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Attorney John Morgan’s exuberantly profane comments to Amendment 2 supporters in a Lakeland bar puts a lie to the claim that the measure is aimed solely at legalizing medical marijuana. Morgan showed up at Lakeland’s Boots ’n’ Buckles Saloon after a debate with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd about Amendment 2 last week. He continually used four-letter words to rouse the frantic pro-amendment crowd. And although he does say he is speaking on behalf of medical marijuana, Morgan, holding a drink, also jokes, “I didn’t smoke a piece of grass all the way here. But I’ll tell you this, once...

Barack Obama stands apart from other modern American Presidents in many ways. In addition to the obvious bi-racial background, he is the only President to win the Nobel Peace Prize in his first term, and the only one ever designated Advertising Age’s Marketer of the Year. Beyond such specific achievements is his ineffable appeal, the widespread view that he is the coolest President ever. This supernal coolness is not new. In his autobiography, Dreams From My Father, the President wrote that in his teenage years “I tried my best to be cool at all times” (p. 82). However, leaving aside...

The Italian government has plans to produce medical marijuana in a military factory in Florence, national media reported on Friday. Roberta Pinotti, defence minister, and Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin have given their backing to the plans to see the army produce drugs using cannabis, La Stampa said. If approved the medical marijuana will be cultivated at a chemical plant run by the army, originally used to produce medicines for the military. The plans could see cannabis drugs available in Italian pharmacies as early as next year, the newspaper said. But although the defence and health ministries have been drawing up...

<p>That’s what the Berkeley City Council in California has unanimously approved, ordering medical marijuana dispensaries to donate 2 percent of their stash to patients making less than $32,000 a year.</p> <p>The new welfare program in the liberal-leaning city is set to launch in August 2015.</p>

High hopes for tax money isn’t as expected as the state’s legal marijuana industry isn’t bringing in as much money as anticipated. In fact, tax revenue is way below expectations. When voters approved recreational marijuana sales the state predicted it would pull in more than $33 million in new taxes in the first six months. The actual revenue came up more than $21 million short. The problem is that buying pot is less expensive on the streets where people don’t have to pay taxes or fees. Medical marijuana is also less expensive than recreational pot, so those with medical cards...

The paper will be published Wednesday, August 27, 2014 in the Journal of Neuroscience. ... researchers used an MRI machine and the brains of 40 people between the ages of 18 and 25. They claim that the more marijuana a person smokes, the more those two neural regions get "damaged." Dr. Hans Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, co-authored the study. He says, "Anytime you find there's a relationship to the amount of marijuana consumed and you see differences of core brain regions involved in processing of rewards, the making of...

In 2014, voters in Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize marijuana possession within their states. This November, voters in Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia will get the chance to follow suit. Voters in Florida will also decide whether to join the approximately 20 states which allow marijuana possession and use for medicinal purposes. Whatever these states decide, however, marijuana will remain illegal under federal law. Conservative Republicans often talk about the need to constrain the power of the federal government. On everything from environmental regulation to education policy, Republican officeholders argue that individual states should be able...

The cost of getting caught with a little weed in Santa Fe will drop to just $25 max, thanks to a City Council vote Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana. When the ordinance goes into effect, those caught with an ounce or less of marijuana in arts loving Santa Fe will be hit with a civil fine. Previously, it was a criminal misdemeanor carrying a possible $100 fine and jail time. With the 5-4 vote, the liberal-leaning northern New Mexico capital known for its arts market and tourist draws joined the national movement to change marijuana laws, and became the first city...

Oregon has had a wink-wink, nudge-nudge relationship with recreational marijuana use since 1998, when legalization for medical purposes created a wide, open system that distributes pot cards to just about anyone with a vague medical claim and the signature of a compliant physician. We're not suggesting that marijuana has no palliative value to those with genuine medical problems. But let's be honest: Recreational marijuana is all but legal in Oregon now and has been for years. Measure 91, which deserves Oregonians' support, would eliminate the charade and give adults freer access to an intoxicant that should not have been prohibited...

A narrow majority of Europe’s youth would ban cannabis, according to new research published by Eurobarometer. Opinion was divided on whether cannabis should be banned. Forty-five percent believed that it should be regulated, while 53 percent felt it should be banned. Meanwhile, more than 90 percent of respondents added that hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy should be illegal. Eurobarometer interviewed more than 13,000 15-24 year olds across the bloc in June for the survey, which was released on Thursday (21 August). It focused on levels of drug use, perceived risk of certain substances, as well as opinions...

Author Insights: Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Reduce Opioid Deaths BY BRIDGET M. KUEHN on AUGUST 26, 2014 Marcus A. Bachhuber, MD, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and colleagues found that states that legalize marijuana experience lower rates of opioid deaths, on average, compared with states that don’t allow medical marijuana. Image: University of Pennsylvania Opioid-overdose deaths increased in states across the country between 1999 and 2010, but states that legalized medical marijuana saw less-steep increases than those without, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine this week. Growing use...

One unexpected benefit of medical marijuana legislation appears to be a decrease in painkiller overdoses, perhaps because some chronic pain patients are turning to cannabis instead of powerful opioid drugs. In states with laws legalizing medical marijuana, new research shows there are nearly 25 percent fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses. Opioid painkiller overdoses are a growing problem nationwide. More than 16,500 Americans died of opioid drug overdoses in 2010, and the numbers continue to rise. Although a casual relationship hasn’t been proven, there appears to be a significant association between marijuana legislation and a fall in overdose deaths. Researchers from...

WASHINGTON -- Turning once again to what the sociologists call "coping mechanisms": There is marijuana and then there is alcohol. They are increasingly the civilized options. Consider alcohol. Consider a suave scotch and soda. One does not sit down to a scotch and soda to get blitzed, unless one is a veritable drunk. One sits down and sips a scotch and soda while conversing with friends. Perhaps one reads a book. One enjoys the scotch for the taste. With scotch there are scores of different tastes. One drinks a single malt. One drinks a blend. The same is true with...

SNIP As I reported a few weeks ago, some professors published a peer-reviewed article on the negative social costs to outright legalization. I noted that although overall traffic fatalities in Colorado have gone down since 2007, they went up by 100 percent for operators testing positive for marijuana—from 39 in 2007 to 78 in 2012. (Colorado legalized marijuana for medical usage in 2009, before legalizing marijuana for other uses in 2012.) Furthermore, in 2007, those pot-positive drivers represented only 7 percent of total fatalities in Colorado, but in 2012 they represented 16 percent of total Colorado fatalities. This new report...

Like it or not, marijuana use has increased exponentially since President Nixon declared a war no drugs in 1971. Today, marijuana — or weed, pot, cannabis, Mary Jane — is the third most popular recreational drug in the United States, behind only alcohol and tobacco. Upward of 24 million people have used it, based on the latest estimates, with 14 million using it regularly. But despite a growing warmth toward the drug, and two states (Washington and Colorado) legalizing its recreational use, there are still some people on the fence about its safety and usefulness. So, to educate you nonbelievers...

Nascent cannabis industry splits between wealthy with clean criminal records and those who turn to less than legal methods

<p>In addition, Brown had marijuana in his system when he was shot and killed by a police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, according to this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.</p>

Michael Brown was shot in the head and chest multiple times, according to Mary Case, the St. Louis County medical examiner. While Case declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation into Brown’s death, another person familiar with the county’s investigation told The Washington Post that Brown had between six and eight gunshot wounds and was shot from the front. In addition, Brown had marijuana in his system when he was shot and killed by a police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, according to this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. The...

Brain imaging studies of regular marijuana users have shown significant changes in their brain structure, particularly among adolescents, Lisdahl said. Abnormalities in the brain’s gray matter, which is associated with intelligence, have been found in 16- to 19-year-olds who increased their marijuana use in the past year, she said. These findings remained even after researchers controlled for major medical conditions, prenatal drug exposure, developmental delays and learning disabilities, she added. “When considering legalization, policymakers need to address ways to prevent easy access to marijuana and provide additional treatment funding for adolescent and young adult users,” she adivsed. Lisdahl also recommended...

Drug dealers are peddling a new marijuana product called Wax that looks and feels like lip balm and packs a kick equivalent to smoking 15-20 joints of weed. Police in Roswell, Ga., discovered 80 grams of Wax during a recent drug bust. Roswell Police Officer Zachary Frommer told Fox 5 in Atlanta last week that the drug ring was selling the substance to high school students. “It’s just an extra kick,” he said. “It gets ’em higher and it gets ’em higher faster. The 15-20 joints you smoke can equal a dose of the Wax.” The marijuana concentrate, also known...