Free Republic

Scientists may have just found out why marijuana impairs memory and why the brain's natural versions of the drug might help against epilepsy. The active ingredient of marijuana, THC, is known to impair memory and to bind to areas of the brain linked to memory, such as the hippocampus. Still, the exact mechanisms by which marijuana impairs memory remain unclear. Neuroscientists David Robbe and Gyorgy Buzsaki at Rutgers University and their colleagues recorded hippocampus activity in rats. Normally brain cells in this region often synchronize their electrical activity. When the researchers injected rats with THC or a related synthetic drug,...

A smoking ban in Santa Monica? It depends what's being smoked. The Santa Monica City Council voted last month to extend its tough anti-smoking ordinance to outdoor restaurant cafes, the Third Street Promenade, bus stops and movie theater lines. But voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure on Tuesday that relaxes enforcement of anti-marijuana-smoking laws. Measure Y establishes that crimes involving the adult, personal use of marijuana should be the lowest law-enforcement priority for the Santa Monica Police Department. Voters in Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota rejected ballot measures yesterday that would legalize or decriminalize pot.

Republicans lost control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, because they abandoned their conservative principles and in the end stood for nothing, Rush Limbaugh said today. In his Wednesday broadcast, America’s top talker said that until Republicans begin asking themselves what’s wrong with themselves they are never going to fix their problems. When things go wrong, Rush said, "you must look inward and ask first, ‘What did we do wrong? What could we have done better? What mistakes did we make?” Commenting that although Republicans lost, "Conservatism did not lose, Republicanism lost last night. Republicanism, being a political party...

Overwhelmingly, voters just saying no to legalization Mason Tvert, campaign director for the marijuana initiative, Amendment 44, waves at passing motorists on Election Day from the corner of Colfax and Lincoln avenues. By about a 2-1 ratio, voters snuffed out a measure that would have allowed adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. With 701 precincts reporting, it appeared to be doomed to defeat, especially since it was barely getting a split vote in traditionally liberal Boulder County. That was the news Robert McGuire, spokesman for the Colorado Chapter of Save Our Society from Drugs,...