Free Republic

In a sympathetic profile just before his resignation, Politico said Eric Holder's biggest legacy may be "his quiet dismantling of the War on Drugs...." How he could have "accomplished" this without legislative authority from Congress – which is supposed to make and pass laws – is never really explained. He was an Attorney General described by President Barack Obama as "the people's lawyer." Anybody familiar with Marxist jargon knew exactly what Obama meant. At home and abroad, the Obama administration distributed weapons to America's enemies. Holder's area of expertise was facilitating weapons shipments to Mexican drug cartels, in a...

Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired by the Dish Network after failing a drug test more than four years ago, says he still can't find steady work because employers are wary of his off-duty smoking. In a case being closely watched around the country, Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in Coats' case, which could have big implications for pot smokers in the first state to legalize recreational sales of the drug. The case highlights the clash between state...

As marijuana restrictions are eased throughout the nation, lawmakers from both parties are looking to the drug as a potential cash cow to shore up budget deficits and fill local and state coffers. For Democrats, however, a far more insidious pattern is developing, as recent moves by left-wing indicate they see in marijuana as a powerful tool to further control their largely poor and minority constituency with this 21st century "opiate for the masses." The city of Berkeley, CA recently moved to institute policy requiring "medicinal" marijuana outlets to allot certain amounts of their product to be distributed free to...

A marijuana giveaway for veterans attracted about 1,000 people to a Colorado hotel. The “Grow 4 Vets” giveaway in Colorado Springs aimed to bring cannabis-based treatments to veterans with service-related conditions as an alternative to pain medications. […] Not all who received the bags were veterans. A $20 donation from non-veterans was encouraged. …

A ballot issue in Florida this November will be "Amendment 2", a measure that would legalize medical marijuana in the state. Crist and his liberal ally, attorney John Morgan, are proponents of the ballot measure, while current GOP governor Rick Scott is against it. WFTV9 reports: Crist has changed parties and changed stances on gay marriage, abortion and medical marijuana. He said he will vote yes on Amendment 2. “I do support it,” Crist said. “Rick Scott opposes it; I don't know what else to tell you.” Critics think medical marijuana was pushed onto the ballot by Attorney John Morgan...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Legal marijuana is luring pot tourists and business entrepreneurs to Colorado, and it’s also attracting another demographic: the homeless, some of whom trek to the state in hopes of landing a job in the industry. “There’s an enormous migration, even a homeless movement, so to speak,” David Spencer, a homeless man from Tennessee, said. “I figured this would be a good place to start over.” While shelters across the metro area are willing to open their doors, they’re quickly running out of room. “We were averaging 190 (homeless) last year. We’re now averaging 345 a night,” Murray Flagg of the...

WASHINGTON -- Conservatives are losing ground on the fight to keep marijuana illegal, a Republican congressman warned in dire terms at the Values Voter Summit. During a conference mostly focused on religious liberty, abolishing the IRS and promoting small government, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) delivered a full speech on the ills of decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana. Fleming, a medical doctor, warned of a "growing acceptance" of marijuana -- a fact hard to deny, considering public opinion and state laws. Colorado and Washington state have legalized recreational marijuana, and 23 states and the District of Columbia have allowed the substance for...

A Connecticut high school student is heading to juvenile court after she allegedly dished out pot lollipops to her friends at school and one of them ate three and got sick. Police are not releasing the name of a minor girl who was detained and questioned for giving marijuana lollipops to her friends at Enfield High School this week. The girl allegedly told authorities she received the lollipops in the mail from California, but denied giving them to another girl who gobbled down three before complaining to the nurse that she felt sick, the Star Tribune reports.The second girl was...

Kevin Ward, Jr. Had Enough Marijuana in His System to Impair Judgment; Tony Stewart Not Charged By: Jason Lisk 9 hours ago Tony Stewart will not be indicted by an Ontario County (NY) grand jury in the death of Kevin Ward, Jr. Stewart’s vehicle struck Ward after Ward exited his own vehicle on the track and walked toward the middle of the race track at Canandaigua Motor Speedway on August 9, 2014

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The main author of a Washington state law that legalized recreational marijuana said on Wednesday that testing sewage for the active ingredient in pot could give municipalities a broader and more reliable picture of drug use than traditional surveys. Alison Holcomb, who is also an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said wastewater analysis for psychoactive THC could provide policymakers crucial data at a time of sweeping shifts in marijuana policy in U.S. states and cities.

<p>An Alaska television reporter wrapped up a live segment on medical marijuana with a curse and an "I quit," telling viewers she will work instead to legalize pot in the state.</p> <p>Charlo Greene revealed she was in fact the owner of the "cannabis club" featured in her story on Anchorage's KTVA 10 p.m. broadcast Sunday.</p>

NEW YORK – Police say a 24-year-old Canadian woman has been arrested at Kennedy Airport with handguns, ammunition and 33 pounds of marijuana in her checked baggage. Joseph Pentangelo is the spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police. He says the Scarborough, Ontario, woman was arrested at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday in Terminal 5.

Hundreds of military veterans received marijuana free of charge on Saturday. The unusual event included free medical marijuana and edibles. Organizers designed the event specifically for veterans, but members of the public were also welcome. A handful of Denver area businesses teamed up for the event specifically for veterans, but members of the public were also welcome. Hundreds lined up to get into the largest event ever hosted by Operation Grow4Vets. …

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel is famously outspoken and sharp-tongued, and on CNBC on Wednesday he did not disappoint. In a "Squawk Box" interview.Thiel trashed Twitter, Uber and Apple, among others, "Twitter is hard to evaluate. They have a lot of potential. It's a horribly mismanaged company—probably a lot of pot-smoking going on there. But it's such a solid franchise it may even work with all that," the co-founder of PayPal and early Facebook investor said.

Like thousands of his fellow Coloradans, Peyton Manning is buzzing off the state's legalization of marijuana. But it's a different kind of high for the Denver Broncos quarterback, who credits legal pot with booming sales at his Papa John's pizza franchises. Manning purchased 21 Papa John's locations statewide shortly before voters passed Colorado Amendment 64 in late 2012, and he's been raking in the money ever since.

A North Las Vegas high school junior will be prosecuted as an adult in the shooting death of a woman in what police say was a dispute over $5 in a marijuana buy. […] The teen is accused of shooting 20-year-old Andrea Lafon in the head as she sat in a car in a North Las Vegas neighborhood. Lafon died the next day. A witness told police that Lafon refused to let the teen pay $35 for $40 worth of marijuana. …

Tired of Cheech & Chong pot jokes and ominous anti-drug campaigns, the marijuana industry and activists are starting an ad blitz in Colorado aimed at promoting moderation and the safe consumption of pot. To get their message across, they are skewering some of the old Drug War-era ads that focused on the fears of marijuana, including the famous “This is your brain on drugs” fried-egg ad from the 1980s. […] “So far, every campaign designed to educate the public about marijuana has relied on fear-mongering and insulting marijuana users,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s...

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval endorsed the legalization of marijuana last week, saying the drug should be regulated and taxed, with revenues used to fund treatment programs for harder drugs. The comments came during an interview with the State Journal Wednesday about data showing African-Americans in Madison were arrested or cited for marijuana offenses at about 12 times the rate of whites in the city. Koval called efforts to enforce laws against marijuana an “abject failure,” and said the same about the broader war on drugs. “We’ve done such an abysmal job using marijuana as a centerpiece of drug enforcement,...

Retail sales of state-licensed weed in Washington topped $12 million by Sept. 8 … and sales keep climbing. The improvement of sales in recreational marijuana here mirrors the steep growth in sales in Colorado, where the recreational market out-sold medical for the first time in July (the latest numbers from that state). The Cannabist reports: “In July 2014, customers purchased more than $29.7 million in recreational marijuana — up from $24.7 million in June. Medical marijuana patients spent more than $28.9 million on marijuana in July — comparable to June’s $28.6 million in sales.” In Washington, there are now 55...

Immigration: When California Gov. Jerry Brown hung out the "all welcome" sign for illegals, Mexico's drug cartels heard him loud and clear. Raids on Thursday left lawmen declaring Los Angeles a cash-laundering mecca. Roping off 100 blocks of downtown Los Angeles this week, federal agents from the U.S. attorney's office raided roughly 70 garment district businesses along with a few houses in tony Westwood and Beverly Hills. The suspected crime was laundering money for Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Agents hauled out $65 million in cash stuffed in duffel bags, suitcases and boxes, some of it blood-spattered. The cash came from hostage...