Buds of marijuana on display inside Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Medicinal marijuana products that are legal at the state level will see looser federal regulation under an order the U.S. Department of Justice published Thursday, while a process that could remove the drug in all forms from the federal list of the most dangerous drugs is set to begin in late June. The order , signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, shifts many marijuana products from Schedule I — the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of drugs with the greatest potential for abuse and least legitimate use — to Schedule III. That will open the door to greater research and provide an effective tax break for businesses that sell medicinal marijuana that is legal under state law. The move follows President Donald Trump’s executive order last year directing the DOJ to move toward rescheduling. “The Department of Justic...
Booths await voters at the Pennington County Administration Building during early voting on Jan. 19, 2026, for a municipal election in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) With less than 30 days until primary elections, new statistics show that the number of active voters in Alabama has decreased since 2022. Voter statistics for March that were given to the Voting Registration Advisory Board members during its meeting on Thursday show Alabama has 3.29 million active voters. This is a 17,000 person decrease from four years ago, when the state had 3.31 million active voters. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement that “Alabama boasts one of the cleanest and most accurate voter files in the country.” The state also saw an increase in inactive voters going from 392,000 in 2022 to over 500,000 last month. Voter Registration Advisory Board Chairman John Lackey said after the meeting “there are fluctuations in voter numbers at dif...