It is time to take a second look at reforming the opioid market, starting with the regulatory environment. [photo] Ike Brannon and Devorah Goldman of Capital Policy Analytics argue that it's time to reform the opioid market, starting with the regulatory environment. Capital Policy Analytics is a Washington, D.C., based consulting firm that provides economic analysis to businesses regarding how government policies affect markets and the broader economy.(Photo: TNS) Attorneys general from nearly every state and across the political spectrum agree that the makers of the drug Suboxone, a widely used treatment that reduces cravings for opiate addicts, violated state and federal antitrust laws. [continues 575 words]
Backers of marijuana legalization on Monday stepped up their pressure on the U.S. Senate to block the confirmation of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general. Sessions, a staunch opponent of legalization, angered proponents in April when he called pot "dangerous" and said that "good people don't smoke marijuana." Marijuana backers want the issue aired Tuesday when the Senate Judiciary Committee begins Sessions' confirmation hearing. "It's a national thing: This hearing is make or break for the marijuana folks," said Adam Eidinger, who heads a pro-legalization group in Washington, D.C., called DCMJ. [continues 796 words]
Pot's legal in California. So why are people still getting busted in Yosemite? Think pot is now legal in California? Try telling that to the National Park Service rangers ready to bust people caught with marijuana in Yosemite, Redwood, Death Valley and other federal lands across the state. The federal government says it's not backing off on citing people who are caught with marijuana in California's national parks, monuments, recreational areas and other federal lands regardless of the landslide vote that legalized recreational marijuana in the state. [continues 783 words]
I've only just started! Filipino President Duterte's bloody war on drugs has claimed 6,000 lives and seen 900,000 addicts surrender in just six months -- as he claims his country is now safer for normal people * The Philippines government has claimed it is winning the war on drugs after a brutal crackdown on dealing * 6,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes in a six month campaign ordered by President Duterte * The Filipino government has said that thanks to the crackdown, the country is now a safer place for residents [continues 1462 words]
It took me awhile to perfect the cookie recipe. I experimented with ingredients: Blueberry, Strawberry, Sour Diesel, White Widow, Bubba Kush, AK-47 -- all strains of cannabis, which I stored, mixed with glycerin, in meticulously labeled jars on a kitchen shelf. After the cookies finished baking, I'd taste a few crumbs and annotate the effects in a notebook. Often, I felt woozy. One variation put me to sleep. When I had convinced myself that a batch was okay, I'd give a cookie to my 9-year-old son. [continues 1942 words]
The opioid epidemic ripping throughout the nation and our own backyard will not be stopped without the multi-pronged approach that is thankfully occurring on all levels of government. Local, state and national leaders have stepped up to provide assistance. Police, fire departments, ambulance crews, hospital staffs and others are on the front lines of this fight. Last month proved deadly in Erie County, with public officials reporting at least 42 suspected opioid overdose deaths, half of them since Dec. 19 and six alone on Dec. 27. [continues 451 words]
Senator Elizabeth Warren is leading a new effort to make sure vendors working with marijuana businesses don't have their banking services taken away. As marijuana shops sprout in states that have legalized the drug, they face a critical stumbling block: lack of access to the kind of routine banking services other businesses take for granted. US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, is leading an effort to make sure vendors working with legal marijuana businesses, from chemists who test marijuana for harmful substances to firms that provide security, don't have their banking services taken away. [continues 568 words]
Even in a roomful of tinhorn dictators, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines would stand out. He has insulted President Barack Obama and Pope Francis, admitted to killing suspected criminals, called a United Nations official an "idiot" and threatened to burn down the U.N. headquarters. He's also signaled his interest in closer ties with China, a nation with which the United States has conflicts on trade, security and other matters. Though it's unclear what kind of relationship he and President-elect Donald Trump will have, the U.S. may have a difficult balancing act ahead in holding Duterte to international standards while preserving its long-important relationship with the Philippines. It will be especially important to ensure that U.S. aid to the Philippines is not used for illicit purposes, such as an extrajudicial war on drugs. [continues 227 words]
Thomas Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column, appearing twice weekly in 93 newspapers around California, with circulation of over 2.2 million. As a United States attorney in Alabama serving under President Ronald Reagan in 1986, the 39-year-old Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was charged with enforcing civil rights laws. But he said then that he didn't have much of a problem with what the Ku Klux Klan stood for, musing that he thought the KKK was "OK until I found out they smoked pot." [continues 640 words]
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, left, talks with US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and audience members during a town hall meeting on how to deal with the opioid addiction in Appalachia on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on in Abingdon, VA. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture talks about opioid addiction during a town hall meeting with Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on Thursday, June 30, 2016 in Abingdon, VA.(SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) [continues 1044 words]
Californians may have voted overwhelmingly on Nov. 8 to legalize marijuana, but Americans also elected Donald Trump, whose position on legalization has been a bit -- hazy. That's a potential problem because marijuana is regulated under federal law, giving Trump and his administration veto power over whether California and the seven other states that have voted to legalize cannabis can really do so. So where does the president-elect stand on pot? He has said he supports individuals' right to use medical marijuana "100%," which is good news for the 29 states that allow medicinal use of pot. As for adult recreational use, which Californians approved through Proposition 64, it's hard to say what he believes because his statements have been all over the map, shifting from audience to audience. [continues 667 words]
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at a military ceremony in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at a military ceremony in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press) He has compared himself to Hitler, called President Obama a "son of a whore," and overseen a wave of extrajudicial violence that has left thousands of people dead. Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' 71-year-old president -- a former city mayor with a level gaze and an aura of casual dishevelment -- passed his 100th day in office Oct. 8, and despite his profanity and repeated calls to violence, he is the country's most popular leader in recent memory. [continues 1174 words]
WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general is an outspoken foe of efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes - and that has some wondering what it means for the 28 states that have legalized marijuana in some form. Those states include Ohio, which is in the process of working on regulations for its own medical marijuana legalization. Aaron Marshall, a spokesman for Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, said his hope remains with Trump, who has repeatedly said he supports leaving marijuana legalization efforts to the states. [continues 772 words]
VANCOUVER - Their position on marijuana is hardly the only difference between Canada's prime minister and the president-elect of the United States. But when Justin Trudeau's government introduces legislation to legalize cannabis this spring, it could spark problems between Canada and the U.S., particularly since Donald Trump has indicated he will keep pot illegal at the federal level. Here's a look at what could change in Canada-U.S. relations once Canadians start lighting up legally. [continues 838 words]
Their position on marijuana is hardly the only difference between Canada's Prime Minister and the president-elect of the United States. But when Justin Trudeau's government introduces legislation to legalize cannabis this spring, it could spark problems between Canada and the United States, particularly since Donald Trump has indicated he will keep pot illegal at the federal level. Here's a look at what could change in Canada-U.S. relations once Canadians start lighting up legally. Border control [continues 556 words]
How Canada's legalization of marijuana could change relations with the U.S. VANCOUVER - Their position on marijuana is hardly the only difference between Canada's prime minister and the president-elect of the United States. But when Justin Trudeau's government introduces legislation to legalize cannabis this spring, it could spark problems between Canada and the U.S., particularly since Donald Trump has indicated he will keep pot illegal at the federal level. Here's a look at what could change in Canada-U.S. relations once Canadians start lighting up legally. [continues 840 words]
As the lunatic fringe has long said, allowing people to grow their own marijuana would kill the illegal drug trade as soon as the first crop was harvested. But the task force, being an arm of government, had to be stupid. Watching sanity finally seep into the country's drug laws, you have to marvel at the stubborn narrow-mindedness that kept marijuana illegal for so long, causing suffering and injustice for half a century. Once again, the lunatic fringe is proven right. We could have listened decades ago, and prevented people from being imprisoned for pot possession. The impending legalization of marijuana will be vindication for the vocal lunatic fringe who long argued the laws against it were illogical, hypocritical and indefensible. [continues 565 words]
Officials, former inmate contrast the emphasis on treatment vs. incarceration When Leola Bivins was first sent away for dealing drugs, she was a 22-year-old high school dropout with a 2-year-old daughter at home. Addiction was the center of the life she knew in East Stroudsburg, where she was born and raised, she recalled recently. Bivins' mother was a heroin addict - she eventually died of an overdose - and seemingly everyone around her was either selling drugs or abusing them, Bivins said. [continues 2766 words]
Defending the government's classification of marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration declares on its website that pot causes mental illness and lung cancer and leads youths to heroin and cocaine. But an advocacy group says the DEA, in a legal filing in August, said it found no evidence to support any of those conclusions. The group, Americans for Safe Access, has asked the agency to remove discredited claims from its Web page. [continues 522 words]
Philippines' police have shot more than 3,000 to death Thousands of kilometres away from her hometown of Samar in the south of Philippines, Sonia Pormarca Carreon has been finding it hard to sleep. "I have four sons in that country. And the police is shooting people every day," said the Scarborough resident ,who came to Toronto more than two years ago as a live-in caregiver. "Honestly, I am very worried about their lives. I know they have not done anything wrong but the situation is so scary." [continues 215 words]
Imagine this: Upon taking his oath of office, President Donald Trump instructs his new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to ignore civil rights laws. How would that go over? Before you yell, "But we are a nation of laws!" you can thank President Barack Obama and his prior Attorney General Eric Holder for magnifying this issue. Basically, the Obama administration made it standard operating procedure to ignore laws they thought unfashionable or unworthy. The best example of this is marijuana. To be clear at the outset, I am neither pro-pot nor anti-pot. And, in fact, marijuana is not even the issue - rather, the Constitution is. Marijuana is just the symptom that exposes the problem. [continues 754 words]
DENVER - Legal pot's future is in a haze, thanks to President-elect Trump's nomination of a staunchly anti-marijuana lawmaker for attorney general. "Good people don't smoke marijuana," said Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions in an April Senate hearing. That view from the nation's incoming top cop, a sharply different tone than President Obama's, has cast a pall over an industry that's recently celebrated a watershed moment. Voters in eight states relaxed their marijuana laws on Nov. 8, raising to 29 the states that now permit medical use of marijuana, and eight with legal recreational laws on the books. [end]
The Constitution gives presidents nearly unlimited authority to grant pardons and commute sentences - decisions that no future administration can reverse. Unfortunately, for most of his presidency, Barack Obama treated mercy as an afterthought. Even as thousands of men and women endured outrageously long sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses as a result of the nation's misguided drug war, Mr. Obama granted relief to only a tiny handful. In the last two years, however, Mr. Obama has changed course. In 2014 he directed the Justice Department to systematically review cases of people serving out sentences that would be far shorter had they been convicted under new, more lenient sentencing laws. [continues 512 words]
Tillis says he may not return if bills like sentencing changes aren't passed Senate WASHINGTON - Sen. Thom Tillis said Wednesday that he may not seek re-election in 2020 unless a sweeping overhaul of the nation's prison sentencing system is passed. Tillis, R-N.C., has sought to make revamping the nation's criminal justice system one of his signature issues since arriving in Washington in 2015, leaning on his experience in pushing through North Carolina's Justice Reinvestment Act when he was state House speaker in 2011. [continues 697 words]
I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of the child killed in the recent senseless car crash. I can't imagine your grief. Here's a summary of facts the StarNews reported about the driver charged in this incident: 2010 Convicted on impaired driving charge 2012 Convicted on Level 2 (severe) DWI charge. Released from prison in less than 6 months, probation revoked. Currently faces charges for 10/15/2016 attempted breaking and entering, for a prior drug possession and for two prior counts of driving with revoked license. [continues 102 words]
WASHINGTON - President Obama granted 98 more commutations to federal inmates Thursday, bringing the total for this year to 688 - the most commutations ever granted by a president in a single year. In all, he's now shortened the sentences of 872 inmates during his presidency, more than any president since Woodrow Wilson. The actions were part of Obama's extraordinary effort to use his constitutional power to rectify what he sees as unduly harsh sentences imposed during the "War on Drugs." Through a clemency initiative announced in 2014, he's effectively re-sentenced hundreds of non-violent drug dealers to the sentences they would have received under today's more lenient sentencing guidelines. [end]
Credit Christopher DeLorenzo People in nine states, including California, Florida and Massachusetts, will vote Nov. 8 on ballot proposals permitting recreational or medical use of marijuana. These initiatives could give a big push to legalization, prompting the next president and Congress to overhaul the countryas failed drug laws. This is a big moment for what was a fringe movement a few years ago. A Gallup poll released on Wednesday showed 60 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, up from 31 percent in 2000 and 12 percent in 1969. [continues 594 words]
Illegal drug use and trafficking have led to a multitude of ills in the United States, sometimes because of racially infected law enforcement, particularly in black neighborhoods. But is decriminalizing small amounts of narcotics at least part of the answer to the scourge? Two major human and civil rights organizations make a good case for it and advance the decriminalization discussion in a report released Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are engaged in a major push to change the way federal, state and local governments deal with drug enforcement and abuse. [continues 770 words]
Ottawa achieved a dubious distinction over the weekend when the capital saw its 50th shooting of 2016. With a quarter of the year left to go, that beats the previous record of 49 set in 2014. Now, I am not prepared to invite outrage and opprobrium from the left by suggesting that we might encapsulate the increased violence with the sobriquet of "welcome to Justin Trudeau's Canada." But it does suggest that while Canada enforces some of the toughest gun control legislation in the world, the criminals never have any difficulty in obtaining weapons. [continues 580 words]
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Jamaica has long bemoaned its reputation as the land of ganja. It has enforced draconian drug laws and spent millions on public education to stem its distinction as a pot mecca. But its role as a major supplier of illicit marijuana to the United States and its international image - led by the likes of Bob Marley, whose Rastafarian faith considers smoking up a religious act - have been too strong to overcome. Now, its leaders smell something else: opportunity. [continues 1343 words]
WASHINGTON - For 126 federal inmates who received presidential clemency last month, the good news might have come with a dose of disappointment. President Obama had granted their requests for commutations, using his constitutional pardon power to shorten their sentences for drug offenses. But instead of releasing them, he left them with years - and in some cases, more than a decade - left to serve on their sentences. As Obama has begun to grant commutations to inmates convicted of more serious crimes, Obama has increasingly commuted their sentences without immediately releasing them. These are what are known as "term" commutations, as opposed to the more common "time served" commutations, and they represent a remarkable departure from recent past practice. Unlike a full pardon, commutations shorten sentences but leave other consequences of the conviction in place. [end]
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to launch a renewed strategy to address the unrelenting scourge of heroin and opioid addiction, in part by placing greater emphasis on identifying links between over-prescribing doctors and distribution networks across the country. The plan, outlined by Attorney General Loretta Lynch in an interview with USA TODAY, is part of an eleventh-hour push by the Obama administration against a public health crisis that continues to claim nearly 100 people each day in the United States. [continues 53 words]
MANILA - Rayzabell Bongol, an 18-year-old mother and methamphetamine user, was afraid to die in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in the Philippines. So she turned herself in to the police. They made her sign a pledge that she would never take illegal drugs again, then sent her home. Once a week now, she is expected to attend a police-sponsored Zumba dance workout, where she gets a health check and a meal. Mr. Duterte "promised change," she said at a recent class as three dozen other recovering addicts bopped and swayed to a blaring Latin beat. "As you can see, I am changing." [continues 1290 words]
Duterte Used Epithet in Reference to President. VIENTIANE, LAOS (AP) - President Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a U.S. ally's leader during a diplomatic tour that has put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures. It's unusual for one president to tell another what to say or not say, and much rarer to call the other a "son of a bitch." Duterte managed to do both just before flying to Laos for a regional summit, warning Obama not to challenge him over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. [continues 479 words]
HANGZHOU, China - After being called an obscenity by the president of the Philippines, President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with the leader, Rodrigo Duterte, scheduled for today. Duterte had threatened to curse out the U.S. commander in chief if Obama raised the issue of extrajudicial killings by Philippine authorities in a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking. Speaking to reporters, Duterte, who took office in June, said the Philippines is a "sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony," according to the Associated Press. [continues 180 words]
L.A. Substance-Abuse Prevention Specialist Works to Limit Pot Availability Among Young People. When I wrote on Friday that pot use can have a serious downside for some teenagers, I hardly expected to be accused of embracing an archaic, alarmist "Reefer Madness" point of view. "Are you paid by an anti-marijuana faction?" asked one reader. "You should be ashamed." I'm sure I've done a lot of things that I should be ashamed of, but raising questions about the effects of marijuana on developing brains is not one of them. [continues 894 words]
On Tuesday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 federal drug offenders. In his first term, Obama endured the sting of critics like me who called him one of the stingiest modern presidents when it comes to the presidential pardon power. In his second term, Obama is making up for lost time. With 673 commutations , the Washington Post reports , Obama has approached 690, the number of commutations issued by the previous 11 presidents. Obama deserves credit for doing the right thing. [continues 480 words]
President: US Leader Must First See Context PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday said he was ready to defend his take-no-prisoners war on drugs in a discussion of the human rights situation in the Philippines with US President Barack Obama in Laos next week. Mr. Duterte said he was willing to meet with Obama on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Vientiane on Sept. 6, but he would demand that he be allowed to first explain the context of his merciless crackdown on the illegal drug trade before engaging the US leader in a discussion of the human rights situation in the Philippines. [continues 546 words]
Patrick Kennedy, a recovering drug addict, former Rhode Island congressman and member of the nation's most famous political family, is spearheading a national campaign to thwart legalization of recreational marijuana. Hezekiah Allen, a former Humboldt County marijuana farmer like his parents and grandparents, is a Sacramento lobbyist who heads the state's largest group of cannabis growers. They aren't exactly political bedfellows, but the two share a concern over California's Proposition 64 on the November ballot: Both believe it would open the door to Big Marijuana corporate dominance, threatening the culture and livelihood of the small-scale farms entrenched for decades on the North Coast. [continues 728 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama cut short on Tuesday the sentences of 111 federal inmates in another round of commutations for those convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. Obama has long called for phasing out strict sentences for drug convictions, arguing they lead to excessive punishment and incarceration rates unseen in other developed countries. White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said the commutations underscored the president's commitment to using his clemency authority to give deserving individuals a second chance. He said that Obama has granted a total of 673 commutations, more than the previous 10 presidents combined. More than a third of the recipients were serving life sentences. [continues 374 words]
RECENTLY I MET a man in Phoenix who told me that being diagnosed with cancer had made him happy. "How could this be?" I asked him. He told me having cancer meant he would likely need surgery, which in turn meant more prescriptions for the pain pills to which he had become addicted. He had started using prescription painkillers when he was young. Over the years, addiction hijacked his brain, compromising his health, altering his reasoning, and leaving broken relationships and deferred dreams in its wake. [continues 836 words]
Federal Officials Remain in a Haze When It Comes to Articulating a Comprehensible Policy on Marijuana. Perhaps Last Week's Ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Curtailing the Feds From Prosecuting Legitimate Growers and Distributors Will Help Clear the Air. Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth. Yet the federal government still sees marijuana as a dangerous drug and dispensary operators as prosecution targets. [continues 359 words]
Rancho Cordova Bans Dispensaries, Sacramento Allows Them and Other Cities Fall in the Middle Sometimes, Stephanie Raskin smokes marijuana to stop thinking about suicide. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, she remains stable through a blend of prescription pills that must be constantly tweaked to match her body chemistry. When the pharmaceuticals fall short, she supplements her treatment with medical marijuana. But her hometown, Rancho Cordova, bans dispensaries. And the closest one is 11 miles away. "It's frustrating," she said. "Especially with my condition, I get debilitatingly depressed to the point where everything is a monumental task. I only smoke because my depression can cause suicidal thoughts. And sativa can keep me from reaching those depths. I'm not one of those sit-on-the-couch stoners." [continues 781 words]
No Rescheduling Cannabis, But Plenty of Other Activity WHAT'S WITH all the federal weed law action? My head is spinning! MINE, TOO. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced it would not change its dismal tune on cannabis, and that weed would remain a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Then, the Obama administration announced it would ease barriers on marijuana research, despite the Schedule I restriction. Then, a bunch of federal attorneys general got pwned in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding their prosecution of medical marijuana businesses, which is a pretty big deal. [continues 399 words]
"I hurt daily," says former NFL and Michigan State University football player Andre Rison. "Marijuana candy helps." Rison has been in the news recently due to legal troubles in connection with his child support payments and testing positive for marijuana while on probation. I don't know anything about his child support issues, but I sympathize with the guy when it comes to his pain. Football players work in a physically violent arena, and most of them suffer debilitating pain on a regular basis. I've met people who still suffer from having played high school football. Imagine what it's like after having banged around with massively muscular 300-pound people for a living. That's why I totally support the choices of players such as Barry Sanders, who walked away from the game hopefully while they were still ahead. [continues 1054 words]
Federal officials remain in a haze when it comes to articulating a comprehensible policy on marijuana. Perhaps last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals curtailing the feds from prosecuting legitimate growers and distributors will help clear the air. Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth. Yet the federal government still sees marijuana as a dangerous drug and dispensary operators as prosecution targets. [continues 352 words]
President Barack Obama has said he considers marijuana no more dangerous than alcohol. More than three years ago, he said he had "bigger fish to fry" than targeting pot smokers in states that permit recreational use. Federal officials remain in a haze when it comes to articulating a comprehensible policy on marijuana. Perhaps last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals curtailing the feds from prosecuting legitimate growers and distributors will help clear the air. Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth. [continues 374 words]
Federal officials remain in a haze when it comes to articulating a comprehensible policy on marijuana. Perhaps last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals curtailing the feds from prosecuting legitimate growers and distributors will help clear the air. Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth. Yet the federal government still sees marijuana as a dangerous drug and dispensary operators as prosecution targets. [continues 359 words]
The 'Green Rush' Has Proven to Be a Mixed Blessing for Colorado and Its State Capital. At Bruce Randolph School in a tough inner-city part of Denver, the staff and pupils used to breathe fumes from a nearby dog food factory. Now they get a regular whiff of something much more controversial. "I smell weed, oh, all day long," says Darlicia Campbell, the school campus safety officer. At first, teachers who kept smelling marijuana in their classrooms summoned her to sniff out the pupil who had brought it. "I was going crazy for a couple of weeks," she recalls. Eventually, the children explained to her that fumes from a nearby marijuana growing centre had entered the school ventilation system. [continues 878 words]
Federal officials remain in a haze when it comes to articulating a comprehensible national policy on marijuana. Perhaps last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals curtailing the feds from prosecuting legitimate growers and distributors will help clear the air. Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth. Yet the federal government still sees marijuana as a dangerous drug and dispensary operators as prosecution targets. [continues 352 words]
