Tom Burns, director of marijuana programs for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, was fired Thursday.

Burns, who oversaw the implementation of the state's medical marijuana dispensary program and has been instrumental in launching efforts to establish a recreational market, confirmed his termination in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive Thursday afternoon.

He declined to comment further, referring questions to Steven Marks, the OLCC's executive director. Marks could not be reached immediately for comment. The liquor control commission's chairman, Rob Patridge, declined to comment on Burns' firing, calling it a "personnel matter."

Will Higlin, the agency's director of licensing, will assume the job's duties until a permanent replacement is named.

All scientific evidence leads to the conclusion that cannabis is safer than tobacco.

By Paul Armentano

Luke Goodman, 22, shot and killed himself after eating a large amount of pot edibles, authorities say. (Courtesy of Kim Goodman)

The last time Kim Goodman saw her son alive, it was at a bus stop in central Colorado, and he flashed that toothy smile that she so loved about him.

The Oklahoma family was on a vacation in the Rockies. Her son, Luke, was about to make off on his own to go snowboarding with some of his cousins. She recalls a contented feeling as she saw him leave. They had just hada really long talk the night before, and he looked so full of life — tan, fit, fresh out of Oral Roberts University. Ready for anything.

When I do a little research into job ads and their pre-employment drug screening policies, it actually blows my mind a bit. I don’t think any job should require drug screenings. I’m a strong supporter of personal freedoms so long as they don’t cause harm.

For my personal experience, I have only had to deal with one pre-hiring drug screening, and I opted out of the job before I ever even had to do it. A few years back I was unexpectedly furloughed from my job at a university for three months and needed to find something on the fly to bring in a little money. I was a chef for about 15 years and always know I can get a job slinging food when I need to.

Researchers and medical cannabis patients met at the Prague Medical Cannabis Conference to discuss the latest developments in the field. On the sidelines, Drugreporter's guest author Iga Jeziorska interviewed two activists who were involved with the recent founding of the International Medical Cannabis Patients' Coalition.

Physicians from various countries and specialisations, pharmacists, activists and patients, met between March 4th and 7th at the international Medical Cannabis Conference in Prague. The discussion and presentation topics were mostly highly specialised in particular branches of medicine, including cancer, tumours, dermatology, and psychiatric disorders, such as PTSD or psychosis.

In the blink of an eye, global debates about cannabis regulation have shifted from “whether” to “how.” In 2014, Uruguay became the first nation to explicitly regulate cannabis from seed to sale. Its preferred strategy? State-regulated production, cannabis clubs, and personal growing. Meanwhile, four U.S. states and the District of Columbia have moved ahead with legal regulation, Colorado and Washington being the first, and the federal government seems unlikely to intervene. More states, possibly even California, look set to follow. Likewise, in the rest of the world, there are a number of gray-area regulatory systems, including in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. All offer insights into how the United States—and other countries—might tackle the “how.”

THE AMERICAN MODEL

A Louisiana lawmaker wants voters to decide whether the personal use of marijuana should be legal in their state, and he thinks their collective response could be a resounding yes. Rep. Dalton Honore, a Democrat representing Baton Rouge, filed a bill in the House last week that would legalize recreational pot use in Louisiana for adults 21 or older, according to KATC TV-3. It would also set up a system for cannabis to be grown, dispensed and taxed. The measure would go on the ballot next year.

"If I can get it to the people, it will pass with flying colors,” Honore told the Times-Picayune. 

AUSTIN -- Medical marijuana advocates are stepping up the pressure on lawmakers this week.

The 84th Texas Legislature has seen an unprecedented number of marijuana-related bills, leading advocates for medical marijuana to draw distinctions between bills that would support medicinal use versus those that would affect recreational use. For that purpose, dozens of patients and medical marijuana advocates gathered at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday to highlight their cause.

The stock is a daytrade superstar, but also consistently moving up in price as speculators who see the potential for a big payday when the American listing hits (reportedly within four weeks) load up, and long holders who feel the edibles market is a big undeveloped MMJ play join in.
 
Nutritional High, right now anyway, is the perfect storm.
 
Will it deliver big revenues in two years? Don’t know. And, frankly, right now I don’t care. What I care about a lot is, is the thing likely to be higher tomorrow than it is today? And will it ramp up for the next month while it’s still a private Canadian investor club?
 

Raleigh, N.C. — Joseph Malinowski told the House Judiciary I Committee on Wednesday that he doesn't want to be a lawbreaker, but neither does he want to suffer with the aftermath of cancer or the symptoms of multiple sclerosis when medical marijuana can ease the pain.

"I spent 21 days in Harnett County jail, first time in my life I've ever been in any kind of trouble," Malinowski said. "But this helps me. I think it could help a lot more people."

Despite pleas from a number of people who testified that medical cannabis has helped treat either themselves or loved ones, the committee rejected legislation that would have legalized marijuana use for certain patients.