SEATTLE — The federal government is chipping in money for a three-year pilot study using sewage samples to determine levels of marijuana use in two Washington cities — research that could help answer some key questions about pot legalization, according to the University of Puget Sound,

The school said Monday that the National Institutes of Health is chipping in $120,000 so Dan Burgard, an associate chemistry professor, can conduct a three-year study that will look at how per-capita pot use changed after Washington's first legal pot shops opened last July.

The research, based on methods first developed by scientists in Italy in 2005, involves analyzing wastewater samples for levels of metabolites produced when the body processes drugs.

The golf crowd is not one usually associated with progressive marijuana policy, and yet as the U.S. Open begins this morning in Tacoma, Washington, the tournament will allow spectators to bring marijuana to the course.

When people head onto the grass of the Chambers Bay course from June 18 to 21, volunteers will be checking the attendees’ bags and confiscating items including weapons and water bottles, but not taking anyone’s personal supply of a different sort of grass, event organizers told SB Nation.

You can bring marijuana into this year's U.S. Open

WASHINGTON: So you want to be a canna star.  420MEDIA, a Seattle-based video and entertainment company, is casting for talented, ambitious, and entertaining actors and hosts who are passionate about cannabis for a series and commercials that will premier on its new online cannabis TV network, “Hmm Did You Know.” 

DENVER – Marijuana entrepreneurs rushing into the booming market are running headlong into a patchwork of state-by-state regulations that make it hard to transfer their expertise, brands and staff— and even their profits.

Because the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana have developed widely divergent rules governing their semi-legal marketplaces.

In Colorado, for instance, retailers until recently had been required to grow the majority of the marijuana they sell to customers. But Washington state bans retailers from growing their own cannabis, forcing them to buy from state-licensed farms.

A group of lawyers have launched the National Cannabis Bar Association to help clients navigate the conflicting maze of local, state and federal laws that govern cannabis businesses.

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America, behind alcohol and tobacco. It is estimated that nearly 100 million Americans use it.

Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., recently have legalized marijuana’s recreational use and distribution. Many employers in Iowa are wondering how this trend will affect their workplace.

But frankly, unless federal and state laws are changed, the answer is not at all.

Remember, marijuana still is illegal under federal law (the Controlled Substances Act) and Iowa law. In fact, even in those states that legalized marijuana years ago (Colorado and Washington), many employers continue to drug test for marijuana in the workplace.

A Vancouver, B.C., company has bought a business center at 2010 Grandview Road for $1.2 million and plans to lease space to licensed marijuana growers and processors.

Chlormet Technologies bought the 9.7-acre parcel in Ferndale through its Washington state subsidiary PacCan Industries, according to a company news release.

The seller was Excelsior Mortgage Equity Fund of Lake Oswego, Ore.

The property is zoned general business.

Washington State University researchers are working to develop a roadside test that would detect marijuana in a person’s breath.

Studies began last month on a prototype that tests breath for THC, the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.

Public interest in the research is high, though “we have a long way to go before we have a dependable test for THC,” said Herbert Hill, a WSU chemistry professor, who spoke at a medicinal plants conference last week in Spokane.

Law enforcement officials want a quick, reliable method to test for THC in drivers who fail voluntary …

You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access.

A Redding-based contractor and out-of-state property owner have been fined nearly $300,000 for grading activities associated with marijuana cultivation that resulted in harm to surface waters in the Ono area of Shasta County, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board announced Friday.

The state agency imposed $297,400 in penalties against property owner Christopher Cordes, of Pensacola, Florida, and contractor Eddie Axner Construction Inc.

The case is the first penalty action taken by a multi-agency Cannabis Pilot Project formed to address the adverse environmental impacts caused by marijuana cultivation.  The state and Regional Water Boards and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife teamed up on the task force.