Eager for marijuana reform, voters across the country are affirming their support for change in measured steps aimed at keeping momentum strong into the pivotal 2012 elections. Both the cities of Tacoma in Washington and Kalamazoo in Michigan voted this past Tuesday to make marijuana possession the lowest priority offense for local law enforcement. While the practical effect of...
Even as the fight for medical marijuana rights heats up on the west coast in the wake of President Obama’s attack on California cannabis and the resulting lawsuits, activists in other states are still committing themselves to the cause of marijuana reform. While one cannot deny that the government’s actions have had a chilling effect on a number of medical marijuana...
While the Obama administration’s sudden escalation of war on marijuana has caused nothing but hardship on patients and thousands of lost jobs, it may ultimately become the catalyst for the final legal dismissal of federal cannabis prohibition. Since 2005 and Raich v Gonzales, when the Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities could indeed enforce drug laws in the states,...
As backwards and archaic as America’s cannabis prohibition may be, there’s one thing that will always be true: it could be worse. Indonesia is infamous for their harsh penalties for drugs – including marijuana – and vacationing Australians have a habit of falling prey to their strict system.
On Tuesday one Australian began his harrowing journey through the courts,...
I wrote the other day that support for the legalization of marijuana is higher than support for Barack Obama with nearly half of all adult Americans in favor of ending the criminal penalties for personal use that further overcrowd our prisons.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Shortly after taking office, the new president — himself a pot smoker as a teenager — asked that...
If there one universal way to qualify the multi-faceted battle for marijuana reform, it is the remarkable resilience of the movement and its dedication to carry on the fight regardless of how many disappointments and setbacks get in the way. Most recently, activists in Colorado and California have shown why the marijuana issue will never go away and why prohibition always comes...
What if I told you there is a secret weapon that, if understood and utilized by the cannabis reform community, could fairly quickly and very decisively decide the issue of marijuana legalization once and for all?
Everybody knows that cannabis legalization is very, very near the tipping point in the United States. Even the folks at Gallup, not exactly known for wild-eyed...
Despite warnings from opponents of medical marijuana, legalizing the drug for medical purposes does not encourage teens to smoke more pot, according to new research that compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island after the latter state changed its laws.
Rhode Island legalized medical marijuana in 2006. But since Massachusetts did not, Dr. Esther Choo,...
On Saturday the White House issued its official response to the marijuana petition on their We The People website. This petition not only beat out all others by gathering over 70,000 signatures, it was accompanied by 4 other marijuana-related petitions in just the top ten submissions. While nobody was particularly optimistic about the marijuana petition’s potential for real...
In the wake of the major federal crackdown on California medical marijuana, most of the focus has been on the injustice of the action and the various components of the attacks; however, an interesting dual narrative has been developing over the issue of who is to blame. This is actually unusual, as in most cases that do not involve some inter-government scandal federal actors try...
It is common knowledge among marijuana smokers that the herb has a noticeable effect on short-term memory and generally leaves users in a very slight cognitive fog, which many find enjoyable. Now, a team of UK scientists from the University of Bristol have conducted tests and developed a theory for the cause of this effect.
The marijuana researchers performed experiments on rats...
Florida’s recent law forcing welfare applicants to submit to a drug test has been blocked by a federal judge. In perhaps the perfect storm of unexpected characters, a 35 year old Navy veteran and a judge appointed by former president George W. Bush are at the helm of this crusade.
Luis Lebron is a single father who was seeking some benefits while he finished his schooling. He...
Seems like the federal attack on California dispensaries have, predictably, created a chilling effect on medical marijuana reform across the nation. Last week, municipal authorities in Maple Shade, New Jersey decided not to allow Compassionate Sciences (one of the 6 companies allowed to grow medical marijuana in the state) to operate in their community. Now, more news of a medical...
We Can’t Wait. This is the new slogan that President Obama has chosen to symbolize his decision to pass a number of policy initiatives by executive order, bypassing Congress. So far reports have revealed a program to help homeowners deal with “underwater” mortgages and an upcoming attempt to tackle the student loan crisis. Already, some people with a poor grasp of...
As October wears on, developments on he marijuana front have taken a sour turn as the latest round of federal government abuse pounds growers and marijuana dispensaries in California and puts a chill on the freedoms of all citizens to dampen the successes of the national medical marijuana industry. Reports of dispensaries forced to shut down are often accompanied by optimistic...
There are finally some members of California’s government who are stepping up and demanding some measure of restraint from the federal government after it began a campaign of vicious attacks on medical marijuana. While this is step in the right direction, it is a long way from the kind of response that such outrageous federal power grabs should face. After steamrolling over...
Tomorrow is October 22nd, this date is important because it is the deadline that the Obama administration set for the closing of the We The People petitions. Several petitions have moved past the 5000 signature requirement but the most notorious is without a doubt the “Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol” petition which gathered the most...
For some time, the idea that technology promotes democracy has been discussed in certain academic circles as an interesting but difficult to test concept. Recently, however, this idea has advanced with ferocious force across the globe to become the new reality of an emerging world order. Robust information technology has always been a feature of working democracies as it allows the...
Corruption runs rampant among American border patrols, as was evidenced by a dramatic highway chase and arrest yesterday. Jason Lowery is a deportation officer who patrols the Mexico-Arizona border in search of illegal immigrants. He’s also a high-stakes drug trafficker, using his law enforcement credentials to assist cartel members in transporting their goods.
Apart from...
New Jersey’s 2 year fight for medical marijuana just hit another bump in the road after getting the go-ahead from Governor Christie. It seems public opposition is keeping one of the 6 companies allowed to grow and sell marijuana from being allowed to set up shop. Compassionate Sciences Inc. was hoping to open a dispensary at a former office furniture store on Route 73....
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