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EUGENE, Oregon - Sometime after midnight on a moonlit rural Oregon highway, a state trooper checking a car he had just pulled over found less than an ounce of pot on one passenger: A chatty 72-year-old woman blind in one eye. She insisted the weed was legal and was approved by the U.S. government. The trooper and his supervisor were doubtful. But after a series of calls to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Drug Enforcement Agency and her physician, the troopers handed her back the card — and her pot. For the past three decades, Uncle Sam has been providing...

Seeking to overturn the city's medical marijuana ordinance even before it takes effect, a loose-knit coalition of Los Angeles collectives is quietly gathering signatures to force a referendum on the law. The scrappy, largely volunteer effort faces a Monday deadline to turn in 27,425 valid signatures. "We're getting down to the wire here," said Dan Halbert, who runs Rainforest Collective in Mar Vista and has coordinated the campaign. "It's going to be close."

Medical marijuana users can exhale a sigh of relief that their driver's licenses will not be revoked or suspended if they have a doctor's permission to use cannabis. [snip] The Oakland-based organization's chief counsel, Joe Elford, said he filed a lawsuit against the DMV on behalf of Rose Johnson, 53, of Atwater, in November, claiming her license was taken away based solely on the fact that she uses marijuana to treat back problems, stemming from an auto crash. [snip] Johnson's driving privileges have since been restored.

A rift between the EU and US over how to deal with global trafficking in illicit drugs is undermining international efforts to agree a new UN strategy. The confrontation has been heightened because of suggestions that the US negotiating team is pushing a hardline, Bush administration "war on drugs", in contrast to the EU position which supports "harm reduction" measures such as needle exchanges. Talks are said to be at breaking point in Vienna where representatives have gathered to hammer out a new UN declaration in time for a signing ceremony at a drugs summit in mid-March. Negotiations, which have...

Feds Warn Of Marijuana-Filled Gumballs Gumballs Called 'Greenades'POSTED: 8:00 am EDT July 27, 2006 ELLICOTT CITY, Md. -- Authorities aren't happy about yellow, smiley face gumballs. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency is warning about so-called "Greenades," which are marijuana-containing gumballs. Survey: Used Drugs? The DEA is issuing an intelligence bulletin about the pot candies to police departments across the country. The smiley face gumballs were first discovered at a Howard County, Md., high school in January. Police charged three 17-year-old students after a teacher alerted a school resource officer. She told the officer that she saw a student give a...

Guitarist Jeff Baxter is a founding member of Steely Dan and a member of the Doobie Brothers. The 56-year-old Baxter has eight platinum albums and two Grammy’s but he likes to call himself a hippie rock guitarist with top secret clearances. Now, believe-it-or-not, he is one of the top counter-terrorism experts in the United States.

“Cannabis is still seen as a risk-free drug despite mounting evidence that it can lead to serious mental health problems, particularly amongst young teenagers, people with a family history of severe mental illness and in long-term users.” The charity called for the money to be spent on a massive public education campaign to inform users and potential users of the well-founded mental health dangers of using cannabis at a young age and over a long period of time. Rethink chief executive Cliff Prior told the committee: “Cannabis is still seen as a risk-free drug despite mounting evidence that it can...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A judge rejected a U.S. request that a Canadian marijuana activist be held without bail on Tuesday in a case that is likely to ignite debate over the countries' diverging drug policies. U.S. officials say Marc Emery illegally sold millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds, but Emery's supporters say his business activities were well known for years and tolerated by groups that included Canada's federal health ministry. Emery is a founder of the pro-legalization B.C. Marijuana Party and his arrest comes as the Canadian government is pushing a measure to decriminalize possession of small...

before the battle of fallujah in novemebr last year, cnn placed on the web the following material. it contains many details of the upcoming operation. it would seem to me that cnn were endangering the lives of our soldiers by putting this on the internet three days before the assault began. so we could therefore accuse cnn of targetting our troops. -----Original Message----- From: Flower, Kevin [mailto:Kevin.Flower@turner.com] Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 4:51 PM To: 'baghdad-uspool@yahoogroups.com' Subject: [baghdad-uspool] Fallujah Offensive This is from our correspondent Karl Penhaul....this has been pushed up to the executive pool level by my supervisors for...

Former Miami Dolphin's superstar Ricky Williams was so afraid of dealing publicly with his failed drug test that he retired rather than face the media and the NFL over it. His biggest fear was that people would know he smoked marijuana, he tells Mike Wallace in his first television interview since retiring. The interview will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Dec. 19 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss teenagers smoke more cannabis than their peers in every other European country, a survey said Thursday, casting a pall over the country's prim and wholesome image. One in three Swiss 15-year-olds has lit up a joint within the past year, while the number of teenagers regularly smoking or getting drunk rose 10 percent between 1998 and 2002, the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse said in their survey. "For a large number of young people, falling back on alcohol, cigarettes or cannabis is part of a response to growing social pressures and...

Caption this photo of an INCREDIBLY BLOATED Algore. BTW, this photo is from TODAY!

ENGLAND fans will be allowed to smoke dope before Sunday’s crunch clash with France — to keep them calm. Cops in Lisbon plan to crack down on drunk supporters while turning a blind eye to those spotted puffing on a spliff. Pot-smoking fans have been assured they will not be arrested, cautioned — or even have their drugs confiscated. Last night experts said the Portuguese police’s “Here We Blow” policy would reduce chances of a punch-up between rival fans. Alan Buffry of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance said: “If people are drinking they lose control, if they smoke cannabis they don’t....

<p>MIAMI (AP) -- A 5-year-old boy took a bag of marijuana to school and was sprinkling it over a friend's lasagna like oregano when a monitor intervened, police said.</p> <p>The lasagna was confiscated before the other boy had a chance to eat it Monday in the cafeteria at Gratigny Elementary School.</p>

Parishioners stand by priest in court Even municipal judge speaks well of cleric facing marijuana case BARBERTON - She was sitting in the middle of the front row of the public seating area in Barberton Municipal Court, clutching a rosary in her lap and praying for the defendant. Beth Douglas, a 41-year-old mathematics teacher at Akron's East High School and a mother of four, was one of more than 20 Prince of Peace Catholic Church parishioners watching in court Wednesday as their pastor, the Rev. Richard A. Arko, appeared before Judge Michael L. Weigand to have an arraignment scheduled. Arko,...

<p>ESSEX -- The residents of Weed Road in Essex are angry. You just might have a hard time finding them to ask why. The street signs at both ends of Weed Road have been stolen at least five times this summer. Police are investigating the incidents, as well as other cases of stolen and damaged markers around town. Missing and damaged signs threaten public safety and cost the town money, said Todd Law, assistant director of the Public Works Department.</p>

<p>HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) -- The Department of Social Services is looking into a possible case of child abuse after a 4-year-old girl brought her teacher a small bag of marijuana as a gift.</p> <p>When Head Start Early Childhood Center teacher Iris Galvez asked where she got the gift Monday, the girl said she got it "from her mommy," according to a police report obtained by the Union-News of Springfield.</p>

<p>SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) --  Federal agents raided a marijuana farm Thursday and arrested the owners, who grow the pot for a medical users club, surprising community members and local law enforcement.</p> <p>Officers seized more than 100 marijuana plants, three rifles and a shotgun in the pre-dawn raid, said Drug Enforcement Agent spokesman Richard Meyer in San Francisco.</p>

<p>San Francisco -- San Francisco could become the first city in the nation to get into the pot-growing business to supply patients with medicinal marijuana, under a measure headed for the November ballot.</p> <p>The measure would urge city officials to explore growing cannabis and distributing it to seriously ill patients who have an OK from their doctors -- in apparent defiance of federal law.</p>