Clinton, Skowhegan and Winslow take steps to enact restrictions on retail marijuana establishments in the wake of the Nov. 8 vote to legalize.

Town officials in Clinton, Skowhegan and Winslow took steps to enact restrictions on retail marijuana establishments this week, joining about two dozen other communities acting in the wake of the Nov. 8 vote to legalize marijuana.

In Clinton, the board of selectman voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass an emergency moratorium on retail marijuana establishments. The moratorium will stand for 60 days unless extended or repealed by selectmen, and it allows the planning board time to prepare changes to the land-use ordinance. Residents will have the opportunity to vote on the measure at the Town Meeting in June.

Even though recreational marijuana has been legal in Massachusetts since Dec. 15, the move by legislators at the end of the year to delay the opening of pot retail stores – coupled with two moves on the federal level – has left the marijuana business industry concerned the long wait will add up to the drug being made illegal again.

"They [cannabis industry] are paranoid, so they react to headlines," said Jeffrey Friedland, international marijuana expert, author and blogger.

Mass. lawmakers on Dec. 28 announced a six-month delay on retail sales of recreational cannabis, saying they required more time to work on the legalization measure. Votes by the House and Senate moved licensing of marijuana shops from Jan. 1, 2018, to July 1 of the same year.

Imagine a group of young professionals enjoying a dinner party. It’s time for dessert and everyone moves from the dinner table to the living room. A digestif is served alongside a handful of luxury chocolates that have a slightly sweet taste and a low-dose of THC that kicks in within 15 minutes, just as the coffee is ready from the kitchen.

A bill expanding the use of medical marijuana has just been introduced in South Carolina, and on Tuesday supporters talked about why they are behind what's being called the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act.

In 2014, South Carolina lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill allowing cannabis oil for medical use, but lawmakers didn't realize interstate commerce laws wouldn't let people bring it into the state.  Use was very limited, and many turned to black market suppliers to find the product.  

Leslie Jurado, of Rock Hill, has found the 2014 law frustrating, to say the least. Her daughter, Isabel, 14, suffers from a rare genetic condition, called Sanfilippo syndrome, which strikes one in 70,000  people.  

Call it the Diaz Rule.

The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) will discuss Friday on whether or not to remove marijuana from its banned substance list, per the meeting agenda released on its website. Currently, cannabis and its metabolites are prohibited under NAC rules in competition over a threshold of 150 ng/ml.

The nation’s fast-growing marijuana industry remains cautiously optimistic but uncertain about how the Trump administration will handle cannabis enforcement across the country.

Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, testifying at the start of his confirmation hearings on Tuesday, pointed out that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, but that the federal government has limited enforcement resources. Eight states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — have legalized recreational marijuana, as has the District of Columbia. And 29 states permit some form of medical marijuana use.

Keep track of what works for you!

Tick Segerblom told us the story of his own strain, smoking weed on the White House roof, and more.

By now, Tick Segerblom has attended a lot of conferences where careful politicians frame their support for recreational marijuana use with a boilerplate disclaimer.

I've never smoked marijuana, but… 

Segerblom is different. A state senator who hails from downtown Las Vegas, he is the rare politician who will say, "I have smoked marijuana, and I loved it." That helps explain why he's also the rare politician—at least in the United States—who has a pot strain named after him: Segerblom Haze.

The DEA pointed to the tobacco model as a success. But tobacco is legal.

The Drug Enforcement Administration heads the nation’s drug war. As part of that, it’s done a lot to push messaging that marijuana is dangerous — at times struggling to admit that pot isn’t as dangerous as heroin.

On Tuesday, the DEA’s Twitter account put out a chart making the case for why this kind of messaging is, in its view, necessary:

Backers of marijuana legalization on Monday stepped up their pressure on the U.S. Senate to block the confirmation of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general.

Sessions, a staunch opponent of legalization, angered proponents in April when he called pot “dangerous” and said that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

Marijuana backers want the issue aired Tuesday when the Senate Judiciary Committee begins Sessions’ confirmation hearing.