By Christopher Palmeri
Bloomberg — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an ordinance that will shut hundreds of marijuana dispensaries in the city and impose stricter regulations on the 186 remaining stores.
The ordinance signed on April 30 caps a four-year effort by the city to address the proliferation [...]

By Richard M. Evans
Source: Providence Journal
Northampton, Mass. — Now that an initiative to legalize marijuana is officially on the California ballot this November, President Obama should brace for a strong jolt from the west.
If the measure passes (the latest poll puts support at 56 percent), no longer will it [...]

James McCurtis Spokesman for MDCH
Michigan — A year into the state’s medical marijuana law, health officials can’t keep up with the demand. Because of a rising backlog of about 3,000 applications, those who wish to use marijuana medically or grow it for others must wait three months for [...]

Springfield — The suburban lawmaker pushing to legalize medical marijuana use in Illinois says he’s received strong support from colleagues but still doesn’t have the votes needed to pass the plan onto the governor’s desk.
Skokie Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang said he’s a few votes short of the 60 [...]

Denver — Pot smoker Chris Bartkowicz thought he had hit pay dirt, bragging to a local television station he would make $400,000 off a basement medical marijuana operation in a well-heeled Denver suburb where neighbors had no idea what he was growing.
A day after KUSA-TV aired his story in February, the [...]

World News — One of the most prominent figures in the legalization community died today, 70 year-old Oregon resident Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes and lifelong cannabis activist.
California NORML reports and Salem-News.com confirms Herer passed away this morning, after months of serious health complications from a [...]

The founder of Oaksterdam University has faith California voters will legalize marijuana this November and expects to raise $20 million from supporters across the United States to help pass the initiative.
Oaksterdam is the brainchild of Richard Lee, the man who helped qualify “The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010″ by [...]

Michigan — Thousands of marijuana proponents, many openly smoking the drug, crowded the University of Michigan’s Diag on Saturday for the 39th-annual Hash Bash.
Police estimated 5,000 people were there, drawn by sunshine as well as enthusiasm for Michigan’s 15-month-old law legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. “How many of you are [...]

Police raid highlights problems many face
Michigan’s medical marijuana law has patients fearing arrest while police say they’re unsure of who can legally possess or supply the drug.
In several instances, police have arrested patients, confiscated their marijuana, conducted searches that turned out to be improper and seized trailer-loads of cultivation gear because of gray areas in [...]

It’s not unheard of for a voter-ordered change in state law to require additional work by the Legislature. Constitutional amendments and initiatives do leave strings dangling, details missed.
But the move afoot at the Capitol now to tinker with the state’s new medical marijuana regime has a different feel to it. This seems more the stuff [...]