Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he was “wrong” about marijuana when he opposed legalizing the drug while serving in Congress. Boehner predicted that national cannabis legalization is going to happen in less than five years. “That sound bite about being ‘unalterably opposed’ to cannabis is almost a decade old. Back then, like a lot of folks, I was getting faulty information,” Boehner said of his 2011 remark during today’s American Cannabis Summit online seminar organized by the National Institute for Cannabis Investors. “I realized I was wrong and, let me tell you, I’ve been having more...

A nine-year-old Alberta girl managed to rapidly sell out of Girl Guide cookies by targeting cannabis consumers on the first day of legal sales. Elina Childs tells CTV News Channel that it was her father’s idea to load up her wagon and line up outside of an Edmonton pot shop on Wednesday.

Cannabis becomes legal in Canada Country becomes second and largest with legal national marketplace. The Canadian government is ready to pardon those with a cannabis possession record of 30 grams or less as the country becomes the world’s second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace. Canada legalizes marijuana: here's everything you need to know Read more A federal official said Canada would pardon people with convictions for possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana, the new legal threshold, with a formal announcement due later on Wednesday. The use of medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since...

San Francisco has become “too permissive” even for the city’s former Democratic mayor, Gavin Newsom. Newsom, who is now California’s lieutenant governor and a candidate for governor, met with The San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board last week. The paper reported the comments Sunday. Although he has always promoted “progressive” approaches to drug use, Newsom admits he was “hardened by reality” while mayor as he watched drug use and its consequences encroach upon the city’s population. “You can be too permissive, and I happened to think we have crossed that threshold in this state – and not just in this city....

-snip- A pair of Rhode Island political hopefuls, who aspired to be The Ocean State's governor and attorney general, was arrested Thursday after police allegedly uncovered 48 pounds of illegal marijuana in the duo's West Greenwich home. State police said they arrested Anne Armstrong, 58, and Alan Gordon, 48 -- the Compassion Party’s candidates for governor and attorney general, respectively -- after a search at the pair’s home uncovered nearly 50 pounds of marijuana. Officials said they searched the pair’s home after receiving a complaint of a “strong odor of marijuana emanating from marijuana plants being illegally grown outdoors.” -snip-...

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's top federal law enforcement officer said one "important detail" is being overlooked in the heated debate over medical marijuana in the state. "Marijuana is against the law, federal law," U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber said Thursday. "That very important aspect cannot be lost in this discussion." The use, production, distribution and transportation of marijuana violates federal law, he said. "That has not changed, and although there are talks about change, it's the current state of the law, and it's my obligation to enforce federal law," Huber told reporters during a roundtable discussion in his...

It sounds like the opening for another stoner movie, maybe “Harold and Kumar Go to Heaven.” Giant bundles of marijuana, apparently containing individually wrapped five-kilo bricks, have been washing up on the shores of Florida since the approach of Hurricane Florence last week, possibly from a boat that was either capsized by the storm or an airplane drop that went awry.

WASHINGTON—Canadians will be barred from entering the United States for smoking marijuana legally, for working in Canada’s legal marijuana industry and for investing in legal Canadian marijuana companies, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official says. Todd Owen, who spoke to the U.S. website Politico, said the U.S. does not plan to change its border policies to account for Canada’s marijuana legalization, which takes effect on Oct. 17. “We don’t recognize that as a legal business,” said Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the office of field operations. Owen’s comments corroborated anecdotal reports that have accumulated over the course of...

DALLAS - Following the shooting death of Botham Jean by the hands of Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger, multiple search warrants were executed at Jean’s apartment as part of the investigation. One of the warrants became a public record Thursday afternoon when it was returned to the judge who signed it. It was shortly after Jean’s funeral had ended. It listed several items found in Jean's apartment, including a small amount of marijuana.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has smoked marijuana live on the web during a podcast with comedian Joe Rogan. Mr Rogan offered his guest the drug, which is legal in California, as the pair discussed tech innovation and the public's perception of Mr Musk. "I mean, it's legal, right?" asked the Tesla founder, before taking a drag on the joint. Last month, Mr Musk said he was not "on weed" when he tweeted about plans to make Tesla a private firm. The business leader made the comments in an interview with the New York Times. He also told the newspaper he...

Call it a buzzkiller from BuzzFeed. On Wednesday, online news site BuzzFeed reported that the Trump Administration is engaged in a "secret war on weed." BuzzFeed stated that the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee told multiple federal agencies to submit "data demonstrating the most significant negative trends" about marijuana use. The goal appears to be to try to prevent further support for relaxing federal anti-marijuana laws. If the committee is successful in its efforts, companies with U.S. marijuana operations such as Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG), CannaRoyalty (NASDAQOTH:CNNRF), and Kush Bottles (NASDAQOTH:KSHB) could see their hopes of operating in a fully legal environment...

LAS VEGAS - Metro Police released mugshots Monday of the nine people arrested at the Rio Hotel-Casino on numerous different chargers. According to police, the group of documented gang members were cuffed after officers broke up a large party. The arrests took place Saturday night, Aug. 18. There were around 40 people at the party. Five weapons were also confiscated, Metro said. Police took the following people into custody: Antron Simms, Steven Neal, Michael Green, Phillip Semper, Corey Johnson, Jerome Francis, Ashley Medlock, Lexus Sherman and Antonio Williams. Johnson and Williams were both arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. The...

Smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of 2.8 years, new research suggests. This is compared to four years in schizophrenia patients, according to the largest study of its kind. Brain ageing is defined as reduced blood flow through the organ. Excessive alcohol also ages the organ by 0.6 years, the research adds. Lead author Dr Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, said: 'The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.' Reduced brain blood flow has previously been linked to...

The hunt is on for budtenders, cannabis cultivators, weed botanists and dozens of other new jobs that have sprouted with Florida’s nascent medical marijuana industry. With dispensaries scouting locations across the state and 147,000 people signed up to use the now-legalized drug, the developing industry is quickly trying to recruit thousands of workers to develop, grow and sell medical cannabis. Medical marijuana businesses say stoners need not apply. A passion for smoking weed is a liability, and a criminal record involving drugs will almost certainly disqualify most candidates. “We get hundreds of applications for every job opening we have,” said...

DALLAS, Texas (CBS Local) – A Texas teen’s mugshot has unexpectedly launched her career as a makeup artist. Marshala Perkins of Dallas was arrested in February and charged with possession of marijuana. The 19-year-old was reportedly questioned by police after finishing a makeup tutorial. The teen told reporters she was sitting in her car waiting for friends when officers found two grams of marijuana in the vehicle. After the incident, Greenville police posted the mugshot on their Facebook page, leaving Perkins embarrassed over the arrest. What the teen didn’t expect was her mugshot to get re-posted by a Twitter account...

This is a question we batted around back in June, in that case applying to workers in the private sector. If you live in a state where marijuana has been legalized, either for medical or recreational use, can your employer fire you for failing a drug test even if you were only using marijuana in off work hours? It turns out the answer is generally yes, though it’s a bit complicated.Today the same issue arises for public sector workers. Government Executive examines the question of whether or not federal workers should legally be allowed to fire up a joint after...

Dry Leaf Medical Marijuana Available To Pennsylvanians Next Week HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) - Medical marijuana in dry leaf and flower form will be available to registered patients in Pennsylvania for the first time, beginning next week. Gov. Tom Wolf's office said dry leaf cannabis will be available at about a dozen dispensaries starting Aug. 1. More dispensaries will offer the dry leaf and flower form over the coming weeks. The Health Department is expected to announce which dispensaries are carrying it sometime next week. The change was recommended by an advisory panel and accepted by Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine...

We’re seeing an experiment in action. Over the past few years, more and more countries and states have been legalizing marijuana, and we’re finally getting to see what effect it really has. There have been all kinds of predictions. The naysayers have been sure that legalizing pot will all but bring the world to its doom, with drug abuse and crime running rampant. And on the other side, pot advocates have all but suggested that it’ll usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, where mankind finally settles its differences over a toke. Enough time has passed now, though,...

A resident of Mexico has been charged for conspiracy to grow marijuana with the intent to distribute it and damage to public lands and natural resources, according to federal prosecutors. Everado Cuadro Campos, 49, who is from Michoacan, Mexico, was arrested July 17 at a “marijuana garden” in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Shasta County, according to a news release by the United States Department of Justice. U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife agents found a marijuana cultivation site near Rock Creek, according to a Department of Justice criminal complaint, and entered through a “well-worn” path....

(Javonnie McCoy and Atlanta attorney Catherine Bernard after his acquittal) Javonnie McCoy was growing marijuana when the cops came to his Middle Georgia home. He was caught red-handed with it. Almost a pound of it, in fact. He admitted it to police, and later he looked jurors in the eye and said, yep, it was mine. I used it as medicine. The jurors let him go. He was minding his own business and wasn’t hurting anybody, they reasoned. He just doesn’t belong in prison. The jury’s decision earlier this month in Dublin, Ga., may have been due to a...