Free Republic

Marijuana is shaping up to be the new gay marriage of GOP politics — most Republicans would rather not talk about it, except to punt to the states. But when it comes to the 2016 presidential race, a series of legalization ballot initiatives — and a certain outspoken Kentucky senator — could make it harder for the Republican field to avoid the conversation.

DALLAS — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused Jeb Bush of hypocrisy after The Boston Globe reported the former Florida governor was a heavy marijuana smoker while at an elite prep school. Bush opposed a Florida medical marijuana ballot initiative last year even though he partook liberally of the herb while in high school. “You would think he’d have a little more understanding then,” Paul told The Hill while en route to a political event in Texas. “He was even opposed to medical marijuana,” Paul said of Bush, a potential rival in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. “This is a guy...

Seattle pot supplier rolling thousands of joints for Seahawks fans Double doobie time! Solstice employees are trying to roll 12,000 joints for the retailer's special edition 12 Pack. The pot packages are targeted to fans who are medical marijuana users. BY DEBORAH HASTINGS NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, January 29, 2015, 5:38 PM A A A For Seattle Seahawks fans who want to be stoned while watching Sunday's Super Bowl XLIX, there's a new pack of pot for you. A Washington marijuana supplier has doubled its production time to keep up with demand for its 12 Pack special edition —...

During her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) asked, “Do you support the legalization of marijuana?”“Senator, I do not,” Lynch replied. In addition to lovingly supporting the White House Commie opening up the border so we can be further invaded by the world's poor and unknown, she is also on the wrong side of public desire to decriminalize marijuana...

Legal Marijuana Blooms into the Fastest-Growing Industry in America Back in 1938, Popular Mechanics ran an article about how cannabis (specifically, hemp) was the new "billion dollar crop." It may have taken nearly eight decades, but according to a report released this week, the legal cannabis industry is now worth well over twice that. The report by ArcView Market Research, the research arm of cannabis-focused angel investor network The ArcView Group, finds that the U.S. cannabis industry has a value of $2.7 billion. That's a 74 percent increase from 2013, making it the fastest-growing industry in the country. If all...

Critics of marijuana legalization love to argue about its repercussions for “the children”—paging Nancy Grace—but the American Academy of Pediatrics seems to disagree. The group has now appealed to the Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify marijuana and allow them to research its medical benefits for children, the Wall Street Journal reports. They have also asked the federal government to permit marijuana use by children with serious conditions. Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government, classifying it with drugs like heroin. This scheduling prohibits research by ranking marijuana as having no acceptable medical use. “A...

MBank, an Oregon bank that last week said it would allow Colorado marijuana businesses to open accounts, now says it won't. The Denver Post reports the bank is saying it doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the volume of customers in the pot industry. But the newspaper cites unnamed sources as saying federal banking regulators told MBank the move was too risky. Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, companies in the industry haven't been able to find a bank to handle their business. MBank doesn't have a Colorado location. Instead, MBank intended to have marijuana businesses deposit their cash...

Colorado Seeks Permission To Grow Pot At State Universities By DAVID KELLY After years of trying to stamp out marijuana use on college campuses, Colorado officials are now asking the federal government to allow its state universities to grow their own pot. The reason, they say, is that the legalization of the drug here has raised questions about its health effects, questions that can only be answered by studying large amounts and different strains of marijuana. Why not have the best and brightest working on discovering not only the dangers but also the therapeutic benefits of marijuana? - Colorado state...

Marijuana-related calls to poison control centers in Washington and Colorado have spiked since the states began allowing legal sales last year, with an especially troubling increase in calls concerning young children. New year-end data show that the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center received 151 calls for marijuana exposure last year, the first year of retail recreational pot sales. That was up from 88 calls in 2013 and 61 in 2012, the year voters made marijuana legal for adults over 21. …

President Obama believes more states are likely to legalize marijuana following efforts in Colorado and Washington state. "My suspicion is that you're going to see other states look at this," the president told YouTube blogger Hank Green. Obama said that the federal government was "not going to spend a lot of resources" enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that had decided to legalize the drug. He also noted that the Department of Justice was examining how to shift policies for nonviolent drug offenders. In an interview with The New Yorker last year, Obama appeared to tacitly endorse a Colorado referendum...

A week ago, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat, called homelessness in his city and the rest of King County a "full-blown crisis." Based on the numbers presented in coverage of the area's situation, we can certainly add the Emerald City to the list of areas where homelessness has been on the rise. Odds are that many readers here didn't know that, because the national press hardly ever pays attention to homelessness when a Democrat occupies the White House. Now imagine the firestorm which would erupt if a Republican or conservative proposed the "solution," however allegedly temporary, Murray is advancing...

Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana was a bad idea, the state’s governor said Friday. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the 2012 decision by voters to make pot legal, said the state still doesn’t fully know what the unintended consequences of the move will be. If I could've waved a wand the day after the election, I would've reversed the election and said, 'This was a bad idea,’” Hickenlooper said Friday on CNBC's “Squawk Box.” “You don't want to be the first person to do something like this,” he said. He said that he tells other governors to “wait...

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...

It is only a couple of weeks into the new year but it looks like we already have a strong contender for the dopiest article of the year, emphasis on "dope" as we shall see. A bizarre solution to reducing campus rapes comes to us by way of Annie Lowery of New York magazine. Her solution is to raise taxes on beer while also encouraging people to smoke more marijuana. After acknowledging that the Rolling Stone story about a drunken fraternity rape case was just a fairy tale, Lowery takes a deep plunge into the world of utterly stupid:

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...

Where his Republican rivals draw attention to themselves with a tuba or a trumpet, Rand Paul puffs his Highland bagpipe. This analogy has little to do with his support for medical marijuana: Paul's sound is so different, it's compelling. As his probable presidential campaign moves forward, don't lump him in with the conventionally conservative gadflies — former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz, or former Sen. Rick Santorum. The major activists and donors who chase those candidates are Paul skeptics. But he's not a governor (or former governor) with executive experience and a reputation for governing, like Jeb Bush, Mitt...

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.

**SNIP** At one meeting with an undercover FBI agent, Jackson allegedly told Yee that the agent knew the owner of an NFL team. Yee then told the agent about a pending law that would limit NFL players from filing workers' compensation claims in the state if they played for out of state teams. Yee told the agent that he should "convey this information to the owner of the NFL team" with an offer of help from Yee. Asked about the cost of such a vote, Yee reportedly said, "Oh no...we gotta drag it out, man. We gotta juice this thing."...

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...

A former Connecticut high school teacher awaiting sentencing over a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student has been arrested again after allegedly threatening to kill one of her accusers. Police say 32-year-old Danielle Watkins of Norwalk was arrested Friday. She was first arrested in July, accused of having sex with one student at Stamford High and giving marijuana to another. Police say she threatened one of the victims at a doughnut shop Friday. Watkins pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor last month under a deal with prosecutors. The agreement calls for her to...

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...

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people — including 13 women working as corrections officers — who face racketeering, drug and money-laundering charges. It alleges that Tavon White, an inmate known as "Bulldog," took control of the prison gang soon after his arrival in 2009 on an attempted-murder charge. He is accused of building a network of...

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.

Obama quietly eliminated the NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER, that was monitoring terrorist activity on the border. Mexican cartel violence is at an all-time high along the increasingly porous southern border yet the Obama Administration has shut down a critical intelligence agency dedicated to identifying, tracking and severing the nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism. It’s a senseless move, which is why it was done very quietly. The only real way to discover that the Justice Department’s 19-year-old National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has been closed is by trying to visit its website. It simply says that on June 15, 2012,...

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. …

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...

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...

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...

OKLAHOMA CITY – After legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, Colorado is at the heart of a lawsuit. The Denver Post is reporting that Nebraska and Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to strike down Colorado’s legalization laws. The Colorado attorney general’s office says the lawsuit alleges “that Colorado’s Amendment 64 and its implementing legislation regarding marijuana is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.” “Because neighboring states have expressed concern about Colorado-grown marijuana coming into their states, we are not entirely surprised by this action,” said Colorado Attorney General John...

A favorite argument of the anti-marijuana crowd is that legalization would send the wrong signal to the youth and make them think drugs are good for them. Except that, with increasing legalization across the country, that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, teen drug use decreased in 2014, according to a study by the University of Michigan and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse. The same year Colorado and Washington’s legalization was in full swing, while two states and the District of Columbia all passed some form of legalization. -snip- Also notable: according to the study, marijuana has gotten slightly more...

Congress Quietly Ends Federal Government's Ban On Medical Marijuana Under a provision in the spending bill passed by Congress over the weekend, states where medical marijuana is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations. Agents would be prohibited from doing so. By EVAN HALPER Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy. The bill's passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates....

Dispensaries in the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana can all breathe a sigh of relief. The massive “Cromnibus” spending bill passed Saturday night includes an amendment that essentially shuts down the DEA’s pricey prosecution of state-sanctioned medical marijuana. The amendment bans the Justice Department from using funds to “prevent [medical marijuana states] from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” The bill now awaits approval from President Obama. The Obama administration has regularly raided and prosecuted medical marijuana dispensaries regardless of state laws. According to a study by Americans...

In an earlier column, I looked at the role the abortion issue would play in the 2016 election -- not very much, I concluded -- and promised another column on other cultural issues. Here goes. On anyone's list of cultural issues that have been debated over the last decade, same-sex marriage ranks just behind abortion. And unlike abortion, opinion on same-sex marriage has changed dramatically in recent years. Not long ago, it wasn't a political issue at all. The gifted writers Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Rauch were making an intellectually serious, and interestingly conservative, case for same-sex marriage. But the...

During Saturday´s protests about the lack of indictments in the cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, CUNY adjunct professor and creator of erotic poetry Eric Linsker picked up a trashcan and tried to throw it at police officers. Two police lieutenants were attacked by the crowd when the officers tried to arrest Linsker. Newsday described the incident: They were on the roadway of the [Brooklyn] bridge about 8 p.m. when they heard reports of "debris being thrown on the walkway" at police officers who were walking alongside demonstrators involved in Saturday´s New York City rally against police shootings of...

It’s a question that will prove crucial next year when Mitch McConnell takes the reins of a new Senate: Just how big is the Ted Cruz caucus? Three votes on the “cromnibus” late Saturday night suggest it could be as large as 22 senators — a dangerously high number for McConnell — or as few as a handful. Let’s break down the three votes — on filibustering the $1.1 trillion package, on Cruz’s point of order aimed at targeting the president’s immigration action, and final passage. The high-water mark for the Texas Republican came on his point of order vote,...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The grand jury in the case of Michael Brown's shooting didn't just face an onslaught of witnesses with conflicting memories of what happened the day white police officer Darren Wilson killed Brown, an unarmed black teenager. It also heard from witnesses who couldn't be believed at all. Some admitted lying. Others changed their stories under questioning. Prosecutors were so skeptical of one woman's account that they asked whether she might have dreamed about seeing the confrontation in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9. Most of the dozens of witnesses who testified likely did their best to describe what they saw, but...

A part-time CUNY professor faces a slate of charges accusing him of sparking a violent run-in with police during Saturday's protest demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge. Eric Linsker, 29, was allegedly spotted by police carrying a large garbage can on walkway of the bridge above the traffic lanes during the protests against the police killings of unarmed black men. Protesters had been tossing debris at police on the bridge's lower level at the time, police said. Police Lt. Philip Chan ordered Linkser to put down the trash can and attempted to arrest him, according to court records. A small group...

The Obama administration will direct attorneys to not prevent Native American tribes on reservations from growing and selling marijuana even in states where pot is illegal, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday. Some federal restrictions will still apply. Marijuana can't be sold to minors, grown on public land, fall into the hands of drug cartels, or systemically spread to states where the drug remains illegal. It's unclear how many tribes will take advantage of the opportunity. Many are opposed to marijuana legalization. The federal government will continue enforcing prohibition for those tribes, at their request, even in states where...

The hand-held breath test, which is expected to become available in February, can detect a presence of THC on the breath for up to two hours after use. (Credit: courtesy photo)Six months after New York State lawmakers voted to legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes — and as pot laws become more relaxed across the U.S. — the availability of a breath analysis test to help determine if drivers are under the influence is that much closer. Researchers with a Canadian company called Cannabix Technologies Inc. say they have the technology for a THC detection test that’s similar to an alcohol...

Opening the door for what could be a lucrative and controversial new industry on some Native American reservations, the Justice Department on Thursday will tell U.S. attorneys to not prevent tribes from growing or selling marijuana on the sovereign lands, even in states that ban the practice. The new guidance, released in a memorandum, will be implemented on a case-by-case basis and tribes must still follow federal guidelines, said Timothy Purdon, the U.S. attorney for North Dakota and the chairman of the Attorney General's Subcommittee on Native American Issues. It remains to be seen how many reservations will take advantage...

Illegal immigrant Jose Manuel Marino-Najera is suing the Border Patrol over dog bites he sustained after entering America illegally and carrying drugs into the country. Marino-Najera claims his human rights were violated after United States Border Patrol officers unleashed canine agents on him before he was arrested on a “cartel controlled” section of the Mexican border. Jose Manuel Marino-Najera reportedly became an illegal immigrant after choosing to have coyotes – human smugglers, help him get across the U.S. border with Mexico. To garner the help of the coyotes, Marino-Najera allegedly had to agree to tote a large bag full of...