Alaska could be the next state to legalize marijuana

Supporters of marijuana legalization are hoping that Alaska will follow the example set by Colorado and Washington state.

Timothy Hinterberger told the Anchorage Daily News that his ballot initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Alaska is about halfway there. Hinterberger, who sponsored the ballot initiative, and his supporters need to gather about 30,000 valid signatures by December 1 to qualify for next year’s primary ballot.

“In a free society, prohibition of popular substances is just bad public policy,” Hinterberger said. If approved by voters, the measure would allow those 21 and older to use and possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use. Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 1998.

The ballot measure is similar to two successful initiatives in Colorado and Washington state. Residents of both states voted to legalize marijuana in 2012. Read more >>

Desperate GM slashes Chevy Volt price by $5,000

Chevy Volt (Photo credit: John Biehler)

General Motors announced it would trim the price of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in by $5,000. For 2014, the “extended-range electric vehicle” will carry a $34,995 sticker – including delivery charges – 12.5 percent, less than what GM was demanding at the start of the 2013 model-year.

“Dropping the Volt's price removes one of the primary consideration barriers for most buyers,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

As with most of the new plug-based vehicles on the market, Volt will also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, as well as additional incentives in states like California and Colorado, GM officials bet that will further enhance its appeal.

Volt clearly needs a lift. Although sales rose 9.2 percent for the first seven months of 2013, they lagged behind the overall growth of the U.S. new car market – as well as sales gains by key competitors such as the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicles. Volt had outsold both last year, though the Chevy plug-in still missed it original target of 45,000 U.S. sales by a wide margin. Read more >>

ID Theft Fraud At All-Time High

Toss out all your preconceived notions about identity theft impacting older people in big cities who mainly do business via “snail mail”–i.e. the mailbox. A new government report gives insight on where it’s happening and to whom…and it may not be who, where, or how you think!

At least two million people across the country are recovering from identity theft. The fraud is at an all-time high, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, a report released by the Federal Trade Commission.

“I don’t know how but someone over in Colorado at the time, got my information,” says 28-year-old Clarity Smith.

The Plano woman is the typical identity theft victim. She’s in her 20’s and a recent college graduate who spends a lot of time on the computer.

“They had my social security, driver’s license, billing address….”

After finishing college, Smith posted applications on several online job sites. She suspects that’s how someone in Denver stole her identity.

“They went from department store to department store at three different malls over two days and opened up lines of credit.” Read more >>

The Layoff Kings Of 2012

If you have a job, be thankful, because more than 1 million American workers were laid off during the first three quarters of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's better than the same period last year, but not by much, and some companies handed out especially large numbers of layoff notices.

Check out some of this year's layoff kings. Read more >>

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Marijuana and the ultimate showdown with feds

First came marijuana as medicine. Now comes legal pot for the people. Those who have argued for decades that legalizing and taxing weed would be better than a costly, failed U.S. drug war have their chance to prove it, as Colorado and Washington became the first states to allow pot for recreational use.

While the measures earned support from broad swaths of the electorate in both states Tuesday, they are likely to face resistance from federal drug warriors. As of Wednesday, authorities did not say whether they would challenge the new laws.

Pot advocates say a fight is exactly what they want. "I think we are at a tipping point on marijuana policy," said Brian Vicente, co-author of Colorado's marijuana measure. "We are going to see whether marijuana prohibition survives, or whether we should try a new and more sensible approach."

Soon after the measures passed, cheering people poured out of bars in Denver, the tangy scent of pot filling the air, and others in Seattle lit up in celebration.

Authorities in Colorado, however, urged caution. "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly," said Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who opposed the measure.

As the initial celebration dies down and the process to implement the laws progresses over the next year, other states and countries will be watching to see if the measures can both help reduce money going to drug cartels and raise it for governments. Read more >>

Three US states poised to legalize cannabis and defy 'war on drugs'

Washington, Oregon and Colorado set to allow recreational use

Three US states are set to legalize recreational cannabis use this week in votes that could have major implications for the country's war on drugs.

Alongside their choice for president, residents of Washington, Oregon and Colorado – a swing state – will be asked on Tuesday whether they want to decriminalize cannabis.

If the measures are passed, adults over 21 would be able to possess, distribute and use small amounts. Cannabis for authorised medical use is already permitted and regulated by each state, even though it is against federal law.

Support is particularly strong in Washington and Colorado, but a "yes" vote in any of the states would be interpreted by the Department of Justice as an act of defiance against the federal government's war on drugs – the national law enforcement program that spends $44bn a year struggling to stem the tide of illegal drugs in the US.

In June 2011, however, the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared that the war on drugs had failed. Read more >>

US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s

The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net. Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.

The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest level since 1965.

Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth. Read more >>

Study: First Time in US History More Poor in Suburbs Than Cities

MSNBC
The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colo., conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21^st century version of suburban bliss. But often these days, the closed doors of well-kept houses hide a decidedly different reality: hushed conversation about food stamps and Medicaid, depleted bank accounts and 401K’s, kitchen shelves stocked with groceries from food pantries.