Free Republic

Contrary to political rhetoric, Mexican-style cartel killings and gun battles appear to have already reached the U.S. and are spreading — particularly in California. The region experienced an explosive growth of cartel marijuana grow operations that are taking advantage of legalization and lax laws. This week, federal authorities clashed with one of two gunmen who are accused of killing a family of six — including a 16-year-old female and her baby. The murders took place last month in Tulare County, California, in what some authorities have dubbed a cartel killing.

Seven years ago, Business Insider published, “14 reasons why Denver is the best place to live in America.” They recommended everyone consider Denver as “your next hometown” citing a strong job market, low unemployment, great restaurants, and practical perks such as a low crime rate and good schools. That was then. How is Denver doing now as “trendy and desirable”? In answering that question, the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle published, “Denver becoming America’s crime capital.” That’s quite the turnaround in less than a decade, especially when we think of New York City, Baltimore, or Philadelphia as America’s crime capitals. In...

Washington (AFP) – Marijuana use by young Americans reached record levels last year and the use of hallucinogens is also on the rise, according to a new study. Forty-three percent of the 5,000 young adults between 19 and 30 years old surveyed reported past-year marijuana use in 2021, up from 34 percent in 2016 and 29 percent in 2011, the Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan found. Twenty-nine percent reported using marijuana in the past month in 2021, up from 21 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2011. Daily marijuana use rose from six percent in...

A 31-year-old man was making dinner Monday evening when he suddenly grabbed a knife and stabbed four people inside a York County home, killing his girlfriend and a child, Pennsylvania State Police said. Keith Kretzer, of Edgewood, Maryland, is being held in York County Prison on two counts of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide in connection to the quadruple stabbing on the first block of Firebox Court in Hopewell Township. He was arraigned Tuesday morning. An affidavit of probable cause filed by state police said this is what happened: Kretzer was in the basement with his girlfriend Christine...

Sad. 25% of male Puffers going full schizo from the Wacky Weed. Explains a lot, really.

RICHARD DREYFUSS, the Close Encounters of the Third Kind actor, first recognised he was a manic depressive as a teenager. Over his life, he has spoken candidly about the condition - including how he questioned whether marijuana was the cause. The Jaws actor, who was in plenty of popular films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, first figured out he had bipolar at the age of 11, although he thought the condition name was “too neutral and stodgy”. Dreyfuss, born and raised in Beverly Hills, California, said: “I have surfed my manic depression since I was 11-years-old. I enjoyed it...

From the outside, the moms gathered in a Santa Monica living room could have been conferring about carpools, school boards or fundraisers.... The living room belongs to the author of that book, Wendy Brazill, and on a sunny April morning she invited fellow local moms Angie Stocker, Shonitria Anthony and Alyssa Wraylie over to talk not about homework or healthful snacks but about marijuana and motherhood. (Brazill has a blended family of six now-adult children with husband, comedy writer/director Chad Einbinder.) Brazill “absolutely” believes consuming cannabis made her better at being a mom. ***“I know it did,” Brazill, 57, said...

If you are not alarmed by what is happening to our largest cities, you should check to see if you still have a pulse. Once upon a time, the beautiful new cities that our forefathers constructed were the envy of the entire planet, but now many of them have degenerated into crime-infested hellholes that are absolutely teeming with violent predators. Shoplifting has essentially become a national pastime, open air drug markets operate freely right under the noses of indifferent authorities, and addicts pull down their pants and take a dump whenever and wherever they feel like doing so. Thanks to...

Heavy marijuana use among youths is leading to more addiction and antisocial behavior. ... Mass shooters at Rep. Gibby Giffords’s constituent meeting in Tucson, Ariz. (2011), a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (2012), the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (2016), the First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (2017), and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. (2018), were reported to be marijuana users. It could be a coincidence, but increasing evidence suggests a connection. THC, the chemical that causes a euphoric high, interacts with the brain’s neuron receptors involved with pleasure. Marijuana nowadays on average is about four...

Indeed, research confirms people who use cannabis are four times more likely to develop chronic psychosis, or schizophrenia, compared to people who don’t. For people who smoke every day or use higher potency products, the risk is up to six times higher. One study found eliminating marijuana use in adolescents would reduce global rates of schizophrenia by 10%. Doctors and lawmakers in California want cannabis producers to warn consumers of this and other health risks on their package labels and in advertising, similar to requirements for cigarettes. They also want sellers to distribute health brochures to first-time customers outlining the...

Adults will be able to possess small amounts of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA Adults in British Columbia will be allowed to possess small amounts of some illicit drugs starting next year, the federal government announced Tuesday--a move that marks a dramatic shift in Canada's drug policy. The federal government says Canadians 18 years of age and older will be able to possess up to a cumulative 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA within British Columbia. The announcement is a response to a request from the province for an exemption from the law criminalizing drug possession. The first-of-its-kind-exemption will...

In the 1990s, it was our collective national will to do what was necessary, however distasteful to some, to rescue our society from catastrophe.As the nation prepares for the incoming Biden-Harris administration the new president promises will be “the most progressive in history,” many drug policy practitioners wonder with trepidation what this will mean for the country’s drug crisis. Record levels of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, not to mention surging tonnage of cocaine and black market marijuana, are pouring across our borders at the hands of ruthless Mexican drug cartels, directly fueling ever-increasing overdose deaths and crime. So leftists’ stated...

According to a Pew survey published one year ago, 91% of Americans think that medical marijuana should be legal, and 62% agree that marijuana in general should be legal. Opposition to making marijuana legal, at 52% in 2010, fell to 32% by November of 2019. In other words, American’s enthusiasm for embracing marijuana is on the rise. In all, 15 states plus Washington DC have now made marijuana legal for recreational purposes for adults over the age of 21, and 33 states have made marijuana legal for medical purposes. Not a Gateway, but Not Desirable EitherFor most people, marijuana is...

Protesters have now blocked off Alameda Avenue and are forcing surprised motorists to drive over median and drive the other way. No sign of police

Nine states and the District of Columbia have now legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Is this a good thing? (Medicinal use is legal in 29 states.) With loosening standards, it is no surprise that marijuana use is up across the board. Last year, 14% of Americans – one in seven – used pot. Laws actually do make a difference here, as 20% of Americans used pot where it is legal while only 12% used pot where it is against the law. The old saying is that “the law is a teacher,” and this serves as an example.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former Mexican President Vicente Fox proposed on Wednesday the legalization of opium poppy production as a way to help end bloody turf battles fought by drug cartels in various parts of the country. Fox served as president from 2000-2006 with the center-right National Action Party but has since distanced himself from the party. In the past, he has also advocated for the legalization of marijuana. “The plants themselves are not harmful, we make them harmful, (especially) the criminals who use them for evil purposes,” Fox said at a pro-marijuana event in the capital. He also implored...

One painful aspect of the public debates over the opioid-addiction crisis is how much they mirror the arguments that arise from personal addiction crises. If you've ever had a loved one struggle with drugs -- in my case, my late brother, Josh -- the national exercise in guilt-driven blame-shifting and finger-pointing, combined with flights of sanctimony and ideological righteousness, has a familiar echo. The difference between the public arguing and the personal agonizing is that, at the national level, we can afford our abstractions. When you have skin in the game, none of the easy answers seem all that easy....

A sheriff’s deputy arrested a woman outside a Florida middle school after he allegedly spotted her chopping up and using cocaine while waiting in the parent pick-up line Tuesday. The Lee County deputy said he was patrolling Lexington Middle School just before 4 p.m. when he saw 39-year-old Christina Hester snort the drug off the screen of her iPhone with a straw, according to WFTX. The deputy took Hester to his office where he arrested her. A field test later determined that half a gram of white powder found in her purse was cocaine, according to WFTX. Hester has been...

Legalizing recreational marijuana use would hurt not only those who smoke—it also hurts children and society as a whole. As a country, if we encourage and profit from this vice, we will be undermining the very foundations of our government. _____________ Four states and the District of Columbia have lifted their prohibitions on recreational marijuana use by adults. That number could double in November, when Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada vote on proposals to eliminate state restrictions on possession and cultivation of specified amounts of marijuana by those twenty-one and older. The fact that these are voter-driven ballot initiatives...

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...