He was a friendless high school loner struggling with autism. So why did an undercover cop target him as a drug dealer? Jesse Snodgrass plodded around yet another stucco corner, searching for Room 254 in time for the second-period bell, only to find he was lost yet again. Jesse felt a familiar surge of panic. He was new to Chaparral High School and still hadn't figured out how to navigate the sprawling Southern California campus with its outdoor maze of identical courtyards studded with baby palm trees. [continues 6985 words]
"This bill is no way intended to be a gateway to recreational use" of marijuana, said State Sen. Norm Wallman, who introduced the measure. "This bill is about agriculture. It's really that simple." Lincoln, Nebraska - Thirteen years ago, industrial hemp's resemblance to marijuana sank legislation to legalize growing of hemp in Nebraska. On Tuesday, a bill to allow production and marketing of industrial hemp sailed through first-round debate in the Nebraska Legislature. Legislative Bill 1001, introduced by State Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland, advanced on a 32-1 vote. [continues 402 words]
RAYMOND Yans is president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the UN agency charged with monitoring the implementation of antidrug treaties. It is therefore not surprising that Yans takes a dim view of marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington, which he says poses "a grave danger to public health and well-being." But according to the INCB, legalization isn't just dangerous; legalization is illegal. Even Americans who support marijuana prohibition should be troubled by the implications of that argument, which suggests that international treaties trump the Constitution. [continues 509 words]
But We're Evenly Split on Whether Weed Should Be Legal for Recreational Use. HARRISBURG (AP) - A large majority of Pennsylvania voters favor legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, but they are divided over whether possession of even small amounts for recreational use should be legalized, according to a poll released Monday. The poll from Connecticut's Quinnipiac University focused on an issue being debated in the Pennsylvania Legislature and among the Democrats hoping to challenge Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's re-election bid. [continues 327 words]
Sandy Kaercher of East Coventry has a hope shared by a majority of Pennsylvanians. For Kaercher, however, the hope is very personal. Kaercher wants to see marijuana legalized for medical purposes as a last resort to control seizures that disrupt the life of her 15-year-old daughter, Grace. Kaercher is part of a group of parents advocating for legalization of medical marijuana. The group took their wishes directly to the state House of Representatives in January, asking for legislation that would give children with seizure disorders hope for some relief. [continues 439 words]
Lawmakers Press White House, Again, on Pot Rules WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior U.S. drug enforcement official urged Congress and others Tuesday not to abandon scientific concerns over marijuana in favor of public opinion to legalize it, even as the Obama administration takes a hands-off approach in states where voters have made legal its sale and use. The deputy administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Thomas Harrigan, testified Tuesday before a House oversight panel that easing laws governing marijuana threatens U.S. institutions. [continues 496 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior U.S. drug enforcement official urged Congress and others Tuesday not to abandon scientific concerns over marijuana in favor of public opinion to legalize it, even as the Obama administration takes a hands-off approach in states where voters have made legal its sale and use. The deputy administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Thomas Harrigan, testified Tuesday before a House oversight panel that easing laws governing marijuana threatens U.S. institutions. "We should not abandon science and fact in favor of public opinion," Harrigan said. He echoed previous testimony from James Capra, DEA's chief of operations, who told a Senate panel in January that "going down the path to legalization in this country is reckless and irresponsible." [continues 448 words]
With new federal regulations cracking down on exactly who can grow medical marijuana taking place April 1, the Vancouver Police Department says it won't change how they enforce the law. "The new laws that are coming into play April 1 have nothing to do with the sale of medical marijuana," said Cst. Brian Montague. "It has to do with the growing of medical marijuana. So many of the current growers will no longer be allowed to do that. That's where the law is changing." [continues 85 words]
21,000-Square-Foot Spokane Facility State Board to Issue Dozen More Licenses Soon Washington's first legal pot grower was introduced by state officials Wednesday as an entrepreneur who followed the rules and out-hustled other applicants to the finish line. Sean Green, 32, now runs medical-marijuana dispensaries in Spokane and Shoreline. He plans to open a 21,000-square-foot growing and processing facility in Spokane. Officials at the state Liquor Control Board (LCB) said Green was one of the first to apply, and hurdled each step of the vetting process without hang-ups. [continues 814 words]
WASHINGTON - The growing national debate over legalizing marijuana made its way to a congressional hearing Tuesday as lawmakers sparred over what role the government should take in reconciling divergent state and federal laws on the issue. The House Government Operations Subcommittee hearing was convened by the Republican chairman to address inconsistencies in federal law enforcement efforts and what he called "mixed signals" sent by the Obama administration in the wake of legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. But several Democratic representatives quickly seized control of the hearing and used it to grill Drug Enforcement Administration Deputy Administrator Thomas Harrigan on his agency's policies, calling his approach on marijuana outdated. [continues 439 words]
Regarding Kristine Lessard's March 2 Local Opinions commentary, "This addiction doesn't follow any rules": It is a gift to all parents that Ms. Lessard was able to pen the story of her son Derek's life and heroin overdose. Many parents may believe that their child's marijuana experimentation is harmless and is perhaps even part of normal social development. They may also believe that, because they have provided so much to their children in terms of academic, social, recreational and material opportunities, this experimentation cannot possibly progress to heroin. Both of these beliefs are wrong. Also, in their desire to foster appropriate independence, they may miss the need for firmer intervention. I am grateful to Ms. Lessard for sharing Derek's story as she grieves. Janis W. Gold, McLean [end]
Georgia Children With Severe Seizure Disorder Are Closer to Treatment. The Georgia House on Monday gave overwhelming approval to a bill that would legalize a type of medical marijuana to treat certain seizure disorders. Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the sponsor of House Bill 885, said it's an important step toward saving the lives of children who can suffer 100 or more seizures a day. The particular strain of marijuana, known as Charlotte's Web, has shown it can ease or eliminate symptoms of patients taking the cannabis oil derived from the plant. [continues 435 words]
ST. PAUL -- A Minnesota House committee approved the use of marijuana to help suffering patients after 7-year-old Amelia Beaver provided an example Tuesday night of why some want the practice legalized. Advertisement The girl suffered a seizure, one of 30 she suffers a day, while her mother told the Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy Committee on Tuesday that marijuana could help her daughter. "It would be the best day of my life if I could hear my daughter say 'momma' again," Angie Beaver of Hibbing said, adding that there is evidence that marijuana can help some patients regain speech and reduce seizures. [continues 558 words]
Hemp hearts, or raw shelled hemp seeds, have grown increasingly popular in the nutrition community over the past couple of years. But despite being labeled a superfood by some, they still have a stigma as part of the cannabis family. With all the recent news about hemp and marijuana, we'd like to shed some light on the benefits of pot's nutritious cousin. First of all, the hemp plant is legal to consume in the United States. Marijuana and industrial hemp are different varieties of the same plant species, Cannabis sativa L. Marijuana typically contains 3 to 15 percent of the psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis, while industrial hemp contains less than 1 percent, according to the Agriculture Department. (Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, a large Canadian manufacturer, says hemp contains 0.001 percent THC and will not cause a psychoactive effect or a false drug test.) Though growing hemp is still banned in most U.S. states, we're the world's leading consumer of hemp foods, soaps, lotions and other products. [continues 451 words]
ST. PAUL -- Mothers tearfully described how their babies suffered as many as 100 seizures a day before receiving marijuana treatment as they begged lawmakers late Tuesday to legalize the drug for medical use in Minnesota. Others told a state House committee how the drug helped alleviate pain and different ailments from suffered from cancer and glaucoma. One mother described watching her daughter's face disappear inch by inch as surgeons removed malignant melanoma, saying her child's pain and lost appetite was relieved only by medicinal marijuana. About half a dozen others said it helped their children's seizures. [continues 599 words]
Our president recently said that marijuana was no more harmful than tobacco. Since marijuana is now legal in a couple of states, there is a push to legalize it by those who claim it is not harmful. The evidence does not support their claim. Dr. Kevin Sabet served in the Obama administration as senior advisor at the White House office of National Drug Control Policy. He is now director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He says, "The marijuana conversation is one mired with myths. Many Americans do not think that marijuana can be addictive, despite scientific evidence to the contrary." The American Medical Association has come out strongly against the legal sales of marijuana. According to the National Institute on Health, one in six 16 year-olds who try marijuana will become addicted to it. It has also been linked to an eight point redirection in IQ; and that if used strongly it is connected to mental illness. [continues 133 words]
LONDON (AP) - The United Nations' drug watchdog agency said the legalization of marijuana in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington poses a threat to the international fight against drug abuse. In a report published Tuesday, the International Narcotics Control Board said that it "deeply regrets" moves by those two states to lift restrictions on the sale and use of cannabis. The board said the moves violate drug control conventions and called on national authorities to block the states' moves. The U.S. Justice Department has made clear it won't go after state-legal businesses even though federal law still bans marijuana consumption. The INCB, which has no enforcement power, has previously voiced its opposition to legalization. [end]
The medicine that Valley resident Bob Davidson takes for multiple sclerosis treats all of his symptoms, has allowed him to wean himself off morphine and get out of his wheelchair and start walking again. But that medication may soon become unaffordable, putting his most effective treatment - marijuana - out of reach. Federal changes to the medical marijuana system will go into effect on April 1, switching from the current personal at-home production licences to large-scale and highly regulated commercial grow-ops that will deliver the product by mail. [continues 1071 words]
City Won't Interfere If Illegal Stores Sell Only to Patients Vancouver police say they won't bust down the doors of the city's many illegal medical marijuana dispensaries April 1 when a new federal law will delegate weed production and distribution to a handful of licensed premises. Coun. Kerry Jang - who closely watches health issues - minced no words, saying the city believes the federal law interferes with the right of people to access medicine. As a result, the city won't make any extraordinary efforts to shut down "professionally run" medical marijuana dispensaries, even though most operate without city business licenses. [continues 1228 words]
The first ones who stand to make a windfall off medical marijuana aren't necessarily the dispensaries or doctors; they might just be the advertisers and the media that air their campaigns. In April, months before the first dispensaries are scheduled to open in Massachusetts this summer, what's expected to be the Northeast's first marijuana-related commercial is due to air on major networks, opening the floodgates to what could turn out to be big business for both the companies that create the commercials and the ones that run them. [continues 169 words]
