Free Republic

Heavy cannabis use could be a cause of Maori having the world's highest lung cancer rate, groundbreaking research suggests. Many Maori from children to kaumatua use cannabis in "epidemic proportions", says a study by Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute in Wellington. But cannabis might not be as safe as the proponents of its legalisation say. A paper by Professor Beasley on the health effects of cannabis was among the research that prompted Wellington coroner Garry Evans to urge last week that government policy on illicit drugs be changed from "harm minimisation" to campaigning against drug use. The paper...

Nate Norman was hanging out with his buddy Topher Clark when he came up with The Idea. At the time, Nate was a nineteen-year-old high school dropout who worked at a Pizza Hut in Coeur D'Alene -- a gorgeous but dull resort town in Idaho -- and sold the occasional dime bag on the side. Chubby and baby-faced, Nate had never been the type to come up with a million-dollar brainstorm. "He was one of those guys everybody used to pick on," says his friend Scuzz -- Ben Scozzaro, a year ahead of Nate at Coeur D'Alene High. "He looks...

Belgium Relaxes Cannabis Legislation Brussels – The new drug law that eases restrictions on the personal use of cannabis was set to pass through the Belgian Senate Thursday night. The law is aimed at bringing Belgium into line with several other European countries, modifying a 1921 law outlawing the drug. The legislation's priorities are split into three areas: prevention, assistance and repression. The legislation was pitched by VLD Justice Minister Marc Verwilghen as the 'third way' between prohibition and legalisation, with the aim of discouraging and reducing the consumption of drugs and protecting society from its consequences. The law allows...

SAN ANTONIO -- Two people were injured when members of a San Antonio police SWAT team searching for guns and drugs entered the wrong apartment. "We are sitting here and then all of them arrived," 20-year-old Salvador Huerta said. Huerta and two cousins were watching television when police shattered the back glass door Wednesday night. "We were kicked and punched at least 20 times. I couldn't talk. I was good and scared." Salvador Huerta suffered a broken front tooth and swollen face. His cousin, 19-year-old Marcos Huerta, was treated and released for a cut face and bruised head. After realizing...

The drug czar is ready for pro wrestling. He already has the name, and now he's got the prefight talk down cold. In every speech he makes in Nevada, where Bush appointee John Walters has traveled to fight an initiative that would legalize marijuana, he calls out his three sworn enemies as if he were Tupac Shakur. The czar has a problem with billionaire philanthropists George Soros, Peter Lewis and John Sperling, who have bankrolled the pro-pot movement, and he wants everyone to know he's ready for battle. At an Elks lodge meeting in Las Vegas, he ticks off their...