What we’re reading: Week 10

By Katie Campbell
@news21

A teen died after eating pot. Guess how many died from alcohol poisoning? (Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post, July 28) The Washington Post’s Wonkblog points out that pot doesn’t have a known lethal dose. Alcohol poisoning, on the other hand, kills more than 2,200 people in the United States every year.

New DEA leader: Pot probably not as bad as heroin (Steven Nelson, U.S. News & World Report, July 28) Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday, “Do I think it’s as dangerous as heroin? Probably not. I’m not an expert.”

Chris Christie, newfound drug warrior, is too late to stop pot (Walt Hickey, FiveThirtyEight, July 30) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to enforce the federal laws prohibiting possession and use of marijuana if elected president. The Obama administration has so far declined to enforce the federal stance, allowing states with legalized medical or recreational marijuana to push forward.

New York state awards 5 medical marijuana licenses (Jesse McKinley, The New York Times, July 31) The New York State Department of Health named five organizations that will be allowed to grow and sell medical marijuana in the state. Each group plans to open four dispensaries and is required to be doing business within six months.

Marijuana bank suing feds for ‘equal access’ (Tim Devaney, The Hill, July 31) The Federal Reserve earlier this month rejected an application from The Fourth Corner Credit Union in Denver. The financial institution intends to provide banking services to state-licensed marijuana businesses.

Follow Katie on Twitter at @_KECampbell.