Free Republic

Worrying about teen drinking and drug use has kept many a parent up at night. With marijuana becoming increasingly available and legal in some parts of the country, the question has taken on new urgency: If teens are going to experiment, which is safer, booze or pot? "The first answer always has to be neither," Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, told CBS News. But then he acknowledges they're not exactly equivalent -- and he considers alcohol much more dangerous. Carroll wrote a provocative piece for the New York Times exploring what's known...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made his case to state leaders at the Georgia statehouse Thursday and waded into several thorny policy debates facing legislators as he prepares a likely run for the White House. Bush said he approved of a state push to legalize medical marijuana and gave a tacit endorsement to the Republicans behind a controversial "religious liberty" measure. He also urged lawmakers to embrace school choice legislation and talked with Gov. Nathan Deal about the Georgian's plan to give the state broad new powers to intervene in struggling schools. The likely candidate was in town as part...

Jason Harrison appears in the doorway, twiddling a screwdriver between his fingers. One of two Dallas police officers called to the scene tells Harrison to drop the tool, a command the officers repeat at least four times as Harrison's mom screams, "Jay! Jay! Jay!"

<p>CARSON CITY, Nev. — Pets might soon be able to use pot under a bill introduced Tuesday in the Nevada Legislature.</p>

Earlier this school year, a sixth-grader in the gifted-and-talented program at Bedford Middle School in Bedford, Virginia was suspended for one year after an assistant principal found something that looked like a marijuana leaf in his backpack. The student, the 11-year-old son of two school teachers, had to enroll in the district's alternative education program and be homeschooled. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist for substance abuse problems, and charged with marijuana possession in juvenile court. In the months since September, he's become withdrawn, depressed, and he suffers from panic attacks. He is worried his life is over, according to...

President Barack Obama has a stern message for the younger generation about their political priorities: care more about climate change, and less about legalizing marijuana. Obama, who has been open about smoking pot in high school, chided an interviewer from Vice News who suggested that young people would view legalizing marijuana as a top item when considering the president's legacy. "First of all, it shouldn't be young people's biggest priority," Obama said in the interview with Vice News. "Young people: I understand this is important to you, but as you be thinking about climate change, the economy and jobs, war and peace,...

Some schoolchildren claim another student bragged about having marijuana. They inform school administrators. An assistant principal finds a leaf and a lighter in the boy’s knapsack. The student is suspended for a year. A sheriff’s deputy files marijuana possession charges in juvenile court... There was only one problem: Months after the fact, the couple learned the substance wasn’t marijuana.

The recent signing of a medical marijuana bill by GOP Sens. Rand Paul and Dean Heller hasn’t gone unnoticed. Republican Majority Whip Steve Scalise has introduced a poll on his website, asking people to vote on whether marijuana should be legalized on the federal level. Scalise in the past has voted down marijuana reform legislation, Marijuana.com reports. On May 30, 2014, Scalise voted against an amendment in the House to prevent the Department of Justice from using funds from its budget to crack down on states that have enacted medical marijuana programs. Later, in July, Scalise voted against legislation to...

Federal agents discovered the longest drug tunnel ever unearthed along the agency’s Tuscon sector earlier this week when they found a 905-foot-long drug thruway in the tiny town of Naco, Arizona. At three times the length of a football field and replete with lighting, wooden supports and a cement shaft complete with a hydraulic lift, the record-breaking drug tunnel was discovered following a major marijuana bust in the town of Bisbee. Acting on a tip by deferral authorities, Bisbee police officers and Border Patrol agents stopped a U-Haul truck headed toward to the Naco house and found 4,700 pounds of...

(Washington, DC) - Today, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) announced he is cosponsoring the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act, S.683, to ensure that states, like Nevada, have the right to determine their own medical marijuana laws. The bipartisan legislation is also supported by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Heller stated: “The time has come for the federal government to stop impeding the doctor-patient relationship in states that have decided their own medical marijuana policies. This bipartisan legislation puts Americans who are suffering first by allowing Nevada’s medical marijuana patients, providers,...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul joined Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand Tuesday to propose legislation to legalize medical marijuana on the federal level. The bill, termed the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, allow access for veterans and put a final stop to federal raids on dispensaries, among other things. This is the first time a medical marijuana bill has been introduced in the Senate, whereas the House has seen 15 pieces of legislation on marijuana reform in the last session of Congress, according to Marijuana.com. The move...

Sens. Rand Paul, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand will introduce on Tuesday a Senate bill that would legalize medical marijuana under federal law, another possible step towards relaxation of once strict policies toward the drug. The Kentucky Republican and his New Jersey and New York Democratic colleagues will propose legislation that allows states that have passed medical marijuana laws to enact those programs without operating illegally under federal law. That bill would also allow veterans in states with medical marijuana programs to receive care from the government, according to guidance issued by their offices

Senators Kristen Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Rand Paul announced that they plan to unveil legislation that would lift the federal ban on medical marijuana on Tuesday. The bill, which adheres to the unfortunate and by no means necessary rule that all attention-grabbing legislation must feature a tortured acronym, is called the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act, and would “allow patients, doctors and businesses in states that have already passed medical marijuana laws to participate in those programs without fear of federal prosecution," according to a statement released by the co-sponsors. Medical marijuana is legal in 23...

ST. PETERSBURG — The bishop was not amused. Not with the video of one of his priests — complete with clerical collar — advocating gratitude for marijuana. "Now, thanking God for weed might feel a little awkward at first," says the Rev. Chris Schuller — a former rector at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in the Snell Isle neighborhood — in the short video that's punctuated with the reggae rhythms of Bob Marley. "Thanking God is going to feel so much better than throwing stones at people who are already stoned," he says. But Bishop Dabney Smith, head of the Episcopal...

For the first time, the General Social Survey -- a large, national survey conducted every two years and widely considered to represent the gold standard for public opinion research -- shows a majority of Americans favoring the legalization of marijuana. In interviews conducted between March and October of last year -- when the legal marijuana markets in Colorado and Washington were ramping up -- researchers asked 1,687 respondents the following question: "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?" Fifty-two percent said pot should be legalized, 42 percent opposed it, and another 7 percent were...

The lawsuit brought against the state claims sheriffs are faced with a "crisis of conscience" A group of sheriffs will file a lawsuit Thursday against Colorado for its legal marijuana law. The lawsuit says legalizing pot on a state level while it’s still illegal on a federal one creates a “crisis of conscience,” USA Today reports. Colorado is “asking every peace officer to violate their oath,” Larimer County, Colo., Sheriff Justin Smith, the lead plaintiff in the suit, said. “What we’re being forced to do … makes me ineligible for office. Which constitution are we supposed to uphold?”

A South Florida man charged with growing marijuana he claims he needs for a medical condition was found not guilty Monday. Jesse Teplicki, 50, had been charged with manufacturing cannabis and was facing up to five years behind bars. "This case is about medical marijuana and for the hundreds of thousands of patients who can use this medicine as an alternative," Teplicki said. It took jurors just 30 minutes to return the verdict.

Utah is considering a bill that would allow patients with certain debilitating conditions to be treated with edible forms of marijuana. If the bill passes, the state's wildlife may "cultivate a taste" for the plant, lose their fear of humans, and basically be high all the time. That's according to testimony presented to a Utah Senate panel (time stamp 58:00) last week by an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "I deal in facts. I deal in science," said special agent Matt Fairbanks, who's been working in the state for a decade. He is member of the "marijuana eradication" team...

On March 3, 1845 congress overrode a presidential veto for the first time. Congress reined in President John Tyler’s zealous use of the presidential veto. Congress is finally asserting itself over Obama but he says he will be too busy to be any part of it. I wonder how he will spend the day? Thoughts

A majority of young Republican voters support legalizing marijuana, even as older GOP members still believe it would be a danger to society, according to a new study. The Pew Research Center found in a recent study that nearly two-thirds of Republican millennials, 63 percent, believe pot should be legalized. Millennials include those born since 1981.