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]
More of your co-workers may soon be regular marijuana users as the law about how people get the drug for health reasons is eased. As of April 1, Canadians who need the drug to control pain will need only a doctor's prescription, instead of a licence from Health Canada. What this will eventually mean, according to Health Canada, is that the country's legal marijuana supply industry could grow 10-fold in the next decade. That would add as many as 450,000 medical marijuana users. [continues 577 words]
This month, a new company is set to light up the TSX Venture Exchange in a first-of-its-kind public offering. It's not a tech darling or a renewable energy startup. It's a pot grower. Tweed Inc., based in Smiths Falls, Ont., is one of fewer than a dozen companies authorized by the federal government to grow medical marijuana under new rules taking effect April 1. Small-time growers and neighbourhood cannabis dispensaries, known colloquially as compassion clubs, will be gone. From now on (barring a successful constitutional challenge), only large, commercial-sized growers will be authorized to produce and sell medical marijuana. [continues 701 words]
Re: Conservative government eyeing looser pot laws, March 5 Instead of laying charges or being sent to jail for possession of marijuana, the government thinks they should be ticketed them instead. As a high school student, I know how risk-taking and dangerous teens can be. Loosening the laws for having small amounts of marijuana would be seen as an invitation for a lot of teens to try the drug. Marijuana affects teens the most, ranging from bad physical health to even brain abnormalities, this drug can be very dangerous. I have a little sister who's going to enter her teenage years soon. I do not want her, or her peers, thinking that any intake of drugs is not a big deal and that if she tries it, she won't get into a lot of trouble. [continues 75 words]
Re: Conservative government eyeing looser pot laws, March 5 If it wasn't just a cynical tax grab dressed up as another vote-buying electoral scheme, one would be almost heartened to hear that the law and order Conservatives may finally be realizing that Canadians are far more like the people of Colorado and Washington states than Texas and Alabama. A flip flop? Not. We can now watch the wolf dawn the sheep's clothing to win your hearts before cutting it out and eating it. How will they ever fill those super jails with this kind of climb down? Gord Deane, Mississauga [end]
Al Graham was in town the other day. He and I have a relationship not unlike those based on social media; we have mutual friends. We met for the first time eight years ago, at a gathering of many experts on the subject of the medical use of cannabis. Al said, "I was there to listen, to learn." He also wrote about the conference for a magazine and, since then, he has gone on to host an Internet radio show about cannabis. You should know him. [continues 593 words]
Youth outreach workers and counsellors say they aren't surprised an increasing number of young Albertans are seeking help to overcome addictions related to crystal meth. Data provided by Alberta Health Services shows that 1,116 people between the ages of 12-24 sought treatment for meth-related addictions during the 2012-13 reporting period, a spike of 45 per cent over the four-year average. Calgary police, meanwhile, also encountered meth more often in 2013, with 122 cases involving the drug compared to 90 the year prior. [continues 305 words]
EVERY day, desperate Australians are breaking the law by acquiring or growing their own marijuana to treat problems ranging from chronic pain to uncontrolled seizures and chemotherapy-induced nausea. Medical marijuana, made with cannabidiol, a component of cannabis, has been produced by drug companies in oils, sprays and tablets, which remove the uncertainty about dosing. But these therapies are out of reach to Australians because they are yet to be legalised. The story of eight-year-old epilepsy sufferer Charlotte Elliott, told in the Sunday Mail yesterday, has heightened public debate and support for medical marijuana. [continues 208 words]
Michigan legislature is currently debating the merits of edible pieces of medical marijuana -- non-smokable forms of the medicine. The effects of medical marijuana are beneficial for those diagnosed with a number of diseases. The Court of Appeals' decision to outlaw non-inhalable forms of medical marijuana limits the efficacy of the drug by alienating patients who have difficulties inhaling smoke. Michigan legislators need to strongly consider passing House Bill 5104 to allow the legal distribution of edibles. In July 2013, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the sale of edible forms of medical marijuana is not permissible under state law, deeming non-smokable forms of marijuana to not be "usable marihuana." [continues 175 words]
Dr. Russell Schilling called marijuana a gateway drug in his March 2 op-ed. The real gateway is marijuana prohibition. As long as marijuana remains illegal and distributed by drug cartels, consumers will come into contact with sellers of meth, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands where marijuana is legal. [continues 71 words]
First Month of Recreational Sales Yields $2 Million DENVER (AP) - Colorado made roughly $ 2 million in marijuana taxes in January, state revenue officials reported Monday in the world's first accounting of the recreational pot business. The tax total reported by the state Department of Revenue indicates $ 14.02 million worth of recreational pot was sold. The state collected roughly $ 2.01 million in taxes. Colorado legalized pot in 2012, but the commercial sale of marijuana didn't begin until January. Washington state sales begin in coming months. [continues 212 words]
In Denver, a Shortage of Cultivation Space Has Quadrupled Rates. Legal marijuana is delivering a powerful buzz to the typically unglamorous Denver industrial real estate market. Booming sales of cannabis have pot merchants scrambling to find enough vacant warehouses suitable for growing their product. Not every municipality in Colorado allows marijuana cultivation, and in Denver, where it is OK, very little space is available. Denver's industrial vacancy rate of 3.1 percent is abnormally low - the lowest in decades, according to brokerage firm Colliers International. [continues 818 words]
Colorado collected slightly more than $2 million in taxes on the sale of recreational marijuana in the month of January, according to new figures released by the state Monday. The numbers are the first official tally of the historic January sales, themselves a nationwide first. If the figures remain at that pace, sales and tax revenues would fall below previous estimates of what Colorado could reap from the sale of marijuana. In January, Colorado collected $1.4 million from a special 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, plus another $416,690 from the state's standard 2.9 percent sales tax, according to a news release Monday from the Colorado Department of Revenue. Extrapolating from those figures, recreational marijuana businesses did slightly more than $14 million in retail sales during the month. [continues 168 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Law and order may soon be coming to the Wild West of weed. A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers that grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and especially the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996 was the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes - there are now 20. But to this day no one knows how many dispensaries and patients California has or what conditions pot is being used to treat because the loosely worded law did not give government agencies a role in tracking the information. [continues 749 words]
The Bill, Which Will Now Be Negotiated With the House, Would Cut the Number of Plants Patients Are Allowed and Establish a Registry to Exempt Patients From Sales Taxes. OLYMPIA (AP) - A measure to overhaul the state's medical marijuana system cleared the Senate on Saturday as the state moves to merge that largely unregulated market with the still-developing legal recreational market. Senate Bill 5887 passed on a 34-15 vote and now heads to the House, which passed a similar measure last month. Both chambers will now negotiate a final bill to reconcile the medical market with the recreational market approved by voters in the fall of 2012. [continues 646 words]
Marijuana has held an odd place in American culture, especially since the federal government specifically outlawed it in 1937. That followed the release of the 1936 movie, "Reefer Madness," which today is widely lampooned for its over-the-top depictions of pot's addictiveness and effects on smokers, along with its warnings about other evils - especially jazz. Marijuana's reputation always has exceeded its actual danger, as noted in a recent column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by longtime forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht. He said he had seen many cases in which legally prescribed narcotics had played roles, but never one in which marijuana was the cause of death. [continues 206 words]
Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans is correct in saying that pot dispensaries with their cash and relatively easy-to-rob and-resell product will make them a target and potentially hot spots for law enforcement (March 5). Of course such criticism is a bit akin to closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. The cops and the stores will just have to find ways to deal with the security issue. At this point, there's too much money in marijuana. And with political heavyweights such as ex-U.S. Rep. William Delahunt involved, it seems it may be too late to get the horse back in the barn. - - Mark Bell, Chicopee [end]
Colorado, the first state with legal recreational marijuana, is rolling out public service announcements warning marijuana users about stoned driving. The state Department of Transportation is airing three television ads as part of its "Drive High, Get a DUI" campaign. The ads appear during shows that target men ages 21-34, the demographic that tends to have the highest number of DUIs, according to a CDOT release. In one ad, a man finishes installing his TV on the wall, and a moment later the TV set falls off the wall. "Installing your TV while high is now legal," reads the text in the ad. "Driving to get a new one isn't." [continues 339 words]
NEW GLASGOW - Right now, the former Clairtone building in Stellarton sits vacant. Inside the floor is speckled with pigeon droppings, outside the paint is peeling and around back you'll find a skateboard park local youth must have built. When Greg Wilson and Anthony Wile look at it though, they see only potential and talk of a day when it will be bustling with activity again. On Wednesday Wilson, CEO of Vida Cannabis, and Wile, whose company, High Alert is helping to finance the purchase of the building, were in Stellarton making arrangements for what they hope will become the largest medicinal and recreational marijuana facility in Canada and possibly North America. [continues 1023 words]
The March 10 letter by Debby Richards Perugini ("Legal pot's dark side") has me scratching my head and wondering why every parent in the country is not this passionate about Alcohol and the effects it has on our young people - and anybody else! I am not entering the ring to battle about pot being legal or not; it's just that I really cannot remember the last time I read about a person getting killed by a person under the influence of pot! [continues 117 words]
With prices expected to skyrocket under new rules, an Ottawa man and his wife want the government to cover them for 40 years worth An Ottawa couple who uses medical marijuana is suing the federal government for a combined $6.5 million, a projected figure of what it will cost them to stay medicated for the next 40 years when Health Canada changes the rules to its Marihuana Medical Access Regulations program. Russell Barth says he consumes about 11 to 12 grams of pot every day (he says he has a prescription for 16 grams per day) for pain management related to his fibromyalgia symptoms as well as post-traumatic stress. Barth and his wife, Christine Lowe, who suffers from epilepsy, say they have a designated grower, an arrangement they say allows them to stay medicated for far less than it will cost under the new rules. [continues 265 words]
City attorney steps up enforcement on shops and targets landlords who rent out space. More than 100 pot shops have shut down since Los Angeles started enforcing its new rules restricting medical marijuana dispensaries, City Atty. Mike Feuer announced Monday. Feuer said he was now stepping up that work, hiring two new attorneys who would exclusively tackle prosecutions under Proposition D, the measure passed by voters last spring. Staffers are also focusing more attention on real estate professionals and landlords renting space to marijuana dispensaries, providing them with a new brochure that warns of steep fines and jail time for breaking the rules. [continues 549 words]
I can see ticketing for consumption of marijuana in a place or manner likely to be a threat to public safety - kind of like liquor laws. But, I do not understand why consumption of marijuana in a private place without causing any harm would lead to any action by police. Of course, the government does not want to decriminalize or legalize pot as this would not work well with its base. So it has to contort legislation to appease the base. As always, with the government, political considerations trump public policy. David Polk, Ottawa [end]
Several police forces in B.C. say they don't plan to crack down on patients growing medical marijuana for their personal use once federal laws make the practice illegal next month - an approach a criminologist describes as sensible. New federal laws come into effect April 1 that will allow only select commercial growers to produce medical pot, meaning patients who currently have Health Canada permission to grow their own will be breaking the law if they continue. This week, the Vancouver police said it doesn't plan on treating small-scale "personal" grow operations as a priority after April 1, unless they are also suspected of being connected to gangs, violence or other criminal activity. [continues 79 words]
Lawmakers Let Pot Legalization Bill Die In Committee Sooner or later, Oregon voters once again will decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. If that time comes this fall, as is likely, state lawmakers will regret their decision to let die in committee a bill that would have asked voters if they want to legalize pot and leave the regulatory details to lawmakers in the 2015 session. It's long been evident that several legalization measures could be on the November ballot. Paul Stanford, head of the Oregon branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is collecting signatures for two initiatives - one making possession of pot a constitutional right for adults, and the other laying out a program for producing, selling and possessing marijuana. Another organization, New Approach Oregon, which has national financial backing, also is gathering signatures to qualify legalization initiatives for the ballot. [continues 529 words]
And now into the haze. Washington took another concrete step toward legal sales of marijuana for recreational use last week, picking the first person to receive a license, but there's a lot about this new direction that's still hard to know. Decriminalizing marijuana sales and recreational use by adults was the right thing to do, but now the state has to deal with potential health and safety issues that can't be easily predicted. Will more young people get their hands on marijuana, and if they do, what effect will that have? Will users be more inclined to drive high than they are now, and what would that mean for safety? How fast will the illegal trade wither away? The questions go on and on, and the answers are rarely clear. [continues 558 words]
The number of patients on Colorado's medical marijuana registry rose ever so slightly in the first month of recreational store sales, according to new figures from state health officials. As of Jan. 31, a total of 111,030 people held active red cards allowing them to buy medical marijuana, 51 more than a month earlier. The true impact of the arrival of recreational stores on the state's medical marijuana registry, however, will not be felt until later this year as the market evolves and more patients decide whether to renew. [continues 295 words]
Re: "Police chiefs seek pot money; Group urges more money for marijuana enforcement," March 6 news story. Law enforcement authorities say they need more money for more training in order to spot people driving under the influence of marijuana. It's not difficult to spot somebody driving under the influence of alcohol. If law enforcement cannot identify stoned drivers, then it's probably because stoned drivers don't drive aggressively and instead quietly and legally follow our driving laws. Why do we need to spend more money to train police to ferret out people who are driving safely and within our speed limits? William Gum, Denver [end]
Legislation Would Regulate the Industry That Has Had Little Oversight Since 1996. San Francisco (AP) - A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to regulate the state's freewheeling medical marijuana industry - the farmers who grow the drug, the hundreds of storefront shops that sell it and especially the doctors who write recommendations allowing people to use it. The state in 1996was the first to authorize marijuana use for health purposes, but to this day no one knows how many dispensaries and patients California has orwhat conditions pot is being used to treat because the loosely worded law did not give government agencies a role in tracking the information. [continues 307 words]
Kristine Lessard's account of the tragic loss of her son to heroin ["This addiction doesn't follow any rules," Local Opinions, March 2] struck a deep chord with me, as my husband and I lost our son to a cocaine addiction several years ago. Subsequent letters to the editor have debated whether marijuana leads to more serious - and possibly fatal - drug addiction. I think the operative word is "addiction." Addiction is a disease, and when there is a family history of addiction, the stakes are higher. In addition to family history, there are other factors. Age is one. Frequency of use, another. Impact on daily life, still another. It is not an either-or question. We need to broaden the conversation to include these other factors, discussing them openly and honestly within our families and educating our children about all of them. Connie Maas, Silver Spring [end]
(AP) - The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Friday approved a measure relegating marijuana possession to a civil offense. The committee has not voted on a proposal to eliminate all penalties for possessing marijuana in small amounts, as Colorado and Washington have done. Police chiefs have objected to the bill on the grounds that officers sometimes use the smell of marijuana as a pretext for stopping drivers and searching their vehicles, and sometimes they find weapons and huge amounts of drugs. Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, Baltimore County Democrat who introduced the bill, noted that possessing more than 10 ounces would remain a crime - - meaning it would remain a valid pretext for traffic stops. Parallel bills are pending in the House Judiciary Committee. [end]
Brenda Heidinger, executive director of the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board, will be presenting "Marijuana 101 What Ohio's Proposed Marijuana Legislation Means for Our Communities" at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Brookfield High School auditorium, 614 Bedford Road, Brookfield. The presentation looks at how passage of this legislation will affect schools, businesses and Ohio taxpayers. Medical marijuana advocates in Ohio are currently circulating petitions and must gather more than 300,000 signatures to get the effort in front of voters. If voters approve the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment, it would not only legalize medical marijuana, but would also establish a commission to regulate it. States that have approved medical marijuana use: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and District of Columbia. [end]
Comcast Says No to Marijuana Commercial The first medical marijuana commercial slated to run on television in Massachusetts next month has vaporized - at least when it comes to airing through Comcast. The ad failed to make its debut this past week in New Jersey because Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast, rejected the ad as unsuitable. "All commercials are subject to final review by Comcast Spotlight prior to airing and during that process it was determined that the spot did not meet our guidelines," Comcast spokesman Steven Restivo said yesterday. [continues 301 words]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento's Canna Care dispensary, an evangelical medical-marijuana provider renowned for doling out buds with Bibles, is waging a public fight with the Internal Revenue Service over an $873,167 tax penalty sought under a tax code aimed at illegal drug traffickers. In February, the U.S. Tax Court in San Francisco heard Canna Care's challenge over whether the IRS can impose the hefty tax demand under a 1982 law intended to close a loophole that allowed a Minneapolis cocaine and methamphetamine dealer to claim tax deductions for a scale, his apartment rent and telephone expenses. [continues 642 words]
Many Countries Now Emboldened to Rethink Stance in War on Drugs. (AP) - In a former colonial mansion in Jamaica, politicians huddle to discuss trying to ease marijuana laws in the land of the late reggae musician and cannabis evangelist Bob Marley. In Morocco, one of the world's top producers of the concentrated pot known as hashish, two leading political parties want to legalize its cultivation, at least for medical and industrial use. And in Mexico City, the vast metropolis of a country ravaged by horrific cartel bloodshed, lawmakers have proposed a brand new plan to let stores sell the drug. [continues 1298 words]
Smoke Shop Owner Takes Steps to Weed Out Minors, Appease Residents A Winnipeg head shop has vowed to keep minors out of its stores in a deal that will likely prevent future police raids. The Winnipeg Police Service raided The Joint on St. Mary's Road and Hemp Haven during a January crackdown, since some of the stores' products can be used to consume marijuana. WPS says the action followed complaints from 10 nearby schools. But during a Monday meeting of police, The Joint, school officials and a city councillor, the store committed to take several measures to ensure those concerns are addressed. [continues 381 words]
Easing Law Would Give Police Some Discretion OTTAWA - The Conservative government is considering looser marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said before a Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would ... allow police to ticket those types of offences." [continues 254 words]
Potheads could soon be ticketed for indulging their vice rather than be criminally charged, after Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday the feds are looking to take a page from the police chiefs' book. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay told reporters. "What we are talking about is very much in line with what the chiefs of police have proposed." The debate over pot laws got louder last summer when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said a Liberal government would legalize the drug. [continues 208 words]
MacKay May Move to Let Police Ticket Possession OTTAWA * The Conservative government is seriously considering more lenient marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," Mr. MacKay said following the weekly Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would ... allow police to ticket those types of offences." Prime Minister Stephen Harper is open to such an approach, he added. [continues 485 words]
Move Comes After Tories Mock Trudeau's Stance on Issue The Conservative government is seriously considering more lenient marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said following the weekly Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would . . . allow police to ticket those types of offences." [continues 447 words]
OTTAWA (The Canadian Press) - The Conservative government is seriously considering looser marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said prior to the weekly Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would ... allow police to ticket those types of offences." [continues 139 words]
Ticketing Could Become an Option for Police OTTAWA - The Conservative government is considering looser marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said before a Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would ... allow police to ticket those types of offences." [continues 255 words]
OTTAWA - The Conservative government is considering looser marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said before a Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would ... allow police to ticket those types of offences." Prime Minister Stephen Harper is open to such an approach. [continues 101 words]
Proving someone is drunk behind the wheel is far easier to prove than if someone is high while driving. "Impaired by alcohol is very easy to prove," said Cons. Dave Murphy of the Smiths Falls Police Service, during a talk at the Lanark County and Town of Smiths Falls municipal drug strategy committee networking day, Friday, Feb. 28, held in the Beckwith Township council chambers in Blacks Corners. Murphy is a "breath tech" officer, meaning he is trained to look for certain symptoms to identify if someone is drunk and impaired behind the wheel. [continues 1233 words]
ST. PAUL --There's no one view among doctors about whether Minnesota should legalize medical marijuana. In one camp, there are physicians like Dr. Jacob Mirman, a primary care doctor in St. Louis Park who says a few patients have told him they use marijuana to cope with medical conditions. Mirman hasn't personally recommended that patients use it, and doesn't take a position on the specifics of a bill currently advancing at the Capitol. But he supports the idea of making medical marijuana legal - in part because the risks seem small compared to those with some prescription painkillers. [continues 1216 words]
Let Colorado have legal pot. Kansas can sit back and watch how this experiment goes and wait for more science on the health and societal impact of marijuana use. I attended a public awareness meeting about marijuana in Hutchinson on Tuesday night. Even though The Hutchinson News was a sponsor, I thought I might confirm my past support for legalizing pot. It must have been an effective program, as I walked away instead in support of the people who are fighting pot usage, especially at the youth level. I have too much respect for those people to marginalize pot. Downplaying the effects of pot is exactly why it is a problem with our youth and in our schools. [continues 630 words]
Legislature 2014 Reduction of Legal Amounts, Limited Growing Cooperatives OLYMPIA - A measure to overhaul the state's medical marijuana system cleared the Senate on Saturday as the state moves to merge that largely unregulated market with the still-developing legal recreational market. Senate Bill 5887 passed 34-15 and now heads to the House, which passed a similar measure last month. Both chambers will now negotiate a final bill to reconcile the medical market with the recreational market approved by voters in 2012. [continues 675 words]
With No Standard for Testing, Buyers Can't Trust Items' Potency. As one of the largest producers of marijuana-infused edibles in Colorado, Dr. J's Hash Infusion makes chocolates, caramels and candies. But many of the company's products contain only a minute fraction of the THC promised on Dr. J's labels, according to independent tests organized by The Denver Post. One Dr. J's milk chocolate Star Barz labeled for 100 milligrams of THC had 0.37 milligrams of the valued psychoactive component, according to three tests conducted by Steep Hill Halent of Colorado, a state-licensed marijuana testing facility. Another popular Dr. J's chocolate bar, the 100-milligram Winter Mint flavor, tested similarly in two experiments, showing 0.28 milligrams of THC. [continues 2023 words]
Polarization and gridlock create the impression of a nation stuck, but beneath the frozen political machinery cultural and demographic currents are shifting dramatically. The most obvious is the speed with which the nation is changing its mind about same-sex marriage. The next big sea change may be in attitudes about legalizing marijuana. Opposition to easing laws on marijuana has gone up in smoke in Colorado and Washington state. Last week, the Washington, D.C. city council voted to decriminalize small quantities of pot, joining 17 states. Since California voters approved the medical use of marijuana in 1996, 19 more states have followed. More than a dozen states are weighing doing the same this year. [continues 680 words]
Re: VPD to feds: We won't enforce new pot law, March 5 I'm pleased the Vancouver police will refuse to enforce the new pot law by allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries to continue operating. A truly absurd aspect of the federal Conservatives' "free market" scheme is that the product only be delivered by "secure courier." This single option by a government claiming to address consumer demand seems designed to fail by making the underground market more convenient. Peter Lipskis Vancouver [end]
