by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director The director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Nora Volkow, believes that cannabidiol (CBD) – a nonpsychotropic cannabinoid – is “a safe drug with no addictive effects.” Volkow made the comments in an op-ed published by The Huffington Post. Volkow further acknowledged, “[P]reliminary data suggest that it may have therapeutic value…
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Legal Marijuana In Colorado Has Already Generated $15 Million For Schools
h/t Huffington Post Politics by Matt Ferner Legal marijuana in Colorado has already generated more than $15 million in tax revenue that is specifically earmarked for public schools, according to the latest data from the state’s Department of Education. Since Jan. 1, 2014, when the state’s first retail marijuana shops opened, $15.6 million has been generated for the Building Excellent…
If Marijuana Causes Lots Of Crashes, Why Are They So Hard To Count?
h/t Forbes by Jacob Sullum Last year, during a congressional hearing on the threat posed by stoned drivers, a representative of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was asked how many crash fatalities are caused by marijuana each year. “That’s difficult to say,” replied Jeff Michael, NHTSA’s associate administrator for research and program development. “We don’t have a precise…
California cops, cities offer new medical marijuana bill
h/t Sacramento Bee by Jeremy White With one eye on a looming effort to legalize recreational marijuana in California, organizations representing the state’s cities and police officers are pushing a Sacramento-area lawmaker’s bill to regulate medical cannabis. Assembly Bill 266, by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, would set up a statewide regulatory scheme, but local jurisdictions would continue to have…
Congress Effectively Ends The Federal Ban On Medical Marijuana
12/16/14 Reposted from High Times It seems the controversial $1.1T spending bill that is preventing the U.S. government from shutting down is chock full of surprises. As you may know, much to the dismay of marijuana activists and lovers of democracy everywhere, the bill smacked down Washington DCs referendum that legalized recreational marijuana in the nation’s capital. What you may…
The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests
In this second installment in the New York Time series calling for legalization, JESSE WEGMAN exposes the incredible financial cost and futility of marijuana arrests and prosecutions, and provides statistics underscoring what civil rights advocates and drug policy reformers have been screaming about for decades– that law enforcement applies these laws in a discriminatory fashion against African Americans and Hispanics…
Repeal Prohibition, Again
New York Times’ call for marijuana legalization is a watershed moment, further tipping the scales towards the end of the marijuana criminalization experiment and exposing the hypocrisy of federal policy. -MC By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding…
Medical Marijuana Patient Headed for Costly Trial Over 39 Grams of Marijuana
What a colossal and shameful waste of resources, prosecuting a patient for possession of amounts clearly below legal limits. This type of idiocy only seems to happen in San Diego. San Diego district attorney consistently demonstrates a confounding lack of compassion and disrespect for the medical marijuana laws, but at least one police detective has the courage to speak the…
The Future of Marijuana Sales in Seattle
I was in Seattle last week for a conference on the growing area of securing intellectual property rights relating to marijuana businesses, basically, branding opportunities. It also happened to be the first week that recreational marijuana sales began in Seattle and Washington State. For those of us who used to purchase marijuana in back alleys or shady situations, this is…
Why Are The Feds Not Seeing What Sanjay Gupta Does Re Medical Benefits of Marijuana?
Next week, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is airing another documentary on marijuana, called “Weed 2: Cannabis Madness.” It airs on CNN. In it, Gupta doubles down on his prior story, as follows: It’s been eight months since I last wrote about medical marijuana, apologizing for having not dug deeply into the beneficial effects of this plant and for writing articles dismissing…