Medical marijuana facilities will be the subject of discussion at a public meeting Tuesday night at city hall in Niagara Falls.

The 7 p.m. meeting will be to consider a city initiated amendment to introduce regulations governing the growing, processing, packaging and distribution of medical marijuana.

An earlier public meeting on the issue was held Sept. 15. It was well attended and council members had the opportunity to hear from residents who are either for or against such facilities.

Glenn and Elaine Wilson, who are not able to attend Tuesday's meeting, have submitted a letter to council voicing their objection against the new zoning provisions.

Silent protest planned at Kansas Capitol

Medical marijuana supporters are planning a silent protest at the Kansas Capitol in Topeka next month.

The protest, organized by Bleeding Kansas, is meant to memorialize those who have died in the state without the right to use marijuana to heal, according to the group’s Facebook page.

The group’s “Day of the Kansas Dead” rally is set for Nov. 7.

Bleeding Kansas is an organization working to promote awareness and support for the Kansas Cannabis Compassionate Care Act.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Officials in US states that have legalized pot are offering their advice to prime minister designate Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau promised on the campaign trail to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. One Colorado official warns the process will be more costly and time-consuming than Trudeau thinks.

Lewis Koski of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division says his state has collected $142-million in taxes since storefront sales began in January 2014. But he says a portion of the sales tax earmarked for school construction projects hasn’t yet met a goal of $40-million.

The state has also grappled with two suicides and a murder committed by people who consumed edible pot products such as brownies and cookies.

PHILADELPHIA — Arrests in Philadelphia for marijuana possession have plunged in the year since the city decriminalized possession of small amounts of the drug.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that arrests have fallen 75 percent since the law was enacted.

And the paper says police aren't making up for the drop by issuing tickets, since arrests and citations combined are 42 percent below the total arrests made in the same time last year.

Marijuana possession remains illegal in Philadelphia, but having up to 30 grams or a little more than an ounce is punishable only by a citation and a $25 fine.

Public use of small amounts of marijuana carries the stiffer penalty of a citation along with a $100 fine or up to nine hours of community service.

Nearly 6,000 federal prisoners are about to be set free.

It’s part of a new program that is releasing non-violent drug offenders after three decades of policies that have kept them locked up. But is 6,000 barely scratching the surface of what needs to happen?

This is a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.

At the end of this month, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will release about 6,000 federal prison inmates who have been locked up for years for non-violent drug offenses.

This will be the largest one-time release of federal prisoner ever. It’s an effort, we are told, to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades.

A former Las Vegas woman claims she and a guest were falsely imprisoned in 2013 after police searched her home and illegally confiscated her supply of medical marijuana.

Courtney Rogalski, a medical marijuana patient who now lives in Canada, and California resident Westley McNeal filed a civil rights lawsuit in August against the Metropolitan Police Department and several officers. In September, the defendants transferred the case from Clark County District Court to U.S. District Court.

Attorney Craig Anderson, who is representing Metro in the litigation, could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Las Vegas police detectives searched Rogalski's home on Aug. 30, 2013, with a warrant signed by Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz.

A New Jersey woman expecting a box of hair products she ordered online got a much more surprising delivery last week.

Inside the box was 50 pounds of marijuana.

The homeowner says it wasn't addressed to her and she had no idea who sent it, so she called police. The pot has a street value of up to $100,000.

The police department has posted pictures of the pot on its Facebook page, inviting the person expecting the package to come to police headquarters to claim it.

So far there have been no takers.

We may still be more than a year away from the 2016 elections, but it's plainly evident that marijuana is among the many hot-button issues set to play a critical role in helping Americans decide who should become our next president.

With the continued discussion regarding the legalization of marijuana, I felt compelled to present some information regarding the enforcement of marijuana laws, position of law enforcement on legalization, and the cost of enforcement. 

Andrew Bernstein – The Case For Ending Drug Prohibition – Toronto – June 25, 2015

Andrew Bernstein holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Graduate School of the City University of New York. He is the author of The Capitalist Manifesto: The Historic, Economic, and Philosophic Case for Laissez-Faire (University Press of America, 2005), Objectivism in One Lesson: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Ayn Rand (Hamilton Books, 2008), Capitalism Unbound: The Incontestable Moral Case for Individual Rights (University Press of America, 2010), and Capitalist Solutions: A Philosophy of American Moral Dilemmas (Transaction Publishers, 2011).