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The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer. The new findings ''were against our expectations,'' said Donald Tashkin, of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years. ''We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use,'' he said. ``What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect.'' Federal health and drug enforcement officials...

Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams might miss another season ... and this time it apparently won't be his decision. According to a broadcast report in Miami, which was later confirmed by two sources in a story posted Sunday on the Miami Herald's Web site, the Dolphins running back will be suspended for at least the entire 2006 season after failing a drug test for the fourth time in his career.

Medical Pot Not Up To Snuff Unless the government learns to grow better dope, a proposal to distribute Health Canada marijuana in pharmacies will go up in smoke, say local medical marijuana advocates. "They have to improve their product or this project isn't going to go anywhere at all," said Fred Pritchard of Windsor's marijuana compassion club. "I can't believe the government pushes this garbage on sick people. We're going to make them sicker." A 43-year-old Windsor woman authorized to smoke pot for medical reasons said she became sick after trying the Health Canada weed last fall and sent it...

CREDIT: Jonathan Hayward, The Canadian Press Don Appleby died of his injuries suffered in an Oct. 12 explosion while he was trying to make a concentrated oil using marijuana and butane. Don Appleby's fight against the aids virus that was sapping him was made more difficult by a tragic paradox. While the Ottawa man was one of the few Canadians who could legally smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, he could rarely afford it due to his minuscule disability pension. In the end, he was killed in the struggle to produce the drug that was helping him survive. On Oct. 12,...

MIAMI (Reuters) - About 500 pounds of marijuana washed ashore on several south Florida beaches, prompting a late-night search for drug smugglers in choppy coastal waters, police said on Wednesday. Federal and local law enforcement agencies sent two helicopters and two boats on Tuesday night to scour the sea for suspects after a man reported coming across a large bale of marijuana while strolling on the beach, police said. In total, police found 12 bales of marijuana wrapped in white burlap sacks with a street value of up to $1.5 million, said Jim Messer, a Delray Beach police spokesman. While...