Liberal candidate Bill Blair may now be in favour of legalizing marijuana but the national chief’s organization he often boasts having led is certainly not.

“Our position has not changed,” Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) spokesman Tim Smith said Monday.

No longer Toronto’s chief of police, and now a federal Liberal nomination hopeful, Blair’s position is clearly different than his chief of police brethren.

WASHINGTON -- Multiple members of Congress suggested Wednesday that the misguided policies of the drug war have played a central role in brewing tensions between police and residents in Baltimore that exploded into chaos after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.

At a press conference for a new bill that would ensure legal marijuana businesses have access to the banking system, the lawmakers advocated for changes to the nation's drug policies. Reforms would start to address the racial disparities in law enforcement and mass incarceration that the decades-long war on drugs has produced in the U.S., they said.

SAN JUAN – The Jamaican government has named 16 people to constitute the Cannabis Licensing Authority, which will be in charge of approving licenses to cultivate marijuana for medicinal, research or religious purposes.

The Cabinet has approved the appointees, who were selected in a process involving government ministers, academics, faith communities and civil society groups, media outlets reported Tuesday.

Jamaica’s recently revised drug law, which decriminalizes marijuana for specific purposes, includes a provision for the creation of the CLA.

Early this month, the first two licenses for cannabis cultivation were issued to the University of Technology and the University of the West Indies.

Pro marijuana advocates in Maine are expected to start collecting signatures to get recreational pot on the ballot in 2016 following approval Tuesday of a petition by the Secretary of State's office, the Associated Press reported. Legalize Maine submitted its proposal 10 weeks ago, and hoped to put through the petition pushed without help from outside marijuana groups.  

It may not be obvious to many why the most ardent and pragmatic advocacy groups are so happy to shun the majority of the cannabis community, but it serves an important function within the community. 

Leader of CLEAR UK, Peter Reynolds was recently published in the Independent openly shunning members of the cannabis community for attending the 4/20 rally in Hyde Park with a piece entitled If you really want to legalise cannabis, then why on earth would you go and get high in a park?

Two months from now, on July 1, Oregon will become the fourth state to allow residents to legally purchase marijuana for recreational use. In anticipation of legalization, the governing body that will oversee marijuana licensing and sales is preparing for something unexpected: A huge influx of cold, hard cash.

Legal marijuana in states like Colorado and Washington have surpassed revenue expectations in their first few years. But when marijuana businesses try to pay their taxes, the federal law that makes marijuana illegal limits their access to financial institutions.

The clock for Florida is finally running down, and unless a miracle happens by Friday, it looks like the voters will get the last say on the issue of medical marijuana. With only a handful of days left in the legislative session, there is little hope of any marijuana bill passing the legislature; although, Republican Sen. Rob Bradley still remains hopeful.

“I promised those families that I would fight to the end, and we still have a few days left in session,” Bradley told the Tampa Bay Times. “I’m going to continue to try to find any avenue to make sure we deliver on that promise we made to them last year.”

Texans suffering from chronic pain, seizures and other debilitating disorders will ask lawmakers Tuesday to support legislation that would allow them to use marijuana to treat their symptoms.

A proposal by Rep. Marisa Márquez, D-El Paso, would legalize marijuana for medical use and set up a licensing system for growers and dispensaries.

Chair of the House Public Health Committee Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, put medical marijuana-related bills on Tuesday’s schedule the day after veterans came to the Capitol topublicly ask her to give the proposals a hearing.

THE South Australian opposition has called on the state to join the national research effort on medicinal cannabis.

OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall said SA was the only state not engaged with the clinical trials being conducted in NSW.

The trials are looking at providing medical cannabis to children with severe, drug-resistant epilepsy, adults with a terminal illness and adults with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

"The tardiness of the government in joining this national effort to improve the lives of people suffering a range of severe afflictions is disappointing," Mr Marshall said on Tuesday.

JEFFERSON CITY 

It took a little while for Missouri Rep. Shawn Rhoads’ colleagues to wrap their heads around the idea of taxing marijuana and other illegal drugs.

“A drug dealer is supposed to show up and buy a tax stamp for his drugs?”Bill Lant, a Republican from southwest Missouri, asked during a committee hearing on the bill.

Most of the hearing went pretty much like that.

“They needed a little time to let the idea sink in,” said Rhoads, a south-central Missouri Republican. “About 15 minutes after the meeting, I had someone grab me and say, ‘I get it now.’”