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San Bernardino became the latest Inland city to ban medical marijuana dispensaries late Monday. - The report notes that California's decriminalization conflicts with federal law. Studies by other cities show dispensaries contribute to increases in noise, traffic, burglaries and robberies, the report states.

New York, NY (AHN) - New York City Police busted a the manager of a Bronx pizza parlor that was delivering a side order of cocaine with their pizzas, calzones and heroes. They also arrested five other employees of John's Pizza on Westchester Avenue for delivering cocaine to customers, sometimes the drugs were hidden inside pizza boxes. But not all the drug sales were delivered to customers. Some customers came from as far away as Connecticut for take-out pizza boxes filled with up to $40,000 worth of cocaine to go. New York's Special Narcotics prosecutor reportedly said investigators conducted surveillance...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A state legislator proposed legalizing the sale of marijuana in California, saying the plan would generate more than $1 billion annually for the cash-strapped state. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill Monday that would legalize possession and sales of the drug for people aged 21 and older. The legislation would impose regulations and taxation similar to those for alcohol sales. Federal law makes it a crime to possess or sell marijuana, so the measure, if passed, would likely face an immediate legal challenge. Mr. Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat who is well known in the state as...

NORML calls for boycott against Kellogg's...irony ensues. After meeting, board gets munchies, devours case of Pop-Tarts.

Report: Cannabis Less Harmful Than Alcohol, Tobacco Friday, October 3, 2008 9:19 AM Cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a research charity Thursday, which called for a "serious rethink" of drug policy. The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior experts and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals. "Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco," says the report by the Foundation's Global...

After being caught twice with a "baggie" of marijuana, 23-year old Rachel Hoffman was reportedly told by police in Tallahassee, Florida that she would go to prison for four years unless she became an undercover informant. The young woman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation two months ago. "The idea of waging a war on drugs is to protect people and here it seems like we're putting people in harm's way," said Lance Block, a lawyer hired by Rachel's parents. The Florida Attorney General's office says it is reviewing the procedures and...

OAKLAND - Four people were charged in Oakland federal court today with growing marijuana that became the not-so-secret ingredient in treats resembling popular candy bars and other packaged food, including barbecue sauce. Authorities say the four were connected with an operation known as Tainted Inc. that made marijuana-laced candies, cookies, ice cream, peanut butter, barbecue sauce, granola bars and brownies. "Tainting candy and other products with marijuana is not sweet, it is criminal," said Javier Pena, special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco. "These items could have harmful effects on a user, especially the...

The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies. They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy. THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids,...

Meet Alex Sawyer and Andrew Wilkins. The North Carolina couple was arrested earlier this month after an apparent case of the munchies led them to break into a Domino's Pizza branch and bake up a batch of the fast food chain's new brownies. The pair was nabbed at 5:30 AM on September 7 after a Stallings Police Department officer noticed a suspicious car--with keys in its ignition and a warm engine--parked outside a small strip mall. When Sawyer and Wilkins noticed police on the scene, they fled out the Domino's front door and were apprehended after a short chase, said...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2006 -- Next time the munchies hit, Americans in some parts of the United States only need to look for the red, white and blue bag asking shoppers to “Support Our Troops.” Lowes Foods stores in North and South Carolina and Virginia have recently started carrying Support Our Troops tortilla chips. The chips are packaged in red, white and blue bags and percentage of the proceeds from the sales benefits local Operation Homefront chapters. The chips run $1.99 to $2.59 a bag. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The bags of Support Our Troops...

10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002. 9) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON’T RUIN YOUR LIFE: Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one...

DULUTH, Minn. Pranksters might say the West Duluth police substation is going to pot. A dozen marijuana plants 4 to 6 inches tall were found growing in a planter near the substation's front door. City Gardener Tom Kasper estimated they had been growing for about three weeks. "The only thing I can say is somebody has a sense of humor," said neighborhood supervising police Lt. John Beyer. "Now they'll read about it in the paper and say, 'Yeah, that was me.' " Beyer noted that he, his police officers and the public use the back door entrance to the police...

Reefer is Worth Getting Mad About Vienna -- Supporters of the legalization of cannabis would have us believe that it is a gentle, harmless substance that gives you little more than a sense of mellow euphoria. Sellers of the world's most popular illicit drug know better. Trawl through websites offering cannabis seeds for sale and you will find brand names such as Armageddon, AK-47 and White Widow. "This will put you in pieces, then reduce you to rubble -- maybe quicksand if you go too far," one seller boasts. This is much closer to the truth. In Canada, as in...

Close window Published online: 5 July 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060703-9 Rats taking cannabis get taste for heroinStudy suggests cannabis-users may be vulnerable to harder drugs.Michael HopkinNeuroscientists have found that rats are more likely to get hooked on heroin if they have previously been given cannabis. The studies suggest a biological mechanism — at least in rats — for the much-publicized effect of cannabis as a 'gateway' to harder drugs. The discovery hints that the brain system that produces pleasurable sensations when exposed to heroin may be 'primed' by earlier exposure to cannabis, say researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm,...

How the hell did we get into this mess?'"          The War on Drugs is nothing more than alcohol Prohibition dressed up for the 1990s. It certainly can't stop people from making, selling, or using drugs, any more than the Volstead Act ever stopped them from making, selling, or using alcohol, but it has succeeded in boosting the price of drugs from mere pennies a pound to hundreds of dollars an ounce -- which anyone who knows anything about economics will immediately recognize enormously increases the incentive to enter the illegal drug market.          It's driven the weakest competition out of...

GRANVILLE -- Marijuana is about as harmless as a cup of coffee but far less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, an advocate for changes in marijuana laws told a Denison University audience of about 200 Tuesday night. Allen F. St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, often used the alcohol analogy to make his points favoring general decriminalization of marijuana. St. Pierre, 40, drew a curious contrast between the friendly neighborhood bartender pouring a beer and "pushers" who sell marijuana. "There is no functional difference between a bartender and a drug dealer," he...

NORTH PORT -- Marijuana, cocaine and narcotics began disappearing from the evidence room, and police say they've found the culprit -- rats. About a month ago, North Port Police Department evidence and property technician Pamela Schmidt picked up a bag and noticed that it looked like it had been chewed through, said Capt. Robert Estrada. Estrada said he doesn't know how much damage was done, and it will take a month to go through all the bins. "There have always been some sightings (of rats) throughout the building, but never before in evidence," he said. Police found rat droppings inside...

Saddam Hussein still believes he is president of Iraq, is obsessed with cleanliness, makes bad coffee and loves Doritos, an ex-guard has revealed. The deposed leader, set to face trial for massacres and killings during his time in power, also washes his clothes and cares for birds in his prison yard. US National Guardsman Sean O'Shea, 20, gave GQ magazine in the US a unique look into Saddam Hussein's daily life. The former president was captured near the city of Tikrit in December 2003. Despite officially being in Iraqi custody, Saddam Hussein is guarded by US troops at a secret...

My 7-year-old daughter recently asked if she could join the Brownies like some of her friends. I am inclined not to let her join, because my understanding is that the Brownies (and the Girl Scouts) are not what they were when I was growing up in the 1950s. Still, I hate to deprive my daughter of a valuable experience with her friends. The fact is, I really don't know much about the Brownies, since I was a Cub Scout (and Boy Scout) back in the days when we were allowed to proudly wear our uniforms in school, replete with the...

Waukesha - A father has been charged with two crimes after his 5-year-old daughter got sick after eating marijuana-laced brownies she found in the family's home. On Saturday night, the girl's father, 24, of Waukesha, dropped his daughter off at his mother's home because he was going to a concert in Milwaukee, said police Capt. Mike Babe. Babe gave this account: Later that evening, the grandmother noticed the child was lethargic, her pupils were dilated and she was acting "strangely." She also had what the grandmother called an "unusual appetite." When the girl said she had eaten brownies that were...