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An enterprising New Jersey man raked in up to $20,000 a day running illegal marijuana vending machines — with at least 80 locations across the state, prosecutors said. Ben Gross, a 40-year-old Toms River resident, was arrested Friday after investigators identified him as the owner of the Barbwire vending machine company. Cops in Ocean and Monmouth counties spent more than two years tracing the operation, officials said. Prosecutors said Gross made between $17,000 and $20,000 per day from the machines.

Authorities in Sri Lanka have detained 22 Buddhist monks after customs officers discovered about 240 pounds (110 kilograms) of high-grade cannabis hidden in their luggage at Bandaranaike International Airport. Officials said the haul is the largest cannabis seizure ever recorded at the country’s main international gateway. Drugs hidden in modified luggage Customs officers stopped the group during routine checks after they arrived from Bangkok. Investigators said the monks, many of them junior trainees from temples across Sri Lanka, each carried roughly 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of cannabis concealed in suitcases fitted with false compartments. A spokesperson for Sri Lanka Customs...

Teens who use marijuana may be at greater risk of permanent brain damage later in life, a study has revealed. About 18 million Americans report using marijuana daily or nearly every day, and use is on the rise, largely due to recent decriminalisation across the US. From 1992 to 2022, for example, daily and near-daily use saw a 15-fold increase. About one in seven of those users are teenagers, whose brains are still undergoing rapid changes in areas responsible for judgement, decision-making and memory. Now, the largest-ever study of American teenagers has found regular cannabis use restricted vital growth in...

The Trump administration is expected to move soon to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law, according to Axios — a step that would ease restrictions on medical research but would not legalize it. The change also would not automatically affect sentences for people incarcerated on marijuana possession charges. President Donald Trump signaled impatience with the pace of the effort during an April 18 White House event, saying his administration was slow-walking the rescheduling order and pressing aides to get it done. Trump's remarks came four months after he directed the Justice Department to move marijuana...

Orlando attorney says he won’t compete for Florida governorJohn Morgan took to social media on Monday to announce a new initiative: a $100,000 prize for a contest to name his new third party here in Florida. The Orlando attorney opened up his video statement by declaring he would not be running for office. “For about the last year and a half, a lot of people have been asking me to run for governor of the state of Florida. It’s really quite an honor,” he said. “So today, I’m going to answer that question and tell you my plans.” According...

Maryland lawmakers have sent the governor a bill to protect firefighters and rescue workers from being penalized over their lawful use of medical marijuana off the job. The House of Delegates approved the Senate-passed legislation, SB 439 from Sen. Carl Jackson (D) in a 108-23 vote on Monday, about two weeks after passing a companion measure, HB 797 from Del. Adrian Boafo (D). The Senate bill, now having cleared both chambers in identical form, heads next to the desk of Gov. Wes Moore (D), who can sign or veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. The...

New recruiting rules bump the age limit for recruits from 35 to 42. Easing restrictions on a single marijuana possession conviction “accounts for changes in society,” one expert said. The Army’s previous limit was 35, though exceptions are occasionally made. The higher age limit brings the Army in line with other services’ limits of 41 in the Navy and 42 in the Air Force and Space Force, Kate Kuzminski, who studies military recruiting for the Center for a New American Security, told Task & Purpose. Army recruiting officials have noted in recent years that the average age of recruits is...

Homeless individuals were allegedly bribed with cash, cigarettes, and marijuana in exchange for signing voter registration forms and ballot petitions — often using fake addresses Independent investigative journalist James O’Keefe and his team at O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) have released explosive undercover footage documenting what appears to be widespread voter registration and petition fraud on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, where homeless individuals were allegedly bribed with cash, cigarettes, and marijuana in exchange for signing voter registration forms and ballot petitions — often using fake addresses. The investigation, titled “CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS FRAUD CASH FOR BALLOTS PART I,” captured at least 28...

Date: March 20, 2026 Source: University of Sydney Summary: The largest review of medicinal cannabis to date found it doesn’t effectively treat anxiety, depression, or PTSD—despite millions using it for those reasons. Researchers warn it could even make mental health worse, raising risks like psychosis and addiction while delaying proven treatments. Some limited benefits were seen for conditions like insomnia and autism, but the evidence is weak. The findings are fueling calls for stricter oversight as cannabis use continues to rise. Cannabis Fails for Mental Health A sweeping new analysis finds medicinal cannabis doesn’t work for anxiety, depression, or PTSD—and...

But a new study has found a growing connection between cannabis use and detrimental effects on mental health. Smoking weed has previously been found to have an impact on the brain by altering dopamine activity that closely resembles patterns observed in psychosis. Now, a study led by McMaster University and published in The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has shown that increasing cannabis use and worsening mental health symptoms are appearing together more and more often. “We see that Canadians who use cannabis tend to be more likely to meet criteria for anxiety and depressive disorders, and more likely to report...

There is a growing body of evidence that marijuana causes a number of health problems, but this study is especially sobering, as it encompassed 463,396 adolescents: Adolescents who use cannabis could face a significantly higher risk of developing serious psychiatric disorders by young adulthood, according to a large study published in JAMA Health Forum. The longitudinal study followed 463,396 adolescents ages 13 to 17 through age 26 and found that past-year cannabis use during adolescence was associated with a significantly higher risk of incident psychotic (doubled), bipolar (doubled), depressive and anxiety disorders.Good Lord. Cannabis use preceded psychiatric diagnoses by an...

The New York Times recently came clean, saying it was wrong about the effects of legalizing marijuana. The paper had once argued that weed was mostly harmless and not truly addictive, but now admits those old claims don’t hold up today. Back in 2014, an editorial writer claimed marijuana wasn’t addictive like heroin, while also noting that users might still crave it and struggle to quit. The NY Times even admitted that heavy users needed more of the drug over time and some got withdrawal symptoms. This week, the Times’ editorial board finally said, “It is now clear that many...

At the Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa, the parking lot at Golden Nest Pancakes and Cafe is always packed. But now, some customers feel like they’re caught in the middle. It’s because of this sign inside: “Please do not enter if you smell of marijuana. Golden Nest Pancake and Cafe is a family restaurant and this is unappealing while guests are dining.” “I always come to Golden Nest. It’s one of my favorite breakfast places, actually. I’ve been here twice this week,” said customer Iyani Raines. “If you have a preference, that’s one thing, but I just don’t feel like everyone’s...

Not even a month in the hospital on a feeding tube was enough to make Sydni Collins quit pot. Collins had reached for her weed pen most days since she turned 16, even as waves of extreme nausea and vomiting overtook her. One particularly brutal episode left her vomiting nonstop during a flight in the spring break of her senior year. “There were some days when it lasted until noon and I would not go to school because of how bad it was,” Collins, 23, told The Post. “I would be puking all morning. I would let out yells or...

Alex Berenson, author of Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence, pointed out that the New York Times had curiously removed from an article about the Uvalde school shooter a former coworker’s recollection that he complained about his grandmother not letting him smoke weed. The Times didn’t append a correction to the story as it might be expected to do when fixing a factual inaccuracy... Assuming the elided detail was accurate, it would fit a pattern. Mass shooters at Rep. Gabby Giffords’s constituent meeting in Tucson, Ariz. (2011), a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (2012), the...

After more than 10 years of partnering on search and rescue missions, wildfire fights and medical interventions, Bernalillo County firefighters have been ousted from the Sheriff's Office's helicopter unit. The reason? A policy change allowing firefighters to smoke marijuana while off duty. "Sheriff John Allen made this decision in early June 2025 following a county policy change that allows firefighters to use marijuana off-duty and removes random cannabis testing," Jayme Gonzales, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, said in a news release Wednesday. "MASU (Metro Air Support Unit) performs aviation operations and life-saving rescue work where the margin for error is...

A string of deadly shootings connected to Oklahoma marijuana farms — including a quadruple execution and a home-invasion murder — has exposed a shadow network tied to New York money, organized crime and groups with links to China, according to a new report. Authorities told the New York Times that the operations were fueled by out-of-state cash, concealed ownership and lax marijuana laws — allowing criminal groups to scale up illicit grows, exploit immigrant labor and divert massive amounts of weed into the black market. The trail led investigators far from rural Oklahoma to New York City, where real estate...

A hotel executive and Democratic fundraiser has pleaded guilty in New York to witness tampering and conspiracy to evade campaign finance laws. Sant Singh Chatwal appeared Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. The candidates were not identified. Chatwal had raised at least $100,000 for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign against Barack Obama

A new review of more than 120 studies concluded that there is little evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for a variety of conditions, including insomnia.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cannabinoids, a chemical compound extracted from cannabis, for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and seizures, among other conditions. Many patients use cannabinoids or other medical cannabis for other conditions, such as anorexia, insomnia, and chronic pain, either through off-label prescriptions or through state availability. A look at research published from January 2010 through September, though, showed that for many conditions, “evidence is insufficient,” researchers with the University...

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug SummaryPresident Trump signed an executive order on December 18, 2025, directing agencies to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, facilitating expanded medical research while not legalizing it nationwide. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz announced that the CMS Innovation Center is launching models allowing millions of Medicare beneficiaries to access doctor-recommended hemp-derived CBD products at no cost starting as early as April 2026, provided products meet state and local quality/safety standards and come from legitimate sources. Patients...