Free Republic

When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses. But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and basements into “Breaking Bad”-style laboratories, using flammable chemicals to extract potent drops of a marijuana concentrate commonly called hash oil, and sometimes accidentally blowing up their homes and lighting themselves on fire in the process.

Washington Man Who Faces Years In Prison For Growing Medical Marijuana Has Cancer A Washington state man who is facing at least 10 years in prison if convicted in a high-profile federal case over growing medical marijuana for personal use has been diagnosed with cancer. --snip-- Harvey, along with his wife, Rhonda; their son, Rolland Gregg; Rolland's wife, Michelle Gregg; as well as close family friend Jason Zucker are all facing federal marijuana charges for growing about 70 cannabis plants for their own medical use at the Harveys' rural home. The family's defense attorneys have maintained the pot patch complied...

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington's legal marijuana market opened last summer to a dearth of weed. Some stores periodically closed because they didn't have pot to sell. Prices were through the roof. Six months later, the equation has flipped, bringing serious growing pains to the new industry. A big harvest of sun-grown marijuana from eastern Washington last fall flooded the market. Prices are starting to come down in the state's licensed pot shops, but due to the glut, growers are — surprisingly — struggling to sell their marijuana. Some are already worried about going belly-up, finding it tougher than expected to...

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon & 3PM Eastern Time, at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com or Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Join This Ping List Now! E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963, Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join This Ping List! AND NOW... amidst billowing clouds of fragrant,...

A former Republican lieutenant governor of Florida is joining attorney John Morgan's push to legalize medical marijuana statewide. Jeff Kottkamp, who served in Gov. Charlie Crist's administration, signed paperwork to lobby for a Morgan-backed bill, called the Florida for Care bill, which would expand – not overwrite – the existing "Charlotte's Web" law.

1) P_resident Obama's own Department of Justice completed a six-year study on college rape, and it turns out that instead of 1-in-5 college coeds being raped, the figure is 0.03-in-5. Less than 1 percent of college students are the victim of a sexual assault -- 0.6 percent to be exact -- not to be confused with the 20 percent, or "one in five," claimed by feminists and President Obama. -- Ann Coulter2) In Â’92, the general sense was that New York was rotting from the inside. Now, crime feels like the exception rather than the rule. The city is the...

Two teenagers have been charged in the Thursday killing of a Roaring Spring, Pa., woman, according to Pennsylvania state police in Bedford County. One of the teenagers is charged with homicide and other related offenses while the other is charged with conspiracy to commit homicide and other related offenses in the death of Stephanie Waters, 21. Police did not identify the 16-year-old boy from Woodbury, Pa., and the 15-year-old boy from Martinsburg, Pa., who were arrested as suspects. Ms. Waters was reported missing Thursday to the Roaring Spring Borough Police Department, and posts were made on social media describing her...

In one epic journey four and a half years ago, stretching from Denver to Boulder, Colo., Privateer Holdings co-founder and CEO, Brendan Kennedy hit up 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in a single day. At the time, his unusual new business was just getting started. Today, his private equity firm, which invests in legal marijuana-related startups, crossed another milestone with the announcement of its first institutional investor, Founders Fund—perhaps the first ever to invest in the cannabis industry, Kennedy says. "This is a key milestone for us as a company, but it's also important for the industry as a whole," said...

This morning on Meet the Press, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the city will "explore every option" in regards to getting Initiative 71 enforced in the city. Initiative 71, which would have permitted the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes, was passed with overwhelming support on Election Day, yet was blocked by Congress. Bowser had previously been against legalized marijuana, but has since changed her position to align with the will of the voters of the District of Columbia. Bowser also said that she intends on "forging a path" for increased autonomy in the District of Columbia. Mayor...

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel served as a Democratic lawmaker between 1969 and 1981. He walked marbled halls during Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs” and witnessed his congressional colleagues trying to see who could produce the most heinous draconian drug laws. Today, Gravel is getting ready to sell some kush, or rather, serve as the CEO of an edible marijuana company called KUSH, a Cannabis Sativa, Inc. subsidiary. “I’m anxious to assist in bringing this important resource to a broader market in a serious and credible way,” the former lawmaker said in a statement. KUSH announced in a recent press...

A former Democratic senator will take the reins of a company that makes marijuana products for recreational and health purposes. Cannabis Sativa Inc., this week announced that 84-year-old former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel will head its subsidiary, Kush, which develops and markets cannabis products including “Kubby” a marijuana-based throat lozenge. Gravel ran for president in 2008 and served between 1969 and 1981 in the U.S. Senate, where he was a vocal critic of the war on drugs. "We need to decriminalize drugs and treat them as a health problem," Gravel told Reuters on Wednesday. "You should go see a doctor...

A year ago this New Year’s Eve, John Filippidis of Florida was driving south with his family on Interstate 95 when the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled over his black Ford Expedition and proceeded to raid it while his twins, wife and daughter looked on — separated in the back seats of different police cruisers. The officers were searching for Mr. Filippidis‘ Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun, which he left at home locked in his safe. (Maryland does not recognize handgun permits issued by other states.) When the search turned up nothing, Mr. Filippidis, 51, was allowed to go...

Colorado emerged as the state with the second-highest percentage of regular marijuana users as it began legalizing the drug, according to a new national study. The Denver Post reports the study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found about 1 out of 8 Colorado residents older than 12 had used marijuana in the past month. Only Rhode Island topped Colorado in the percentage of residents who reported using pot as often, according to the study. The study averaged state-specific data over two-year periods. It found that, for the 2011-2012 period, 10.4 percent of Colorado residents 12 and...

DENVER -- Chris Easterling was sick of relying on drug dealers in Minneapolis when he needed marijuana to help ease the pain of multiple sclerosis. They were flaky, often leaving the homeless man without the drug when he needed relief the most. So he moved to Denver, where legal pot dispensaries are plentiful and accessible. Easterling is among a growing number of homeless people who have recently come to Colorado seeking its legal marijuana, and who now remain in the state and occupy beds in shelters, according to service providers. While no state agency records how many homeless people were...

DENVER (AP) — Using marijuana in Colorado is legal. But the drug remains illegal federally and therefore is a disqualifier for obtaining a permit to carry a concealed firearm. The so-called "Colorado Campaign for Equal Gun Rights" wants to put a question on the November 2016 ballot asking voters to change state law to prevent sheriffs from denying permits due to marijuana use.

Police said Jaycee Chan and [Taiwan movie star] Ko Kai tested positive for marijuana and admitted using the drug, and that 100 grams of it were taken from Jaycee Chan's home. [In past years Jackie Chan has effusively praised the Communist Party and called America the most corrupt nation in the world]

Despite growing public support for legalizing marijuana, a lawsuit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma shows that at least two segments of American society are prepared to fight the idea before the nation’s highest court—social conservatives and law enforcement. The lawsuit seeks to overturn Colorado’s experiment in legalized recreational pot, alleging that the two conservative states are being overrun with Colorado marijuana that is making it harder for them to enforce their own drug laws. …

Co-blogger Jonathan Adler and Vanderbilt law professor Robert Mikos have pointed out some of the flaws in the lawsuit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma urging a federal court to invalidate marijuana legalization in neighboring Colorado. In the unlikely event that the plaintiff states prevail, they will also have set a very dangerous precedent – one that conservatives are likely to rue in other areas. Nebraska and Oklahoma argue that Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana under state law, in the face of continuing federal prohibition, harms neighboring states because it facilitates the flow of marijuana across their borders and may increase...

I want to second Jonathan’s take on the lawsuit brought by Oklahoma and Nebraska to enjoin the operation of Colorado’s marijuana regulations. Much as I respect Oklahoma’s Attorney General Scott Pruitt, I think this suit lacks merit. Among other vices, it seriously misreads the Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Raich, which I litigated on behalf of Angel Raich and Diane Monson from the filing of the complaint to the oral argument in the Supreme Court. The Court in Raich ruled that Congress had the power to criminalize the noncommercial and wholly intrastate cultivation, possession and transfer of marijuana notwithstanding...

AVENTURA, Fl; Although a growing number of states have approved post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana use, new research shows that the drug may actually worsen symptoms and increase violent behavior. A large observational study of more 2000 participants who were admitted to specialized Veterans Administration treatment programs for PTSD showed that those who never used marijuana had significantly lower symptom severity 4 months later than those who continued or started use after treatment. Veterans who were using marijuana at treatment admission but quit after discharge ("stoppers") also had significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms...