Free Republic

Two Santa Rosa cannabis providers are coming to the rescue of Valley Fire victims. Care by Design and AbsoluteXtracts have teamed up to donate $20,000 worth of medical marijuana products to Lake County residents who have prescriptions but lost access to their medicine because of the fire, the Press Democrat reported. The companies issued a joint statement, saying: "This disaster happened in our own backyard. As a company that prides itself on putting patient needs first, we felt there was no better time to reach out and help our neighbors in their time of need." Through Oct. 7, each victim...

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...

My daughter will turn 19 this month. She is our fifth child. She has also been the most worrying to us as she started using drugs a long time ago. She said she first smoked weed at age 12. Since then she has gone on the try many other drugs to include meth, cocaine, pills and LSD and a few others I can’t name. Last year she was in intensive care for 8 days. She has also been in jail about seven or eight times and gone through rehab twice. She is currently living with her mother and I at...

Local law enforcers, such as Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee and Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Director Kevin Winslow say the solution to the heroin problem is to stop the dealers. "We don't focus on addicts and users," Mr. Winslow said. "I think law enforcement as a whole wants to get the source of the problem." In 2014, local officials filed their first case of drug-induced homicide against Jamil Steward, 26, of East Moline, who was accused of selling heroin that caused the overdose death of Michael Reid, 26, of Silvis. Mr. Steward entered an Alford plea on Dec....

My thought is certain recreational drugs, such as marijuana, should remain off legal limits for the under 18 year olds, but become legally available when used in the proper environment. In many ways, pot is quite similar to alcohol, in that they should be used responsibly. My thought is to make the sale of marijuana less profitable by making it legal for home use. Personally, I don't smoke anything now, and do not want the smell of tobacco or pot on my clothes should I visit a public place, such as a shopping mall or bus stop. I know this...

Last year, the University of Colorado-Boulder made national headlines for its efforts to stamp out what has historically been one of the most popular days on campus — the 4/20 marijuana smokeout, which in the past has drawn up to 11,000 pot smokers who toke up on the university’s quad at 4:20 p.m. on April 20. Determined to see an end to the tradition, university officials took the unusual step of closing the campus to nonstudents and hosing down the lawn with a fish-based fertilizer that made the quad smell as appealing as an Alaskan pier. Activists were outraged, but...

Editor's note: Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, with global branded revenues of $21 billion, and a member of the Global Drug Commission. Sir Richard was knighted in 1999 for his services to entrepreneurship. Watch today for Branson's interview with CNN/US' Erin Burnett Out Front at 7pm ET and tomorrow (12/7) with CNN International's Connect the World program at 4pm ET (CNN) -- In 1925, H. L. Mencken wrote an impassioned plea: "Prohibition has not only failed in its promises but actually created additional serious and disturbing social problems throughout society. There is not less drunkenness in the...

SEATTLE – In two weeks, adults in this state will no longer be arrested or incarcerated for something that nearly 30 million Americans did last year. For the first time since prohibition began 75 years ago, recreational marijuana use will be legal; the misery-inducing crusade to lock up thousands of ordinary people has at last been seen, by a majority of voters in this state and in Colorado, for what it is: a monumental failure. That is, unless the Obama administration steps in with an injunction, as it has threatened to in the past, against common sense. For what stands...

Wall Street is today braced for its first major demonstration in a year, as hundreds of people are expected to take to the streets to mark the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. A series of "sit-ins" are planned throughout New York's financial district from about 7:30am, according to the organisers' website. The New York Stock Exchange, the headquarters of bailed-out insurer AIG and the New York Federal Reserve are expected to be among the targets. Monday's action follows a series of largely peaceful marches over the weekend in New York, where more than 200 people descended on...

A bipartisan team of Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Ron Paul, R-Texas, will introduce federal legislation that would permit states to legalize, regulate, tax and control marijuana without federal interference. The legislation will be unveiled Thursday by Frank, an outspoken liberal Democrat, and the libertarian Paul, who is running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The bill would limit the U.S. government role in marijuana enforcement to interdiction of cross-border or inter-state smuggling. Citizens would be able to legally grow, use or sell cannabis in states which have legalized the forbidden weed. The legislation is the first bill to be...