Many proponents of marijuana legalization don't really like to admit it, but marijuana isn't the magical, harmless drug that they want it to be. We'd be fools to think that anything is completely harmless.

According to CDC statistics, marijuana use contributed directly to about 150 deaths in 2010. SAMHSA surveys from that same time show about 5 million people identified as heavy marijuana users, and this statistic corresponds very closely to those who identified as either physically or psychologically dependent. If you were so inclined, you could come up with all kinds of statistics on how marijuana negatively affects people's lives.

[continues 239 words]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Bills that would decriminalize marijuana and would approve its medical use may be headed for the Iowa Legislature.

State Rep. Bruce Hunter told the Des Moines Register that he is preparing a bill on decriminalizing pot possession as long as those caught with marijuana weren't selling it.

The Democrat also says he'll reintroduce a medical marijuana bill, and state Sen. Joe Bolkcom says he'll be seeking co-sponsors in the coming session for his medical marijuana measure.

Gov. Terry Branstad has said he'll veto bills that would legalize marijuana for any use.

Voters in Colorado and Washington approved ballot measures earlier this month that let adults 21 and over to possess small amounts of marijuana under state regulation and taxation.

[end]

COLUMBIA - The MU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana will host an event Saturday to encourage votes for Missouri's marijuana legislation reform.

The conference will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m Saturday in MU's Allen Auditorium.

Defense attorney Dan Viets, a spokesman for the organization's MU chapter, said the Saturday event will include a discussion about the current marijuana reform occurring across the nation and the organization's tentative plans to push for reform in Missouri's 2014 or 2016 election. Viets said marijuana reform typically fairs better in presidential elections because more youth and progressives are likely to vote.

[continues 177 words]

Supporters of a controversial marijuana ordinance hope to overturn City Council's recent decision, but they won't do it by gathering signatures.

Maranda Reynolds, of Springfield Cannabis Regulation, said the group has decided not to pursue a referendum petition to undo council's Sept. 24 repeal of the ordinance, which would have restricted the penalties that can be assessed for minor marijuana possession.

"We were thinking about a referendum, but we decided it would be unwise because (City Council) could use the same move they did with the petition to kill it," Reynolds said. "We don't want to take the risk of doing all that work again only to have them go around it."

[continues 180 words]

More states will consider legalizing the drug for treatment, but many people oppose it and the federal government still outlaws it.

Every two weeks Greg T. of Independence drives downtown to the city's underbelly to buy an eighth of an ounce of pot.

He's smoked marijuana for 37 years. He says it's the only thing that eases the agony of his Crohn's disease, an autoimmune disorder that attacks his intestinal tract.

A devout Christian and former Boy Scout, the 54-year-old father of two loves his country. But for decades, he said, that country has forced him to become a criminal to survive.

[continues 1380 words]

Council Will Consider Various Options, Including Ending the Measure

The City Council will discuss four amendments to the newly passed marijuana decriminalization bill on Monday, one of which would repeal the law.

The petition initiative was passed by the council Aug. 27 with the immediate intent to amend the bill to, at the least, remove illegal portions. However, four council members have co-signed an amendment to do away with the initiative entirely.

"I stand on the side of full repeal," Councilman Thomas Bieker said. "I didn't get my name in in time to be a co-sponsor."

[continues 789 words]

Supporters of reduced penalties for possessing marijuana shouldn't celebrate yet - City Council members made clear the ordinance approved Monday won't survive long in its current form.

Several council members said Tuesday they don't intend for the bill, advanced by initiative petition, to survive at all. They'll try to repeal the ordinance within the next 30 days, before it has a chance to take effect.

It isn't the first time council has considered approving an initiative petition just to amend it.

[continues 616 words]

Local efforts to roll back harsh penalties for marijuana possession reached the public discussion stage Monday night at the Springfield City Council meeting.

The initiative landed on the council's public agenda via a petition drive launched in part by Show-Me Cannabis Regulation. It seeks to reduce the penalty for possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana or related paraphernalia.

The initiative requests an amendment to an existing ordinance so that adults are not arrested but face only community service or counseling for a misdemeanor possession amount of marijuana. The most severe penalty would be a fine up to $150.

[continues 454 words]

Lee's Summit Students, Business Leaders Convened for a Talk on Marijuana Use

The goal was to simply open dialogue between business leaders in the community and area teenagers.

A summit sponsored by Community of Character Business Sector and Lee's Summit Cares to address marijuana use among teens resulted in both sides coming away with a better understanding of what goes into the thinking process of those who choose to be under the influence.

"It's not as simple as you're going to blow through (marijuana) and it's going to be OK," said Charlie Johnson, a Lee's Summit businessman. "It leads to other things."

[continues 438 words]

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Some students in the Maryville R-II School District will have to take a new test this coming school year: a drug test.

In May, the board of education approved a drug testing policy drafted by school administrators that would randomly test students in grades 7 through 12 who take part in extracurricular activities or who park on school grounds.

Steve Klotz, assistant superintendent, said the measure will affect most of the 700 middle and high school students in the district.

[continues 320 words]

To grow up in South Florida during the 1970s and 1980s, as I did, wasn't your typical American childhood experience. Back then the area was known as the most dangerous place in the country.

Carnage from the drug wars filled the local news long before "Miami Vice" became a hit TV show. By elementary school, my friends and I knew some of the lingo. A Colombian necktie wasn't a piece of clothing, but a gruesome execution method. When I was 7 years old my barber was murdered in his shop, apparently over a drug deal.

[continues 762 words]

A petition to decriminalize marijuana has been certified by the city clerk's office and will move forward to City Council.

Springfield City Clerk Brenda Cirtin said the petition was certified late Thursday afternoon with 2,132 certified signatures. The office stopped the process soon after it passed the 2,101 signatures needed for certification.

"I'm so excited," said petition organizer Maranda Reynolds.

Reynolds and the Show-Me Cannabis group was notified a little over a week ago that an estimated 649 additional signatures were needed for certification. The group had until Aug. 7 to submit additional signatures but needed to turn them in earlier to make the City Council's Aug. 13 meeting agenda and stay on track to get the initiative on the ballot.

[continues 310 words]

School board unanimously voted to approve district's first drug-testing policy which will require enrollment in random program to participate in state-sponsored activities like sports as well as other extracurriculars

The Kirksville R-III School Board approved the district's first drug-testing policy with the plan of instating the policy in time for the semester's start in less than two weeks for students either involved in state-sponsored activities like athletics, music, speech or debate but also cheerleading and dance as well as an option for voluntary participation.

[continues 439 words]

Bob Parker Bob Parker is adamant -- he doesn't think drugs should be legal. But the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's 8th District Congressional seat says it is not the federal government's role to decide and should be a matter left to individual states. But the Texas County rancher stopped short of calling for a federal decriminalization of drugs on Monday, a fact that had Emerson's camp criticizing him for holding a "reckless position" and failing to properly understand the legislative process.

[continues 570 words]

Could Kansas City be next in Missouri to lighten up on lighting up?

In 2004, Columbia residents passed a measure that greatly relaxed penalties for marijuana smoking and possession. The advocacy group Show-Me Cannabis Regulation said last week that it may soon mount similar efforts in Kansas City and Springfield.

"We think those are incremental steps that could really help in getting a statewide measure passed," said Amber Langston, the group's campaign director and leader of the Columbia effort.

[continues 1281 words]

Smoking marijuana can adversely affect your physical and mental health, as well as interfere with your ability to function in social and occupational settings, according to recent clinical studies published in the latest issue of Missouri Medicine.

The negative data far outweigh the few documented benefits for medical and psychological treatments, according to the article written by Dr. Dragan M. Svrakic of Washington University School of Medicine.

In recent years, there has been a strong pressure on state legislatures across the U.S. to legalize or decriminalize use and possession of specified amounts of cannabis and/or to pass laws that allow smoking of crude cannabis plant.

[continues 109 words]

Amelioration of today's drug problem requires Americans to understand the significance of the 80-20 ratio. Twenty percent of American drinkers consume 80 percent of the alcohol sold here. The same 80-20 split obtains among users of illicit drugs.

About 3 million people - less than 1 percent of America's population - - consume 80 percent of illegal hard drugs. Drug-trafficking organizations can be most efficiently injured by changing the behavior of the 20 percent of heavy users, and we are learning how to do so. Reducing consumption by casual users will not substantially reduce the northward flow of drugs or the southward flow of money.

[continues 516 words]

Meth lab seizures increased 6 percent in Missouri last year, illustrating a problem that has grown despite a law that limits access to over-the-counter medicine used in the drug's production.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 2,096 seizures in 2011, up from 1,960 in 2010.

In a press release, the patrol said Missouri saw a drop in the number of meth lab seizures in 2006, after anti-meth lab legislation was enacted.

However, from 2007 to 2011, the number of meth lab incidents in Missouri has increased steadily, from 1,285 in 2007; to 1,487 in 2008; 1,774 in 2009; 1,960 in 2010; and then 2,096 in 2011. That makes an increase of 63.1 percent since 2007, which includes operational labs, chemical or equipment seizures and lab dump sites.

[continues 189 words]

Sixteen states, as well as the District of Columbia, have legalized the use of medical marijuana. A statewide group is looking to take it a step further, however, and legalize all marijuana use in Missouri.

A group of about 65 volunteers have been hitting the streets in St. Joseph, looking for supporters of Show-Me Cannabis, an association that seeks to legalize and regulate marijuana use in the state. Missouri's Secretary of State requires 150,000 signatures on a statewide petition by May 6 in order for a legalization measure to appear on November's ballot.

[continues 560 words]

COLUMBIA - A low turnout didn't keep Missouri cannabis supporters from discussing marijuana legalization on Friday.

The Show-Me Cannabis Regulation ballot initiative campaign held a signature drive outside the Missouri state Capitol in Jefferson City.

The drive aided the campaign in its goal to obtain 144,000 valid signatures by May 4. The signatures, gathered by about 1,000 unpaid volunteers, are required to qualify the campaign's proposed constitutional amendment. Signatures from six out of nine congressional districts are needed.

[continues 396 words]