The Obama administration Thursday afternoon announced new guidelines that will allow financial institutions to provide services to marijuana businesses in states where it is legal.
Banks were given a green light Friday to offer services to the legal marijuana industry, but must continue to report any suspicious activity specific to that industry to federal authorities.
A bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Hawaii died in committee Thursday. But state lawmakers advanced a measure that could decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of the drug.
Recently, the Obama administration continued to focus on criminal justice reform by zeroing in on felony disenfranchisement and calling for the restoration of voting rights to former felons.
Italy's constitutional court on Wednesday struck down a drug law that tripled sentences for selling, cultivating or possessing cannabis and which has been blamed for causing prison overcrowding.
Illinois regulators have come out with proposed requirements for opening medical marijuana grow centers and dispensaries — and they come with a steep price tag that advocates say could be costly for consumers.