John McKay | Courtesy Seattle University

As the U.S. attorney for Western Washington, Seattle University law professor John McKay put people behind bars for marijuana-related crimes.

Now, after being fired along with eight other attorney generals in what many considered a political push-out, McKay advocates a loosening of marijuana laws, reports seattlepi.com.

Speaking as part of a panel that included famous world traveler and marijuana decriminalization activist Rick Steves Monday, McKay said marijuana should not be treated like cocaine and methamphetamine. Like those and other “hard drugs,” marijuana is considered a schedule I drug by the law.

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Barack Obama admitted to smoking marijuana in his first book. "Of course I inhaled, that was the point," he wrote. Image via Coed Magazine.

In a big win for states’ rights and potheads alike, it was announced late last night that the Obama administration would no longer seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws.

Two Justice Department officials described the policy to the Associated Press, saying that prosecutors will be told it’s not a good use of their time to prosecute people who provide  medical marijuana in states where the drug is allowed.

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Always wanting to be a step ahead of other states and currently in the middle of a terrible budget deficit to the tune of $16 billion due to the recession, California may become the first state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use and therefore make a killing off of taxes on the drug.

The Snitch, the San Francisco Weekly’s blog, broke the news yesterday that Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in all forms, removing “all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21,” according to Ammiano’s press secretary Quintin Mecke.

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Michael Phelps gettin' superhigh

After this photograph of 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps appeared online, Phelps was quick to issue an apology for his behavior.

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