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mMedical marijuana advocates are dropping efforts to qualify a November ballot initiative to regulate California's dispensary industry and instead plan a media campaign to lobby the Legislature to tackle the issue. Cannabis industry groups including dispensaries, medical marijuana growers and a powerful union drafted the proposed measure in the face of an ongoing federal crackdown on California's $1.5 billion medicinal pot trade. But a top campaign director said initiative planners instead have decided to run television and radio ads to urge lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown to enact rules governing how medical marijuana outlets operate in the state.

"We're not doing the initiative. We're pulling the plug on it," said Dan Rush, director of the Medical Cannabis and Hemp Division for the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has been organizing California pot workers for the past two years. Rush said Thursday that he had secured $1.2 million in pledges, mostly from the dispensary industry, toward $2 million to gather signatures for a November initiative. But with time running out and other major funders undecided over whether to pursue a ballot or legislative strategy, Rush said initiative backers decided to take their case to the Capitol instead. He said the money pledged to date will be used for "a full-on media campaign," including lobbying and likely television and radio spots this summer.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced legislation seeking to accomplish many aims of the ballot initiative, the proposed Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act. Ammiano's Assembly Bill 2312 would create a Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement under the state Department of Consumer Affairs to approve or deny permits for dispensaries and oversee medical marijuana cultivation, transportation, distribution and sales. The Ammiano bill also includes a provision in the proposed initiative to mandate that cities and counties permit one dispensary for every 50,000 residents unless local voters approve local ordinances to ban them. But the Ammiano bill scraps plans for a 2.5 percent statewide tax on medical marijuana businesses in favor of provisions allowing local governments to impose a one-quarter percent to 2 percent tax on medicinal pot transactions.

"They were not going to get a tax passed in Sacramento," said Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. Even a regulatory measure for marijuana could prove a tough sell to lawmakers, many of whom are skittish about being portrayed as pro-dispensary. The proposed ballot initiative came together after California's four U.S. attorneys announced charges Oct. 7 against targeted dispensaries, growers and financial speculators in the medical marijuana market and threatened pot business landlords with seizures of properties. Backers of the initiative were up against a June deadline to gather a half-million valid voter signatures to qualify the measure. "I always felt it was an uphill battle because we started so late," Gieringer said.

The smoke has cleared in the Indiana House of Representatives where a statewide smoking ban bill passed this afternoon by a vote of 62 to 34. The list of local lawmakers who voted yes includes Bauer, Dembowski, Dvorak, Fry, Neese, Pelath, and Yarde. He list of lawmakers who voted no includes Culver, Dermody, Friend, Kubacki, Niezgodski, Wesco, and Wolkins. Today marked the fifth time that the house has approved a statewide ban on smoking in public places.

“The senate has never debated this, I would ask you to pass it out today, give the senate a chance to debate it, we don’t even know how the bill is going to look when it comes back but I’d like to give them that opportunity,” said Rep. Eric Turner, (R) Cicero before the vote. The bill passed by the house today is unique in that it is the first to go so far as to ban smoking in bars and taverns, albeit after an 18 month grade period. The bill does have exemptions for casinos and private clubs. “What troubles me the most and it makes me really angry because casinos, come on, you know what we’re going to exempt casinos,” said Rep. David Niezgodski, (D) South Bend.

“So you’re in essence, you’re saying I, or we, as a whole, want to subject large numbers of people to killing over the almighty dollar, and that’s ridiculous.” A private club could continue to allow smoking only if its membership voted to do so. If a private club decided to allow smoking it could no longer admit persons under the age of 18. Indiana would become the 30th state to pass a comprehensive ban. “A study that was just released by Market Opinion Research last week, 70-percent of Hoosiers support a law that would prohibit smoking in indoor work places, public places including restaurants and bars, 70-percent,” said Rep. Turner. “The tail should not wag the dog in this issue, in terms of us making a decision for the minority versus the majority of our, your constituents,” said Rep. Charlie Brown, (D) Gary.

University of Texas students may see changes in the tobacco-use policy on campus due to new guidelines from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) that place the university in jeopardy of losing millions of dollars in research funding. CPRIT released guidelines requiring all entities who receive funding to adopt a “tobacco-free” policy. The University currently receives $30 million in funding and hopes to apply for $88 million more in funding from CPRIT. According to University Spokesperson Adrienne Howarth-Moore, the University is aggressively looking into policy-language changes by March 1 to have the ability to apply for more funding.

The deadline to keep current funding is Aug. 1. The current “smoke-free” policy of the University does not comply with the CPRIT mandate that includes a ban on all tobacco products in buildings where CPRIT funded research is being conducted. According to Howarth-Moore, a campus-wide tobacco-free policy may be more feasible than only focusing on buildings where CPRIT funds are being used. “Focusing only on CPRIT funded buildings can be difficult in communications,” said Howarth-Moore. “Each semester a researcher applies for a grant and then we may have different buildings [using funds] depending on the semester.”

The policy being considered is in agreement with a Student Government resolution passed in 2011 that supports a tobacco-free campus. “We want to focus on education and awareness,” Howarth-Moore said. The primary enforcement policy will be to change signage on campus to include “tobacco-free” and educational programs to encourage a tobacco-free lifestyle. “From an enforcement perspective, if someone has something in the cheek of their mouth it is just not feasible to go around and do that level of enforcement. Our focus is education,” Howarth-Moore said. Howarth-Moore also said that the University is planning on increasing tobacco cessation programs to help students who would like to quit using tobacco products. “We have heard from tobacco users who are actually supportive of a tobacco free campus. They believe that this is what they need to quit,” Howarth-Moore said.

Undergraduate studies sophomore Makayla Kinney believes that adopting a tobacco-free policy on campus will have no affect on her smoking habits. “If I wanted a cigarette, I would simply step off campus and have one,” Kinney said. Kinney is unhappy with the tobacco-free policy because she usually smokes cigarettes on her way to-and-from class. “If there were some designated smoking areas, I feel as if that would be a good compromise,” Kinney said. “In a way, it’s still inconveniencing all the smokers seeing as they will be confined to a small area while they are smoking.”

Jose Nino, the president of Longhorn Libertarians, believes that students have to deal with special-interest groups and bureaucracy affecting the decision to go tobacco-free. “When you have a public institution like UT you get more than just UT officials, but potential bureaucrats from [CPRIT] that are threatening to withhold research funds involved,” Nino said. “This seems like a top-down mandate that might be pushed behind closed doors and rammed down our throats.” Journalism student Jackie Ruth is glad to hear about the tobacco-free policy. “No one needs to be involuntarily subjected to a health hazard,” Ruth said. “I think it could definitely benefit the smokers and non-smokers in the end. Maybe some people will even end up kicking the nasty habit.”