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Law Weird Cannabis News

5 must-read books for cannabis history lovers

Obviously, cannabis is trending: Weed has been making headlines left and right!

It’s all about what’s next for the popular plant, from the future of financial projections to groundbreaking advancements in the medical world. While this deluge of news keeps cannabis enthusiasts on their toes and creates buzz in the industry, modern cannabis coverage can leave some holes in perspective for those who may not be well-versed in the plant’s background and historical significance.

Having a grasp of cannabis history lends us a deeper understanding of some of the current hot topics in the cannabis world, like equity in the industry, why cannabis is still federally illegal and how the truth about its healing potential has been intentionally suppressed.

For anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of the plant’s past in order to help them understand the present and even postulate its future, these books will point you in the right direction. But keep in mind that these are just a handful of great reads that will begin to give you a more well-rounded view of what’s going on now. Use these suggestions as a starting point for your research and keep looking for other books that will augment your cannabis education.

“Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America”
By Box Brown

If you’re interested in learning about how and why cannabis became illegal but not really into the traditional route of reading and researching, then this nonfiction graphic novel might fit the bill. Author Box Brown offers insight into why cannabis prohibition was introduced, breaks down the emergence of the War on Drugs and how decades of propaganda have contributed to the disproportionate incarceration of black people. It’s both entertaining and educational and though it’s illustrated, it doesn’t take away from the strength of its content.

“Sacred Bliss: A Spiritual History of Cannabis”
By Mark S. Ferrara

Beyond the clatter of politics, legislation and legalization, there’s an oft-forgotten element to cannabis that doesn’t get nearly the same amount of coverage and that’s it’s deeply intricate connection to spirituality throughout history. This book offers a global perspective on how humans have been using cannabis to expand and enhance their consciousness for centuries. It’s equal parts cannabis history and religious history.

“Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific”
By Martin A. Lee

In this book, you’ll get a deeper look at cannabis’s ascent from a subcultural phenomenon to its current position as a mainstream topic of conversation. It covers cannabis from its prohibition to its rise in popularity through the lens of an award-winning investigative journalist with careful attention to detail. It’s a good read for anyone interested in cannabis from a number of perspectives, whether that’s medical, recreational, scientific or economic.

“The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy”
By Jack Herer

This classic book is just as much a part of cannabis history as the information inside of it. Written by infamous cannabis activist and advocate Jack Herer, this book was originally published in 1985 and is a useful reference for anyone who wants to take a look into how the similar the political climate around cannabis was then and now. In addition to some history, you’ll also learn a lot about the seemingly endless list of hemp’s uses and get some wisdom into why it’s taken so long for it to be legalized.

“Pot in Pans”
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence

Lovers of cannabis-infused edibles will enjoy this book all about weed’s culinary roots. It’s an interesting look at how different cultures throughout time have utilized the plant as cooking ingredient through with a historical lens that offers facts as well as anecdotes. You’ll also be treated to a few recipes throughout the book in addition to learning how cooking with cannabis has survived the ages.
 
I still think we need a Disgusting Cannabis News and this article would, IMO, go in there.

John Boehner: From Speaker of the House to Cannabis Pitchman

WASHINGTON — John A. Boehner, the former speaker of the House, once stood second in line for the presidency and staunchly against legalized marijuana. Now you can find the longtime Republican standing before a wall-size photo of the Capitol, making an online infomercial pitch for the cannabis industry.

“This is one of the most exciting opportunities you’ll ever be part of,” Mr. Boehner says in an endlessly streaming video for the National Institute for Cannabis Investors. “Frankly, we can help you make a potential fortune.”

Mr. Boehner’s pro-weed epiphany coincides with the prospect of a payday as high as $20 million from the industry he once so vigorously opposed. He sits on the board of Acreage Holdings, a marijuana investment firm whose sale to a cannabis industry giant hinges on Mr. Boehner’s ability to persuade Congress and the federal government to legalize, or at least legitimize, marijuana.

The chain-smoking, merlot-sipping, former 12-term congressman from Ohio says he had never lit a joint in his life when he and the former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, now a Republican candidate for president, joined Acreage’s board last year. This year, Acreage announced plans to sell itself to Canopy Growth, a Canadian company that is the biggest cannabis holding in the world. The deal, worth around $3 billion, based on current stock prices for both Acreage and Canopy, would create an $18 billion behemoth, industry analysts say.

Buried deep in a financial filing from Nov. 14, 2018, is Acreage’s disclosure that the two men each hold 625,000 shares in the company, which if sold after the company’s sale to Canopy would net them a fortune.

Representative Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon and a founder of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said he saw Mr. Boehner at a dinner on Capitol Hill the day he joined Acreage.

“I said, ‘John, where were you when we needed you?’ And he said, ‘I’ve evolved,’” Mr. Blumenauer recalled in an interview, imitating Mr. Boehner’s smoky baritone. (Mr. Boehner had made a similar statement on Twitter earlier that day.)

“He’s nothing if not entrepreneurial,” Mr. Blumenauer said. “The more the merrier.”

But there is a catch. The takeover will not happen without substantial changes in marijuana policy, leaving it up to Mr. Boehner and his team of lobbyists to work their magic in Washington.

Mr. Boehner declined to be interviewed for this article. Terry Holt, a spokesman for the National Cannabis Roundtable, which Mr. Boehner founded in February, declined to speculate on Mr. Boehner’s potential income from the sector. Mr. Boehner “sees an investment opportunity in cannabis,” Mr. Holt said. Citing statistics suggesting most Americans favor “some kind of marijuana reform,” he added, “Who wouldn’t want to be involved?”

A slew of former lawmakers agree. Among those who have signed on in recent months to represent the weed industry are former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a longtime Democratic leader in the Senate; former Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California; former Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York; and former Representative Carlos Curbelo, Republican of Florida.

Mr. Boehner, who resigned in 2015 under pressure from conservative Republican hard-liners, had some adjusting to do after he left the speakership, and, as recently as 2017, brooded about his purpose in life. Mr. Boehner told Politico at the time that a longtime family friend had approached him and said: “You’ve always had a purpose — your business, your family, politics. What’s your purpose now?” Mr. Boehner responded that the question gnawed at him every day.

But Mr. Boehner’s post-retirement fortunes, at least, were not in doubt. Upon leaving Congress, he was offered an array of jobs in the influence industry, and chose several.

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A spotlight on the people reshaping our politics. A conversation with voters across the country. And a guiding hand through the endless news cycle, telling you what you really need to know.

A worker inspecting marijuana plants last year at a Canopy Growth subsidiary in Vancouver, British Columbia. Acreage Holdings plans to sell itself to Canopy Growth.CreditAlana Paterson for The New York Times
merlin_145373934_453cd306-a12d-49fb-9372-c90d719885d1-articleLarge.jpg


A worker inspecting marijuana plants last year at a Canopy Growth subsidiary in Vancouver, British Columbia. Acreage Holdings plans to sell itself to Canopy Growth.CreditAlana Paterson for The New York Times
In 2016, he joined Squire Patton Boggs, successor to the marquee Washington law and lobbying firm, as a “strategic adviser.” About the same time, Mr. Boehner, who once handed out campaign checks from the tobacco industry to lawmakers on the House floor, joined the board of the tobacco giant Reynolds American, makers of his favorite Camel brand.

Reynolds directors with his profile earn roughly $400,000 a year, and Mr. Boehner holds other board seats, too, Mr. Holt said. Combined with a pension derived from his $223,000 annual congressional salary, Mr. Boehner likely earns a seven-figure retirement income, even without the potential Acreage windfall.

Mr. Boehner and Mr. Weld joined Acreage’s board in April 2018, and together issued a statement: “We both believe the time has come for serious consideration of a shift in federal marijuana policy.”
 
Well, insofar as I have not bought/eaten Taco Bell in about 15 years, I can def say I have spent WAY more money in the last year on MJ than burritos.! haha

Americans Spent as Much on Cannabis as Taco Bell Last Year

It’s official: The Crunchwrap is losing ground to the blunt wrap.



RELATED STORY
As of 2019, Legal Cannabis Has Created 211,000 Full-Time Jobs in America

With the opening of more and more state-legal markets, cannabis sales are quickly catching up with that of more established products, brands, and services. New data compiled by Marijuana Business Daily shows that Americans spent an estimated $10.4 billion on cannabis last year—about as much as they dropped at the country’s sixth-largest fast food chain, Taco Bell.

Just two years ago, cannabis sales in the US stood at about $6.7 billion.
That $10.4 billion in sales, which combines medical and adult-use markets, was nearly $2 billion more than in 2017. It was also nearly three times the $3.6 billion that Americans spent on e-cigarettes in 2018.

As the industry continues to expand—Illinois is poised to become the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis, and Texas just OK’d a massive expansion to its medical marijuana program—it seems only a matter of time until cannabis eclipses other sectors of the American economy. Already there are more legal cannabis-industry employees in the US than there are steelworkers.

Explosive Growth
A number of interconnected factors fueled the industry’s growth in 2018. Perhaps most notably, regulated adult-use sales began in California, making it the largest legal market in the country—perhaps the world. Meanwhile, Utah and Oklahoma opened their doors to medical cannabis, and the latter already has more registered patients than New York state.


RELATED STORY
Oklahoma’s Green Rush Is Even Wilder Than You Imagine

As Leafly reported earlier this year, the cannabis industry added 64,000 jobs in 2018 alone, bringing the total number of legal cannabis workers up to nearly a quarter million. On the finance side, investors poured in nearly $10 billion.

“The gradual legalization around the world of a plant which humans have been happily consuming for millennia is creating one of the largest industry-growth phenomena in history,” said Tom Adams, the managing director and principal analyst at BDS Analytics. He’s not exaggerating: Just two years ago, cannabis sales in the US stood at about $6.7 billion.

Goldfish Crackers Today, NFL Tomorrow
The MJBiz analysis made a few other striking comparisons to help contextualize what $10 billion in sales looks like. For instance, it’s about 10 times the roughly $900 million that Americans forked out for Goldfish crackers. It’s just a sliver of the $72.2 billion spent on wine. And it’s more than twice what Americans paid to play the popular video game Fortnite.


RELATED STORY
No, Legalizing Cannabis Doesn’t Hurt Beer Sales

Some of the most interesting data points in the report highlight the industries that cannabis is likely to surpass next. The NFL generated $15 billion in 2018, for example. Cannabis is almost guaranteed to blow past that figure in the next few years.

Online food deliveries, meanwhile, added up to $17 billion in 2018. Whether cannabis will pull ahead there remains to be seen—in part because more legal cannabis may in fact lead to more online food deliveries…

Whether cannabis will ever surpass the king of fast food, McDonalds ($36 billion), pizza ($46 billion) or alcohol ($254 billion!) remains to be seen. But no matter how the numbers play out, they tell us that when legal cannabis becomes available, people want it. A lot.
 
This is such complete and utter BS and this Coroner really needs to review the basis of scientific knowledge and proof. Coming from a legal medical professional, this conclusion is both atrocious and imbecilic.

What they KNOW is this: they don't know what killed her

They PRESUME this: that it was MJ that killed her because she had THC in her blood at the time of death.

See the gap here? sigh


Experts skeptical of Louisiana woman’s deadly weed overdose


A Louisiana woman appears to be the first person on record whose death has been ruled a marijuana overdose — but some medical experts are skeptical that was the true cause.

The 39-year-old woman was found slumped on her couch dead in her La Place apartment in February, but an autopsy found she had healthy organs, no illnesses, and no elevated traces of alcohol or other drugs in her body — but high levels of THC, the active ingredient in pot.

“It looked like it was all THC because her autopsy showed no physical disease or afflictions that were the cause of death,” St. John the Baptist Parish coroner Christy Montegut told the New Orleans Advocate.

“There was nothing else identified in the toxicology — no other drugs, no alcohol,” Montegut said.

THC is the main mind-altering component of marijuana which at high levels can cause heart palpitations, extreme anxiety and, according to Montegut, heart failure.

The woman’s boyfriend told investigators she used a marijuana vaping pen, and had been to the ER three weeks before she died because of a chest infection and said doctors sent her home with over-the-counter medication.

The level of THC in her blood was 15 times the detection threshold which led him to rule the death as a THC overdose.

“For marijuana to show up positive on our toxicology test, the level has to be greater than 0.5,” Montegut told the paper. The woman’s THC level was 8.4 nanograms per milliliter of blood.

“I’m thinking this lady must have vaped this THC oil and got a high level in her system and (it) made her stop breathing, like a respiratory failure,” he continued.

There have been no recorded deaths attributable to a marijuana overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a federal government research institute.

Doctors and medical experts immediately disagreed with Montegut’s finding, with one calling it “incredibly unlikely.”

“That number is not very high,” Bernard Le Foll, an addiction professor and scientist at the University of Toronto said of the amount of THC in the woman’s blood.

Dr. Noah Kaufman, an ER doctor in Colorado, told CBS affiliate WWL he was skeptical after reviewing the woman’s autopsy but added he has seen more pot-related illnesses in the emergency room.

“THC is becoming so powerful these days that we are kind of playing with fire a little bit, and there may be more and more and more people that start to have some kind of an adverse reaction,” he said.
 
"Uganda, fertile and sun-drenched"....and the home to Ebola, Marburg, and every other weird alien shit that just eats us as a snack. Ok, ok....I'm being a little hysterical. But, tbh, I really don't want outdoor grown from Central Africa. I'm sure it will be great flower....but I'll stick with our indoor, highly regulated, highly tested, med program.


Uganda poised to become Africa’s next cannabis powerhouse

Uganda, fertile and sun-drenched, is harboring dreams of becoming the next cannabis hotshot of the African continent. Foreign capital has been flowing in to launch the new industry. So, much hangs in the balance as the country’s cabinet weighs changes to the criminal code allowing cultivation to proceed.

There appears to be a tension between the lure of a lucrative new agro-export sector and a conservative political culture in a traditionally authoritarian country.

The government is now in the process of reviewing colonial-era laws that prohibit production of cannabis. The license for Together Pharma, a major player in the Israeli cannabis industry, has reportedly been “suspended” (not cancelled) following demands for legal clarity from other cabinet ministers. Especially named is the state minister for Finance & Investment, Evelyn Anite.

In the west of the country, along the shores of Lake Dweru,Israeli company Together Pharma awaits approval to start planting. The operation was licensed by the State Agriculture Ministry and cleared by the Uganda Investments Authority to cultivate for the international medical marijuana market.

Agriculture Minister Christopher Kibazanga, who granted the licenses, struck a cautious tone when he spoke to Kampala’s New Vision on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) last week. “It is important for us to have clarity on what we want to achieve from this venture, instead of doing things haphazardly and turn the whole country upside down,” he said.

Progress and Backlash
Uganda’s government is said to be weighing 20 bids from companies and individuals seeking clearance to cultivate and export medical marijuana. The African Exponent calls it a “cannabis scramble” in the East African nation.

But there is more than a whiff of reefer madness to the Exponent’s quote from Health Minister Sarah Opendi. “Marijuana growing without proper control measures can be dangerous to our youthful population,” she said. “Already it is the second highest cause for the Butabika hospital admissions majority of whom are youth.” Butabika is the capital Kampala’s main psychiatric institute. The notion that psychiatric episodes are being “caused” by cannabis is almost certainly based on flawed assumptions.

Agriculture Minister Kibazanga remains bullish on cannabis, even while clearly feeling the need to appease the conservatives. “The crop is among the most valuable on the international markets because of it being medicinal plant, but as government we are worried some Ugandans may end up being drug dealers. That is why we need strong regulations, which the top government decision-makers are in the process of coming up with,” he told EABW Digital international business website.

Seed Stock Imported
A report last month on The East African website said that the while the cabinet debates, the Uganda Revenue Authority has approved the importation of 2,000 kilograms of cannabis seed by eager would-be cultivators. Varieties imported from seed banks in the Netherlands and Sri Lanka are said to include Desfrán, Durban Poison, Frisian Dew, Mazar, Power Plant, Shaman, and the CBD-heavy Charlotte’s Angel

Kibanzanga said the seed importers have expressed frustration over the delays. He told the local Daily Monitor at the ASERECA conference: “We are aware that investors are becoming impatient and they have a right to do so. Some of them are investors from Israel, United States of America, Canada and others are from research institutions, all writing to me over the matter — growing of marijuana.”

The recent flurry of media attention to the question of legality in Uganda is testimony to investor impatience, and may prompt the cabinet to finally submit changes to the country’s parliament amending the current law. Kibazanga claimed authority for granting the licenses under provisions of the 2015 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 2015, but conservative cabinet members say this conflicts with a 1902 law put in place by British colonial administrators and never formally overturned.

Africa’s Fourth Legal Producer
If the legal logjam does break, Uganda will be the fourth country on the African continent to permit cannabis cultivation to one degree or another. At the forefront is the small and landlocked mountain kingdom of Lesotho, which is aggressively embracing commercial cannabis production as a ticket out of poverty and under-development.

Lesotho is surrounded on all sides by regional giant South Africa, which now allows personal cultivation following a favorable court ruling last year. South Africa’s farmers, especially small black farmers who have been hit hard by globalization, have launched an initiative to allow commercial cannabis cultivation as well.

A less likely candidate is traditionally authoritarian Zimbabwe, which last year legalized medical marijuana cultivation by order of the Health Ministry.

Uganda seems an unlikely candidate as well. The country’s harsh anti-gay laws have especially drawn criticism from international human rights groups. But the process is in the works, with pressure growing daily on the cabinet to give the go-ahead for eager cultivators to break ground.
 
Filed under Weird New...probably should be in atrocious cannabis news as the level of hypocrisy in the UK on cannabis is absolutely stunning. Right up there with Boehner now making megabucks here off of MJ.

sigh


Half of the candidates to become next UK Prime Minister have admitted to illicit drug use

Most of the contenders to become the UK's next Prime Minister have tried at least some kind of illicit substance in their lives, writes Calvin Hughes and James McClure.

Last week, former Prime Minister Theresa May officially resigned from her position as the UK's head of government and leader of the Conservative Party. When the party moves to elect their new leader, who will automatically become the next PM, the successor will likely be someone with a history of illegal drug use.

Of the 11 candidates vying to succeed May, at least six of them have confessed to consuming controlled substances in the past. Most of these cases involve cannabis instead of harder substances. Among candidates who have confessed to pot use are Members of Parliament Andrea Leadsom, Dominic Raab and Esther McVey. Secretaries of State Jeremy Hunt (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) and Matt Hancock (Health and Social Care) have also confessed to consuming marijuana.

But the confession from Secretary of State for International Development Rory Stewart is more shocking. Stewart has admitted to smoking an opium pipe while attending a wedding in Afghanistan some time ago.

Meanwhile, two leadership frontrunners have confessed to using class A drugs, the most highly restricted by UK law. Both Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove and MP Boris Johnson have openly discussed their past cocaine use.

While drug policy reform has been slow to materialize in the UK, the fact that a lawmaker can admit to cocaine use and still come out as a top party leadership candidate proves that public sentiment toward illicit substances is changing. Not only have individuals like Gove and Johnson received support from their own parties, but even their political opponents appear to be unconcerned with their admission.

"I think people should tell us what they have done and move on in life," said Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. "But I'm unconcerned about Michael Gove's past life or behavior, to be quite honest."

What all this means for the United Kingdom's drug policy remains unknown. If one of these former drug users becomes the next prime minister, they will hopefully use their past to advocate for a more compassionate approach to dealing with Britons who have similarly broken the UK's drug laws. If not, the success of any of these six candidates will serve as even more evidence that the drug war has done nothing but develop a two-tiered justice system in which underprivileged members of society do time for crimes that the rich can get away with by virtue of their wealth and influence.
 
Oh yeah....like I'm going to buy and take Chinese CBD....NOT!! Hell, I get edgy about Chinese fumed glass! haha

China hoping to cash in on booming CBD industry

The Chinese are never far behind when it comes to manufacturing innovations they can sell across the globe. China now has its sights firmly on CBD, but what about regulations and quality control?
CBD, short for Cannabidiol, is all the rage in North America and Europe at the moment. Whether it’s CBD Oil drops, CBD Softgels, CBD Vape or CBD Creams for beauty, this is a fast-becoming a massive industry. The fact that this industry is wholly unregulated to date is a discussion for another time. But what happens to the quality and safety of CBD when China gets involved?

At least two of China’s 34 expansive regions are currently growing and processing cannabis and hemp for CBD. CBD isn’t even approved for consumption in China, which is a country known for some of the most stringent drug laws in the world. As Tan Xin, the chairman of Hanma Investment Group, explained according to a NYT report, “It (CBD) has huge potential,” he said. Xin’s company was the first to be permitted to grow and extract CBD in southern China, to be marketed and sold abroad.

The Chinese government isn’t about to legalize cannabis in the country any time soon. Their attitude toward anything cannabis related is generally negative but when it comes to money, things often have a way of changing. While China is clear that THC-heavy cannabis is not legal and won’t be in the foreseeable future, they seem to not mind CBD so much.

Xin’s firm, for example, is currently cultivating more than 1,600 acres of hemp in the small rural village of Shanchong. The general manager of the subsidiary in the village, Tian Wei, explained, “It is very good for people’s health,” he said, “China may have become aware of this aspect a little bit late, but there will definitely be opportunities in the future,” he added.

china-cbd.jpg
Hemp farming was re-legalized in China in 2010
The farmers of Yunnan were thrilled when industrial hemp cultivation was once again permitted in China in 2010. A farmer there can expect to earn around $300 per acre of Hemp, which is more than they can get for other crops.

Other regions like Heilongjiang, a province along China’s border with Russia, have also been cultivating hemp since 2010. Since then, the sale of Hemp seeds and hemp seed oil is permitted in the country, as well as an additive in beauty products. However, CBD is not allowed in food or medicine, so the majority of CBD extract from China is earmarked for export.

Hanma, for example, has big plans for the future and has already acquired a CBD extraction facility in Las Vegas with intentions to open another one in Canada before long. Yang Ming, a scientist who works for the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Science, told reporters that hemp seeds were traditionally used to treat constipation before cannabis and CBD was outlawed.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Yunnan region had a lot of cannabis growing wild and became a type of tourist trap for people wanting a cannabis vacation. “They would go to the villagers’ cannabis fields, pick the buds and bring them back to the hotel to dry and smoke,” Yang explained.

Unfortunately, the issue for the Chinese is quality and regulation when it comes to CBD. For the time being, most CBD is purchased in Europe and the US, and it usually endures a multi-stage and very rigorous testing system to ensure potency, safety, and efficacy. These tests cost a lot of money and are almost always provided by a third-party lab. CBD companies in the West are happy to spend this money on testing as it offers their customers real peace of mind.

The CBD coming from China, no matter how sparkly the label is, could potentially be a health hazard and even dangerous for consumption. As such, it remains to be seen what demand, if any, there will be for bargin CBD, made in China when exports commence.
 
While I could give a fuck about prosecuting real dealers who cut their smack badly or with adulterants like Fentanyl and put hot bags on the street that kills people, that does not appear to be the situation in this case.

Maryland’s high court approves manslaughter conviction for drug dealer

Patrick J. Thomas was a longtime heroin user who helped pay for his habit by buying extra bags and then selling them to various pals around Ocean City. One night in June 2015, Thomas sold four bags of “Banshee”-brand heroin to a young acquaintance named Colton Matrey, himself no stranger to the drug.

Matrey, 23, shot all four bags and died, court records show. Thomas was surprised, since four bags was his own usual dosage, and mortified, the police reported. Prosecutors in Worcester County charged him with manslaughter and Thomas, then 58, was convicted. And last month, Maryland’s highest court affirmed the conviction, the first time an appeals court in the state approved using homicide laws to prosecute drug dealers after an overdose.

As the opioid crisis surges on, 20 states and the federal government have enacted laws specifically to prosecute drug dealers after fatal overdoses, and an additional 16 states are using existing manslaughter laws to do the same, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. Some civil libertarians argue that prosecuting dealers has no impact on opioid abuse, citing a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts that found “no statistically significant relationship” between state drug imprisonment rates and drug use, overdose deaths and drug arrests.

But prosecutors say they are not seeking to prosecute every overdose, regardless of any political clamor for victories in the “drug war.”

“It’s about each case,” said J. Charles Smith III, the Frederick County, Md., state’s attorney and a National District Attorneys Association board member. “It’s one of many ways we can combat a national crisis, like closing down a ‘pill mill.’ But we don’t have a blanket policy that addresses cases across the board. We are sincerely looking at the facts of each and every case.”

[Federal, state authorities step up fentanyl prosecutions as drug drives a spike in overdoses]

Maryland’s legislature has considered and rejected laws that would target drug dealers in fatal overdose cases. Virginia’s General Assembly passed such a law this year, but Gov. Ralph Northam (D) vetoed it, saying, “This bill goes beyond drug dealers and would punish individuals who are themselves struggling with addiction.”

After the cocaine-overdose death of Maryland basketball star Len Bias in 1986, Congress passed a federal law imposing a 20-year minimum sentence for anyone distributing drugs that result in death. Bias had apparently taken a highly potent form of cocaine.

“There’s not a shred of evidence that these laws work. It certainly doesn’t deter drug selling,” Lindsay LaSalle, a senior staff attorney with the Drug Policy Alliance, told The Washington Post last year. In her 2017 report “An Overdose Death Is Not Murder: Why Drug-Inducted Homicide Laws Are Counterproductive and Inhumane,” LaSalle noted that “death tolls continue to climb across the country, even in the states and counties most aggressively prosecuting drug-induced homicide cases.”

Prosecutors have recently targeted dealers of fentanyl, a particularly deadly drug responsible for soaring numbers of overdoses in recent years. In York County, Pa., the district attorney’s office charged 45 people with drug delivery resulting in death over a three-year period.

Paul DeWolfe, the chief public defender in Maryland, said, “We’ve tried a lot of these [fatal overdose] cases across the state, and jurors have rejected the homicide piece of it” while convicting on the drug counts, which can carry 20-year terms. He said that “most of the drug dealers that are caught up in these cases are users themselves” and that prosecuting them for a death that occurred elsewhere, without any specific intent from the dealer, “turns generations of homicide law on its head.”

But the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s supreme court, focused on the recklessness of the drug deal between Thomas and Matrey to set a new precedent in Maryland. In an opinion written by Judge Sally D. Adkins, the court acknowledged that not all heroin distribution resulting in death constitutes manslaughter.

But, Adkins noted, “involuntary manslaughter does not involve an intent to kill, but only a reckless disregard of another person’s life.” She found that Thomas knew heroin could kill, that Matrey was desperate to use some — he had called Thomas 27 times in a 22-minute period — and that Thomas was unaware of the potency of his product.

Thomas “either willfully failed to obtain the necessary information to help reduce the risks of his behavior,” Adkins wrote, “or he was indifferent to mitigating these risks.” That amounted to a “wanton and reckless disregard for human life,” Adkins concluded, and so Thomas was guilty of gross negligence involuntary manslaughter.

The court split 4 to 3, and in a dissenting opinion by Judge Michele D. Hotten, the minority said that Thomas’s sale of heroin “was not ‘reasonably related’ to the fatal use of the substance by Mr. Matrey where the consumption occurred outside of Mr. Thomas’s presence, at a different time, in a different place from the completed sale, and with no other involvement from Mr. Thomas.”

DeWolfe, whose office represented Thomas, said the decision “will certainly encourage prosecutors to file more manslaughter cases. But jurors get it. A person selling a batch of drugs is not intending to kill anyone.”

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), whose office successfully argued the Thomas case, said that prosecutors will not presume homicidal intent with every overdose but that “the prosecutor ought to have the ability to charge somebody with involuntary manslaughter when the circumstances justify it.”

Frosh said prosecutors “shouldn’t be out there prosecuting addicts for their addiction. But when we’re talking about drug dealers, they are selling stuff that is inherently dangerous and has the potential for lethality. They should not escape liability, even for crimes as high as involuntary manslaughter, just because they didn’t know the victim was going to overdose.”
 
And I believe I read another article that he lives in a full legal state (CO...maybe?).
This balkanized legalization situation, along with asinine policies from sports governing bodies, is just plain, flat, STUPID
:BangHead::torching::doh::horse:

The first Pro Golfer to get a cannabis suspension says PGA Tour needs to change pot policies


Robert Garrigus is back on the green after becoming the first golfer to be suspended from the PGA Tour for cannabis. Now he's fighting the Tour's drug policies, writes Calvin Hughes.

"Every single guy I've talked to thinks it's an absolute ridiculous rule."

That's what Garrigus said pro-golfers think of the PGA Tour's current ban on marijuana. He said it's time for the Tour to get with the times and stop treating cannabis like a performance-enhancing drug.

"[Cannabis] just doesn't help you get it in the hole," Garrigus told the Golf Channel Tuesday following his first Tour appearance since being suspended in March. "I understand HGH, anything you are trying to do to cheat the game you should be suspended for 100 percent. Everything else should be a discussion."

Instead, Garrigus would like to see the Tour treat cannabis the way they do other legal prescription medications.

"If you have some sort of pain and [medical marijuana] may help that, and you feel like it can help you and be prescribed by a doctor, then what are we doing?" Garrigus said.

Garrigus also revealed that at the time of his suspension he had been using medical marijuana to treat knee and back pain. This is a bit of a change of face for the one-time PGA Tour winner, who previously said he "had a relapse." Garrigus has been vocal about his struggles with cannabis use disorder in the past.

And while the Tour has yet to comment on Garrigus' call for cannabis policy reform, Garrigus said he is "currently in discussions" with Tour officials about removing cannabis from the banned substances list. He said he is scheduled to meet with PGA commissioner Jay Monahan to discus the topic.

The push to bring weed to pro golf comes as a number of other professional sports organizations are staring to re-examine their own drug policies. Back in May, the NFL announced they would be studying cannabis as a potential pain treatment for football players. NBA commissioner Adam Silver also said he would be open to updating pro basketball's cannabis policies.
 
My golf game suffered badly after my workplace accident that forced an early retirement(I had to give it up) Then a few years ago I started up again with the help of MMJ. I could again play 9 holes at least with only slightly exacerbated pain the next day! I started to win quite a few 9 hole comps but a few mates had a jibe about me only playing while 'Full of drufds' and only entering 9 hiole comps so my handicap would never get cut (you have to play 18 for the scorers to work out handicaps) I ended up feeling guilty about only being able to play while medicated so I stopped entering the comps and eventually let my membership lapse as playing by oneself all the time is not as much fun .:cry:
 
Under the category of Disgusting News, I bring you yet another article on the contemptible practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture and the completely reprehensible politicians and bureaucrats that support it.


Indiana Is Still Arguing That It's Constitutional To Seize Your Car for Driving 5 MPH Over the Speed Limit
"Historically the answer to that question is yes, and we're sticking with that position here."

After losing at the U.S Supreme Court, the state of Indiana still hasn't given up its argument that there are virtually no Eighth Amendment limits on what it can seize using civil asset forfeiture.

In oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court last week, Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher said the state's position that it would be constitutional to seize any and every car that went over the speed limit—a line of argument that elicited laughter from the nation's highest court last year—hasn't budged.

"This is the position that we already staked out in the Supreme Court when I was asked by Justice Breyer whether a Bugatti can be forfeited for going over five miles over the speed limit," Fisher said. "Historically the answer to that question is yes, and we're sticking with that position here."

The Indiana Supreme Court is now reconsidering the case of Tyson Timbs' $42,000 Land Rover, and whether the state's 2015 seizure of Timbs' car after he was convicted of a drug felony violated his Eighth Amendment protections against excessive fines and fees.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Indiana Supreme Court's ruling that Timbs could not challenge the seizure on Eighth Amendment grounds because the excessive fines clause had not yet been applied, or "incorporated," to the states.

The ruling opened up a new avenue for civil liberties groups to challenge asset forfeiture. It also demonstrated the immense power of the practice, which allows police to seize and forfeit property suspected of being connected to criminal activity. The Indiana Supreme Court will now have to decide how to determine whether a civil forfeiture is excessive or not, a decision that could either check or reinforce the state government's power in these cases.

Lawyers for the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public interest law firm, argue that the seizure of Timbs' Land Rover, which was not purchased with drug proceeds and was worth four times the maximum fine for the crime Timbs committed, was a grossly disproportional punishment.

After the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against Timbs, the Institute for Justice successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

During oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, Fisher argued on behalf of Indiana that the excessive fines clause, even if it applied to the states, did not apply to the practice of civil asset forfeiture, which operates under the legal fiction that it is an action against the property itself, not the owner.

Both the liberal and conservative wings of the Supreme Court have expressed skepticism about civil asset forfeiture in past rulings, and they were not impressed by Indiana's argument.

Justice Stephen Breyer, following Fisher's logic to its natural conclusion, forced Fisher to admit that it would then be constitutional to seize any car going over the speed limit, no matter how slight the infraction or how expensive.

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U.S. Supreme Court
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U.S. Supreme Court
The state of Indiana, although forced to recognize that the Eighth Amendment applies to civil forfeiture, now insists that the test that should apply to determine whether the seizure was excessive is not the proportionality, but rather whether the government can prove a nexus between Timbs' car and the illegal activity—a standard that would put virtually no check on the amount of property police could seize as long there was some connection to a crime.

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Loretta Rush pressed Fisher again on this point: "So where's the limits? If the state decides you're going over x miles per hour so we're going to take your car, is there any limit to that government power?"

"No, look, I've gone out on a limb on the Bugatti, and I don't think I'm going back," Fisher responded.

Institute for Justice lawyer Sam Gedge says in a statement to Reason that Indiana "has resorted to an increasingly dangerous view of governmental power" over the years it has been fighting to keep Timbs' car.

"In the State's view, it can constitutionally forfeit a Bugatti that goes five miles over the speed limit. And the State insists that it can take any property from any person who has ever struggled with drug addiction," Gedge says. "That boundless view of governmental power cannot be squared with the Constitution."
 
:dog: Johnny Weedyseed strikes again!

More than 30 cannabis plants found on Vermont Statehouse lawn

MONTPELIER, Vt. —

Police at the Vermont Statehouse have found more than 30 cannabis plants in their flower beds.

Capitol Police say they were notified Monday about a grouping of what appeared to be a marijuana plant in a nearby garden.


Upon further investigation, authorities found 30 cannabis plants poking up through the flowers outside of the Statehouse Monday. Two more were discovered on Thursday.

Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei said the office is unsure of who planted them. It's also unclear if the plants are marijuana or hemp.

"It's legal to cultivate but there are limits on where you can do it, and the statehouse flower beds certainly aren't one of those permissible sights," Romei said. "If there is a typical Vermont story this is probably it."

 
I posted this under Weird News as....well, I just can't get my brain around MJ and weight loss. Hell, anything with Cookies in it makes me into a eating machine. 2 am, cold chinese food...all good. 3 am, week old pizza in the frig...all good. Nothing left in the fridge aside from a bottle of gherkin pickles, I'm fucking eating them! hahaha

Federal study aims to learn more about marijuana and weight loss


If there is one aspect of marijuana that most people seem to agree on, it is that food always seems to taste better when we’re high. Anyone who has ever used the herb understands that it comes with a delightful little side effect called the munchies, which has a way of making even the weirdest cuisine wildly appealing. If we’re being honest, this spawns a lot of fun for us in our early years. Getting high and then showing up at the front door of a Golden Corral to tear their buffet to pieces is nothing short of legendary. But as we get older, our metabolism starts to slow down, and it isn’t long before we see our girlish figures and strong, chiseled features begin to go soft.

But one doesn’t need to be a marijuana user to experience, first hand, the struggle of living in this fast food nation known as the United States. Considering that last year Americans spent as much on Taco Bell as they did on marijuana, it’s plain to see that being fat in this part of the world is just easier.

Still, it might not have to be this way.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating how marijuana might actually help defend our bodies against excessive weight gain. Believe it or not, these studies have shown that regular cannabis users often have a lower BMI, smaller waists and lower fasting insulin levels – all of the makings of weight loss.

No, this isn’t more pro-pot propaganda.

There is enough buzz surrounding this phenomenon that the federal government has decided to cough up nearly $2 million to learn more about how weed might help solve the national weight problem. A branch of the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) recently awarded the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine a five-year grant to “identify novel gut-brain endocannabinoid signaling pathways that control feeding behavior and become impaired in obesity.” In other words, Uncle Sam is interested in finding out how cannabis might keep Americans from supersizing themselves to death.

“Our work, which will be done on a mouse model, will support the discovery and development of novel therapeutic strategies to safely treat obesity and related metabolic disorders,” Nicholas DiPatrizio, an assistant professor of biomedical sciences at UCR, said in an emailed statement. “Currently, a critical barrier to effective treatment of obesity is a lack of reliable therapeutic options.”

Nearly two-thirds of the population is either overweight or suffering from full-blown obesity because of their savage love affair with what is referred to as a “Western Diet.” This is a nutritional scheme typically characterized by high intakes of red meat, fried foods, eggs and potatoes – all of the fare that most Americans enjoy regularly.

But is there really something to the idea that marijuana might be able to counter a less than healthy diet?

Well, one of the latest studies on the subject, one conducted by Michigan State University, shows that cannabis users are more likely to maintain a healthy weight than non-users. There wasn’t a significant difference – around 5 percent – but there was definitely something there showing how cannabinoids play a role in keeping us trim.

Furthermore, one of our journalists wrote last year about how marijuana helped them lose 50 pounds. While impressive, no doubt, the article also stated that such a significant loss couldn’t have been accomplished without proper diet and exercise.

On the flipside, cannabis has been known to assist in weight gain.

Studies have shown that marijuana’s effect as an appetite stimulant (munchies) can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions, like cancer and AIDS wasting syndrome, keep weight on as opposed to losing it.

Finding the balance in the weight gain vs. loss elements of cannabinoids is what researchers hope to learn more about in the next several years.

“What are the specific components in the Western diet that at the molecular level impact gut-brain endocannabinoid system signaling and diet-induced obesity?” DiPatrizio said. “We will work to identify these components.”
 
Too funny


34 cannabis plants found growing in flower beds at the Vermont Capitol
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Vermont's Capitol Police have quite the mystery on their hands after a visitor pointed out a possible cannabis plant growing in the flower beds on the front lawn.
An officer inspected the lawn on Monday and found what is believed to be either a hemp or marijuana plant. Chief Matthew Romei said they found 34 immature plants that are too young to differentiate.
The genetic differences between hemp and marijuana are whether the plant has the potential to change your mental state, according to a University of Minnesota study.
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One of 34 cannabis plants found on the Capitol grounds in Vermont.
Further lab testing would be needed to figure out what the plants are, but Romei says the department has no plans to test them because it isn't pursuing a criminal case.
"We also have no thoughts on why someone would plant it," the department said. "But if anyone wants to claim it and let us know why they planted it, we are happy to listen."
Vermont was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through legislature as opposed to by ballot in 2018 and legalized medicinal marijuana in 2004.
Adults who are at least 21 are allowed to have up to 1 ounce of marijuana. If you want to grow, you're not allowed to have more than two mature marijuana plants and four immature marijuana plants, according to state law. A person convicted of breaking these laws can face up to six months of jail time or be fined $500.
 
Kind of wonder how stupid this guy can be and still have enough grey matter to continue breath. He should have watched this clip from the Pot Brothers at Law



Deputy offered ‘all 4 pounds of marijuana’ to let man out of April 19 arrest, officials said

The deputy added bribery to Michael Bion Henderson’s charge of marijuana possession over 20 grams, according to jail records and Henderson’s arrest warrant that was signed by a judge the day before his July 12 arrest.

Henderson, of Balboa Street's 500 block, was pulled over for following a motor home too closely while it was “pouring rain,” the report said.

The arrest affidavit says the deputy stopped Henderson’s Ford F-350 in a Dairy Queen parking lot off County Road 512 near I-95, and smelled “the odor of burnt marijuana” from inside the truck.

Henderson, who’s listed occupation is lawn care, said his business partner had smoked the marijuana in the truck against his wishes, but told the deputy he had a “cannabis card.”

The deputy said Henderson appeared nervous but when he asked him if there was anything illegal in the truck, Henderson “looked me directly in the eyes and said there was 4 pounds of marijuana in the truck.”

According to the report, he first offered the deputy 2 pounds of marijuana, but then upped the amount to “all 4 pounds.”

Henderson was arrested 6:45 p.m. Friday and placed in Indian River County Jail on $20,000 bond. He was released after paying bail, jail records show.
 
Gotta love the Pot Brothers at Law..... here are their vids on getting pulled over. :biggrin:






haha....looks like they needed a bit more rehearsal on some of these.

with no real info, I would have bet large....based on their looks, dress, and behavior....that these guys are in south FL somewhere. But no, Long Beach, CA.

And I love that the one brother is ALWAYS smoking a fattie in the background! haha
 
So, dose bird guano test like cocaine? hahaha....that's what the player said, it was bird droppings! LOL


Drug charge dropped against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts


The possession of cocaine charge has been dropped against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts, the prosecutor in Saluda County, South Carolina, told the Savannah Morning News on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Al Eargle, the Deputy Solicitor for the 11th Judicial Circuit which includes Saluda County, told Werts’ attorney, Townes Jones IV, that these kinds of charges would not be pressed on “his watch,” Jones said.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) tests were conducted on the substance samples collected from the hood of Werts’ 2016 Dodge Charger, but the results confirmed that no controlled substance was present in the samples.

“I have not seen (the SLED results) yet,” Eargle said on a phone call Thursday night. “But I was informed that the test did come back and that there was no controlled substance found.”

A native of nearby Clinton, South Carolina, Werts was charged on July 31 with misdemeanor possession of cocaine and speeding after his silver Dodge Charger was clocked going 80 mph on Chappells Highway at 8:58 that evening in Saluda County. The speeding charge remains.

Werts, the Eagles’ starting quarterback, was suspended from the team for two days before returning to practice on Sunday.


Field tests taken by two different officers on the substances tested positive for cocaine with two different kits, in two different spots of the hood.

“They’d have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that Werts was responsible for the substance’s presence on his vehicle, Jones said.

“As a prosecutor, I have an obligation to seek justice and not just to convict,” Jones said Eargle told him.

Jones also said that the prosecutor told him that his office “couldn’t prove that (Werts) knew what the substance was on his car.”

Eargle, a law enforcement officer and prosecutor since 1986, says his office has a responsibility to view the case evidence and ultimately decide if Werts knew what was on his hood.

“As prosecutors, it’s quite simple. We view a case as it relates to a courtroom and what our burden of proof is, and that is beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “After I extensively looked at everything that law enforcement presented to me, I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t meet that burden of proof.”

Jones said he would not advise Werts to seek a public apology from the Saluda County Sheriff’s Office.

“They had a pretty credible basis for pursuing, and ultimately stopping him and that is speeding,” Jones said. “Then they didn’t do anything wrong by attempting to collect evidence, or what they saw as evidence even though they had no basis from looking at him and looking at the inside of his car to think that he was transporting drugs.

“But they still saw what they saw on the hood of his car and made a common-sense determination of what they thought it was and they collected it. It tested positive so they were acting within the bounds of the law at the time.”

When Werts was contacted by Jones on Thursday around 5:15 p.m., the junior quarterback was in a meeting with coaches and players in Statesboro but stepped out to take his attorney’s incoming call. Jones said Werts was “happy to hear the news” but “confident that’s what would ultimately happen.”

“He said, ‘Please call mama.’”

Werts’ mother, Shona Watts, received the call from Jones minutes later and was understandably ecstatic.


“I told her, ‘Now don’t go celebrating too much,’” Jones recalled with a laugh.

“She said, ‘Oh no, don’t try and ask me to hold that back, this is a hallelujah day, honey. We’re going out.’ So she was very excited but she never doubted anything that her son had said to her.”

Georgia Southern officials were reached by phone on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Although they had heard the reports of dropped charges, they had not yet received official word from Saluda County. Until officials do notify Georgia Southern, the school will continue to operate under the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct protocol which states that all athletes convicted of misdemeanors could be subject to a one-game suspension.
















 

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