Canadian healthcare has become something of a byword for the “ideal” in healthcare among certain activists in the United States. Bernie Sanders, for example, has relentlessly pressed for a Canada-style healthcare system, and many left-of-center Americans advocate for the same.

A New York City federal jury has spoken, and its message is ominous: federal prosecutors are empowered to criminalize actions for which there is no statutory prohibition. To put it another way, the government has pulled criminal charges out of thin air – and journalists are cheering.

US states continue to expand Medicaid, and it’s happening even in so-called “red states.” CNBC, for instance, reports how voters in “red states” Utah, Nebraska, and Idaho all approved ballot issues to expand Medicaid under new Obamacare provisions. Meanwhile, the voters in these states also handed control of state government to Republican governors and legislators.

Last night’s midterms were the odd political event where both sides left seeming reasonably happy with the result. While it was no blue wave, Democrats will now have two years of using the House to investigate the Trump Administration, while the GOP has strengthened its hold of the Senate and held on to several governorships.

Yesterday in Colorado, voters rejected numerous proposed taxes and government regulations. One of the biggest was Proposition 112, which was an anti-fracking measure that would have outlawed fracking in much of the state. That failed, with 57 percent voting no.

There were three important victories related to cannabis yesterday, including the states of Michigan, Missouri and Utah which are far from being lefty hippy states! Only in North Dakota did the ballot measure fail.

Michigan passed full adult recreational legalization of cannabis by a 54-46 margin making it the 10th state to do so.