Two state legislators say Californians might think it's illegal to smoke marijuana while driving, but that there's no specific ban on the practice in state law. Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said Thursday that they'll introduce legislation to close what they call a loophole. The lawmakers said Proposition 64, the state's new law legalizing marijuana, allows a citation for having an open container of marijuana in a vehicle. But, they said, it doesn't expressly ban the use of the drug while driving. [continues 63 words]
With Brown's Pardons, Ex-Felons Have Their Rights - and Peace of Mind - - Restored. SACRAMENTO - Unlike his immediate predecessors, Gov. Jerry Brown has routinely acted to grant pardons to hundreds of men and women he believes have turned their lives around. Though his Christmas Eve pardons last week included actor Robert Downey Jr., there were dozens more who received a holiday gift of being eased from the burden of a felony committed, in some cases, decades earlier. They include Aaron Malloy, 38, who now lives in Los Angeles County and is battling Stage 4 lung cancer. When a representative of the governor's office called to tell him the pardon had been finalized, Malloy said he was in disbelief. [continues 560 words]
Articles like the recent " 'We can't turn a blind eye' " (Times-Standard, Aug. 26, Page A1) are getting ridiculous. Many valid points were made in the article and if they were presented responsibly, it might get a lot more support from the community. Let's be frank here, the reason that local officials are seeking federal help is because California has stopped funding marijuana eradication and now local principalities have nowhere to turn except the feds. The state Attorney General stated that no more funding for marijuana eradication is going to be dispersed and all that money is now going to "white collar crime." It is not because the state is broke. And I fully endorse this stance. [continues 648 words]
IIlicit drugs are grown, manufactured, exported to the U.S. and sold for only one reason a "profit According to the Enquirer on April 11, U.S. drug - - czar John Walters told his Cincinnati audience that 65 percent of drug-dependent people have a primary or secondary dependence on marijuana." In the l96Os, a DEA agent being interviewed on national TV about California's marijuana problems suggested a solution: allow people to grow marijuana in their home for their own consumption. [continues 136 words]