SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced a bill Thursday in Congress to protect people who use cannabidiol oil for medical purposes in states where it is legal.

HR4779, the CBD Oil Act of 2016, would bar prosecution of people legally using cannabidiol oil for medication or research as permitted under state law.

Chaffetz said CBD oil — a marijuana extract low in THC, the chemical that causes the "high" in marijuana — has been used to successfully treat epilepsy, cancer and other illnesses.

"Patients who qualify to receive treatment should not have to fear prosecution by the federal government," Chaffetz said in a statement. "States have taken the lead on this issue, and the federal government should follow."

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LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has again rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment by Mary Berry of Summit to legalize marijuana in Arkansas.

Berry's proposal seeks to legalize the cultivation, production, sale, possession and use of the cannabis plant, including marijuana. It also calls for the release of non-violent marijuana offenders from "incarceration, probation and parole" and to expunge their convictions from criminal records.

Rutledge said in a letter Thursday that there are ambiguities in the text of the proposal.

This is the seventh time the attorney general has rejected the proposal.

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SALEM — Oregon’s first month of tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales was greater than the first take of any other state so far where recreational sales have been legalized.

The Oregon Department of Revenue reported Thursday, March 17, that the agency collected about $3.48 million in recreational cannabis taxes in January.

Although each state’s tax structure differs, Oregon’s tax receipts exceeded even state economists’ expectations, boosted in part by an already robust medical marijuana industry and a three-month period of sales before the tax took effect.

State economists had projected $2 million to $3 million in tax revenue for the first year, after subtracting the cost of regulating the market, said Mazen Malik, senior economist with the Oregon Legislative Revenue Office. His office has yet to calculate the overall cost of regulation, he said.

“It is probably too early to make the conclusion on what is the overall picture out of this first month,” Malik said.

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State marijuana regulators Thursday announced a recall of a large amount of retail pot grown and allegedly treated with unapproved pesticides by MGI Inc. in Denver, whose cultivation facilities operate under the name Kindman.

The recall — which the state calls a public health and safety advisory — appears to extend to dozens of strains the company has grown as long ago as March 2014 and as recently as January 2016, according to an announcement by the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division.

Regulators said the recall is the result of an investigation by the state Department of Agriculture, which confirmed the presence of imidacloprid, one of the most widely used insecticides in the world but not approved for use on marijuana.

MGI owner Ryan Fox said his company "absolutely has not used this pesticide in production," and is challenging the recall.

"We are contesting these findings and are attempting to have the hold released," he said in a statement.

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