Lines long to buy pot in Massachusetts
LEICESTER, Mass. -- Customers waited in long lines, sometimes for hours, on a cold and rainy New England day to be among the first people to legally buy recreational marijuana on the East Coast.
More than two years after Massachusetts voters approved legalizing marijuana for adults, the state's first two fully licensed pot shops opened Tuesday in Leicester and Northampton, selling strains of the part of the plant that can be smoked, as well as pre-rolled joints and edibles such as brownies and chocolate bars.
Marijuana is already sold legally in six Western states, but the long-awaited opening of recreational outlets in the East was hailed as a milestone for the cannabis industry in the U.S. Massachusetts is viewed as a potential $1.5 billion-a-year market. Canada began legal sales last month.
When the stores opened at 8 a.m., customers were shuttled to Cultivate, the Leicester store, from a parking lot about a mile away as police kept a visible but low-key presence outside.
There were no immediate reports of product shortages in the stores, something that has plagued the initial start of recreational pot sales in some other states, as well as in Canada.
Massachusetts' top marijuana regulator praised operators for doing a thorough job of preparing for the first sales.
"It's only two stores but it represents, I think, a formidable accomplishment," said Steven Hoffman, chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission, noting that the panel started meeting only 14 months ago.
Judge strikes Mississippi abortion law
JACKSON, Miss. -- A federal judge Tuesday struck down a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, one of the most restrictive laws in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the law "unequivocally" violates women's constitutional rights.
"The record is clear: States may not ban abortions prior to viability," Reeves said, citing Supreme Court rulings.
The only abortion clinic in Mississippi sued when Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the law March 19, and Reeves issued a temporary restraining order the next day to keep the state from enforcing the law.
The Mississippi law and the responding lawsuit set up a confrontation sought by abortion opponents, who are hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable outside the womb, the dividing line that the U.S. Supreme Court set in its 1973 ruling saying that women have the right to terminate pregnancies.
An Iowa law, also challenged in court, bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
The Mississippi law allowed exceptions in cases of medical emergency or severe fetal abnormality. Doctors found in violation of the ban would face mandatory suspension or revocation of their medical licenses.
Free 110 detained Iraqis, judge orders
DETROIT -- A Detroit federal judge ordered the U.S. government to release about 110 Iraqi nationals who are under deportation orders but have been in custody for more than six months.
It's the latest ruling from U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith in a dispute that began in 2017 when the government began rounding up Iraqis living in the U.S. who have criminal records. Some have been locked up for more than a year while the American Civil Liberties Union fights on their behalf.
In his ruling Tuesday, Goldsmith said "the law is clear that the Federal Government cannot indefinitely detain foreign nationals while it seeks to repatriate them, when there is no significant likelihood of repatriation in the reasonably foreseeable future." He added that Iraq has told the Trump administration that it will accept only those willing to leave the U.S.
The judge said "public interest overwhelmingly favors freedom over mass detention."
The immigration agency didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Monitors up after hazardous waste blast
BOISE, Idaho -- Air monitoring systems were set up Tuesday to check for low-level nuclear radiation and other harmful contaminants after a weekend blast at a hazardous waste site in Idaho that killed a worker, destroyed a building and damaged other structures, an official said.
Results were not yet available from the monitors installed at the US Ecology site about 50 miles south of Boise, said Albert Crawshaw of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
Officials said it's not clear what caused the explosion. US Ecology takes in low-level radioactive waste, but none of the material was believed to be near the explosion Saturday, Crawshaw said.
The explosion occurred in a building where hazardous waste is treated. Images appear to show that the blast blew out the roof and walls, Crawshaw said. Other buildings at the 200-acre site also received damage.
The facility also accepts contaminants such as arsenic, lead, zinc, cadmium and other metals. It's unclear if containers holding any of that hazardous waste were damaged.
A Section on 11/21/2018