State & Local Legislatures

Voters in Washington state will decide whether to legalize marijuana on the November ballot -- and they may not be alone.

Voters in Washington state will have the chance to legalize marijuana this November, after Initiative 502 was certified for the ballot Friday.

It's taken ever so long, but it now looks like dispensaries will soon be operating in New Jersey and Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the battles over medical marijuana continue across the country.

Missouri has the most extreme crack vs. powder cocaine sentencing disparity in the nation, but a bill that passed the House Thursday would reduce it. The bill still has to get through the Senate.

The federal offensive against dispensaries in California and Colorado continues, even as more state legislatures take up medical marijuana.

A bill lowering penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana and one making possession a citeable offense have passed the Maryland General Assembly and await the governor's signature.

Monday's federal raid on Oaksterdam University in Oakland has ignited a firestorm of criticism of heavy-handed federal efforts to clamp down on medical marijuana distribution. Meanwhile, battles continue to be fought from Washington, DC, to local city halls.

Medical marijuana patients in the nation's capital could be buying their medicines in dispensaries by this summer after the District government selected growers Friday.

NYPD arrested more than 50,000 people, mostly young people of color, for marijuana possession last year. Thursday, protestors went to the mayor's house to tell him to put a stop to it.

A San Francisco medical marijuana community already unhappy with federal raids on dispensaries was outraged and energized by Monday's raid on Oaksterdam. Hundreds of protestors went to the federal building to let the US Attorney know it.