Look out 2016, here comes Nevada! Also, a US congressman rips into NYPD over marijuana arrests, a New York medical marijuana bill passes the Assembly, Dallas pays out big time for police misbehavior, former DEA head Asa Hutchinson wants more drug war for Arkansas, and more. Let's get to it:

[image:1 align:right]Marijuana Policy

Nevada Legalization Initiative Campaign Gets Underway. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol yesterday commenced its campaign to put a legalization initiative on the 2016 ballot. Two Nevada politicians who are members of the campaign, Sen. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) and former Republican Senate Caucus executive director Joe Brezny, were the first to sign the petitions. Canvassers need to come up with 101,000 valid voter signatures by November. If that happens, the measure goes to the legislature. If the legislature declines to act or rejects the measure, it goes to the voters in November 2016.

Oak Park, Michigan, Activists Sue Over Decriminalization Initiative Delay. The Safer Oak Park Coalition has filed a lawsuit against city officials charging that they are delaying efforts to put a decriminalization initiative before the voters. The Coalition handed in more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot on April 27, but city officials said it was too late to have a ballot measure ready for the August primary election. Unless the lawsuit prevails, Oak Park residents will have to wait until November to vote on the issue.

New York City US Congressman Rips NYPD Over High Marijuana Arrest Numbers. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, called on the NYPD yesterday to quit arresting so many people for minor pot possession. More than 28,000 were arrested last year -- 86% of them black or brown -- even though Mayor Bill DeBlasio (D) called the mass arrests and the racial disparity in them "unjust and wrong." The rate of arrests so far this year has dropped by 9%, but that's still 7,000 pot busts in the city this year alone, and the numbers were heading up at quarter's end. Arrests topped 50,000 in 2011, before NYPD was instructed to quit violating the spirit of the state's decriminalization by arresting people for "open possession" after intimidating them into emptying their pockets.

Washington State Parolees Can Smoke Marijuana. The Washington Department of Corrections says it will stop testing the state's 14,000 parolees for THC because marijuana is now legal in the state. "We don't want to hold them to that level, when, as a citizen, you wouldn't be held to that level either," a department spokesperson explained. The department isn't endorsing marijuana use, she added, "We are simply aligning with state law."

Medical Marijuana

New York Assembly Passes Comprehensive Medical Marijuana Bill. The Assembly Tuesday approved Assembly Bill 6357, a comprehensive medical marijuana bill, by a margin of 91-34. This is the fifth time the Assembly has passed a medical marijuana bill, only to see them die in the Senate. This year, a bill is moving in the upper chamber, and a key committee head has signaled if he may be willing to let it come to a vote -- if the Senate leadership agrees.

North Carolina Lawmaker Files Limited CBD Medical Marijuana Bill. She said she would, and now she has. Rep. Pat McElraft (R-Carteret County) Tuesday filed a bill to allow for the use of high-CBD cannabis oil for people suffering "intractable seizures." The measure is House Bill 1220.

Drug Policy

Former DEA Head Asa Hutchinson Vows More Drug War if Elected Arkansas Governor; Democratic Foe Says He's Tough on Crime, Too. Former DEA head Asa Hutchinson, running as a Republican for the Arkansas governor's seat, Tuesday unveiled a plan to address drugs and crime that includes $1 million a year in additional funding for the state's parole system, $300,000 a year for reentry programs for ex-convicts, and more, as yet unspecified, money for the State Police, more drug courts, more drug task forces, and maybe even a new prison. He also hinted that he might want to "re-tweak" a 2011 sentencing reform bill to give prosecutors "more flexibility" in prosecuting property and drug crimes. Hutchinson's Democratic opponent, former US Rep. Mike Ross, also "has a strong record of being tough on crime and supporting our law enforcement community," his campaign retorted Tuesday.

Law Enforcement

City of Dallas Keeps Paying Out for Police Misbehavior. Last week, the Dallas city council approved a $105,000 settlement to a man beaten unconscious by police during a fruitless drug raid. It's just business as usual in Dallas, where the pay-out was just the latest in a series of series of high-profile, six-figure lawsuits against the Dallas PD in recent years, including at least one other drug-related case. The city council approved the most recent settlement without debate.

International

Australia's New South Wales Greens Launch Medical Marijuana Bill. The NSW Greens Tuesday launched their campaign to pass a medical marijuana bill Tuesday. The bill, the Drug Legislation Amendment (Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes) Bill 2014 would allow people suffering from terminal illnesses to possess up to 15 grams of marijuana upon a doctor's recommendation. The bill is in line with the recommendations of a cross-party Upper House inquiry into the issue last year.

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