study on how marijuana could be used on the reservation.

Some of the tribal land is in our viewing area in Cherokee County, North Carolina.

The study will look into whether or not they could use marijuana for medical purposes, with a written prescription, or for sale, in dispensaries, like we've seen in Western states like Colorado.

Cherokee, North Carolina is it's own sovereign nation.

Although it sits between other towns and cities, when you cross into the reservation you're no longer living under North Carolina's laws.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is going to look into the possibility of legalizing cannabis for medical, industrial and recreational uses.  Tribal Council passed Resolution No. 40 unanimously during Annual Council on Thursday, Oct. 29 which calls for a feasibility study to be performed to look into the “issues and impacts associated with legalization of cannabis”.

The Resolution was submitted by three EBCI tribal members whom are part of a group known as Common Sense Cannabis including Joseph Owle, Aaron Hogner, and Yona Wade.

“Cannabis is a plant,” said Owle.  “As Cherokee people, we know that plants are medicine.”

Charlotte, NC - The non-profit "NORML" is calling on political candidates to take a stand in support of decriminalizing marijuana.

The group rallied on the corner of Trade and Tryon on Saturday asking candidates in the upcoming election to lead the state in supporting reform.

The lobbying organization is also gathering signatures to take to City Council, requesting local law enforcement agencies make marijuana arrests a low priority.