The National Lawyers Guild, a public interest and human rights bar organization, released a report on June 25 highlighting the failures of marijuana prohibition and suggesting strategies for legalization initiatives.

The report, “High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives,” recommends both alternative policies for the U.S. government to pursue and strategies for drug-reform advocates to employ. The key recommendations are: reframe drug use as a social and public health issue; revisit international drug treaties; reclassify marijuana from its status as a Schedule I substance; support the right of states to legalize marijuana for adult use without federal interference; end civil asset forfeiture by law enforcement; and connect legalization efforts to the abolition of the for-profit prison industry.

“Marijuana legalization will create new jobs, generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, and allow law enforcement to focus on serious crimes,” said Brian Vicente, an NLG member and one of the primary authors of Colorado’s legalization amendment. “It would be a travesty if the Obama administration used its power to impose marijuana prohibition upon a state whose people have declared, through the democratic process, that they want it to end.”

The U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution on Monday, June 24 criticizing the failure of marijuana prohibition and demanding that the federal government respect states’ and cities’ marijuana laws.

The resolution, “In Support of States Setting Their Own Marijuana Policies Without Federal Interference,” calls for the Obama administration to allow states and localities to “set whatever marijuana policies work best to improve the public safety and health of their communities.” The resolution was introduced by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and co-sponsored by eight mayors representing cities ranging from Seattle, WA to Binghamton, NY.

“In November, voters in my city and state strongly approved a ballot measure to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana,” Republican Mayor Steve Hogan of Aurora, CO said in a statement after the vote. “The bipartisan resolution we passed today simply asks the federal government to give us time to implement these new policies properly and without interference.”

The resolution cited a recent Gallup poll’s finding that 64% of Americans believe states should be able to reform their marijuana policies without federal interference.

This is not the first time that the mayors’ conference has taken a stance on federal drug policy. In 2007, the conference declared the War on Drugs a failure and called for a health-centered reorientation of drug policy.

Arts and crafts business magnate Martha Stewart has joined a growing tide of influential celebrities willing to open up about their personal marijuana use. In a June 12 interview with Andy Cohen, Stewart candidly responded to the question: “Do you know how to roll a joint?”

Martha Stewart with Snoop Lion

Stewart first told a story about her drive to the interview, during which she spotted the passengers of a neighboring car smoking “sloppy joints.” She then said, “Of course I know how to roll a joint.”

Former Disney pop star Miley Cyrus recently offered her two cents on alcohol and marijuana use. In her June 18 interview with Rolling Stone, the 20-year-old singer said, “I think alcohol is way more dangerous than marijuana. People can be mad at me for saying that, but I don’t care. I’ve seen a lot of people spiral down with alcohol, but I’ve never seen that happen with weed. As long as it isn’t illegal, there are far more dangerous things.”

Cyrus also stated that “it’s legal in the state of California.” While Miley is right that marijuana is safer than alcohol, she is mistaken about the Sunshine State’s cannabis laws. Recreational use is still prohibited, and possession of an ounce or more can lead to arrest.

Following the approval of a ballot initiative application on Friday, it seems that Alaska may be the next state to legalize marijuana for adults.

Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell

On June 14, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell certified a ballot initiative application that would put the question of whether to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol up to state voters. In order to appear on next year’s ballot, the initiative must receive 30,169 signatures from qualified voters.

The proposal would create state-regulated marijuana stores, cultivation facilities, and the option for Alaska’s legislature to create a Marijuana Control Board tasked with overseeing the industry. It would also allow adults to grow up to six marijuana plants.

Petition sponsor Tim Hinterberger stated that advocates hope to finish collecting signatures by January in order to get the petition on the primary ballot.

If the proposal passes, it would help to clear up Alaskans’ confusion over some of the nation’s most contradictory marijuana laws. In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that possession of less than four ounces in the home was protected from criminal sanctions by the state constitution’s right to privacy. However, in 2006, the legislature passed a bill criminalizing the possession of even small amounts of marijuana. Meanwhile, the state is one of 18 that allows patients to access medical marijuana.

Mason Tvert, a spokesman for MPP, is quoted in the Huffington Post as saying that this proposal is not a “blanket protection for marijuana possession… In order to have a system where individuals can go to the store, buy an ounce of marijuana, drive home, and enjoy it at home, it is necessary to make up to an ounce of marijuana entirely legal.”

Medical marijuana patients in Nevada will finally have legal access to their medicine.

Gov. Brian Sandoval

On Wednesday, 13 years after Nevada voters approved the medical use of marijuana, Gov. Brian Sandoval signed SB 374 into law. The bill establishes the regulatory framework for medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, thereby putting an end to patients’ decade-long struggle to obtain their medicine safely. The bill will also allow patients to continue growing their own plants (and increases the number they may possess) until 2016.

The law allows the state to license up to 66 dispensaries throughout the state, distributed according to population density.

Additionally, the state will impose medical marijuana-specific taxes, of which 75% will fund education and 25% will be spent on implementing and enforcing the regulations.

The governor’s approval of the bill was sparked by Judge Donald Mosley’s critique last year of the state’s medical marijuana law. Mosley declared the existing law “unconstitutional” for failing to provide patients with the legal means to obtain their medicine.

Nevada is now the 14^th state to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.