Free Republic

A San Francisco assemblyman will chair a legislative hearing in Sacramento Wednesday on the potential ramifications of legalizing marijuana in California. The Assembly Committee on Public Safety will hear testimony on the social, economic and legal implications of decriminalizing marijuana and regulating its use in the same way that alcohol is regulated. That idea has been formally proposed in a bill authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, the committee's chair. The committee will consider the bill itself at a separate hearing in January. Wednesday's hearing is an informational session to review recent developments in the general field of marijuana legalization, Ammiano...

Reaction to the Times’ profile of long-shot GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul was swift Monday. And relentless. It can make for a long day if you’re on the wrong side of the Ron Paul grassroots Internet machine. One e-mailer, in two separate messages, called the author of the story a piece of garbage and a child molester. Their anger is at the way they believe the mainstream media, and the Times in this case, are treating their candidate. “Ron Paul is not a nutcase,” wrote Mike Toles, of Colorado, responding to the comments of a former aide, Eric Dondero. “(Paul)...