CALCASIEU PARISH, LA (KPLC) -

 If you think there are too many in jail or prison for possession of marijuana, you'll likely support the new law signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The lower penalties take effect immediately. Someone caught with less than 14 grams of marijuana will face up to 15 days in jail and up to six months if caught with less than 2 1/2 pounds. The maximum penalty drops from 20 years in prison to eight years.

The law mostly affects those who are arrested in the future -- as it reduces fines and sentences and whether incarceration may involve time in jail or prison.

It won't automatically reduce sentences for those already in jail or prison.

However, local defense attorney Walt Sanchez said it may help them get an earlier release.

Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law a measure that reforms several elements of Washington state’s recreational marijuana law.

The bill signed Tuesday eliminates the current three-tier tax structure and replaces it with a single excise tax of 37 percent at the point of sale.

To encourage more cities and counties to allow marijuana businesses, the bill directs the state to share pot revenue only with jurisdictions that do so. It would also allow them to adopt more flexible zoning for where pot grows and stores can be located.

The passage of Initiative 502 in 2012 allowed the sale of marijuana to adults for recreational use at licensed stores, which started opening last year.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) signed a law to provide access to medical marijuana on Monday, nearly a quarter-century after his state had legalized cannabis use by chronically ill people.

Though Louisiana signed off on medical marijuana in 1991, it has remained unavailable because the state legislature didn't create a system to legally grow and distribute the drug. The new law fills that significant gap.

Louisiana becomes the first Southern state to make marijuana available to its residents for medical use. It joins 23 other states and the District of Columbia where medical marijuana is already legal and accessible.

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul courted donors from the new marijuana industry Tuesday, making the Kentucky senator the first major-party presidential candidate to publicly seek support from the legal weed business.

Paul's fundraiser at the Cannabis Business Summit - tickets started at $2,700, the maximum donation allowed for the primary contest - came as the marijuana industry approached its first presidential campaign as a legal enterprise.

The candidate entered the closed-door fundraiser through a private hallway, instead of visiting the convention floor or meeting pot business owners who weren't donating to him. In public remarks after the fundraiser, Paul didn't mention marijuana and didn't take questions from most reporters.

Organizers of the annual Canada Day marijuana protest are facing a frosty reception from authorities this year after refusing a last-minute request from the city to move their hazy party from downtown Vancouver.

Every year on July 1, marijuana activists hold a protest event on the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery. In a letter dated June 9, deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston asked the Cannabis Culture organization, run by pot activist Marc Emery, to cease and desist from advertising the event. Mr. Johnston’s letter said it could only go ahead if the proper permits were secured.

On the third Thursday of each month, veteran medical marijuana growers and hopeful newbies gather in the old Williams Grange hall in a small rural Oregon valley long known for growing some of the best cannabis on the planet.

Since voters last fall made the state the fourth to make recreational marijuana legal, people have been flocking to the hall to get the latest update on lawmakers' progress on crafting rules for the new industry.

The entrepreneurs also share tips on how to produce happy and healthy marijuana plants.

Cannabis activists in Canada are undergoing some setbacks after being notified that construction at an art gallery would prevent the annual celebration of cannabis culture from taking place this year.

Wednesday marks the dawn of a new era in the Northwest recreational marijuana market. While possession becomes legal in Oregon for adults 21 and older that day, a bill ushering in a number of sweeping changes to Washington's recreational marijuana system also will become law.

Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign the measure, House Bill 2136, this afternoon, Inslee spokesman David Postman said. Whether Inslee will strike any parts of the bill isn't clear.

"We don't give advance word on vetoes," Postman said in an email to The Columbian, "but I can tell you the administration supported that bill."

INDIANAPOLIS — The First Church of Cannabis won’t have cannabis for its inaugural service Wednesday, church founder Bill Levin said on his Facebook page.

Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry and IMPD chief Rick Hite had a news conference Friday (June 26) to warn about arrests if people had marijuana. After that news conference, Levin said it changed nothing about his plans.

On Monday afternoon, though, it did change.

“Right now, we do not want to address this in criminal court, because it’s not a strong hand,” Levin said in an interview with The Indianapolis Star. “If we address this in civil court, we have a stronger hand.”