Free Republic

Teen marijuana use has fallen in Colorado since the state legalized the drug in 2012, according to a new report, bucking a nationwide trend of overall increases in teen use. “Thirty-day marijuana use fell from 22 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in 2013, and lifetime use declined from 39 percent to 37 percent during the same two years,” according to an emailed press release from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Colorado legalized marijuana for adults in 2012 and statewide retail sales of the drug — which is still illegal under federal law — began in January....

Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged divers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we’ve seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first...

SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — Police have made a major marijuana bust in San Bernardino after detectives found more than 10,000 pounds of the drug in the back of semi truck. The pot had a street value of $2.5 million and was packaged in cardboard boxes when it was discovered around 7 p.m. Thursday at a truck depot., the San Bernardino Police Department said. The boxes were hidden behind decoy boxes containing toys, the Press Enterprise reported. No arrests were made.

When Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama, claimed earlier this week that Democrats were waging a “war on whites,” he lifted the lid on a simmering resentment that is very real and very resilient and feeds on anxiety — and fear — about a changing America, and the possibility of those changes upending historical architectures of privilege. On Monday, Brooks was on Laura Ingraham’s radio show to talk about Republicans’ deportation policies. She played a clip of Ron Fournier of National Journal on Fox News saying: “The fastest-growing voting block in this country thinks the Republican Party hates them. This...

Denver County Fair officials confirmed they are investigating at least three separate cases of people who said they were drugged after eating a Full Melt Chocolate bar that contained THC at the Denver County Fair's Pot Pavilion.Denver County Fair Spokesperson, Dana Cain said at least two of those people went to the hospital after they became dizzy, sick and confused.  They tested positive for THC."I was given one of these, it looked just like that," Richard Jones said as he pointed to a picture of a Full Melt Chocolate bar on his computer screen.The Pot Pavilion was new to the...

With the usual fanfare and self-regard we have come to expect from the New York Times editorial board, the prestigious paper has changed its mind about pot. It now believes that the federal ban on the substance should be lifted and that the whole issue should be sent back to the states to handle. Not only did it issue a big Sunday editorial (the equivalent of a secular fatwa in my native Upper West Side of Manhattan), but it has since been flooding the zone on the issue with essays from members of the editorial board. It is a...

(CNSNews.com) - When asked if marijuana-infused food products should require federal labeling, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said consumers want accurate information “to make smart choices”. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t enforce federal food safety standards on marijuana-infused food products that are available in the few states where marijuana has been legalized.During a conference call with lawmakers on FDA food labeling on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked: “Given that the FDA currently doesn’t enforce any federal food safety standards on marijuana-infused foods and with a lot of states obviously changing their marijuana laws  -do you think they should require nutritional...

Marijuana joined roses and dahlias Friday in blue ribbon events at the nation’s first county fair to allow pot competitions. This weekend’s Denver County Fair includes a 21-and-over “Pot Pavilion” where winning entries for plants, bongs, edible treats and clothes made from hemp are on display. Organizers say the marijuana categories this year — which come with the debut of legal recreational marijuana in Colorado — add a fun twist on Denver’s already-quirky county fair, which includes a drag queen pageant and a contest for dioramas made with Peeps candies. “We’ve been selling tickets to people from all over the...

WICHITA, Kan. — The Sedgwick County District Attorney is alleging that a foster father was high while a baby was left in a hot car last week. She later died. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett read the allegations during a bond reduction hearing for Seth Jackson on Friday afternoon. Bennett said that Jackson had run out of marijuana on the morning of July 24. That afternoon, he reportedly took two children to meet with his drug dealer where he bought more. When he got home, Bennett said he left the 10-month-old girl in the car, went inside and smoked...

The PGA Tour has suspended Dustin Johnson for six months after he tested positive for cocaine, according to a report on Golf.com. Citing a source, Golf.com reported that Johnson has failed three drug tests -- two for cocaine (in 2014 and 2012) and one for marijuana (2009). Johnson, 30, was suspended for the 2012 failed test, Golf.com reported, but that suspension was never made public. Under its guidelines, the PGA Tour is not required to announce any disciplinary actions against players who test positive for recreational drugs. Johnson announced Thursday that he was taking a leave of absence from competition,...

(Reuters) - The city attorney of bankrupt San Bernardino, California, has a novel idea for raising new revenue - open medical marijuana dispensaries to sell pot. As San Bernardino struggles to deliver a bankruptcy exit plan two years after it filed for Chapter 9 protection, city attorney Gary Saenz says marijuana sales should be part of the southern California city's income.

Doctors in Macon, Georgia, told Janea Cox that her daughter, Haleigh, might not live another three months. That was the middle of March, when Haleigh's brain was being short-circuited by hundreds of seizures a day, overrunning the array of five potent drugs meant to control them. Worse, the drugs were damaging Haleigh's organs. "She was maxed out," Cox said. "She'd quit breathing several times a day, and the doctors blamed it on the seizure medications." Cox had heard that a form of medical marijuana might help, but it wasn't available in central Georgia. So a week after hearing the ominous...

Funeral today for 9-year-old girl waiting on medical marijuana WEST SENECA, N.Y. -- Friends, family and community members crowded into a church in West Seneca Wednesday morning to say final farewells to a little girl whose story touched all of Western New York. For more than 8 months, 2 On Your Side has been following the journey of 9-year-old Anna Conte. Anna had Dravet Syndrome, which caused her to have uncontrollable seizures. Anna and her family were relentless in pressuring state leaders to pass a medical marijuana program, because a special oil-based version of cannabis worked wonders for kids in...

Marijuana legalization has a new, influential advocate: the New York Times. ................................................... We can’t always heal injury, but we can acknowledge and compensate for it. Any plan for legalization should come with a plan for reparations for those communities most damaged by our misguided war on marijuana. That doesn’t mean individual payments—the logistics are too difficult—as much as it does policies for affected communities, from job training and educational services to something like My Brother’s Keeper, all funded by a surtax on marijuana sales and distribution.

Possible new View co-host S.E. Cupp got a tryout on Monday for the token conservative slot on the morning program. Wasting no time, the conservative commentator got in a fight with Whoopi Goldberg over the New York Times's endorsement of federally legalized marijuana. After Goldberg described herself as "very, very, very happy" with the Times, Cupp shot back, "Luckily, it is not up to the New York Times, a New York City liberal paper, to decide what everyone around the country does."

A majority of Florida voters support legalization of recreational marijuana, a new poll says. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, 55 percent of Florida voters back legal possession of small amounts of recreational pot, compared with 41 percent who oppose it.

-snip- There are no perfect answers to people’s legitimate concerns about marijuana use. But neither are there such answers about tobacco or alcohol, and we believe that on every level — health effects, the impact on society and law-and-order issues — the balance falls squarely on the side of national legalization. That will put decisions on whether to allow recreational or medicinal production and use where it belongs — at the state level. We considered whether it would be best for Washington to hold back while the states continued experimenting with legalizing medicinal uses of marijuana, reducing penalties, or even...

<p>DENVER (AP) — Officials at some Denver homeless shelters say the legalization of marijuana has contributed to an increase in the number of younger people living on the city’s streets.</p> <p>One organization dealing with the increase is Urban Peak, which provides food, shelter and other services to homeless people aged 15 to 24 in Denver and Colorado Springs.</p>

On Wednesday's edition of "The Five," co-host Bob Beckel remarked on Snoop Dogg's revelation that he as smoked marijuana in the White House, by admitting to the same thing. “I can’t criticize this guy (Snoop) because I’ve done dope in the White House myself,” Beckel said. Co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle let out an exasperated, “Oh, God.” “Are you breaking news?” asked their colleague Eric Bolling. “I did, yeah,” Beckel said. (vid at link)

While record-setting wildfires engulfed Central Washington, budding marijuana businesses in the area suffered from scorched plants unfit for production, pop-up fires on farms and road closures that slowed deliveries to retailers. A 15,000-acre wildfire encroached on the Columbia River Cannabis farm in Douglas County earlier this month and burned its 5-week-old medical-marijuana plants that were eventually to be used to start growing in the recreational market. Columbia River Cannabis in Douglas County was finally close to getting a marijuana-producer license after nine months. That is, until a 15,000-acre wildfire encroached on its farm July 10 and burned its 5-week-old medical-marijuana...