Last week was very eventful for marijuana policy reform. The Oregon Senate approved a bill granting PTSD sufferers access to medical marijuana, the Vermont House passed a bill to remove criminal penalties for marijuana possession, and, in a victory that was years in the making, the Illinois House voted in favor of medical marijuana legislation.

The passing of House Bill 1 in Illinois is an example of public education at its finest. News organizations across the state set space aside to show their support for medical marijuana without reluctance.

Editorials in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Journal-Standard described the drug’s ability to alleviate suffering, and they also clearly addressed the bill’s strict guidelines to ease the fears of any hesitant readers.

Editorials like those composed in Illinois and other states such as Maine provide readers with a great service, and they can make all the difference in garnering support for marijuana policy reform.

Rhode Island, the second New England state to permit the sale of medical marijuana, opened its first dispensary on Friday.

Located on in Providence, the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center will initially sell marijuana cultivated by growers participating in the state’s medical marijuana program; however, it plans to begin growing its own medicine to sell as soon as possible.

The state will likely add more dispensaries in the coming months in Warwick and Portsmouth.

The Oregon Senate passed a bill allowing people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to secure a medical marijuana card on Wednesday in a 19-11 vote.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, which passed in 1998, allows patients with certain debilitating conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and HIV/AIDS to use medical marijuana. Senate Bill 281 would add the severe anxiety disorder that can occur after a traumatic event like war, assault, or disaster to the list.

The bill is now on its way to the House.

If you live in Oregon, please contact your representative to ask him or her to support SB 281.

New Jersey may open more medical marijuana dispensaries, according to the state’s health commissioner.

In early April, Gov. Chris Christie proposed allocating $1.6 million to fund New Jersey’s three-year-old medical marijuana program, doubling the initial spending plan.

Commissioner Mary O’Dowd told the state Senate Budget Committee that the extra money would be used to build and maintain treatment centers, as well as cover costs for inspections, testing protocols, and monitoring stores.

New Jersey currently only has one fully operational dispensary in Montclair, with four more in the process of acquiring state approval.

On Tuesday, the Anchorage Daily News reported, marijuana policy reform activists in Alaska presented a drafted ballot initiative that calls for taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol along will 100 signatures to the state lieutenant governor’s office. It’s the first of many steps needed to put marijuana on the 2014 primary ballot.

The measure, which would allow adults 21 and older to use and cultivate marijuana, will now undergo a 60-day review. If state officials allow the initiative to move forward, 30,169 more signatures will need to be acquired by mid-January in order to force a vote.

A similar initiative in 2004 failed to pass; however, unlike the past measure, the new initiative would not include amnesty for past marijuana offenses.

On Wednesday, in a 61-57 vote, the Illinois House of Representatives passed legislation that would remove criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana by patients with serious illnesses whose doctors recommend it. This marks the first time the House has approved such a measure.

House Bill 1, sponsored by Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), would allow Illinois residents with certain medical conditions to possess up to two-and-a-half ounces of marijuana, which they would be able to access from one of up to 60 dispensing centers regulated by the Illinois Department of Licensing and Professional Regulation. Marijuana would be grown by one of up to 22 cultivation centers, one per state police district, regulated by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

We’re very excited about today’s victory, but the fight is far from over. The bill now heads to the state Senate. If you live in Illinois, please contact your senator now and urge him or her to vote “yes” on HB 1.

In a 21 to 4 vote, the New York State Assembly Health Committee approved the use, production, and sale of medical marijuana.

Sen. Diane Savino

Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) and Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) introduced the medical marijuana bill (A.6357/S.4406) and are optimistic about its chances in the Senate, where it has failed in the past, due to the bill’s tight stipulations.

“We’re picking up support member by member,” stated Savino, following the committee’s decision. “My count now is we have 38 yes votes, solid yes votes, (and) six leaning yes. We only need 32 in the Senate: We’re going to get this bill done this year.”

The bill has been endorsed by dozens of organizations including the New York State Nurses Association, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State, and the New York State AIDS Advisory Council.

The bill will now head to the Assembly’s Code Committee.

On Tuesday, a group of doctors held a news conference to announce the support of nearly 250 Illinois physicians for allowing patients with serious illnesses to obtain and use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it.

Specifically, the doctors signed on to the following statement:

Licensed medical practitioners should not be punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to criminal sanctions for using marijuana if their medical professionals have told them that such use is likely to be beneficial.

Their endorsement comes just as the Illinois House of Representatives prepares to vote on House Bill 1, which would allow patients with serious illnesses to use medical marijuana with recommendations from their physicians.

The bill would also establish a network of state-regulated cultivation centers and dispensaries to provide marijuana to qualified patients.

If passed, Illinois would become the 19^th state to legalize medical marijuana.

Pennsylvania will again consider making medical marijuana legal. The Governor Raymond P. Shafer Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, or House Bill 1181, was introduced Monday at the State House, and it has since been assigned to the House Health Committee for consideration.

The bill would allow anyone with a debilitating condition such as HIV/AIDS or cancer to use medical marijuana provided they obtain a written recommendation from a doctor with whom they have a “bona-fide doctor-patient relationship.”

The bill also addresses the Department of Health’s role in patient registry and the issuing of identification cards to medical marijuana patients and their primary caregivers.

There is already a Senate companion bill to this (SB 770). If you are a resident of Pennsylvania, please contact your lawmakers and ask them to support medical marijuana legislation.

The Board of Aldermen, the law-making body of St. Louis, Missouri, voted 22 to 3 in favor of reducing the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana in the city to that of a traffic ticket.

Alderman Shane Cohn

Introduced earlier this year by Alderman Shane Cohn, the law gives police officers the option to redistribute some marijuana cases to the municipal court system, essentially making a criminal infraction a municipal offense.

Due to the absence of local marijuana laws in St. Louis, police charge offenders under the severe state laws.

“[Missouri] has some of the most draconian laws in the nation,” John Payne, executive director of Show-Me Cannabis Regulation, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The ordinance reduces the penalty to a $100 to $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

The policy goes into effect June 1.