A Sydney medical marijuana activist has been arrested after blazing up on the steps of Town Hall.

Jesse Willesee, the son of veteran TV journalist Terry Willesee and nephew of Mike Willesee, announced his plans to take part in the pro-pot protest known as 420 Day by posting a photo of himself smoking a joint outside the Opera House on Instagram to more than 6600 followers.

"I'm willing to stand up for what I believe in and if that means the police turn up, that is something I will have to regretfully but peacefully accept," the 27-year-old self-styled conceptual artist told ninemsn, adding that Australia is stuck in the dark ages on the issue.

The Garden City Police Department had cannabis oil activist Shona Banda’s Facebook account shutdown because she was using her social media network to raise money for her legal defense after the police raided her home and took her 11 year-old son into custody, all because he vocally disagreed with anti-cannabis propaganda that his school counselors were teaching in his classroom.

The GoFundMe account Shona is using to raise money was actually set up at her request, by Wichita activist Jennifer Winn and Kansas Exposed editor Mike Shatz.

Click here to donate to Shona’s legal defense:

Ben Swann has the original story:

One of California’s largest marijuana-related apps is donating $2 million toward the drive to legalize weed in the state — a move that not only would vastly expand its customer base but also foreshadows an expected increase in political activity from the cannabis industry.

As Legislature prepares to pass the baton on marijuana

Speaking in a conference room within the Alaska State Capitol, James Barrett reached into a pocket and pulled out two $1 bills.

Waving them, he drew the attention of lawmakers who leaned back in their leather chairs and listened to him with new attention.

“When we dial it down to cost per Alaskan, it’s less than two bucks,” he said waving the bills.

Barrett was speaking in favor of the establishment of the Alaska Marijuana Control Board on Friday, and after he spoke, it sailed through the Alaska Senate Finance Committee. A day later, it passed the full Senate with unanimous approval.

Bill Maher announced a petition on his show to make 4/20 a national holiday.  And to make it sound like another classic national holiday, Maher read from a book titled, ‘Twas the Night Before 4/20.

Share this page, then sign Bill's petition here:  Change.org.   Let the world know we want a 420 Holiday.

Two pieces of marijuana legislation were heard on the Senate floor Saturday afternoon. A Marijuana Control Board bill moved forward, while a bill clarifying municipal regulations of marijuana was held for reconsideration in the final days of Alaska’s legislative session.

House Bill 123, which would create a Marijuana Control Board, passed unanimously on the Senate floor, 20-0.

Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, said before the vote that the bill was “a responsible step … to respond to the voter initiative.”

Related: 

The Medical Cannabis Act is on the State Government Committee's April 21 calendar

State Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, shakes hands with marijuana activists on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg during a September 2014 medical marijuana rally. Folmer's Medical Cannabis Act, or Senate Bill 3, was introduced in the Senate in January. (Mark Walters - York Daily Record/Sunday News)

A bill that would legalize some form of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania will be considered by the Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday, according to the committee's calendar.

JUSTICE MINISTER Senator Mark Golding says the Government is aiming to create an inclusive framework for the operation of the medical marijuana industry.

He said the system would be designed in a way to allow for small farmers to operate within a lawful industry.

"We don't want a design which is going to be prohibitive in terms of its requirements that would exclude especially small farmers from participating. That is where we think that there (will) be tremendous economic benefits," he said.

The justice minister was addressing the Rotary Club of Kingston's luncheon held on Thursday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

A new group wants to reclaim what it means to be a “real” conservative by launching a Canadian campaign supporting marijuana legalization.

The first step is playing with Conservative party semiotics, first by giving its logo two green swipes and inserting a new marijuana leaf right in the heart of its “C”.

It’s a symbolic move that generated some buzz in Ottawa on Friday.

“Real Conservatives support legal marijuana,” former MP Inky Mark said in a news release on behalf of a newly-minted group called Canadian Conservatives for Legal Marijuana.

“Stephen Harper has lost his way with his big government campaign against marijuana users,” he said. Mark added “real Conservatives” are ones who stand for values including small government and lower taxes.

Should Ohio make marijuana legal, for recreational as well as medical use? In principle, I’m inclined to believe it should, although I don’t — and won’t — indulge.

Is a proposal that is likely to appear on the statewide ballot this November, after years of other plans that failed to qualify, the best way to prepare Ohio to become the fifth state to legalize marijuana fully? That’s a different question, and one that Ohioans will need to examine carefully before we vote. We’ve got plenty of time to decide.