I have never hidden the fact that I have a man crush on United States Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). He has served my home state proudly, and I have always been honored to tell people that he is from Oregon. He is not my Congressman, as I don’t live in his district, but I have always supported him and will continue to do so until he retires someday. He’s always been at the head of the pack leading the charge for federal reform since he’s been in Congress.

I recently received an e-mail from his office listing his top priorities for 2016. In addition to improving infrastructure and improving agriculture policy, Earl Blumenauer listed ‘Ending the Failed Federal Prohibition of Marijuana’ as one of his top three priorities for 2016. Below is what he had to say:

An 8-year-old Klamath Falls boy became ill last Saturday after eating a marijuana-infused cookie that he found on the ground.

The child's mother, Jessica Hart, 30, said her son, Jackson, came home from an afternoon outing at a local rock quarry complaining he was sick. He pulled at his chest and made motions that suggested he was choking. He had trouble keeping his eyes open.

"He said everything looked like a cartoon," Hart recalled Tuesday. "He said he was vibrating all over."

The second-grader said his stomach hurt. He vomited. Thinking he had food poisoning, Hart asked what he'd eaten that day.

A cookie, he said.

By Anthony Johnson

The Oregon House of Representatives passed a landmark marijuana banking bill, exempting banks and credit unions from any state liability for conducting financial services with state-regulated marijuana businesses. Ultimately, the cannabis industry needs a federal fix to the banking issue, but the state of Oregon is showing real leadership by moving this important bill. House Bill 4094 passed the bill 56-3 with just 3 Republicans voting against the bill and one Democrat absent. The bill now moves to the Senate.

It is common sense to allow state-regulated marijuana businesses to have access to banking services.

Legal weed sales numbers keep getting higher and higher.  According to market research group ArcView’s recent reports sales increased to $5.4 billion for 2015 compared to 2014’s $4.6 billion. ArcView’s reports also say U.S. adult-use legal sales grew to $998 million from $351 million in sales in 2014. ArcView projects legal weed sales to top over $20 billion by 2020, which may or may not find us with Kanye for president. (Everyone already knows how he feels about rolling one up.) Late last month Facebook banned gun sales on its site and on Instagram. It’s now going after marijuana dispensaries Facebook pages. 

A proposal that would allow recreational marijuana stores to sell tax-free medical marijuana to patients sailed through a joint legislative committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 1511 now heads to the Senate for a vote. The bill would allow businesses with recreational licenses to produce, process and sell medical marijuana products. 

The proposed legislation is one of several marijuana-related bills moving through the Legislature during its 35-day session.

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has sparked a new political controversy in an already super-charged election year, regarding who will fill his place on the U.S. Supreme Court and in what timeframe. Scalia’s death has also raises new questions about the federal government and its current prohibitions on marijuana.

Next week is setting up to be an action-packed showdown for some would-be progressive marijuana legislation in the Beaver State. With the bizarre standoff at the National Wildlife Refuge finally resolved, Oregon’s power brokers will be turning their attention to some slightly more lucrative matters – like overhauling Oregon’s current marijuana laws.

Even though legal sales of recreational marijuana have been happening in Oregon since October of last year, things still aren’t quite finished being settled as far as regulations go. Currently, recreational marijuana is being sold by medical dispensaries – but by the end of the year, the industry will be turned over to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

In the next 35 days, a number of different policies will be considered for approval by the Senate Committee. The first one to be addressed and passed was a law that previously required those entering the Oregon cannabis industry to have been a legal resident of the state for at least 2 years prior to application.

Marijuana dispensaries in Oregon say Facebook has locked or removed their business pages in recent weeks, saying drug-related images and posts violated the site's rules.

It's not the first time marijuana dispensaries have encountered problems with social media. Last year, Instagram began shutting down cannabis-related business accounts.

Matt Price, owner of a chain of marijuana dispensaries called Cannabliss, said his business is on its fifth Instagram account. Each time Instagram shuttered his account – wiping out thousands of followers -- he opened a new one.

"You pick yourself up and dust yourself off and start all over again," said Price, whose company's Facebook page was suddenly removed last week.

Federal agents searched the homes of True North’s owners after its facility was shut down in December.

For more than a year, the Portland company True North Extracts has sold a marijuana product it says is pure, safe and legal.

True North manufactures and sells CO2 oil—a marijuana concentrate made by stripping compounds like THC from the plant using compressed carbon dioxide. Users inhale the gooey, amber oil through vaporizer pens.

True North sells its vape-pen cartridges at medical marijuana dispensaries, advertising its product as free from the chemical solvents in some cannabis oils.