Four U.S. Senators last week introduced a bi-partisan bill in the Senate to decriminalize providing banking services to legal marijuana businesses and to protect the banks from federal penalties for providing such services. We have written before about the difficulty that legal cannabis businesses have in getting banking services. Without access to banks–and, for the most part, unable to obtain credit cards–the legal marijuana business has developed into a cash economy. If the Senate bill gains approval a major hurdle faced by cannabis businesses will be removed. It won’t be easy though–a similar bill introduced in the House last year did not even reach a committee hearing.

Here’s a rundown on other stories related to marijuana that made news this week.

Raids Bust Dreams of Tribal Marijuana Bonaza

Wendy Del Rosa, one of two warring siblings claiming to lead a tiny Indian band just south of the Oregon border, began urgently writing to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento in early May.

The Alturas Rancheria – totaling three members or nine, depending on which faction one believes – had not been content with the earnings from its humble wood-plank gambling house, the Desert Rose Casino. It had pursued various ill-fated ventures, including payday lending and manufacturing cigarettes.

Now, Del Rosa warned in a series of letters to authorities, the tribe was converting a cavernous, tented event center on the reservation into a huge facility for growing marijuana.

Read more at The Sacramento Bee.

Pot for Kids? Some Parents Say It’s Good Medicine

In Grand Blanc, near Flint, a family gives daily doses of olive oil infused with medical marijuana to their 6-year-old daughter afflicted with a life-threatening seizure disorder.

After years of seeing her suffer, the girl’s constant seizures all but disappeared after she began swallowing the oil in January, her parents said. They turned away from their child’s regular doctors and found two physicians willing to sign their state application.

Read more at the Detroit Free Press.

Senators Press Feds for Answers Regarding Medical Marijuana Research

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with seven other Senators, has directed a letter to the Obama administration demanding regulators answer questions specific to the facilitation of research into the medical benefits of marijuana.

Senators acknowledged the need for unbiased research. They wrote, ”While the federal government has emphasized research on the potential harms associated with the use of marijuana, there is still very limited research on the potential health benefits of marijuana — despite the fact that millions of Americans are now eligible by state law to use the drug for medical purposes.”

The Senators applauded a recent decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to eliminate the HHS Public Health Service review process. But they also acknowledged the drawbacks of NIDA’s monopoly on supply of marijuana for research purposes and the need for alternative providers.

Read more at The Weedblog.

DC State Fair to Feature Marijuana Growing Contest

For the first time, the District of Columbia State Fair will include a marijuana growing contest.

Possession of small amounts of marijuana was legalized in the District earlier this year. People are permitted to grow their own plants at home.

Read more at WSLS10.

Marijuana Legalization in California: Leading Group Moves to Place Initiative on 2016 Ballot

Proponents of a proposed ballot measure aimed at making California the fifth state to legalize pot for recreational use are a few weeks away from kicking off their November 2016 campaign, supporters said Thursday.

Once the marijuana legalization coalition known as ReformCA files its initiative with the state Attorney General’s Office, the group can begin gathering the 365,000 valid signatures it will need to put a proposition on the ballot — something coalition chairwoman Dale Sky Jones says she’s confident it can do.

Four other initiatives with the same goal have already been cleared for circulation, but this is the one that’s expected to attract top donors and major interest from a huge network of grass-roots supporters.

Read more at the San Jose Mercury News.

Study: Marijuana Disapproval Rate Down Among Millennials

A new study from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work identified an interesting trend in marijuana usage and disapproval of the drug among young adults.

The study — which was published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse — collected data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2013. According to a press release issued on Monday, responses were aggregated from 105,903 younger adolescents (ages 12 to 14); 110,949 older adolescents (ages 15-17); and 221,976 young adults (ages 18-25).

Among adults aged 18 to 25, the study identified a downward disapproval rating — from 41% to 23% — with only a marginal 2% spike in marijuana usage.

Read more at USA Today.

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