Chronicle AM -- November 8, 2013

State level marijuana legalization activists look ahead, Colorado announces hemp farming rules, Denver backs away from a backyard pot-smoking ban, and strife continues in Mexico. Let's get to it:

Marijuana Policy

Kansas Activists Announce Marijuana Legalization Billboard Campaign. The Kansas activist group Fire It Up Kansas has announced a billboard campaign to push for marijuana legalization. The first billboard is going up near the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, with more coming shortly. The group made headlines recently when it was denied a chance to participate in the adopt-a-highway program. Kansas has some of the toughest pot laws in the nation, with second time possession punishable by up to 3 ½ years in prison and a $100,000 fine (!).

Massachusetts Activists Look to 2016 Marijuana Legalization Initiative. A group has formed to try to put marijuana legalization on the 2016 Massachusetts ballot. Bay State Repeal, composed of veteran activists, said it had filed paperwork this week to get the process rolling. The group will test-drive different versions of legalization with non-binding referendum questions next year in selected House and Senate districts, a strategy that has worked well for Bay State activists for more than the last decade.

Maine Marijuana Legalization Advocates Eyeing 2014, 2016. In the wake of the successful personal marijuana legalization initiative in Portland, Maine's largest city, advocates are aiming for legalization statewide, either through the legislative process next year, or, if the legislature balks, through the initiative process in 2016.

Columbia, Missouri, Councilwoman Wants Reduced Penalties for Marijuana Grows. Columbia Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe has asked city staff to draft an ordinance reducing penalties for those caught growing small numbers of pot plants for personal use. Under the ordinance, people caught growing six or fewer plants would face a misdemeanor charge with a maximum $250 penalty. State law considers any marijuana cultivation a felony. Hoppe acted after a proposal from Missouri Civil Liberties Union head Dan Viets, a long-time drug policy reformer and Benton Berigan, head of the University of Missouri NORML chapter.

No Backyard Pot Smoking Ban in Denver. The Denver City Council has scrapped its misbegotten effort to ban backyard pot smoking. Instead, the latest draft ordinance only bans smoking on the front porches of private property visible to the public. The latest proposal also decreases criminal penalties for the display and sale of marijuana in public parks to a $100 fine and 24 hours of community service.

Medical Marijuana

Michigan Medical Marijuana Bill Moving. A bill that would allow "pharmaceutical grade" marijuana to be sold in dispensaries advanced this week, passing the Senate Government Operations Committee on a 3-0 vote. The measure, Senate Bill 660, seeks "to provide for the licensure and regulation of facilities to grow and test pharmaceutical-grade pot, and allow those facilities to sell the drug to pharmacies to dispense." Patients who registered under the bill could acquire two ounces of pharmacy medical marijuana each month, but would lose the ability to grow their own.

Industrial Hemp

Colorado Announces Hemp Production Rules. The Colorado Department of Agriculture Wednesday announced proposed rules for industrial hemp production, which was legalized in the state last year by Amendment 64. Under the proposed rules, farmers would pay annual fees of at least $200 and submit to inspections to ensure they're growing hemp, not marijuana. Hemp production remains illegal under federal law, but at least one Colorado farmer has already grown and harvested a crop without federal government interference.

International

Mexican "Self Defense" Groups Agree to Back Off Front Confrontations with Drug Cartel. Earlier this week, leaders of two "self defense" groups in Michoacan state said they would pull back from confrontations with the Knights Templar drug trafficking organization after the Mexican government promised to crack down on the cartel. The groups had marched in the cartel stronghold of Apatzingan late last month, sparking confrontations that left at least five people dead and hundreds of thousands without electricity. Since then, the federal government has sent troops into the key Michoacan port of Lazaro Cardenas, and vigilante leaders are waiting for the government to do the same in Apatzingan.