Free Republic

SANTA ANA – Turns out, selling pot in Santa Ana isn’t going to be easy. Seven months after the city became the first Orange County municipality to hold a lottery to let small businesses sell medical marijuana, only two, South Coast Safe Access and OC3, are open. Reasons for the slow start are varied. Some landlords and neighboring businesses aren’t thrilled about the prospect of working with or near pot merchants. And those would-be pot sellers who have won over their neighbors say the city and local police – in spite of overwhelming approval from Santa Ana voters – aren’t...

Nearly 20 years after California became the first state to legalize the medical use of marijuana, legislators have a plan to impose order on the erratic patchwork of inconsistent policies that currently govern the billion-dollar industry. “We’re making up for two decades of inaction”, said state senator Mike McGuire, whose district includes the “Emerald Triangle” in Northern California where 60% of the marijuana grown in the US is cultivated. “This legislation brings clarity and desperately needed rules and regulations.” In the final hours of the legislative session that ended late Friday night, lawmakers passed a trio of bills that create...

[...] Hickenlooper, founder of a beer brewery and a former mayor of Denver, opposed the historic 2012 measure that legalized pot for adults 21 and older. But in the interview published on Wednesday in Westword, he says legalization hasn't been so bad, after all. "Now I look at how far we've come, and I think there's a real possibility that we'll have a system that works... if you eliminate the black market, make it harder for kids to get marijuana. We can put more money into education for kids," he says. "The sky isn't falling. People thought it was the...

Teens are increasingly turning to electronic cigarettes not to get their tobacco fix, but instead to inhale pot. A new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics found that teens have devised ways to turn e-cigarettes into devices for hashish oil, marijuana, wax and other cannabis products. Researchers surveyed 3,847 Connecticut high school students about their drug and e-cigarette use and found that students using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis was 27 times higher than the adult rate. According to the study, 5.5 percent of the students surveyed had used an e-cigarette to vaporize cannabis. In total, nearly 30 percent of...

Susan Sarandon led a very belated funeral procession for her dear friend, the 'godfather of LSD' Timothy Leary, at Burning Man on Saturday. Clutching his ashes on the march into a makeshift church, the 67-year-old actress - who was wearing a bridal gown - said she had wanted to lay Leary to rest where he would be surrounded by revelers who had taken the psychedelic drug to honor his memory. 'I think he'd be so happy,' Sarandon said of Leary, who died and was cremated in 1996. 'I think he would have loved the chaos. He would have loved it....

".....The reform-minded Trump of decades past is a far more attractive figure than his current incarnation, at least in the eyes of the pro-legalization advocates of today. “Well, I certainly think he had it right in 1990, and what he said then actually seemed to understand the situation,” David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, told The Daily Beast. “My sense is that looking for consistent philosophy or even policies in Donald Trump’s statements is a pretty fruitless exercise.” Boaz also pointed out that Trump recently voiced his support for medical marijuana, and that when asked about...

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver said Thursday 17 of the people charged have been arrested and three remain at-large. Authorities say warrants conducted in the southern Colorado towns of Cotopaxi and Westcliffe led to the seizure of 1,000 marijuana plants, 50 pounds of dried marijuana, and 28 firearms. Sheriff offices in Custer and Freemont counties helped execute the warrants Tuesday.

The percentage of daily and near-daily pot users from the 2014 survey was the highest ever recorded.More U.S. college students are making a habit of using marijuana, which has supplanted cigarettes as the smoke-able substance of choice among undergraduates who light up regularly, a study released Tuesday found. Just under 6 percent of the full-time students surveyed by University of Michigan researchers for the annual "Monitoring the Future" study reported using pot either every day or at least 20 times in the previous 30 days. By contrast, 5 percent of respondents identified themselves as heavy cigarette smokers, a steep...

The National Cancer Institute recently released its report on medical marijuana. The overview of their conclusion is, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) caused a 45 percent reduction in bladder cancer, remission in breast and liver cancer and more. They have determined that there is no lethal dose of marijuana. And addictive potential is considerably lower than any other medicine available. Among their findings, they have found that cannabis is not associated with adverse pulmonary function and does not cause lung cancer or any aerodigestive tract cancers. Cannabis does not cause other types of cancer either. They found cannabis has...

BOISE, Idaho – If you're looking for milepost 420, you won't find it in Idaho. Idaho transportation officials say the mile marker has been replaced with 419.9 signs to curb thieves eager to own a number associated with marijuana enthusiasts. Turns out, Idaho isn't alone in this problem. States like Washington and Colorado have also replaced 420 signs with 419.9 after consistently having to replace them after thefts by supposed sticky-fingered stoners. Adam Rush of the Idaho Transportation Department says officials have replaced the old sign along U.S. Highway 95 with "MILE 419.9," just south of Coeur d'Alene. ~snip~ The...

Amidst agricultural fields of tomatoes, sunflowers, and alfalfa, a small Woodland farm is openly growing hundreds of cannabis plants. This legal medicinal marijuana grow is setting a precedent for cannabis growers in the state. Most of California’s largest crop is grown clandestinely to avoid Law Enforcement. By growing in the open, with strict adherence to legal statutes and requirements, and promoting their organic and sustainable practices to the community, this farm hopes to turn Yolo County into the Napa of Weed. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.tully-weiss.com/news/california-farmers-shine-sunlight-on-marijuana-crops

Jerusalem fire in Lake County continues to increase As Cal Fire ramped up efforts Sunday night to fight Lake County’s newly raging Jerusalem fire, estimated at 5,000 acres and growing, sheriff’s deputies arrested a Lake County man suspected of starting a separate fire in the area in an attempt to protect his marijuana garden, sheriff’s officials said Monday. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Juan Ramos Silva, 51, of Lower Lake was arrested at about 6 p.m. Sunday. He’d told deputies and fire officials he’d been a firefighter years ago while living in Mexico and he’d wanted to set a...

California's most valuable cash crop, marijuana, is taking a heavy toll on some of the state's most sensitive ecosystems, with the effects ranging from erosion, contamination, threats to wildlife, and heavy water use at a time of severe drought. The situation is prompting ecologists and wildlife managers to urge greater focus on bringing marijuana plots under tighter environmental scrutiny. It's a tall order, notes a research team calling for the added focus via an article in the August issue of the journal BioScience. Among the challenges: Money to beef up enforcement and to cover cleanup is scarce. And where some...

Chronic marijuana use by teenage boys does not appear to be linked to later physical or mental health issues such as depression, psychotic symptoms or asthma, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

Chris Christie Vows Crackdown On Legal Weed As Soon As He's Prez New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is once again threatening marijuana users in states that have legalized the drug, telling them to "enjoy it" while they can because, if he becomes president, there'll be a crackdown. “If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it,” Christie said Tuesday during a Newport, New Hampshire, town-hall meeting, Bloomberg reports. “As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws.” Christie, one of 16 Republicans campaigning for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, has made no secret of his long-held opposition to...

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, 71, still likes to wake and bake. But he's fussy about where the weed comes from. "I smoke regularly, an early morning joint. Strictly Californian," The Independent reports the musician told Mojo magazine for its September issue. Richards, who is currently promoting his solo album "Crosseyed Heart," also remarked on the spread of marijuana legalization in the United States. "One of the most pleasant things to watch is a map of America where it goes, green ... green ... green ... green," The Independent reports he said. "Whether it’s a good thing in the long...

An initial toxicology report for Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail cell three days after her arrest during a traffic stop, raises the possibility that she may have used marijuana while in custody, two experts said. The amount of THC, one of the active components of marijuana, in Bland's system was 18 micrograms per liter, according to the report released Monday. That's more than three times the legal limit for drivers in Colorado and Washington, states that permit the recreational use of marijuana. "I don't think it's possible to rule out the possibility of use while in jail,"...

After an appearance in Sweden on Saturday night (July 25), Snoop Dogg was arrested by authorities for suspicion of use of narcotics. His vehicle was pulled over, and officers transported him to a police station where he was ordered to take a drug test. While in the back of the cop car, the rapper recorded a video message, which was posted to Instagram on Sunday (July 26). “[N-word] as got me in the back of police car right now in Sweden, cuz,” Snoop said in the clip. “Pulled a n---- over for nothing, taking us to the station where I...

Seniors Are Seeking Out States Where Marijuana is Legal The top moving destination in 2014 was Oregon, which voted to legalize marijuana last November. When choosing retirement locales, a few factors pop to mind: climate, amenities, proximity to grandchildren, access to quality healthcare. Chris Cooper had something else to consider – marijuana laws. The investment adviser from Toledo had long struggled with back pain due to a fractured vertebra and crushed disc from a fall. He hated powerful prescription drugs like Vicodin, but one thing did help ease the pain and spasms: marijuana. So when Cooper, 57, was looking for...

Editor's note: This article was co-authored by Tim Graham.The end of the Supreme Court term was depressing for conservatives. The double-whammy of a 50-state mandate for gay marriage and the upholding of Obamacare sounded the alarms for religious freedom. All that unease is measurable. Credit The Washington Post for doing precisely that. The polling team has just reported, "Liberals have won a string of victories on gay marriage and health care reform this year, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds a large majority of Americans are unhappy with where the nation is headed on social issues." They found...