Like the industry itself, employment and investment in cannabis businesses are rising. Yet, it remains true that special risks apply to cannabis enterprises beyond what is seen with “conventional” businesses.

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) – A prosecutor in southeastern Washington has charged three teens with felonies for marijuana possession, saying a new law demands the higher level of offense.

The Lewiston Tribune in Idaho reports the teens ages 14, 15 and 17 have been charged in nearby Asotin County with felonies that could net them up to five years in prison. The offense was previously a misdemeanor with a maximum 90-day jail sentence.

Asotin County Prosecutor Ben Nichols said Senate Bill 5052, which the Legislature passed and Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law this year, contains the new language.

“If you are a minor, a person under 21, it’s a felony no matter what,” Nichols said.

The Suquamish Tribe and the State of Washington recently signed and entered into the nation’s first marijuana compact to allow a Native American Tribe to cultivate, process, and sell marijuana within a state’s highly regulated marijuana system.  I previously blogged about how Washington was the first state to adopt a compacting system for tribes and regulated marijuana, but this signed compact reveals more about what tribes can expect when they “partner” with Washington State on cannabis.

An Internal Revenue Service agent was arrested Monday morning after being charged with accepting a bribe from a Seattle pot shop owner.

Seattle man Paul G. Hurley, 42, faces a federal charge of soliciting and agreeing to receive a bribe by a public official and two counts of receiving a bribe by a public official. He has been charged in U.S. District Court at Seattle.

Prosecutors say Hurley demanded $20,000 from the marijuana shop owner in exchange for granting him lenience in an audit, despite the business owner never requesting a break.

After the bribe proposition, the pot shop owner reported Hurley to federal authorities, who supervised the subsequent handover of money, according to charging papers.

On marijuana, the new head of the Drug Enforcement Agency said, “If we come up with a medical use for it, that would be wonderful. But we haven't.”

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made headlines last month by admitting that marijuana is less harmful than heroin, but in a new interview he says that cannabis should not be rescheduled.

WASHINGTON — Despite ample evidence pointing to the therapeutic, non-addictive qualities of marijuana, the new head of the Drug Enforcement Agency wants to keep it legally classified alongside heroin and other highly addictive substances.

Seattle- Legalizing marijuana in the state of Washington has eliminated wasted police time and effort pursuing non-violent drug cases and led the community to instead look at it as a health issue, according to backers of drug reform laws in Seattle. The movement has allowed the opening of hundreds of retail shops selling pot. John Davis, owner of the Northwest Patient Resource Center, a medical marijuana shop, has been a long-time advocate for pot use to help people deal with a variety of ailments. 

U.S. Cannabis Benchmark Spot Index down 9% to $1,948 as harvest begins. The national price decreased by $185 per pound week-on-week, after reaching $2,133 last week, in what currently appears to have been the seasonal peak.

The fall harvest season has begun. Depending on local climate and the strains being grown, outdoor growers will generally harvest from mid-September to mid-November. Kushes and other indica-dominant strains are ready for harvest earlier, while sativa-dominant varieties require more time to mature if they are to be considered high-quality and exhibit fully the characteristics desired by consumers.

× New side-effect of Washington’s marijuana law: Youth possession now a felony

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A prosecutor in southeastern Washington has charged three teens with felonies for marijuana possession, saying a new law demands the higher level of offense.

The Lewiston Tribune in Idaho reports (http://goo.gl/g8Xhpl) three teens ages 14, 15 and 17 have been charged in nearby Asotin County, Wash., with felonies that could net them up to five years in prison.

The offense was previously a misdemeanor with a maximum 90-day jail sentence.

Asotin County prosecutor Ben Nichols says Senate Bill 5052 contains the new language.

Two years ago, brothers Adam and Ramsey Hamide, both in their thirties, were self-employed online ticket brokers. Today they run Main Street Marijuana, the largest grossing marijuana retail store in the state of Washington, ringing up $3 million in sales last month. The store is located in Vancouver, near Washington’s border with Oregon and only 15 minutes from downtown Portland, so a large portion of the store’s customers come from Oregon where there have been no legal recreational marijuana sales.

Usually the questions directed to you are about legal problems such as smoking laws and homeowners associations, and the association usually wins.

But what will be the outcome on legal marijuana? Pot stinks just a badly as cigarettes. If it’s grown on private property it still stinks up the whole block. Why do you think the dogs can spot marijuana growth from miles away?

Pot smoke causes allergies to flare up and causes breathing spasms in COPD patients, even if the smoke from marijuana isn’t anywhere near them. The stink and the oily smoke can penetrate common walls.