Showing posts with label pot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pot. Show all posts

Colorado's Cannabis Consumption Conundrum

by Jacob Sullum.        Buying pot is easy; smoking it is hard. For cannabis consumers who are accustomed to the black market's meager selection and iffy quality, Colorado's dispensaries are a revelation: dozens of strains, each with a distinctive bouquet, fresh enough that you can actually smell the difference. Denver-area budtenders, who say    ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Pot, Poker, and Prohibitionism

GOP becoming party of unprincipled killjoys?     Mike Lee calls for "a new conservative reform agenda" based on "three basic principles," one of which is federalism. "The biggest reason the federal government makes too many mistakes is that it makes too many decisions," the Republican senator from Utah explained in a speech at the       ... MORE

Nick Gillespie: 10 Really Successful Potheads

Marijuana users are lazy, unmotivated slackers?       A few weeks ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that there is no "responsible way to recreationally use marijuana." Rubio's statement isn't wrong because it's unpopular. Plenty of people on every part of the political spectrum believe what he believes. It's wrong because it is flatly ... MORE

Ten Pot Studies Government Wished It Hadn't Funded

Inconvenient truths for prohibitionists. Number 10. Marijuana use has no effect on mortality: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death.          ... MORE

London Economists Slam The War On Drugs

New report details futility of drug war.      In an 81-page report released Monday evening, the best and brightest minds in the economic drug policy world send the United Nations a loaded message about the drug war: Enough. The individual analyses of the economists and drug policy experts, signed by five Nobel Prize winners in economics, ... MORE

Medical Marijuana's Dramatic Effect On Pain Relief

by Jan Hefler.    What the Surgeon General does not want you to know. 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   ... MORE

The Five States Most Likely To Next Legalize Marijuana

by Kimberly Ruble.       Colorado and Washington are the only two states that have passed laws on legally using marijuana but individuals all across the United States are wondering if their state is going to be next. However it takes more than just curiosity. There have to be a combination of factors in place such as polling data, what the     ... MORE

Marijuana Legalization Could Bring Unexpected Benefits

by Jacob Sullum.    Why more pot may mean safer roads. The anti-pot group Project SAM claims drug test data show that marijuana legalization in Washington, approved by voters in that state at the end of 2012, already has made the roads more dangerous. The group notes with alarm that the percentage of people arrested for driving under the      ... MORE

VIDEO: Should Marijuana Be Legal?


Frank Luntz queries a national television focus group.

Marijuana Research Hampered By Government And Politics

by Ariana Eunjung Cha.      Millions of ordinary Americans are now able to walk into a marijuana dispensary and purchase bags of pot on the spot for a variety of medical ailments. But if you’re a researcher like Sue Sisley, a psychiatrist who studies post-traumatic stress disorder, getting access to the drug isn’t nearly so easy. That’s because the    ... MORE

Alex Greig: Six Year Old Dies From Medical Pot Prohibition

Another victim of the drug war.      A little girl has died just days after a Utah bill, HB104, was named Charlee's Law in her honor. Six-year-old Charlee Nelson died on Saturday after battling a debilitating neurological disorder called Batten disease. On Thursday, the Utah Legislature passed a law named for Charlee that allows children    ... MORE

Radley Balko: Yes, The Drug War Is Pretty Awful

Myth-busting prohibition propaganda.       Last month, I wrote a response to Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson in which I laid out many (but by no means all) of the harms caused by the modern-era war on drugs. Now Charles Lane, a columnist and editorial writer here at the Post, has responded to my post. You can read Lane’s response      ... MORE

John Stossel: Codgers Freaking Out

America's most popular cable news host is upset.  "Marijuana use, video games and texting (are) creating major social problems," says Bill O'Reilly. "This is an epidemic that will lead to a weaker nation!" Give me a break. Crotchety old geezers always complain about "the kids." The Boston Globe frets about "Idle Trophy Kids." The New York   ... MORE

AP: Legal Marijuana Revenue Exceeding Expectations

Economic health improving in Colorado.        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 some $99 million   ... MORE

Can Drug Czar Be Required To Respect Science?

by Johnny Green.     A radical bill is introduced to Congress. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a bill Tuesday that would change federal law so that the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), commonly known as the “drug czar,” is no longer prohibited from studying the legalization of marijuana and no longer     ... MORE

Legal Pot Coming Soon? A 50-State Marijuana Law Roundup

by John K. Ross.       The march towards good sense and marijuana freedom continues apace. To give a glimpse of what’s in store for 2014, here’s a 50-state guide to legislation and ballot measures that are in the works thus far this year. By my count, 13 states may follow Colorado and Washington State’s lead and legalize recreational use—either at  ... MORE

Pot Legalization Will Be On The Ballot This Year In Alaska

by Jonathan Kaminsky, Reuters. A measure that could make Alaska the third U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana use after Colorado and Washington has enough valid signatures to be put before voters in August, state officials said on Tuesday. If voted into law, the Alaska initiative would allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana and grow up to six pot plants, and would pave the way for creation of a system to tax and regulate pot sales. ... MORE

Obama Wrongly Denies He Has Power To Reclassify Pot

He should read the Controlled Substances Act. by Jacob Sullum. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that aired last night, President Obama tried to dodge responsibility for eliminating the contradiction between his recent comments about marijuana and its classification as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act:         ... MORE

Using Pot Legalization To Strip Citizens Of Gun Rights

L.J. Devon on a new anti-gun brainstorm.   Lawmakers from the state of Illinois have proposed new medical marijuana rules that coerce patients to surrender their Second Amendment right in the application process. The new medical marijuana "legalization" bill requires Illinois citizens to undergo a background check, be fingerprinted and   ... MORE