The new "medical" marijuana industry in Massachusetts has inspired a slew of lobbyists and consultants and entrepreneurs to get into the weed game (we use air quotes because of course there is no such thing as "medical" marijuana - only plain old marijuana marketed to those with medical conditions). But finally it has occurred to someone that in the midst of that mad scramble for pot dollars some very real conflicts might crop up. Bay State Republicans yesterday slammed the licensing process for marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts as "politicized and secretive," noting in particular the political ties between a lobbyist for one license applicant and the head of the state Department of Public Health, which will award the licenses. [continues 219 words]
YAKIMA (AP) - The Yakama Nation is moving to ban marijuana in all 10 counties of its ancestral lands, covering one-fifth of the state's land mass. In the wake of the state's legalization on recreational pot use, the tribe has already banned marijuana on its 1.2 million acre reservation near Yakima. The Yakima Herald-Republic reported that under the Yakama Treaty of 1855 with the federal government, the tribe was allowed to maintain fishing, hunting and food-gathering rights on more than 12 million acres of its historic lands that were ceded to the United States. Now they want to use those rights to include a ban on marijuana on all ceded lands. [continues 416 words]
Bravo to Mike Gimbel for his recent letter against legalizing marijuana in Maryland ("Say no to legalized pot," Jan. 11). I have worked in the health care and social services field for the past 14 years, and he is spot on. Many adults who smoke pot started as teens or younger, and the pot wreaks havoc on their developmental stages and mind/ body changes through their teens and into their 20s. Pot smoking accounts for their lack of initiative, lethargy and in some, progression to other drugs or alcohol. Yet many "experts" cite research studies that pot smoking is harmless or less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes. [continues 110 words]
SEBRING - Should a student selling drugs for a profit face the same consequences as a student distributing or passing a drug to a fellow student? School board members disagreed on the matter recently and also discussed whether by policy all students should face a school board expulsion hearing when they distribute or sell drugs on a school campus. The discussion was prompted Tuesday as the board prepared to vote on the expulsion recommendations, which included a Sebring High Student with a possession and distribution of marijuana infraction who was recommended to attend the Academy program in lieu of being expelled. [continues 495 words]
Everybody's doing it -- confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - -- so here goes. I don't remember. Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the '60s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk. It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection. So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming. [continues 677 words]
Last week's historic vote by the New Hampshire House to legalize marijuana didn't fall into easy categories of party, geography or generation. Some liberal Democrats voted against the measure, while conservative Republicans voted for it. Some of the youngest lawmakers voted "nay" while senior citizens said "yea." Wednesday's 170-162 vote (click here for the roll call) was the first time any legislative chamber in the country has voted to legalize "personal use" of marijuana by adults 21 and older and establish a legal market for selling it, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports such laws. [continues 1389 words]
Everybody's doing it - confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - so here goes. I don't remember. Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the '60s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk. It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection. So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming. [continues 674 words]
Legalizing marijuana would not change how DUI laws are enforced here, according to a state police expert. That's because of a 1-year-old state law that was designed to crack down on people who drive while impaired by prescription drugs and other legal medications. RSA 265-A:2 makes it illegal to drive - or operate a boat - while "under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any controlled drug, prescription drug, over-the-counter drug, or any other chemical substance, natural or synthetic, which impairs a person's ability to drive." [continues 358 words]
During the Vietnam War, our generals told us with a straight face that they had to "destroy the village to save the village" to justify the American governments burning to the ground of villages that had a few communist supporters in them. I suspect the real reason was to justify the Vietnam War, which was really a government welfare program for the folks in the military industrial complex. In her last editorial on the War on Drugs, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk seems to have the same myopic, self centered view of we have to "put the children in prison to save them from drugs". [continues 91 words]
