Hemp

The Kentucky legislature approved an industrial hemp bill Wednesday in the final hour of the session, but only after last-minute negotiations brought it back from the dead. Whether Gov. Steve Beshear (D) will sign it remains to be seen.
Medical

Draft rules for medical use of marijuana in Massachusetts, issued Friday by the state Department of Public Health, largely avoid tackling one of the thorniest issues left for state regulators to decide: which patients will qualify for treatment with the drug.

Bills that would force welfare applicants and recipients to undergo drug testing are moving in the state legislatures in Austin and Topeka. In Austin, a Texas Senate committee approved a drug testing bill, while in Topeka, the Kansas House approved a bill that would require drug testing of both welfare and unemployment recipients.

The war on drugs has become too expensive, the wife of imprisoned marijuana activist Marc Emery told a Langley meeting on a proposed new law to limit pot possession arrests.