(AP) - Jamaica's government plans to partially decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in what supporters call a long-overdue rethinking of drug laws. Justice Minister Mark Golding said Thursday that the cabinet was backing a proposal to make possession of no more than 2 ounces of marijuana a petty offense that could result in a fine but not a criminal arrest. The measures are almost certain to clear the legislature. Marijuana has been pervasive but outlawed on the island for a century. [continues 52 words]
During the last 32 years, stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld has smoked 130,000 marijuana cigarettes - with the federal government's blessing. As jaws dropped in a Harrisburg legislative chamber filled with state senators, Rosenfeld made the remark Tuesday and then held up a silver canister containing 300 pre-rolled joints, a month's supply. He continues to receive the canisters from a government-authorized farm in Mississippi to help treat a rare bone-tumor disorder. This despite the drug's classification by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a top-tier hazardous substance with no medicinal value. [continues 665 words]
Even Though Washington State Allows Medical Marijuana, 10-Year Sentences Are Possible. SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The green-cross storefronts of medical marijuana dispensaries are common in much of Washington, and the state is plowing ahead with licensing people to grow and sell recreational pot to adults. But a federal trial scheduled to begin in the coming weeks for five people in Spokane suggests not all is OK with weed in the state. Larry Harvey, a 70-year-old medical marijuana patient with no criminal history, three of his relatives, and a family friend each face mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in prison after they were caught growing about 70 pot plants on their rural, mountainous property. [continues 270 words]
EGG HARBOR TWP., N.J.- Only six months after a grand opening, South Jersey's sole medical marijuana dispensary is struggling to survive. This spring, Compassionate Care Foundation was planning to triple its production, using a $357,000 loan from the state Economic Development Authority. Simultaneously, the dispensary was preparing to convert cannabis leaves into liquid medicine, transdermal lotions, and lozenges, according to Bill Thomas, the nonprofit's CEO. About 100 pounds of the leaves sit in brown grocery bags at the dispensary, waiting to be sent to a manufacturing plant in Pennsauken to be turned into the new products. [continues 933 words]
Given that Pennsylvania is still struggling to come to terms with the legalization of gin under FDR, it's not surprising that the commonwealth is well behind the current vanguard of marijuana policy. But there are signs that the state is making belated progress in withdrawing from the failed war on weed. Last week, Philadelphia Councilman Jim Kenney introduced a bill to end mass arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Meanwhile, in Harrisburg, Gov. Corbett incrementally moderated his pro-prohibition stance, saying he would support medical use of a marijuana derivative. [continues 328 words]
That one becomes dependent on one substance doesn't mean that everyone will become dependent on all substances ("Hold off on legalizing recreational pot," April 29). For most, a drink after work with a cigar or a toke with a glass of wine is a pleasant break from the stresses of everyday life. Considering that alcohol is so widely available, columnist Kevin Riordan appears to assume we're all on the verge of alcoholism, and that adding weed will turn us into a society of wild-eyed stoners. The premise is without factual support, given that marijuana has been proven less harmful and addictive than liquor. Anthony Frascino, Swedesboro, artgardenr@aol.com [end]
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Before buying cannabis at South Jersey's only medical-marijuana dispensary, patients must circle one of six animated faces that stare out from a clipboard. The row of smiling, wincing, frowning, and sobbing cartoon faces is being used to rank the degree of pain that patients experience due to cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and several other conditions the state deems treatable by cannabis. When the patients return to the Compassionate Care Foundation dispensary in Egg Harbor Township for a refill, they again are handed the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale so that the effect of the marijuana can be assessed. [continues 1044 words]
DENVER - We were four female independent journalists of a certain age. Let's say circling above and below 50. We were vodka-martini type of women, white wine chilled, maybe in extremis a whiskey on the rocks. We bonded while attending the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Denver, between meetings on the epidemic of allergic reactions among children, the health dangers of fracking, and a seminar on the effort to map the brain. But while we hustled from meeting to meeting, our reporters' instincts drew us to the big story literally at our doorstep: Marijuana was now legal in Colorado. [continues 1276 words]
It Could Be Helpful in Multiple Sclerosis, but There Is Insufficient Data on Other Ailments. Medical marijuana got a mixed report card when the American Academy of Neurology reviewed the science on the efficacy of the controversial substance in neurological disorders. It could be helpful in multiple sclerosis, the researchers concluded. It didn't help side effects of the Parkinson's drug levodopa. There was insufficient evidence to evaluate it in several other diseases, including epilepsy. The results were released Monday at the group's annual meeting this week at the Convention Center. More than 12,000 people are expected to attend. [continues 595 words]
Medical marijuana got a mixed report card when the American Academy of Neurology reviewed the science on the efficacy of the controversial substance in neurological disorders. It could be helpful in multiple sclerosis, the researchers concluded. It didn't help side effects of the Parkinson's drug levodopa. There was insufficient evidence to evaluate it in several other diseases, including epilepsy. The results were released Monday at the group's annual meeting this week at the Convention Center. More than 12,000 people are expected to attend. [continues 594 words]
Some in Law Enforcement Say Administrators Can Be Too Concerned About Protecting Schools' Images. The investigation into a Main Line high school drug ring began months ago. Police arrested one alleged ringleader in February. But school administrators said this week that they didn't know about the probe until hours before authorities Monday announced the arrests of 11 people and unveiled a cache of seized drugs, cash, and weapons. The admission underscores what has become a frustration among some law enforcement agencies vying to root out networks that peddle to teens: Collaborating with schools during investigations can be difficult - or even counterproductive. [continues 838 words]
The American public has so conditioned itself to think of drug abuse as an inner-city problem seen mostly among poor black and brown people that it is jarring when reality paints a very different picture. That happened Monday when authorities announced that they had broken up a drug ring catering to privileged teens in Philadelphia's tony suburbs. Nine adults and two 17-year-olds allegedly sold drugs to students at Lower Merion, Harriton, Conestoga, and Radnor High Schools. The arrests made national news, which shows how rare major drug busts are in such settings. But that's not because Main Line teens are immune to drug abuse - particularly when it comes to marijuana, apparently the principal product sold by this ring. [continues 205 words]
Medical Marijuana and Pig-Gestation Crates Came Up Again After He Laid Out Plans for the 2015 Budget. FAIRFIELD, N.J. - The same few questions appear to be following Gov. Christie from town to town. At the governor's 118th town hall meeting Wednesday, at Winston Churchill Elementary School in Fairfield, Essex County, those in attendance yet again confronted the governor about his stance on medical marijuana, as well as his decision to veto a bill that would have outlawed pig-gestation crates, a factory farming tool that the Humane Society describes as a "lifelong confinement in a space so small you can't even turn around." [continues 578 words]
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A NJ Transit clerk who was suspended for using medical marijuana to treat his end-stage renal failure has sued the agency. The suit filed by Charlie Davis, 57, may be the first of its kind in New Jersey, where medical marijuana has been legally available since 2012. Davis says the drug helps ease pain in his nerve-damaged legs and makes sleeping easier. According to the lawsuit filed in March in state court in Newark, Davis was bumped from his job as a procurement clerk by a more senior employee in December. He applied for a position in the field as a railroad block operator. [continues 202 words]
One American debate that doesn't seem to fade away is the war on drugs, and specifically the war on marijuana. Like those that came previously, the millennial generation has a unique standpoint on the topic. "I wouldn't really care, because I don't use drugs," said Christian Precise, 15. "But overall, it really doesn't seem to be much of a problem. People know the risks. It's their body. They should be able to do what they want with it." [continues 324 words]
The FDA Approved a Device That Opioid Users' Family or Caregivers Can Use. LOS ANGELES - With opioid drugs, mainly prescription painkillers, responsible for more than 16,000 deaths and half a million emergency room visits a year, the government on Thursday approved the sale of a handheld "rescue pen" that caregivers or family members can use to avert a potentially fatal overdose. The Food and Drug Administration said it cleared the prescription auto-injector to deliver naloxone - the same non-narcotic drug that paramedics and ER doctors use - nearly three months ahead of schedule and after just 15 weeks of deliberation under so-called priority review. [continues 646 words]
Mayor Vincent Gray on Monday signed a bill that decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in the U.S. capital. The law makes possession a civil violation with a penalty of $25, lower than most city parking tickets. Possession had been a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. - - Reuters [end]
Funny how, when money is concerned, marijuana is being upgraded to a pleasurable pastime, rather than portrayed as a drug on a par with heroin ("N.J. legislator: Legalize recreational pot," March 25). The fact that weed has been proven to far surpass legal substances such as tobacco and alcohol in its more benign and sometimes curative effects on the health of its users has little to do with this turnabout. Punitive measures have cost governments billions in law enforcement and new prisons, not to mention the harm incarceration has caused occasional smokers. But money has a way of prying open closed minds. Sadly, Gov. Christie still can't see the forest for the trees. Anthony Frascino, Swedesboro [end]
A Philadelphia lawmaker wants to relax the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana. Sen. Mike Stack, a Democrat and a candidate for lieutenant governor, is introducing bills to lower penalties for having an ounce or less of pot and to expunge first-time offenders' records after five years. "Beyond the financial cost, our antiquated marijuana laws clog our criminal justice system and consume time that can be better spent arresting and prosecuting violent criminals," Stack said Wednesday. "Over the past 20 years, the number of marijuana arrests has exploded, but the price of marijuana has dropped, and the availability and potency have increased." [continues 77 words]
With Colorado in Mind, Others Weigh Changes. in N.J., Christie Is Opposed. Nearly three months after Colorado became the first state to allow the recreational use of pot, interest in passing laws to legalize marijuana is spreading across the country. Colorado's windfall in tax revenues - expected to be beyond $208 million annually - is fanning the flame, especially as state officials struggle with budgets and limited resources. New Jersey is among at least 10 East Coast states that are caught up in the trend. Two marijuana bills were introduced this month in the New Jersey Legislature - with different approaches - though Gov. Christie has adamantly opposed the very idea of legalization. New Hampshire also has a reluctant governor, while New York's and Rhode Island's bills are gathering steam. Maryland is also in play. [continues 710 words]
Nick Scutari, Who Helped Get Medical Marijuana Legalized, Cited Colorado's Revenue Windfall. A prime author of New Jersey's medical marijuana law wants the state now to emulate Colorado and legalize the recreational use of pot by adults. Citing the windfall Colorado is enjoying from marijuana sales, State Sen. Nick Scutari (D., Union) announced Monday that he had drafted a bill to legalize marijuana for recreational use and hoped to get it assigned to a committee as soon as possible and then posted for a vote. [continues 445 words]
Kenney's Bill Calls for Ending Arrests for Possession of Small Amounts in Most Cases. After being caught on campus with less than two grams of weed in 2012, Temple University student Aaron Fleming was arrested and thrown in a holding cell for 14 hours. He eventually paid a $200 fine and enrolled in a court program that, a year later, cleared his record, he said. "What benefit did society gain for punishing someone ... over this?" Fleming asked Monday as he testified during a City Council hearing. [continues 510 words]
Citing a dramatic increase in heroin-related deaths, Delaware County officials announced Thursday they are pushing for legislation to allow police officers to carry a drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. They said they also are exploring the possibility of a pilot program with the Pennsylvania Department of Health that would equip police, often the first to arrive at the scene, with naloxone nasal spray, more commonly known as Narcan. They said 52 heroin-related deaths were reported in the county in each of the last two years, with 12 so far in 2014. By contrast, 19 deaths were reported in 2007. [continues 328 words]
Jail Time Would Be Replaced With a Fine. WASHINGTON - Consuming marijuana in a private home will no longer be a criminal offense in the nation's capital under a measure that passed the D.C. Council on Tuesday and that instantly escalated a simmering national debate over loosening marijuana laws. Mayor Vincent Gray intends to sign the measure, a spokesman said, putting district drug law in conflict with federal law, and sending the bill to Congress, which has veto authority over Washington laws but has organized to override only three times since 1979. [continues 161 words]
A Philadelphia officer was charged Friday by the District Attorney's Office with lying under oath in two drug cases. Steven Lupo, who has been with the department for six years, will be suspended with intent to dismiss by Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, a police spokesman said. The investigation of Lupo, 36, began after his testimony in a drug case in 2011 led a judge to dismiss drug charges against an East Germantown man. Lupo testified that he had not opened the trunk of a car before obtaining a search warrant. Video surveillance introduced by the defendant's attorney showed Lupo and a supervisor opened the trunk and looked inside before the search warrant was secured. [continues 165 words]
As Candidate Pushes Legalization, New Poll Backs Change. The billboards popped up next to Interstate 81 in Scranton and alongside I-79 in Erie late last month: "Legalize and Tax Marijuana Now!!! ... John Hanger for Governor 2014." Hanger has all but hung his entire candidacy on pot, betting that the issue will distinguish him amid the seven candidates now battling for the Democratic nomination to oppose Gov. Corbett. He may be on to something: Plenty of Pennsylvania voters agree that marijuana laws should be loosened, according to a new poll released Friday by the Mercyhurst University Center of Applied Politics. [continues 890 words]
Jeffrey Walker, a 24-year police veteran who plotted to rip off a drug dealer, will testify against former colleagues in a plea deal. A veteran Philadelphia narcotics officer has agreed to testify against his former colleagues in a widening federal grand jury probe of corruption in the Police Department's drug squad. Jeffrey Walker, a 24-year veteran of the force, acknowledged his ongoing cooperation with investigators in a hearing Monday before U. S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno in which he pleaded guilty to one count each of attempted robbery and using a gun during a violent crime. [continues 375 words]
State Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D., Union) has taken the right step by introducing legislation to legalize marijuana for people over 21. But it is time for a total overhaul of New Jersey drug policy. Not only should marijuana be legalized, but also other nonaddictive substances, such as psilocybin mushrooms and others. After the legalization of nonaddictive substances, bringing everyone out of the black market and into a controlled, legal, regulated, and taxed system, the availability of and demand for addictive substances such as heroin will significantly diminish. Eric Hafner, Toms River [end]
N.J. Lawmakers Heard Ideas, From Adding Sites and Qualifying Ailments to Cutting Fees. Four years after New Jersey became the 14th state to adopt a medical-marijuana program, legislators took testimony from dispensary operators and patient advocates who are proposing changes to give the struggling program a jumpstart. After the hour-long Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee hearing ended Thursday, Chairman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer) said the legislators would discuss the issues and "hopefully make improvements to the program" by introducing legislation and working with the state [continues 526 words]
(AP) - Colorado's legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that gives the first official estimate of how much the state expects to make from pot taxes. The proposal outlines plans to spend $99 million next fiscal year on substance-abuse prevention and other priorities. The money would come from a statewide 10 percent sales tax on recreational pot, indicating Colorado's total sales next fiscal year will be near $1 billion. [continues 65 words]
While Some Plan Moves Out of N.J., Others Make Oils, Wait for Dispensaries to Offer More Ways to Ingest. Tina DeSilvio is so determined to give her teenage daughter marijuana, she is mixing cannabis buds with 180-proof alcohol and letting the concoction evaporate into a sticky, olivegreen substance to add to coconut oil. Jenna, 14, cannot smoke marijuana, but she can swallow a half-milliliter of the oil - a few drops - when it is stirred into applesauce or yogurt four times a day. [continues 1215 words]
As the debate over the legalization of marijuana gathers steam, newly invigorated pro- and anti-weed groups are erecting catchy billboards outside MetLife Stadium as the Big Game nears. The Marijuana Policy Project is launching two billboards Thursday night near the stadium to tackle a billboard put up on Wednesday by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a group that wants marijuana to remain illegal. The competing billboards play with images of footballs, the brain, weed, and alcohol to score points on the eve of the Super Bowl. [continues 178 words]
Doctors and the broader public may be split on the prospect of legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. But the mothers who lined up at a Senate hearing Tuesday to testify about their children's severe chronic illnesses and a lack of treatment were not. Christine Brann's 3-year-old son, Garrett, has Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. She said that doctors had tried 10 medications to control his seizures, but none worked. [continues 584 words]
City Council should pass Jim Kenney's bill to treat minor marijuana possession like a traffic offense. The hypocrisy surrounding U.S. marijuana policy goes all the way to the top. President Obama long ago admitted using the drug as a youth - - and recently acknowledged that its risks are comparable to those of drinking - but largely hesitated to advocate mercy toward anyone indulging in the same behavior. American states and cities now mirror these contradictions, spanning the spectrum from full-blown legalization to rearguard drug war. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is nonsensically doing some of both at the same time. [continues 410 words]
The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association on Thursday became the first medical professional group in the commonwealth to publicly support a bill legalizing medical marijuana. The group, representing more than 212,000 registered nurses in Pennsylvania, said it was backing Senate Bill 1182, which would protect patients who want to use medicinal marijuana and the healthcare professionals who recommend it, from prosecution. "We have been hearing a lot from our patients and their families about it, especially from those with seizure disorders, where traditional medical treatments are not effective," said Betsy Snook, the association's CEO and a nurse. [continues 200 words]
Says Tax Windfall From Legal Marijuana Not Worth It. Philadelphia - Gov. Corbett said Thursday he is not tempted to change his opposition to legalizing marijuana by reports that Colorado expects a $70 million tax windfall this year from sales of the drug. "Contrary to what some members of the [state] Senate view as 'recreational' marijuana, I don't believe it is recreational," Corbett said at the annual "Ask the Governor" forum sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "Marijuana is a huge gateway drug to the drug problems we have in this country," said Corbett, a career prosecutor before he became governor. "It leads to the abuse of many other drugs, including cocaine and heroin." [continues 206 words]
Nicholas P. Scutari Said Colorado Has Been Successful Allowing Recreation Use. Christie Has Said: No Way. The proposal would invite a veto from Gov. Christie over legalizing the drug's recreational use. Citing the success of Colorado's marijuana legalization program, a New Jersey lawmaker said he planned to introduce a bill within the month to legalize recreational marijuana for residents 21 and older. Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D., Linden), a primary sponsor of the state's four-year-old medical marijuana program and a prosecutor in Linden, said he believed this was the first time such a bill would be debated in the New Jersey Legislature. [continues 582 words]
Grandfather Protests for Medical Marijuana and His Family. Frigid temperatures, a looming snowstorm, and a set of jitters did not stop the grandfather of a 2-year-old medical-marijuana cardholder from showing up at Gov. Christie's swearing-in this week. Gene Gatens, a carpenter from Brick, Ocean County, was among a small crowd of 30 protesters to stake out a spot Tuesday near the War Memorial. He hoisted a homemade plywood sign that read, "Don't Force Families to Move for Medicine." [continues 711 words]
His bill would eliminate mandatory arrests for possession. Officers could issue a summons. City Councilman James F. Kenney called Tuesday for Philadelphia to join the growing roster of cities and states moving to decriminalize, if not outright legalize, possession of marijuana. Kenney said he would introduce a bill Thursday, at Council's first meeting of the year, that would end mandatory arrests for pot possession. He said he was not advocating full legalization, but was taking his cue from District Attorney Seth Williams' 2010 decision to handle possession cases involving amounts up to 30 grams - just over an ounce - - as summary offenses. [continues 352 words]
Federal Grand Jury Probing Allegations Against Phila. Officers. Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey confirmed Friday that a federal grand jury has been impaneled to probe allegations against former members of Philadelphia's narcotics unit. During a news conference at Police Headquarters on an unrelated matter, Ramsey volunteered that six former narcotics officers had been pulled off street duty and a seventh was in custody. The declaration was the first public acknowledgment of the grand jury's involvement. Ramsey said that the department's Internal Affairs unit and corruption task force and the FBI were part of the investigation, and that they had been working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office. [continues 367 words]
More Teens Are Using Marijuana Daily, but Research Shows Regular Use May Harm Developing Brains. Memory loss, cognitive deficits, drops in IQ, and abnormal brain structures: these are but a few of the neurotoxic effects that recent research has correlated to marijuana use in adolescents. But while a number of studies suggest a link between these changes and regular cannabis use, particularly for young teens, there is no definitive evidence that marijuana is entirely to blame. Adolescents who smoke daily, for example, may have problems that predate marijuana use. [continues 1330 words]
Diane Fornbacher, a nationally recognized marijuana legalization activist from Collingswood, is moving her family to Colorado. She says she needs cannabis to alleviate a health condition that New Jersey's medical marijuana program doesn't cover. Fornbacher, who sits on the national board of NORML, an organization that has fought for legalization for decades, says she has complex PTSD, which is not one of the dozen ailments that qualify for cannabis in New Jersey. On New Year's Day, Colorado became the first state in the country to allow the sale of recreational pot. It also has a more inclusive medical marijuana program. [continues 221 words]
Despite a Report Hinting the Governor Might Change His Mind, an Aide Said He Would Not. Gov. Corbett's office on Wednesday said he had not changed his stance on medical marijuana, and would veto any such legislation that comes to his desk. The governor's press secretary, Jay Pagni, said his statement early Wednesday to the Harrisburg Patriot- News that the governor would "take under consideration" any move by the Food and Drug Administration to approve cannabis for medical use was consistent with Corbett's longstanding position on the issue. [continues 240 words]
DENVER - At 8 a.m. on New Year's Day, in an industrial area a few miles from downtown Denver, a Marine veteran named Sean Azzariti walked into a giant store and bought a bag of weed. Legally. To smoke just for fun, if he's so inclined. Azzariti's transaction - 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and 50 mg of Truffles for an additional $9.28 - was the first in the state's grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. [continues 765 words]
Denver (AP) - The first Denver businesses approved to sell recreational marijuana got their licenses Friday, the owners mugging for pictures and saying they never thought they'd see the day when they'd get a permit to sell pot. Applause erupted and cameras whirred when the first license was issued from the Department of Excise and Licenses. The city awarded 10 licenses for retail shops, 12 for growers, and 2 for makers of cannabis-infused products such as brownies. Recreational pot for people over 21 has been legal in Colorado for more than a year, but retail sales aren't allowed until 8 a.m. on Jan. 1. [end]
The Parents of Vivian Wilson, 2 1/ 2, Are Moving to Colo. for Easier Access to Legal Treatment for Her. The family of a chronically ill New Jersey toddler who has been at the forefront of a battle to get Gov. Christie to loosen the state's medical marijuana regulations is moving out of state. Vivian Wilson, a 21/ 2- year-old Scotch Plains girl with severe epilepsy, was issued an ID card that qualifies her for cannabis a year ago. But she has been unable to get the drug. [continues 469 words]
A bill that would allow medical marijuana patients in New Jersey to purchase cannabis from licensed out-of-state dispensaries cleared the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee Thursday. The vote was 7-4, allowing the bill to advance to the floor of the Assembly in the next few weeks. Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D., Union), who sponsored the medical marijuana reciprocity bill, said it would ease the way for children with severe epilepsy to obtain cannabis in an edible form to curb their life-threatening seizures. Currently, the three dispensaries in New Jersey only sell the smokable type of marijuana, while the edible variety is being available at dispensaries in Colorado and a few other states, she said. [continues 140 words]
Proposal Would Let Child Patients Obtain Edible Marijuana From Other States. As news cameras clicked, the parents of a 2-year-old girl with severe epilepsy arrived at South Jersey's first medical marijuana dispensary to buy her an ounce when it opened six weeks ago. But the green buds sold by the Compassionate Care Foundation clinic in Egg Harbor Township ended up being worthless to them, because Vivian Wilson cannot smoke. Brian Wilson of Scotch Plains said he tried reducing the marijuana to an oil for his daughter so she could ingest it - which is how some epileptic children in Colorado take it - - but he found out there were no medical laboratories in the state that were able to test it to determine its safety and the dosing. [continues 476 words]
Weed advocates call the link a myth lacking scientific support. But doctors see evidence in their practices. As legalized medical marijuana gains acceptance across the country, a long-smoldering question burns a little hotter. In the vernacular, stoners ask, "Do doobies make boobies?" Plastic surgeons phrase it more scientifically. "Does marijuana cause gynecomastia?" Speculation that men who smoke pot are prone to develop abnormal breast tissue or "man boobs" has been around for decades. The first scientific paper examining the clinical impact of the drug's active ingredient, THC, on hormonal systems was published in 1972 in the New England Journal of Medicine. [continues 1079 words]
Possession of Less Than an Ounce Would Merit a Fine. WASHINGTON - It took nearly 15 years after voters approved medical marijuana for it to become available in the District of Columbia, but the next major change to pot laws in the nation's capital is on the fast track. The D.C. Council is poised to approve a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot, and Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray announced last month that he supports it. He could sign the bill into law as early as January. [continues 662 words]
