Some (incomplete) year-in-review highlights from Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform

It seems fair to call 2014 the most interesting and dynamic year in modern history for reform and debate over marijuana laws and policies.  It would be impossible to completely summarize the “year in pot” in one post, but linking here to some seasonal highlights from Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform perhaps provides at least a flavor of what has transpired on the cannabis front:

Winter 2014:

• Can President Obama single-handedly legalize marijuana?
• More politicians backing marijuana reform
• “Super Bowl Attracts a Marijuana Message”
• Could marijuana reforms end up making our roadways much safer?
• Federal government issues new guidance to financial industry on how it should deal with the marijuana industry
• Banks suggest recent federal banking guidance changes nothing (and they’re probably right)
• Attention 2016 Prez candidates: new poll says 87% in Ohio support use of medical marijuana
• Which poses the bigger threat: Big Marijuana or Little Marijuana?

 Spring 2014:

• New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association endorses marijuana legalization
• Holder is “cautiously optimistic” about legalization in Colorado and Washington
• How might (rare?) tragedies linked to legal marijuana use impact reform developments?
• Justice Stevens says marijuana should be legal
• “Legalizing marijuana has been good for Colorado, voters in the state say 52 – 38 percent”
• Minnesota about to become 22nd state to legalize medical marijuana
• “Why Republicans are slowly embracing marijuana”
• New York pols work out deal to legalize only smoke-free medical marijuana

Summer 2014:

• Bill Clinton on medical marijuana: “I think we should leave it to the states”
• Former Florida Gov Jeb Bush conflicted about states’ rights and federal pot prohibition
• “White House Says Marijuana Policy Is States’ Rights Issue”
• Marijuana legalization campaigns for 2016 in Arizona and California start heating up
• New York Times now advocating: “Repeal Prohibition, Again”
• “Leading Anti-Marij​uana Academics Are Paid by Painkiller Drug Companies”

Fall 2014:

• “Is Hillary Clinton ready for marijuana’s 2016 push?”
• Former NM Gov and GOP Prez candidate Gary Johnson urges marijuana research to respond to Ebola
• Dynamic Colorado debate over suggestion of near complete ban on marijuana edibles
• Oregon voters create a third state to fully legalize recreational marijuana
• Analyzing how Alaska made 2014 a clean sweep for marijuana legalization initiatives
• Highlighting that “fight against legal marijuana is about big money, not public health”
• Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado in US Supreme Court over marijuana legalization

And, last but not least, for some posts focused on reviewing the year that was, check out:

• Effective review of “The Year in Pot” via NBC News
• Reviewing a year of recreational marijuana sales in Colorado