A PETITION urging the legislative delegation of Rota to legalize marijuana for the “economic benefit” of the island has been circulating since last year, Variety learned.

The petition has been signed by more than 300 residents, students and parents since it was launched in June 2014.

The signatories are urging the island’s lawmakers to enact local legislation legalizing the growing, selling and smoking of marijuana (cannabis) for leisure and for medicinal purposes on Rota.

According to the petition, Rota is the most economically depressed island in the commonwealth.

There is “a large number of educated and productive members of the community leaving Rota to seek employment abroad.”

A high percentage of Uruguayan cannabis users are reluctant to enroll in the official registry compulsory by law for regulating the cultivation and sale of marijuana in the country, as reflected in an academic study presented today in Montevideo . The report by the Catholic University of Uruguay and the International University of Florida, US, shows the results of a survey which found that 19% of consumers stated that "no insurance" would be recorded, while 20 % said "probably not" .

In contrast, 31% said "yes safe" was recorded, 27% said "probably yes", 1% had already registered and 2% said "not knowing" what they will do.

Buy Photo

Sun Grow employee Diego Cambron shows some of the product that is available at the dispensary.(Photo: J. Omar Ornelas/ The Desert Sun)Buy Photo

On a recent Thursday morning, a crowd gathered in the parking lot of a Desert Hot Springs gas station to welcome the latest new business to the struggling city.

Mayor Adam Sanchez stood in front of the shop's refurbished storefront and cut the ribbon with giant scissors — just as he would for a restaurant, tire store or hair salon — before talking about how perfectly Sun Grow would fit into Desert Hot Springs' healthy "spa city" image.

Sun Grow is the first permitted medical marijuana dispensary to open in Riverside County, outside of Palm Springs.

COLUMBIA — Candidates for three seats on the Columbia City Council in the April 7 election responded in writing to 10 Missourian questions about city government issues. Here is the question the Missourian asked about the city's marijuana ordinances. Responses appear in the order the candidates will appear on the ballot.

Do you believe the city of Columbia should amend its ordinances regarding the cultivation and/or possession of marijuana? If so, how?

FIRST WARD CANDIDATES

Washington and Oregon on Friday joined Colorado in defending its recreational marijuana law against a suit brought by two of its neighboring states.

In a filing, Colorado asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit — filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma — arguing that it makes a “dangerous use” of legal argument that would leave marijuana legalization in place but largely strip the state of its power to regulate the new industry.

WASILLA -- The “Smoothie Lady” can celebrate: Some of Alaska’s strictest municipal regulations on marijuana got rolled back Monday night in light of concerns that they could violate state law.

The Wasilla City Council voted 4-2 to remove a local prohibition on cooking marijuana edibles -- which includes everything from cannabis butter to brownies to smoothies -- in a home kitchen within city limits.

The council also removed a 2-ounce limit on the amount of pot that can legally be carried in one vehicle, a prohibition more rigorous than the 1-ounce per person, six-plant limit in state law.

A man whose tomato plants “miraculously converted themselves” into cannabis plants has been given an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, on condition he grows no more illegal drugs.

Father of five Daniel Johnson (34), of Garryglass, Cahersiveen, pleaded guilty at the February sitting of Cahersiveen District Court to two counts – of unlawfully cultivating cannabis and unlawfully possessing cannabis on September 18th, 2013.

There will be branded bongs and stores, too, as Willie gets out ahead of big industry in states where pot is legal.

Willie Nelson takes a hit of the cigarette-sized vaporizer in his gnarled hand, exhaling a small cloud, before placing it on the foldout table in front of us. We’re seated in the cool enclave of his tour bus, at the entrance to his sprawling property just outside Austin, Texas, which he has dubbed the town of Luck. Up a hill and around a corner, people are rocking out at Willie’s own Heartbreaker Banquet, an annual fundraiser/music festival held concurrently with SXSW.

The fact that drug arrests in Colorado have dropped since the state began legalizing the recreational use of marijuana with the passing of Amendment 64 is not surprising. However, new data released by the Drug Policy Alliance reveals just how significant the state’s drug policy has unburdened Colorado’s courts and shaped the local criminal justice system.