Mike Miller, Maryland State Senate President, 'Wouldn't Mind A Toke' Of Marijuana (VIDEO)

A mayor called "Sugardaddie," a $200,000 cheese heist, and a lawnmower DUI? Thats just the beginning of this week's local news roundup.

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Fifth Grader Faces Expulsion For Bringing Marijuana To School To Keep Dad From Smoking It

Though his intentions may have been innocent, a Virginia fifth grader who brought marijuana to school could face expulsion for his actions, according to media reports.

Local police officers responded to a report of a student in possession of marijuana Tuesday. According to Suffolk police, the Driver Elementary student showed his teacher the drug and said he took it from his father so that he would stop smoking.

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In an email to the Suffolk News-Herald, city spokeswoman Diana Klink said: "When asked about the marijuana in the presence of the student’s mother, he advised the officer that he found it in his father’s truck and brought it to school to show his teacher because he wanted his father to stop smoking marijuana."

However, under Suffolk Public Schools' student code of conduct and school board policy, students are restricted from having marijuana in their possession on school grounds, regardless of the reason. Though the school is entitled to impose its own disciplinary actions, the principal is also required to report any conduct involving marijuana to local law enforcement, as required under the Code of Virginia.

“Policy is policy, but I do think they need to check into the situation more,” Jonathan Lewis, a former teacher, told WTKR.

While the student has since been suspended, NBC affiliate WAVY reports that district spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw confirmed the student has been recommended for expulsion. The hearing is expected to be scheduled within the next 10 days.

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Medical Marijuana Gets Boost From Herbal Products Lobbying Alliance

WASHINGTON -- Following two years of collaboration with the medical marijuana industry, the American Herbal Products Association said Thursday that it was providing recommendations to state officials looking to regulate medical pot.

The American Herbal Products Association, founded in 1982 to represent botanical medicine companies, had not previously announced its alliance with medical marijuana and the trade organization Americans for Safe Access, which represents pot dispensaries and other elements of the industry.

The alliance gives medical marijuana a broader presence in Washington and a less controversial trade group to help it work the corridors of power. The American Herbal Products Association has reduced its lobbying and campaign giving in recent years, but has spent nearly $2 million lobbying since 1998.

A chief argument against marijuana as a medicine centers around its lack of approval by the Food and Drug Administration. On Wednesday, a judge rejected an effort to reclassify the drug, citing a lack of compelling evidence of its medical value.

Millions of people, however, attest to pot's medical benefits. Advocates said the association with other herbal and botanical treatments will help policymakers think of marijuana more rationally.

"The AHPA Cannabis Committee includes in its charter a responsibility to develop policy recommendations that support safe use of products derived from cannabis species," Michael McGuffin, American Herbal Products Association president, said in a statement. "This initial work should be well received by state regulators, who share our commitment to ensuring safe access to medical marijuana for their citizens."

The trade group said decades of overseeing herbal product safety makes it "uniquely qualified to apply that experience to medical marijuana."

The group said it has delivered recommendations to lawmakers in California, Massachusetts and Colorado.

Aaron Bycoffe contributed reporting

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Marijuana Possession Arrests Exceed Violent Crime Arrests (INFOGRAPHIC)

Americans are shifting on marijuana. More than half of them think it should be regulated like alcohol and cigarettes, 18 states have passed legislation approving it for medical use and Washington State and Colorado have legalized it for recreational use, but it remains illegal under federal law. And the arrests continue — one every 42 seconds, and 86 percent of those are simply for possession, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

In 2011, marijuana possession arrests totaled 663,032 — more than arrests for all violent crimes combined. Possession arrests have nearly doubled since 1980, according to an FBI report, while teen marijuana use recently reached a 30-year high.

President Obama said last month that going after recreational pot users in states where it is legal is not "a top priority" for his administration, which echoes a promise he made in 2008 not to interfere with states' medical marijuana laws. Since then, his administration has aggressively targeted dispensaries that are in compliance with state law.

Taxpayers have shouldered the cost of arresting and incarcerating hundreds of thousands of people for the possession of marijuana, often in small quantities for personal use. Some national estimates put the annual cost of marijuana arrests above $10 billion, and low-level arrests for marijuana possession cost New York City alone $75 million in 2010. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed decriminalizing possession of 15 grams or less — even when flashed in public view — last week in his State of the State address.

"Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and wastes millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime," Cuomo said. "It’s not fair, it’s not right. It must end, and it must end now."

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Colorado Marijuana Clubs Open Following Passage Of Amendment 64

Marijuana plants flourish under the lights at a grow house in Denver, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

DENVER -- Recreational marijuana clubs are open in Colorado.

Another club opened Monday in Del Norte (del-NORT'), in southern Colorado. The clubs are not open to the public.

An attorney for Denver's new Club 64 says the clubs are permissible under Colorado's new constitutional amendment on marijuana. Marijuana will not be sold at the clubs. He said Club 64 has 200 members over age 21 who paid $29.99 for a one-time club event. It is named for Amendment 64, which voters approved last month

Nearly an hour after opening, no police were seen outside Club 64.

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