Jeffrey Toobin's piece on the inmates and staff at the Baltimore City Detention Center illustrates the devastation of human lives and communities which decades of drug prohibition have wrought ("This Is My Jail," April 14th). Most American drug-prohibition enforcement is in minority communities, even though drug use among minorities is virtually no higher than it is in the white population. With a large percentage of the young men from minority neighborhoods locked up, and few opportunities for young women to make a living wage as anything other than their jailers, sex, romance, smuggling, and gangs within detention facilities should come as no surprise. Even after huge expenditures, the erosion of civil rights across the country, and the disruption of communities and families, drugs are still available both outside and inside our jails and prisons. It is baffling that anyone would think that mere regime and policy changes could improve the conditions in jails, communities, or in the country at large. Trish Randall Vancouver, Wash. [end]
Victoria Park: Councillor Defends Heavy Police Presence At Gathering On Parliament Hill in Ottawa Sunday, news reports described a crowd of about 2,000 people throwing Frisbees, listening to music and smoking pot. In Vancouver, thousands gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery for their public celebration. At London's Victoria Park, however, some in the crowd of about 100 people yelled at police and were repeatedly warned they would be arrested if they lit up a joint. One officer in the heavy presence of 16 to 20 cops filmed the goings-on. [continues 305 words]
We've always had it. We're slowly getting rid of it. My dad was forced to write right-handed. He was a natural lefty. Only when he injured his right hand could he switch to the left and left he stayed. We know about the racial, sexual and homophobic discrimination, the religious ones and more. There's the Pride Parades on father's day. This past Sunday in Ottawa, 10,000 potheads were celebrating their lifestyle. Yeah, Easter Sunday and they called it 4-20. Stiltwalker Precious Chong of Cheech and Chong fame hosts. Whatever you feel about medical marijuana, recreational marijuana or the related hemp products, you have to admit one thing-- They are heavily discriminated on by governments and many abstainers. Raven P. Lershart Cornwall [end]
Tighter Rules Come on the Heels of Two Deaths DENVER - The Mile High City was jammed with pot revelers Sunday for the annual 4/20 festival, but the mood was far from celebratory Monday as state legislators moved to tighten rules on marijuana products in the wake of two tragic deaths. The Colorado House passed unanimously bills to set possession limits for concentrated forms of marijuana such as hash oil, and to make cookies, candy and other foods infused with pot more easily identifiable. [continues 775 words]
A sane or moral argument to continue cannabis prohibition doesn't exist. Another important reason to end cannabis prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because prohibition increases hard drug addiction rates. It puts citizens who choose to use the relatively safe plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs. Further, the government claims that heroin is no worse than cannabis, and methamphetamine and cocaine are less harmful, by insisting that cannabis is a Schedule I substance along with heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. [continues 53 words]
Under a bill proposed in Lansing, Michigan could become the first state to adopt a roadside saliva test that aims to tell police whether a driver is impaired due to consuming pot. Saliva testing is being pushed by a bipartisan group of Michigan legislators and championed by the Michigan State Police. But researchers who've studied the test method said results are inconsistent and especially misleading when applied to regular users of cannabis, such as the more than 100,000 Michiganders who are allowed to use medical marijuana. [continues 525 words]
Clemencies Gain Bipartisan Support In a move that could result in the prison release of hundreds or thousands of low-level drug offenders, the Justice Department said Monday that it will advise President Obama to widen his guidelines for granting clemency. The announcement, immediately praised by advocates for reform of the criminal justice system, is part of the administration's effort to reduce the nation's prison population and address racial disparities in drug sentencing. It remains unclear how effective the approach will be and whether the president is prepared to move forward on what may be an unprecedented wave of pardons and commutations. [continues 687 words]
Marijuana has now been legalized or decriminalized in 17 states and the District of Columbia, with Maryland joining the list just last week. What's unhealthy about this trend is that it coincides with a declining awareness of marijuana's dangers - especially among young people. Fewer than 40 percent of high-school seniors think marijuana use poses a great risk, down from 55 percent in 2003. Cigarettes are dangerous, more and more adolescents have come to realize, but they don't believe marijuana is. (In fact, they're both unhealthy.) [continues 421 words]
Advocates Say Drug Can Save Lives Sean Azzariti, a former corporal in the Marines, says medical marijuana saved his life. Two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2005 left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he was barely getting by on a cocktail of antidepressants, Adderall and sleeping pills. With few options, he said, he did some research on marijuana and began taking it shortly after leaving the Marine Corps in 2006. "It changed my life," he told The Washington Times. "I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I kept taking those pills." [continues 1010 words]
Resolutions Address Four Key Issues A Nanaimo-sponsored resolution calling for more municipal control over medical marijuana production has been endorsed by the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities. However, AVICC delegates rejected a resolution from the Harbour City calling on the province to give municipalities immediate power to regulate animal trapping, with some rural representatives voicing concerns. The local government group assembled earlier this month in Parksville and Qualicum Beach for its 2014 AGM and convention. The list of 20-plus resolutions included four from Nanaimo. [continues 364 words]
Out of the Blue: Elderly Couple Staggered by Renewed Attempt to Seize Their Home The B. C. Director of Civil Forfeiture is being branded a "vexatious litigant" and accused of malicious abuse of process for trying to grab the home of a couple given minor sentences for growing marijuana for a compassion club. Although a Provincial Court judge two years ago refused to order the pair to forfeit all or part of the Burnaby property as a consequence of the 2008 offence, the elderly couple say the director is wrongly taking another kick at the can. [continues 861 words]
Only in Toronto. Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson pledged Thursday not to smoke crack if elected but supported the legalization of marijuana. "My administration will lead by example,"Thomson stated. "I will not smoke crack cocaine while in office, at home, or during my personal life. "I have young children and know that my behaviour will have a direct impact on them and their lives. As a mother, I could never set such a destructive example for my children. As the mayor I would never set such a horrible example for my city." [continues 105 words]
After the masses departed and the smoke cleared, workers descended Monday on Golden Gate Park to bag up and truck away all that was left behind by those who celebrated the pot holiday of 4/20 - an annual event that again tested the patience of some residents and city leaders. While thousands enjoyed Sunday's informal smoke out, police arrested 11 people around Sharon Meadow, and paramedics tended to four others. Traffic in the area was jammed all day. And officials estimated the cleanup cost would exceed last year's tab. "Our goal is to provide clean, fun, safe parks, and there's a lot about this event that certainly isn't safe, and it's certainly not clean," said Phil Ginsburg, the general manager of the city park department, as he watched employees scoop up piles of trash. [continues 672 words]
A national anti-marijuana group has met with Obama administration officials to encourage the federal government to reverse legalization in Colorado and Washington. Meanwhile, on Monday, a Colorado group concerned about the impacts of legalization on children issued a statement decrying the scenes of public pot smoking in Denver on Sunday, a day marijuana enthusiasts treat as a holiday called 4/20. Both are examples of organizations skeptical of legalization pointing to the unprecedented interest around marijuana in Denver this past week as reason to change or reverse the 16-month-old law. Scenes of open toking, cannabis commercialism and pot-fueled revelry, the groups say, run contrary to the restrained system of at-home marijuana use that voters approved in 2012. [continues 734 words]
Colorado appears to be giving up on its effort to crack down on medical marijuana growers using a legal loophole to grow high numbers of pot plants without the kind of oversight faced by commercial growers. Medical marijuana care givers cheered the news Monday. The state health department sent letters this month to about 2,300 doctors who have recommended medical marijuana. The letters sought medical justification for recommending more than six plants to any patient. The health department questioned the medical necessity for more than six pot plants per marijuana patient. But a lawyer for the state says it won't pursue the matter. [end]
Like much of Nevada, the casino industry is grappling with issues surrounding medical marijuana. So much so that gaming companies and regulators have had little to say publicly about doctor-prescribed pot. Medical marijuana has been legal in Nevada since 2000, but it took state lawmakers 14 years to allow dispensaries to operate. Now, with a state law in place calling for up to 66 potential medical marijuana outlets throughout Nevada, the issue is finding its way into gaming headquarters. No one has suggested Nevada casinos offer medical marijuana dispensaries as part of their retail amenities. Online gaming has fueled heated debate. Imagine the discussions around this issue? [continues 774 words]
Legalization Bill Would Allocate Millions In Tax Revenue To Narcotic Abuse Prevention The House Judiciary Committee last week heard testimony on several bills proposing to legalize marijuana in Rhode Island and to improve current regulations on the sale and distribution of medical marijuana. While marijuana legalization has gained momentum in the state recently, there remain concerns for some about regulation and legalization's effects. Legalizing marijuana The first bill - introduced Feb. 13 by Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence - would legalize the possession and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana for personal use for adults over 21 years old, a policy supported by 47.6 percent of respondents in an April 10 poll from the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions. The committee heard testimony on the bill Wednesday. [continues 1396 words]
Justice Dept. Expects Thousands of Cases Administration Effort Aimed at Nonviolent Prisoners The Obama administration is beginning an aggressive new effort to foster equity in criminal sentencing by considering clemency requests from as many as thousands of federal inmates serving time for drug offenses, officials said Monday. The initiative, which amounts to an unprecedented campaign to free nonviolent offenders, will begin immediately and continue over the next two years, officials said. The Justice Department said it expects to reassign dozens of lawyers to its understaffed pardons office to handle the requests from inmates. [continues 693 words]
DENVER (AP) - Tens of thousands of revelers raised joints, pipes and vaporizer devices to the sky Sunday at a central Denver park in a defiant toast to the April 20 pot holiday, a once-underground celebration that stepped into the mainstream in the first state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana. The 4: 20 p. m. smokeout in the shadow of the Colorado Capitol was the capstone of an Easter weekend dedicated to cannabis in states across the country. Although it is still against the law to publicly smoke marijuana in Colorado, police reported only 63 citations or arrests on Sunday, 47 for marijuana consumption. [continues 316 words]
Five Men Are Reported but No Disorder at Controversial Glasgow Rally Taxpayers' money is being wasted enforcing the illegality of something that's better than alcohol or tobacco. I want to see it legalised in my lifetime CANNABIS users have gathered at a rally at Glasgow Green to call for the decriminalisation of the Class B drug. Glasgow Cannabis Social Club said yesterday's event was a "celebration" of the substance and had been organised to "enlighten members of the public". [continues 660 words]
I would like to share why I support the legalization of marijuana. For starters, marijuana never should have been made illegal. Its prohibition was made possible only through terrifying lies. It is nontoxic and beneficial; and our cannabis laws honestly do cause a tremendous amount of pain, which radiates negatively throughout our community. I know because I've experienced this personally and through too many friends and family members. The main reason I want our cannabis laws abolished is to put a large dent in the number of unwarranted searches our police are performing each year. A search may not sound like much, but let me assure you, it is infuriating and humiliating, and its effects last for years. [continues 79 words]
A former manager of the Community Probation Service in Timaru believes cannabis should be legalised and synthetic cannabis should be criminalised. Kevin Foley said the legal highs being sold seemed to be inconsistent substances and people never knew exactly what they were going to be putting into their bodies. He said there seemed to be greater consistency with natural cannabis. "It would be much better to legalise cannabis," Foley said. He said he believed it was unfair of central government to hand on the issue of legal highs to local government for regulation. [continues 194 words]
Dear Editor: It was good to see Gov. Scott Walker sign legislation legalizing a form of medical marijuana to treat pediatric seizure disorders. However, Walker's signature does not mean that the children, whose stories moved usually stern lawmakers to tears, will see their medicine anytime soon. According to Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, under the law, multiple federal agencies will have to give their approval - "a process that typically takes several years." Given Walker's rejection of billions in federal aid for high-speed rail and Medicaid, why is he now deferring to federal regulators to make critical decisions regarding the health of state children? [continues 166 words]
Marijuana has now been legalized or decriminalized in 17 states and the District of Columbia, with Maryland joining the list just last week. Not to harsh anyone's mellow, but it may be an appropriate time (and day) to bring back another useful verb to associate with marijuana use: stigmatize. The drive toward legitimization will be hard to stop. Most Americans favor it, and ballot measures to loosen rules on marijuana use could come to a vote this year in at least five states. Twenty-one states already allow marijuana for medical use. [continues 597 words]
SACRAMENTO - Medical marijuana dispensaries in California would need state Public Health Department licenses and doctors who recommend pot would face new standards for examining patients under legislation advanced Monday by a state Senate panel. The measure, supported by members of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, also clarifies the authority of cities and counties to prohibit pot shops within their borders. Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) said his bill was aimed at practices such as one in the Sacramento area, where patients have been issued medical marijuana cards after a few minutes of talking to a doctor via Skype and with no physical exam. [continues 255 words]
Leader Says He Hopes for Breakthrough on Drug War in Peace Talks With FARC Guerrillas MEXICO CITY--Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the war against drugs has failed, and the world must come up with new approaches to deal with a scourge that has killed thousands of Colombians. In an interview on Monday with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Santos noted a softening of hard-line antidrug policies both in the U.S. and in Latin America. He said the world had to develop more "realistic and pragmatic" ways to fight drug trafficking. [continues 1070 words]
Businesses Say Government Guidance Has Made Things Worse DENVER--Two months after the U.S. government tried to smooth the way for sellers of legalized marijuana to get banking services, many pot entrepreneurs still can't open a basic checking account. The Treasury Department and Justice Department in February issued guidance that was meant to reassure banks that they wouldn't run afoul of federal law--under which marijuana remains illegal--by working with pot businesses in states that have legalized the drug. [continues 782 words]
Tens of Thousands Flock to Events With No Major Problems As the sun rose at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sunday, David Garcia- high on the Holy Spirit as well as just plain high - contemplated the unusual convergence of prayer and pot in Colorado this year. "It's a beautiful sight," Garcia said. He said he was raised Christian and said he smoked marijuana before going to the annual sunrise service. "Man didn't create weed. God created weed." Sunday was the first time in 11 years that Easter and the day marijuana enthusiasts call 4/20 fell on the same day. And perhaps the most whipsaw 14 hours in Red Rocks history - churchgoers singing "Amazing Grace" in the morning, Snoop Dogg singing "Smoke the Weed" in the evening-was a fitting peculiarity for a day when a green sheen spread across Denver like never before. [continues 482 words]
DENVER (AP) - Once the province of activists and stoners, the traditional pot holiday of April 20 has gone mainstream in the first state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana. Tens of thousands gathered for a weekend of Colorado cannabis-themed festivals and entertainment, from a marijuana industry expo called the Cannabis Cup at a trade center north of downtown, to 4/20-themed concerts at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater - acts include Slightly Stoopid and Snoop Dogg - to a festival at Civic Center Park, in the shadow of the state capitol. [continues 298 words]
DENVER (AP) - Once the province of activists and stoners, the traditional pot holiday of April 20 has gone mainstream in the first state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana. Tens of thousands gathered for a weekend of Colorado cannabis-themed festivals and entertainment, from a marijuana industry expo called the Cannabis Cup at a trade center north of downtown to 4/20-themed concerts at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater - acts include Slightly Stoopid and Snoop Dogg - to a festival at Civic Center Park, in the shadow of the state Capitol. [continues 686 words]
Mike Lee calls for "a new conservative reform agenda" based on "three basic principles," one of which is federalism. "The biggest reason the federal government makes too many mistakes is that it makes too many decisions," the Republican senator from Utah explained in a speech at the Heritage Foundation last year. "Most of these are decisions the federal government doesn't have to make - and therefore shouldn't." So why on earth is Lee cosponsoring a bill introduced last month that would ban online gambling throughout the country, instead of letting each state decide whether to allow Internet-assisted poker? [continues 591 words]
There appears to be growing support in the Florida Legislature to legalize a type of marijuana that won't get you high but offers medical benefits for a range of maladies, including uncontrollable seizures in children. House Bill 843, like similar bills being considered in other states, represents a new twist in our national history of redefining marijuana to achieve political goals. The bill would legalize strains of cannabis with extremely low levels of THC and high levels of a sister compound called cannabidiol, or CBD. Cannabidiol is close to THC in molecular structure but without the psychoactive effects. Studies have shown that when both are present, as in most recreational marijuana, CBD even works to counteract the THC-induced high. [continues 299 words]
The Reno City Council is moving ahead with rules for medical marijuana establishments within the city limits. The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that council members on Wednesday directed staff to draft ordinances and zoning rules for dispensaries, cultivation operations, testing labs and kitchens for edible products. Washoe County approved requirements governing medical marijuana in unincorporated areas of the Truckee Meadows earlier this month. Nevada voters approved marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2000, but patients had no legal way to obtain it except to grow it. That changed last year when the Legislature approved a law setting up a tax and distribution structure. Local governments are now writing their own restrictions and requirements. [end]
Like St. Patrick's Day in Boston or New Year's Eve in New York City, April 20 seems to have a found an epicenter in Denver. The annual global celebration of marijuana drew tens of thousands of people this weekend to festivals in the capital of Colorado, the first U.S. state to make the drug available for recreational use to anyone 21 or older. Although marijuana now can be bought as easily as alcohol in Colorado, public consumption of marijuana products remains illegal. Denver officials were unwilling to waive that prohibition this weekend. [continues 296 words]
Under a bill proposed in Lansing, Michigan could become the first state to adopt a roadside saliva test that aims to tell police whether a driver is impaired due to consuming pot. Saliva testing is being pushed by a bipartisan group of Michigan legislators and championed by the Michigan State Police. But researchers who've studied the test method said results are inconsistent and especially misleading when applied to regular users of cannabis, such as the more than 100,000 Michiganders who are allowed to use medical marijuana. [continues 389 words]
The 21-year-old took a long drag off a cigar-sized joint and exhaled, a white cloud of smoke floating around his head. Sunday marked his second year attending 4/20, an informal marijuana-focused festival of thousands on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, and Nathan - "just Nathan" - had traveled from Salinas to be part of the communal partaking of cannabis. "Everyone is so nice," he said, taking another drag, adding that it was fortuitously Easter, albeit an untraditional acknowledgment of it. "Everyone is coming together to celebrate something." While the vibe in the park was for the most part mellow, city and park officials were keeping a wary eye on the event. [continues 668 words]
The University of Northern Colorado student newspaper, The Mirror, reported last week that UNC students can buy an ounce of pot from street dealers for $150 to $200 as opposed to paying up to $600 for the same amount after taxes at a legal Garden City dispensary. Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said police are seeing few indications the black market has any intentions of backing down. "One of the things that some of the proponents were telling us was when we legalize marijuana, that will dry up the black market," Garner said. "We haven't seen that happen yet. There are still illegal grows out here." [end]
KINGSTON - The Kingston Fire Department's new stash of life-saving medication to give people suffering from opiate drug overdoses has already saved two lives, the city says. Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo and Kingston Fire Department Chief Mark Brown said its fire department is one of the first in the area to begin stocking intra-nasal Narcan, given to those suffering from opiate overdoses of drugs like heroin or Oxycodone. "With the influx of fentanyl-laced heroin in the area and the significant increase in overdoses seen by first responders, this will allow our personnel to administer the drug sooner to counteract the ill effects. We have already seen how this program can make a difference," said Brown. [continues 79 words]
OPINION: Harmful legal products make mockery of drug laws More than one of our national addictions was laid bare last week. It turns out that not only are we a nation of royal obsessives, but we're rather fond of our recreational drugs. The 2014 Global Drug Survey reveals some disturbing information about New Zealanders' liking for psychoactive drugs, and so-called "legal highs" in particular. It turns out that we share with the United Kingdom the dubious distinction of being the highest users (on a per capita basis, obviously) of synthetic cannabis products in the world. [continues 541 words]
Beefy, black-clad security officers - donning bulletproof vests and perched on a scaffolding-peered across Civic Center park through military-style binoculars Saturday as crowds began to grow for the first day of Denver's 4/20 rally. Teams of security officers performed "soft" body patdowns and backpack searches before allowing people through any of the several entry gates. An officer only half-jokingly said he was checking for guns, knives and high explosives. The watch tower and patdowns are just a few of the enhanced security measures for this year's 4/20 event that were noticeably absent from the 2013 gathering, marred by the shooting of two people in the leg, as well as a stampede toward the stage. Also, a third person was grazed by a bullet in the shooting. [continues 389 words]
First in a two-part series. So many heroin abusers hop onto the No. 560 SMART bus to Detroit to buy drugs it's been dubbed "the heroin express." "It's called the heroin express. There's not much we can do about it," said Roseville Police Chief James Berlin, whose city includes multiple popular Gratiot Avenue stops, after attempts to crack down on the practice. "Yeah, the 560," sheriff's Lt. David Daniels, head of his department's drug unit, repeated in a tone of familiarity. "We've had them on that bus from Macomb Township and Chesterfield Township." [continues 3445 words]
ROSENDALE - Jen Pinto was in the prime of her life. She had a good job, a nice home and a positive outlook on her future. What happened to her at age 40 would change all that and severely diminish her quality of life. It would also give her a voice in the growing chorus of advocates for the legalization of medical cannabis. Without warning, Pinto awakened one day in October of 1999 and could not walk. Day by day, the condition worsened, and she feared the onset of paralysis. [continues 799 words]
When I was first put in handcuffs, I wasn't thinking much other than how badly I had screwed up. Not morally, mind you - just technically. My views on illicit drugs haven't changed much since my arrest. I believed then, as I believe now, that drugs are not the leading problem in our society. I believe most drugs are not inherently bad, and that only a minority of the 22 million people in this country who use, and even sell, drugs are bad people. [continues 795 words]
Re: "The real dangers of marijuana edibles," April 13 Perspective article. Last Sunday, you chose to run a hysterical, wildly uninformed anti-marijuana piece by Marshall Allen about his friend who ate too many marijuana gummies. In it, one Dr. Tista Ghosh claims that "More research needs to be done on [marijuana]." This is wrong to the point of willful ignorance. Per salon.com, there have been more than 20,000 scientific studies of marijuana and its effects to date, 1,450 in 2013 alone. [continues 56 words]
The large ginger snap cookie that I bought a few hours ago looks like every other one I've consumed in my life. But if I ate this cookie, I could end up in a very bad way - perhaps so panicked and distraught that my colleagues would call for help. The cookie contains 100 milligrams of THC, or 10 times what the state designates as a single "serving" for a marijuana edible. Levy Thamba, the college student who jumped to his death last month, ate a marijuana cookie with six times the recommended amount of THC. He awoke repeatedly in what his friends described as an incoherent state, eventually smashing furniture, according to a Denver Post story, before bolting over a railing and into a fatal fall. [continues 486 words]
Re: "Heroin overdoses on rise - Crackdown on access to pills has fueled trend," Sunday news story. Pictures DO speak louder than words in your story. Pictured just under the title is an addict with her starter drug - the one we know as tobacco. Indeed, tobacco leads to abuse of other drugs, including alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and heroin. One solution to decrease drug usage would be to ban the tobacco drug, which kills 14,000 addicts and another 1,800 innocent people (who were exposed to toxic tobacco smoke) around the world, every day. In the U.S., the tobacco pushers and their lethal drug cost our economy $200 billion every year. The solution is to eliminate this drug from society and prosecute the people who still push the killer weed. Dave Johnson, Arlington [end]
ROSENDALE - Jen Pinto was in the prime of her life. She had a good job, a nice home and a positive outlook on her future. What happened to her at age 40 would change all that and severely diminish her quality of life. It would also give her a voice in the growing chorus of advocates for the legalization of medical cannabis. Without warning, Pinto awakened one day in October of 1999 and could not walk. Day by day, the condition worsened, and she feared the onset of paralysis. [continues 792 words]
Kingston Baby With Rare Genetic Disorder Undergoes Medical Marijuana Treatment KINGSTON - There's a dramatic change in 11-month-old Mabel Grace Tangney Decker, and her mother likes what she's seeing. The two left Kingston for Colorado in January, hoping to find something - anything - that would help the baby in her battle against CDKL5, a rare X-linked genetic disorder characterized by seizures and severe neurodevelopment impairment. "I see her more aware of herself and more aware of me, and what mother doesn't want that?" said Carly Tangney-Decker. "I see her making better eye contact, and her sense of balance has improved." [continues 364 words]
Make no mistake about it: the recent heroin epidemic is exactly what the Taliban and al-Qaeda were hoping to achieve. Sure, it took the tightening of prescription drug supplies to give it the boost it needed, but with introductory level pricing, it was just a matter of time before they'd sew the market up. So, when will this nation allocate real and serious dollars to fight this terror attack? Perhaps it would help to begin referring to it not just as an epidemic, but as the chemical weapon attack it is. Because that's what it's going to take -- a huge intervention. That and the acceptance that we cannot do this with our existing under-funded chemical dependency facilities and the half-baked policies of health insurance companies when it comes to drug addiction. ROCHESTER [end]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Social media has been buzzing for weeks with jokes about how, this year, Easter Sunday shares the calendar with the pot-lover's highest holiday: April 20, or 420 in stoner lingo. Pot-smokers have long celebrated on the date by lighting up for reasons not quite clear. Yet amid the online cracks about worshipping a "higher" power, tutorials on how to make a joint shaped like a cross and photos of Easter baskets piled with pot-filled eggs, a handful of churches nationwide are using the unfortunate coincidence to make much bigger points. [continues 713 words]
