Nebraska Allows Medical Marijuana; Colorado Springs Likely To Ban Recreational Pot
After voters rejected ballot measures in three states, recreational cannabis advocates are shifting their focus to state legislatures and the federal government. Also, Jelly Roll weighs in on how a little weed keeps him sober.
USA Today:
Nebraska Voters Approve Legalization Of Medical Weed
Medical marijuana is now legal in the state of Nebraska, approved by voters on Tuesday. Two ballot measures dealing with medical marijuana were on the Nebraska ballot. Initiative Measure 437 establishes a new statute that will allow the use, possession and acquisition of up to 5 ounces of cannabis for medical purposes by a qualified patient with a written recommendation from a health care practitioner. The statue will also allow for a caregiver to assist a qualified patient with these activities. Initiative Measure 438 establishes a new statute that makes penalties inapplicable under state law for the possession, manufacture, distribution, delivery and dispensing of cannabis for medical purposes by registered private entities. The statute will also establish a Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to regulate such activities. (Cross, 11/6)
Gazette.com:
Recreational Marijuana Ban Likely In Colorado Springs Amid Split Vote
A charter ban on recreational marijuana establishments in Colorado Springs was likely to take precedence over a competing ballot question that would have approved retail cannabis sales in city limits, unofficial returns show Tuesday night. (Jent, 11/6)
AP:
Trio Of Ballot Failures Leads Marijuana Backers To Refocus Their Efforts For Recreational Weed
The movement to legalize recreational marijuana has run into a wall of resistance, failing in all three states where it was on the ballot this year and leading proponents to weigh a tactical shift focused more on state legislatures and the federal government. It’s “going to be a potentially tougher hill to climb going forward to enact legalization in the other 26 states,” Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana advocacy organization NORML, said Wednesday. (Lieb, 11/6)
Also —
The Washington Post:
They Smoke Pot, Drink Booze And Consider Themselves Sober
In January, country singer Jason DeFord, better known as Jelly Roll, testified before Congress about the dangers of fentanyl. “I have firsthand witnessed this in a way most people have not,” he said, referring to his past as a convicted drug dealer and addict and to the impact addiction has had on his family’s life. Today, Jelly Roll is sober. Sort of. Jelly Roll — who declined through a representative to participate in this story — abstains from cocaine and opiates, which wreaked havoc on his life and landed him in prison. But he smokes weed. “Marijuana has kept me sober,” he said in an interview with the website Taste of Country. (O'Neill, 11/6)
