Some of today’s notable marijuana headlines

Because there is so many on-going local and national sentencing developments and law reform discussions concerning marijuana, I would need to a few post posts a day just keep up with the highlights.  But, because I am disinclined to have this blog morphy into a cyber-version of High Times, I am trying to be somewhat selective concerning when and how to cover wacky weed developments. 

That said, and especially because today would have been Bob Marley’s 68th birthday, I thought there we a number of major marijuana stories breaking today that justified blog coverage. Here are headlines and links to just some of the noteworthy ganja news drawn from various sources:

• “Mexico’s president opposes legalizing marijuana, calls it ‘a gateway drug’“

• “Two House Dems on recreational marijuana: Legalize it“

• “Smoking marijuana linked with higher risk of stroke in young adults, study finds“

• “Marijuana program is windfall for Michigan government“

• “Shrinking US labor unions see relief in marijuana industry“

I think a reasonable claim could be made that any one of these headlines reports on the most important marijuana reform story of the day.  But because money often ends up speaking louder than morals, especially in lean times, I would assert that the story out of Michigan is perhaps the most consequential.  It begins this way:

Medical marijuana is turning out to be a windfall for Michigan state government.

A report says nearly $10 million in revenue was collected from applicants — more than double the cost of running the program.  The report covers the state’s last budget year, which ended on Sept. 30.

A medical marijuana application costs $100.  Caregivers who grow marijuana for people also pay a fee.

To paraphrase the reggae master, it would appear Michigan’s jamming, and I suspect that many other states looking for easy tax revenues will, before too long, wanna be jamming, too.