The state of Oregon has approved preliminary regulations to govern retail sales of marijuana in the state. The dispensaries that opened on October 1st are operating under temporary authority until the regulations are approved next year. The more pressing issue is that the rules need to be in place by January 1st in order for the state to begin accepting applications from people who want to operate a legal marijuana business.

Among the proposed rules are limits on the size of a grow operation (up to 10,000 square feet indoors and up to 40,000 (about an acre) outdoors); a majority of businesses must be owned by people who have lived in the state for at least two years; a prohibition on using marijuana in a retail store; and delivery service for up to $100 worth of marijuana at one time.

The regulations on the size of grow operations and residency requirements for business owners have generated the most debate. The state liquor commission, the agency responsible for regulating marijuana businesses in the state, has agreed to allow local governments to approve larger grow sites, but the residency requirement is included in state law. According to a report at OregonLive, state lawmakers plan to reverse the residency requirement in next year’s legislative session.

Rules have also been proposed for staff who work in marijuana businesses and for packaging of edible products.

Here are other important news stories for the week.

Ending the U.S. Government’s War on Medical Marijuana Research
The federal government is stifling medical research in a rapidly transforming area of public policy that has consequences for public health and public safety. As medical marijuana becomes increasingly accessible in state-regulated, legal markets, and as others self-medicate in jurisdictions that do not allow the medical use of cannabis, it is increasingly important that the scientific community conduct research on this substance. However, statutory, regulatory, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers have paralyzed science and threatened the integrity of research freedom in this area.

It is time for the federal government to recognize the serious public policy risks born from limited medical, public health, and pharmaceutical research into cannabis and its use. People are using cannabis nationwide to treat a variety of ailments. Doctors in dozens of states are recommending the use of this product as a pseudo-pharmaceutical intervention. The elderly, veterans, children, and people from every demographic group in the nation claim that the use of cannabis assists in the treatment of their medical conditions. Despite this, there is limited scientific research on the efficacy of this product overall or by condition or dosage, on interactions, on composition, on side effects, or much of anything else.

Observational studies exist, as do some small scale, rigorous, double-blind, clinical studies. However, the U.S. government has held back the medical community’s ability to conduct the type of research that the scientific community considers the experimental gold standard in guiding medical practice. The use of cannabis for medical treatment is happening in states based largely on anecdotal evidence or limited science. In many cases, patients and doctors operate according to a learn-as-you-go approach—a situation that is inexcusably the fault of federal policies failing to keep pace with changing societal views and state-level legal landscapes.

Read more at The Brookings Institution.

Halloween Candy Warning: Police Advise Parents to Be Vigilant for Latest Ecstasy Drug Designed to Appeal to Children
Halloween is upon us, and while it’s a fun holiday for children and adults alike, a candy warning has been given by the police, advising parents to be vigilant regarding the candy that their children will receive this holiday.

Last Wednesday, a story about dangerous Halloween candy went viral on Facebook when police in Jackson, Mississippi posted a photo of ecstasy pills that can be confused as candy. The post read, “They are the new shapes of ‘Ecstasy’ and can kill kids through overdoses!!! So, check your kid’s candy and ‘When in doubt, Throw it out!!!

Despite the viral post, however, some people raised questions, mainly, how plausible it may be, and whether or not the post was merely another unnecessary hype.

Read more at The Latino Post.

DEA Raids Tribal Land to Destroy Pot; Tribe Says It Was Hemp
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin said agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration entered their sovereign lands on Friday and improperly destroyed a crop of industrial hemp — but federal authorities said the crop was actually an illegal marijuana growing operation and some of the participants were not tribal members.

There were no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing, the DEA said.

The tribe legalized the growing of low THC non-psychotropic industrial hemp on its lands in May. In a statement Friday, Tribal Chairman Gary Besaw said the tribe had always intended to grow the crop legally for research purposes under the 2014 Farm Bill, which recognizes the distinction between marijuana and industrial hemp.

He said he was disappointed that federal authorities used “the full force of the DEA to raid our tribe.”

Read more at Channel3000.

Between Pot and a Hard Place: Fed Rejects Colorado Marijuana Bank
Colorado’s attempt to create a bank to service its marijuana industry has suffered another setback by the federal government and could be facing an impossible dilemma.

The Federal Reserve — the guardian of the U.S. banking system — said in a court filing Wednesday that it doesn’t intend to accept a penny connected to the sale of pot because the drug remains illegal under federal law.

The stance appears to mark a shift in the position of the federal government. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department issued rules for how banks can accept pot money.

“We’re frustrated,” said Andrew Freedman, director of marijuana coordination for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. “We tried to do the most with the building blocks of instructions they sent us, set up the most rigorous solution. And we still are left with confusion.”

Read more at NBC News.

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