Free Republic

Citizens in four states vote Tuesday on ballot initiatives to legalize some form of cannabis. Residents of Missouri and Utah will decide on its medical availability, Michigan and North Dakota on recreational consumption for adults. If all four measures pass, the tally of states that allow some sort of cannabis use will jump to 32, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. The trend could not be clearer: Cannabis prohibition is coming to an end. A Gallup poll last month found 66% of Americans favor legal marijuana. I am now one of those Americans. It began when a friend of mine who...

Violent crime, including murders, are increasing in Denver and Colorado, according to new statistics from police and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Murders in Colorado have jumped 27 percent in the last three years. In 2015 there were 173 murders, while there were 220 in 2017. ... murders in Denver have increased six percent in the last year. So far in 2018, there have been 51 murders, compared to 48 at this time last year, according to Denver Police. Police say the increase is because there are more incidents where multiple people have been killed. ... And for some perspective...

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.

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 maker of Corona and Modelo beers in October took a 9.9 percent stake in the Canadian cannabis company. The deal included the option for future investments, giving Constellation a first toehold in an industry the brewer said it expects to soon be legalized across the United States. Shares of Canopy Growth surged 23.2 percent in Wednesday trading, while Constellation's stock fell 8.9 percent. With this latest investment and the execution of some warrants, Constellation says its stake will become 38 percent of Canopy. Constellation also received an opportunity over the next three years to buy up to 139.7 million...

On August 9, Denver experienced its first triple homicide since the summer of 2016, when a drug deal went bad in Park Hill. On Thursday, three bodies were discovered near the RTD light-rail station on South Broadway near the I-25 overpass. And according to the Denver Police Department, there's an added dimension to these latest murders: The three victims were all homeless. The DPD has yet to announce the names of the three victims, their causes of death or any suspects in the crime. But the gravity of the murders and the fact that the victims were homeless has many...

Diners accused of smoking weed, walking out on $420 restaurant bill Police are looking for a group of more than a dozen diners who allegedly tried to smoke marijuana inside a restaurant before causing a scene and walking out on the $420 bill. The incident happened Sunday night at Frida’s Mexican Restaurante in Memphis, Tennessee, WREG reported. The group of 16 came in at 10:30 pm, a half an hour before closing. “They came in at the last minute,” Frida’s manager Jesse Gonzalez told WREG. “We didn’t think anything of it.” According to Gonzalez, the group ordered some of the...

President Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana, a major step that would reshape the pot industry and end the threat of a Justice Department crackdown. Trump’s remarks put him sharply at odds with Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions on the issue. The bill in question, pushed by a bipartisan coalition, would allow states to go forward with legalization unencumbered by threats of federal prosecution. Trump made his comments to a gaggle of reporters Friday morning just before he boarded a helicopter on his way to the G-7 summit in Canada. His...

BOSTON — A former high school dean known as an anti-violence advocate was convicted Thursday of shooting and nearly killing a student he had recruited to sell marijuana for him. Shaun Harrison, 58, was found guilty of all charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, by a Suffolk Superior Court jury in its second day of deliberations. “Shaun Harrison was really a fraud, he was living a lie, and it was clearly exposed in this case,” District Attorney Dan Conley said. “Not only was he not a man of God or a role model for young people, he manipulated...

The plane landed safely at San Jose Mineta International Airport, about 50 miles south of San Francisco. The airline says the passenger accused of smoking was turned over to law enforcement. The remaining 32 passengers were placed on other aircraft to continue their trips. Passengers reported smelling smoke, and one said he smelled marijuana. “It looked like that someone needed to smoke a joint on a plane, and he went into the bathroom, smoked his blunt, and set off the fire alarm,” passenger Jonathan Burkes said.

The leader of the New York arm of the Black Lives Matter movement is calling out New York gubernatorial candidate and actress/activist Cynthia Nixon for her comments on legalizing marijuana over the weekend, in which she said that the industry could provide a form of “reparations” for communities of color. While he supports cannabis legalization, Black Lives Matter of Greater New York president Hawk Newsome told the Times Union on Monday that candidates for office should not use words like “reparations” lightly, a topic on which there is a growing body of serious scholarship. “Cynthia Nixon’s comments that the legalization...

CARPINTERIA - This picturesque coastal town cradled by mountains and sandy shores is a scene out of a Southern California postcard. Residents of Carpinteria say they feel lucky to live in what they consider a slice of paradise. But change is in the air. And sometimes, they say, it stinks. That’s because marijuana has become a new crop of choice in the farmlands surrounding this tight-knit community of 14,000, which has long helped fuel the U.S. cut flower industry. Residents say a thick, skunk-like odor from the marijuana plants settles over the valley in the evenings and before dawn. To...

Cannabis is responsible for 91 per cent of cases where teenagers end up being treated for drug addiction, shocking new figures reveal...The findings also back up academic research, revealed in The Mail on Sunday over the past three years, that skunk is having a serious detrimental impact on the mental health of the young. At least two studies have shown repeated use triples the risk of psychosis, with sufferers repeatedly experiencing delusional thoughts. Some victims end up taking their own lives.

The City of Miami Beach in Florida is so annoyed by the army of spring breakers descending on its beaches for wild parties fueled by alcohol and drugs that it’s considering a drastic, if a little bizarre, countermeasure. One elected city official suggested playing classical music, such as Mozart, at loud volumes to break up parties on the beach. That's according to a report in The Miami Herald, which said the city's commissioners were juggling ideas on how to tackle spring break partygoers after a chaotic weekend.

Choudary: Refuses to discuss his dissolute youth At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success for his peers. Born into the working-class family of a market trader in Welling on the outskirts of London, he has risen - thanks to the opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a qualified lawyer. But it is unlikely his old school will be inviting him to be guest speaker on prize-giving day. Their former pupil is not famous for his elegant oratory in court. Instead, the articulate Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain...

A Democrat running for Congress in Illinois' fifth congressional district showcased his support for marijuana legalization by smoking pot in a new campaign ad. Benjamin Thomas Wolf, a former FBI official turned Chicago restaurant owner, told the Chicago Sun-Times that it is important to be upfront about recreational cannabis use and the potential economic and social benefits of legalization. "As a cannabis user, I think it's important we get out front and talk about it," said Wolf, who is vying to defeat incumbent Rep.I Mike Quigley (D., Ill.) in this year's Democratic primary. "We realize that cannabis can bring billions...

Legends of Tomorrow is rewinding the clock to the very early Obama years. TVLine has learned exclusively that the time-tripping CW drama is revolving an upcoming Season 3 episode around a teenage version of President Barack Obama. Set in the late ’70s when the future No. 44 was a student at Occidental College, the hour is being penned by Keto Shimizu and James Eagan. Casting is currently underway for an actor to play Young Obama. The episode starts shooting in early February and is slated to air in April. This isn’t Legends‘ first time putting the spotlight on a U.S....

Chronic cannabis users are at risk of experiencing a horrifying new condition that is being reported at hospitals across the country. 'Scromiting,' doctors say, is becoming an all-too-familiar site at emergency rooms, with patients 'screaming and vomiting' as they turn up for help...'I've screamed out for death,' Chalfonte LeNee Queen, 48, told NPR after experiencing the terrifying illness. 'I've cried out for my mom, who's been dead for 20 years, mentally not realizing she can't come to me.'