The U.S. Supreme Court met in conference on Friday and there is a chance the justices considered whether or not to hear a lawsuit brought against the state of Colorado by neighboring states Nebraska and Oklahoma that claim that Colorado’s marijuana legalization not only conflicts with federal law but has created a burden for the state’s neighbors. The case has been on the justices’ agenda before, but it is unknown whether or not it has been discussed and there was no guarantee it would be discussed last Friday.
Colorado, of course, believes its law is fine. The Obama administration’s Justice Department has filed a brief urging the court to refuse to hear the case, essentially leaving the situation as it is. When there is a dispute like this among states, the case jumps over all federal courts directly to the Supreme Court. Four justices must agree to hear the case in order for it to proceed.
Kansas and Nebraska argue:
[T]he State of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system … Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining Plaintiff States’ own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems.
The Justice Department:
The motion for leave to file a bill of complaint should be denied because this is not an appropriate case for the exercise of this Court’s original jurisdiction. Entertaining the type of dispute at issue here — essentially that one State’s laws make it more likely that third parties will violate federal and state law in another State — would represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of this Court’s original jurisdiction.
With the vacancy created by the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia the court may simply punt on this until a replacement is seated.
Here are excerpts from other recent cannabis-related news stories.
Legal Marijuana Is Finally Doing What the Drug War Couldn’t
Legal marijuana may be doing at least one thing that a decades-long drug war couldn’t: taking a bite out of Mexican drug cartels’ profits.
The latest data from the U.S. Border Patrol shows that last year, marijuana seizures along the southwest border tumbled to their lowest level in at least a decade. Agents snagged roughly 1.5 million pounds of marijuana at the border, down from a peak of nearly 4 million pounds in 2009.
The data supports the many stories about the difficulties marijuana growers in Mexico face in light of increased competition from the north. As domestic marijuana production has ramped up in places such as California, Colorado and Washington, marijuana prices have fallen, especially at the bulk level.
“Two or three years ago, a kilogram [2.2 pounds] of marijuana was worth $60 to $90,” a Mexican marijuana grower told NPR news in December 2014. “But now they’re paying us $30 to $40 a kilo. It’s a big difference. If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they’ll run us into the ground.”
Read more at The Washington Post.
Maine Fails To Get Recreational Marijuana Initiative on the Ballot
One of marijuana legalization’s projected sure things for 2016 was dealt a significant blow earlier this week that could prevent Maine voters from having the opportunity to approve a recreational cannabis industry in the November election.
The Secretary of State’s office in Maine revealed on Wednesday that a proposed ballot initiative aimed at ending prohibition did not have enough valid signatures to be added to the ballot. It seems that while the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) submitted 99,229 signatures in February, the state is claiming that only 51,543 of them can be verified. This puts the initiative 9,580 signatures shy of being able to move on to the next phase of their campaign – a situation that could sabotage the entire effort.
However, organizers argue that this shortcoming in qualifying John Hancocks was not due to their incompetence, but rather a technical mishap for which they are exploring every possible remedy. Campaign manager David Boyer said he was “very disappointed” in the Secretary of State’s decision to reject the measure based on notary discrepancy that stands to disqualify thousands of voter signatures from this issue.
Read more at High Times.
Colorado Springs City Council May Vote To Ban Marijuana Clubs
The Colorado Springs City Council could ban marijuana consumption clubs Tuesday after reviewing three options during a work session Monday.
The Planning Commission voted 6-3 in February to recommend Option 3, the flat-out ban on the clubs. That’s Councilman Don Knight’s preference, too, and Mayor John Suthers “does not object” to the ban.
The clubs give members a place to use marijuana, which cannot be legally ingested in public.
But the clubs also exchange pot for dues, membership fees or donations, though Colorado Springs banned the sale of recreational marijuana when Amendment 64 legalized recreational pot in 2012.
Read more at The Colorado Springs Gazette.
New Research Debunks Age-Old Myth That Marijuana Causes Depression
The jury is still out on the link between marijuana and mental health, but one study says chemicals found in pot might help relieve symptoms of depression.
People who regularly use pot are more frequently diagnosed with depression than those who don’t, but according to Dr. Daniel K. Hall-Flavin, that doesn’t mean marijuana causes depression.
In fact, a study from researchers at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions suggests marijuana may help alleviate symptoms of depression.
“Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression,” researcher Samir Haj-Dahmane said in a Feb. 4 press release. “Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression.”
Read more at TeenVogue.
Senate Could Vote To Allow Marijuana Banking This Week
The U.S. Senate could soon vote to finally allow banks to do business with marijuana providers without fear of criminal prosecution.
Due to current federal money laundering and drug laws, most financial services providers are reluctant to take on cannabis businesses as clients, even those that operate legally under state law. As a result, many marijuana dispensaries are forced to operate on a cash-only basis, making them targets for robberies.
But an amendment introduced Wednesday by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon could change that. He and a bipartisan group of six co-sponsors are pushing to attach the proposal to a broader bill aimed at bolstering addiction recovery services that the Senate is considering this week.
Specifically, the amendment would prevent federal officials from punishing banks that work with the marijuana industry through prosecutions, asset seizures or termination of their FDIC insurance, which are very real threats under current law.
Read more at marijuana.com.
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