A bill to ease Maine's regulations on the medical use of marijuana faces a legislative hearing. A separate bill unveiled last week would legalize personal use and private and commercial cultivation of marijuana, and tax consumer purchases at 7 percent. (Link to Story)

Los Angeles' latest plan — to hold a lottery to allow 100 medical marijuana dispensaries to operate — is facing resistance from shop owners who say they've followed all the rules yet still face closure. Lawsuits filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court follow scores of other suits that stymied the city's fitful attempts to crack down on an unknown number of renegade dispensaries. The new ones could launch another series of judicial hearings and thwart the city's bid to enforce its ordinance. (Link to Story)

April 20 (4/20) -- the date unofficially recognized nationwide as marijuana day -- is probably as good a time as any to explore how marijuana arrests in the Unites States exemplify racially skewed policing tactics. (Link to Story)

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the insanely smart and funny Real Time host talks Palin, marijuana, and politics, among other topics. Here -- in honor of 4/20 -- is the marijuana part. (Link to Story)

It appears Washington's Governor Chris Gregoire is being intellectually dishonest regarding a letter the US Department of Justice sent to her saying that federal prosecutors could slap any state employee who administers medical marijuana licenses with a criminal prosecution. Not only is Gregoire mischaracterizing the letter (which never says the Feds "would" prosecute), she also ginned up this whole controversy herself by specifically asking the Obama administration if state employees would be "immune from arrest or liability" knowing full well that prosecutors would never provide blanket immunity. Now Gregoire is leveraging the letter to bully the legislature into watering down the medical marijuana bill this week — asking them to gut key protections for sick and dying patients and complicating access for their caretakers. The fact is that no state employee has ever been prosecuted for activities related to medical marijuana so long as he or she was in compliance with state laws governing its licensing and regulation. (Link to Story)

According to a new study released today by ListenLogic, a social media intelligence firm, 7.3% of patients across 12 therapeutic areas publicly cite marijuana as an alternative treatment option. The study was based upon an analysis of over 30,000 online, patient-level conversations across different medical conditions within which alternative treatments were mentioned. (Link to Story)

In early April, thousands of Mexicans poured into the streets in over 20 Mexican cities to raise their voices in a chorus of protest against the government's ineffective and increasingly unpopular military campaign against drug trafficking organizations. These mass mobilizations mark some of the most heated condemnation yet of violence and impunity associated with President Calderón's U.S.-supported "drug war." The day of protest has been described as a historic "sea change" in Mexican public opinion. (Link to Story)

Imagine walking into a neighborhood store to buy beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes. But on your way home you make one more stop – to buy marijuana, legally. That's the vision Rep. Diane Russell will outline at a press conference on Wednesday at Portland City Hall, when she introduces LD 1453: An Act to Legalize and Tax Marijuana. (Link to Story)

An Ontario judge has struck down key aspects of Canada’s marijuana laws, triggering a 90-day countdown when growing, possessing or smoking pot will become legal. (Link to Story)