legal weed Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Washington’s ‘Joints For Jabs’ COVID Vaccine Program Off To A Rocky Start With Pot Retailers

By NWPB News June 10, 2021

File photo, Dec. 7, 2015, a worker cleans a display case at the Ganja Goddess Cannabis Store in Seattle. On Monday, June 7, 2021, Washington state officials announced that the state's nearly 500 licensed marijuana retailers could begin hosting COVID-19 vaccine clinics and offering a single, free pre-rolled marijuana cigarette to any adult over 21 who receives a shot on-site, but due to federal law and other complications, it's not clear if any of the state's legal pot shops will participate. A current manager at Ganja Goddess said that they would not be participating because they do not have space to host a clinic. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

It was designed as an innovative way to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, but Washington’s new “joints for jabs” program is off to a rough start. Officials announced Monday that the state’s nearly 500 licensed marijuana retailers could begin hosting vaccine clinics and offering a single, free pre-rolled marijuana cigarette to any 21-plus adult who received a shot there.Read More

Amazon Will Stop Testing Job Seekers For Marijuana And Now Backs Legalizing Weed

By NPR News June 2, 2021

Amazon will no longer test most job applicants for marijuana use in the latest sign of America's changing relationship with pot. Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S., also says it now backs legalizing marijuana nationwide.Read More

U.S. House Approves Decriminalizing Marijuana; Bill To Stall In GOP-Controlled Senate

By NPR News December 4, 2020

Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon has been pushing for federal decriminalization laws for years and argued Americans already showed support by voting to legalize cannabis in states across the country. CREDIT: House Television via AP

The legislation removes cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and expunges low-level convictions and arrests. But the GOP Senate is not expected to take up the bill.Read More

‘Illegal To Essential’: How The Coronavirus Is Boosting The Legal Cannabis Industry

By NPR News April 20, 2020

More than 20 states designated marijuana businesses essential during the coronavirus shutdown. Cannabis activists say it's a remarkable development, given that it remains illegal under federal law. Read More

Washington And Oregon Have Legal Weed But Embrace Vaping Restrictions, Warning Of Black Market

By NPR News October 27, 2019

THC vape cartridges are a popular product in Washington's legal marijuana shops. A new ban on flavored versions of marijuana and nicotine vaping products recently went into effect across the state, and will remain in place at least four months. CREDIT: Will Stone for NPR

Many cases of vaping-related injury seem to involve THC, health officials say. That's led some states to take another look at the safety of the regulated cannabis market, as well as the black market.Read More

5 Years In, Washington Regulators Considering Changes To Legal Marijuana Rules

By NWPB News August 27, 2019

Medical marijuana is dispensed in Takoma Park, D.C. in 2014. CREDIT: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/WASHINGTON POST

Five years after Washington launched its pioneering legal marijuana market, officials are proposing an overhaul of the state's industry rules, with plans for boosting minority ownership of pot businesses, paving the way for home deliveries of medical cannabis and letting the smallest growers increase the size of their operations to become more competitive.Read More

Legal Marijuana For All Takes A Toll On Medical Users, Analysis Shows

By NWPB News June 11, 2019

Scott Donnelly, assisted by his wife and licensed caregiver, Vicki Poppen, leaves Western Oregon Dispensary in Sherwood, Ore., after buying medical marijuana to treat muscle spasms caused by his multiple sclerosis. Donnelly visits the medical-only dispensary once a week and relies on it for the cannabis that eases his tremors long enough that he can fall asleep. The dispensary is one of two medical-only shops left in Oregon. CREDIT: GILLIAN FLACCUS/AP

When states legalize pot for all adults, long-standing medical marijuana programs take a big hit, in some cases losing more than half their registered patients in just a few years, according to a data analysis by The Associated Press.Read More

With Rise Of Legal Marijuana, Drug Education Moves From ‘Don’t’ to ‘Delay’

By NPR News June 3, 2018

Today's drug prevention messaging is a far cry from the "Just Say No" days. Schools want to give kids the facts to make informed decisions about whether and when to try drugs or alcohol.Read More

Years After I-502, Legal Marijuana In Central Washington Is Far From Settled Law

By Esmy Jimenez May 14, 2018

Thirty states have legalized some form of medical marijuana. Nine of those states and Washington, D.C., allow recreational sale of the drug.CREDIT: TED S. WARREN

In the Columbia Basin, communities are pushing back on recreational marijuana by leveraging county regulations – regulations like Benton County’s new “Sight and Smell Ordinance.”Read More

Law Enforcement Weighs How To Police Marijuana With Federal Pressure

By Conrad Wilson February 6, 2018

U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams, left, speaks at a marijuana summit in Portland, Oregon, Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sits at right. CREDIT: DON RYAN

Law enforcement from around country convened in downtown Portland last week with one goal in mind: figure out how to regulate marijuana during the Trump administration.Read More

Washington Leaders Vow To Uphold Legal Marijuana Against Federal Action

By Paige Browning January 4, 2018

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded federal marijuana guidelines this week. Washington state officials are calling the Trump administration's decision "backwards" and "disappointing." Read More