Colorado Teenagers Stubbornly Refuse to Smoke More Pot

Despite legalization.      New survey data from Colorado indicate that marijuana legalization so far has not led to an increase in pot smoking by teenagers, as prohibitionists warned it would. In the 2013 Healthy Kids Colorado survey, 37 percent of high school students reported that they had ever tried marijuana, down from 39 percent in 2011. The ... MORE

David Firestone: Let States Decide On Marijuana

from NY Times editorial series.       In 1970, at the height of his white-hot war on crime, President Richard Nixon demanded that Congress pass the Controlled Substances Act to crack down on drug abuse. During the debate, Senator Thomas Dodd of Connecticut held up a package wrapped in light-green paper that he said contained $3,000    .... MORE

Jamaica Decriminalises Marijuana For Personal Use

by Paul Donnelly.       Government also hopes relaxation will attract tourists. Jamaica has announced its intention to plan to reform its drugs laws and decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, in a bid to attract more tourists to the island. The announcement made by Mark Golding, the Justice Minister, said that the cabinet is minded to allow   ... MORE

Higher Than Expected: Colorado's Marijuana Tax Revenue

by Robin Respaut.       Colorado, the first state to tax legalized recreational marijuana sales, expects to bring in an estimated $98 million in revenue this year, exceeding the state's original expectations by 40 percent. The state began levying sales and excise taxes on recreational marijuana on January 1, 2014. Moody's Investors Service, in a     ... MORE

Abby Wisse Schachter: The War On Fun

When safety becomes a god.     In 1859, the esteemed magazine Scientific American issued a warning about young people's "pernicious excitement" over a trendy game: chess. The shuffling of pawns and rooks was "a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements   ... 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

VIDEO: 3 Absurd Reasons For Banning Drugs

California To Start Collecting Signatures To Legalize Pot

by Ashley Bailey.           Supporters of legalizing marijuana in California have been given the green light to start collecting signatures for a November ballot measure. If passed, the Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act for California would legalize recreational pot use for adults 21 and over. It would also strengthen existing   ... MORE

How Government Wasted Taxpayer Dollars In 2013

3-D pizza printing, pole dancing, the $100,000 outhouse ... The federal government spent $680 billion more than it took in during the 2013 fiscal year. But despite shutting down much of Washington in an argument over how much debt to rack up in 2014, Uncle Sam continues to green-light spending on projects that only their contractors     ... MORE

Now Human Drug Dogs Sniff Out Weed And Issue Violations

Meet the newest government snoops, Nasal Rangers.     Just when you thought parking inspectors were the most-hated profession around, in come the 'odor investigators'. Pot smokers in Denver, Colorado - where the limited sale, possession and growth of recreational marijuana is legal - have had their noses put out of joint recently by        ...  MORE

Jacob Sullum: The Cannabis Is Out Of The Bag

Prohibitionists might want to think carefully about this.  At the end of May, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed legislation aimed at taxing and regulating the commercial distribution of marijuana for recreational use. The legislative process had been haunted by the fear that the federal government would try to quash this  ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: The Marijuana Rebellion

Prohibition under attack. By the time the 21st Amendment ended national alcohol prohibition in December 1933, more than a dozen states had already opted out. Maryland never passed its own version of the Volstead Act, while New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. Eleven other states eliminated their statutes by     ... MORE