Cannabis

Wisconsin Republicans plan to vote to kill key parts of Gov. Tony Evers' state budget proposal, including legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid.

Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov. Barnes said legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana is a pivotal piece in bringing Wisconsin out of the pandemic.

The proposal, filed on Feb. 3, seeks to amend Chapter 24 of the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances, specifically reducing the fine for marijuana possession.

So far the impacts of the Illinois law have been minimal, according to officials in several southern Wisconsin communities.

It is the first time that either chamber of Congress has ever voted to decriminalize marijuana.

BESSEMER, Mich. — A small town in Michigan's western Upper Peninsula is buying an odor-detection device and drafting an ordinance to crack down on the unpleasant smell of blooming marijuana plants.Bessemer City Manager Charly Loper said the Nasal Ranger could be used to check a variety of bad-air complaints, but she acknowledged that marijuana appears to be the key target.“The city of Bessemer stinks,” council member Linda Nelson said Monday as the council voted to buy the device, which will cost $3,400 with training. "You can smell marijuana everywhere.

CHICAGO -- Illinois recreational marijuana sales have taken a hit with the closing of several dispensaries around the state because of product shortages.The legal sale of recreational cannabis began Wednesday, with customers spending about $3.2 million on the first day.

CHICAGO — Illinois' first day of legal recreational marijuana generated nearly $3.2 million in sales, state officials announced Thursday.There were 77, 128 transactions on New Year's Day, when the law legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes took effect, according to Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser to Gov.

CHICAGO — The sale of marijuana for recreational purposes became legal Wednesday in Illinois to the delight of pot fans — many who began lining up hours early at dispensaries.About 500 people were outside Dispensary 33 in Chicago.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago City Council voted down on Wednesday, Dec. 18 an ordinance to delay recreational marijuana sales until the summer, WGN reports.Recreational marijuana will be legal in Chicago at the same time as the rest of the state on Jan.1, 2020.

MADISON, Wis.  — The push to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin gained momentum Wednesday, Dec. 11 with the unveiling of a bill introduced for the first time by Republican lawmakers.The newfound Republican support comes for an idea that Democrats have tried in vain for years to get passed in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — James Daly is eager to make marijuana history on Sunday, Dec. 1, when he plans to open the doors to Arbors Wellness, beckon the lengthy line outside and legally start selling recreational pot for the first time in the Midwest.“We’ve worked very hard to be prepared,” said Daly, who owns the medical dispensary that, for now, is among just six shops in Michigan — mostly in Ann Arbor — also approved to start selling for adult use in December.

NEW YORK -- A New York-based company is looking for someone to review a wide variety of cannabis products and give their unbiased reviews and opinions of them.American Marijuana says the person hired will be shipped a box containing different brands and varieties of cannabis products every month.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When lawmakers crafted the law legalizing marijuana in Illinois, they tried to make sure it would right what many see as past wrongs linked to the drug.In addition to expunging hundreds of thousands of criminal records for marijuana arrests and convictions, the law's architects added provisions meant to benefit communities that have been the most adversely affected by law enforcement's efforts to combat the drug.The so-called social equity provisions are expected to help black applicants, in particular, as blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana, the American Civil Liberties Union found.