Free Republic

Almost all of the declared and undeclared Republican candidates for 2016 could be found this weekend at one of two events, or both. The first was organized by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, and held in Point of Grace Church in Waukee. Dominated by Evangelical Christians, who were 60 percent of Republican caucus-goers in 2008 and 2012, the Point of Grace Church event drew no fewer than nine Republican hopefuls. Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum, past winners of the Iowa caucuses, were there. So, too, were Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Scott Walter. Cruz and Walker are...

When workers at his Colorado business went to pot, Mark Brawner said it was enough for him to roll out of the Rockies and head for South Carolina. Brawner, who ran Little Spider Creations out of an old Denver warehouse for years until this month, told KUSA-TV Thursday he moved because pot was hurting his company. He said employees started to come to work stoned after the state legalized the drug for recreational use in 2012.

Health officials are warning New Jerseyans about a street drug that has sent about 30 people to emergency rooms throughout the state. Authorities have issued the warning for synthetic marijuana, commonly known as spice or K2, which can cause severe agitation, seizures and renal failure. No one has died in New Jersey as a result of the drug. But a 22-year-old South Brunswick woman apparently suffered an adverse reaction on Tuesday.

Want to escape the booming neighborhoods of San Francisco? Head west, where the rows of single-family Mediterranean-style or boxy Doelger homes that make up the Sunset District are virtually unchanged since their construction in the mid-20th century, giving the avenues a timeless feel. There are no towering construction cranes putting up condos, and 21st-century conveniences fail you: My Sidecar ride request to be taken to the Sunset was rejected three times before I settled in for a $40 cab ride. There is also little sign of California's multibillion dollar cannabis industry. The city's west side is entirely bereft of legal...

Colorado lawmakers started work Wednesday on a proposal to ask voters to keep some $58 million in marijuana tax collections. Colorado voters already approved the taxes on recreational pot sales in 2013. But because that ballot measure didn’t account for a quirk in state law related to new taxes, the money will have to be refunded unless voters again approve the 10 percent sales and 15 percent excise taxes. Colorado voters approved the taxes the first time by a 2-to-1 margin. The new ballot measure has broad bipartisan support, with lawmakers calling the measure a do-over of what voters already...

The presidential contender says "we need to enforce our federal laws" in states with legal pot -snip- Hewitt: A lot of people are criticizing the President for not enforcing the immigration laws. He's also not enforcing the drug laws in Colorado and Washington State. If you're the president, will you enforce the federal drug laws and shut down the marijuana trade? Rubio: Yes. Yes, I think, well, I think we need to enforce our federal laws. Now do states have a right to do what they want? They don't agree with it, but they have their rights. But they don't...

Pro-marijuana advocates on Monday gathered at Denver’s Lincoln Park across from the state Capitol for 4/20, the unofficial pot holiday. CBS4 captured time lapse footage leading up to 4:20 p.m. In the video smoke can be seen rising from the crowd after the designated time. The day is for pro-pot political action and the traditional smoke out. The 4/20 celebrations started over the weekend and continued through Monday, April 20.

Ted Cruz is personally against the legalization of marijuana but the Republican presidential candidate said this weekend that he believes states have the right to put decriminalization laws on the books if they want - even though they directly conflict with federal law. Cruz implied during a conversation with Daily Mail Online on Saturday that if he ascended to the highest elected office he wouldn't make his attorney general enforce federal laws pertaining to marijuana in states that have approved sales and consumption of the drug. The position stands in contrast to the views of at least three of his...

A Whitefish Bay man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Friday for running a large-scale marijuana distribution ring through his three North Shore McDonald's restaurants. Prosecutors say Edward G. Patterson, 40, recruited his employees and a fellow Little League dad into the conspiracy, carried a gun and, once in jail, tried to hire someone to murder informants who helped agents make the case against him. According to court records, he had started at the bottom of the McDonald's career ladder, worked his way up in the family business from laborer to manager and eventually took an ownership stake...

What do you think of this? Despicable and outrageous, or just the school and police doing their duty?: "On March 24, cannabis oil activist Shona Banda‘s life was flipped upside-down after her son was taken from her by the State of Kansas. The ordeal started when counselors at her 11-year-old son’s school conducted a drug education class. Her son, who had previously lived in Colorado for a period of time, disagreed with some of the anti-pot points that were being made by school officials." The school called the police. Coppers showed up at Shona’s home, searched everything, and ended up...

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. ...]

On March 24, cannabis oil activist Shona Banda‘s life was flipped upside-down after her son was taken from her by the State of Kansas. The ordeal started when police and counselors at her 11-year-old son’s school conducted a drug education class. Her son, who had previously lived in Colorado for a period of time, disagreed with some of the anti-pot points that were being made by school officials. “My son says different things like my ‘Mom calls it cannabis and not marijuana.’ He let them know how educated he was on the facts,” said Banda in an exclusive interview with...

Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation Thursday that legalizes medical marijuana in Georgia, though tremendous hurdles remain for patients who want to get the drug. House Bill 1, which took effect immediately, makes it legal for people who suffer from cancer, sickle cell disease and other illnesses to possess up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil if a physician signs off. The state estimates hundreds of thousands of residents could be eligible for the drug, and at least 17 Georgia families have had to temporarily move to places like Colorado where the cannabis oil is legal. The biggest obstacle for those...

As I sat across from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), I knew something extraordinary was happening. They were reciting the story of Charlotte Figi and countless other children. They were quoting back the data we had shared from our earlier investigations. They were extolling the potential virtues of the plant, and all of that was before the interview even started. There was an impatience about them, and they seemed in a hurry to make a large dent in marijuana reform. They want marijuana to be rescheduled. They want it now. They want doctors to be...

Sixty-two percent of Colorado voters approve of legalized recreational marijuana, according to a new Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. A similar poll conducted last April showed that 54 percent of Coloradans approved of legal pot. Quinnipiac polls voters in three states considered to be key in presidential elections: Iowa, Virginia and Colorado. A majority of voters in Virginia also support legalized marijuana, with 54 percent in favor. Iowa was split on the issue, with 47 percent on either side. In all three states, those polled supported medical marijuana by a margin of 10 to 1, Quinnipiac found. "Voters...

Charles C. Lynch seemed to be doing everything right when he opened a medical marijuana dispensary in the tidy coastal town of Morro Bay, Calif. The mayor, the city attorney and leaders of the local Chamber of Commerce all came for the ribbon-cutting in 2006. The conditions for his business license, including a ban on customers younger than 18 and compliance with California’s medical marijuana laws, were posted on the wall. But two years later, Mr. Lynch was convicted of multiple felonies under federal law for selling marijuana. He is one of hundreds of defendants and prisoners caught in the...

WICHITA, Kansas – Voters in Wichita went to the polls on Tuesday and approved easing penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The final results came in at 9:15 p.m. The proposed ordinance does not legalize marijuana. It makes first-time possession a criminal infraction with a $50 fine. Under state law, it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and a year in jail. -snip- Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has said he would sue the city if it passes. The initiative says they’re starting to raise money in case the state sues.

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2004 1:09 p.m. EDT Billionaires Secretly Met in Aspen to Defeat Bush In the days following the Democratic National Convention in Boston this past August, several billionaire Democratic activists secretly met at the famed Aspen Institute in Colorado. The purpose of their clandestine meeting was "to use their fortunes to engineer the defeat of President George W. Bush," The New Yorker magazine reports in its most recent edition. Details of the meeting remain sketchy, but the magazine described the Aspen conference this way: "Five billionaires joined half a dozen liberal leaders in a lengthy conversation about the...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog With help from 80 years of self-described “progressives,” Obama is now waging the biggest war against medical marijuana of any president in history Anyone who has been following the self-described “progressive” politicians since FDR should not be surprised at Obama’s war against medical marijuana.Obama’s war against medical marijuana is a direct result of the policies of the self-described “progressives” in the White House, Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court, going all the way back to FDR’s New Deal.During the Great Depression, while millions of Americans were hungry, the self-described “progressives” who controlled the federal government passed...

Voters in three critical swing states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, support legalization of medical marijuana by margins of 5-1 or more and also support legalization of recreational marijuana use by smaller margins, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. Support for medical marijuana is 84 - 14 percent in Florida, 84 - 15 percent in Ohio and 88 - 10 percent in Pennsylvania, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds. The Swing State Poll focuses on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania because since 1960 no candidate has won the presidential race without taking at least two of these...