Hemp

The Australian state of New South Wales has joined Canada, China, and various European countries in allowing the cultivation of industrial hemp. Tough luck, American farmers.

A pair of would-be North Dakota hemp farmers were in a federal appeals court Wednesday as they resumed their bid to get the federal government out of their way.

It's back to the drawing board for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. Initiative organizers have suspended signature-gathering in the face of weak support in initial polling.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) held its 37th annual national conference in Berkeley, California. Here's a report.

Right now, all eyes are on November 4, but leading drug reform groups are already looking down the road to 2010 and beyond.

Seattle's annual Hempfest, the world's largest marijuana "protestival," took place last weekend. Here's a brief report.

Oregon already has decriminalization and medical marijuana. Now, some state activists have launched an initiative campaign to allow for taxed and regulated sales to adults. If they can get the required signatures, the measure will be on the 2010 ballot.

For the second time in less than a year, voters in Hailey, Idaho, have passed a trio of marijuana reform municipal initiatives. The first time around, city officials rejected them. Now what will they do?

Maybe the third time is the charm. After going nowhere in 1999 and 2002, hemp legislation is moving at the Minnesota state capitol. A licensing bill has passed two committee votes despite law enforcement objections.

In November, voters in Hailey, Idaho, approved initiatives legalizing medical marijuana and industrial hemp and instructing the town to make marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority. Now, the Idaho attorney general's office has found those initiatives to be "invalid" and the city is balking at implementing them.