marijuana

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law on June 24, 2017 officially making medical marijuana legal for patients with certain debilitating diseases. [1]
Ben Pollara, the executive director of Florida for Care, said:

“This is a good day for sick and suffering Floridians. The signing of this law provides a framework for the future of our state’s medical marijuana system and while it is far from perfect, it will begin providing access to patients.”

(ANTIMEDIA) A recent state court ruling out of Carson City, Nevada, has essentially reaffirmed an effective monopoly for liquor vendors over the pending legal cannabis market. The ruling, which came in response to a lawsuit from holders of liquor licenses in the state, determined that for the first eighteen months of cannabis legalization, only those who already have liquor licenses will be allowed to distribute weed.

(ANTIMEDIA)  — Shattering the stereotype of the lazy pothead, new research suggests cannabis users are actually more satisfied, more successful, and even more likely to volunteer in their communities than their nonsmoking counterparts.
Last week, the Independent described to its readers how the research was carried out:

These days, when Mexico and the United States are mentioned in the same sentence, it usually has something to do with President Trump building a wall. So it’s a little bit ironic that Mexico beat the U.S. to tearing down the wall between its citizens and access to legal medical marijuana. On June 21, 2017, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree legalizing medical cannabis in the country, with the strong support of the nation’s Lower House of Congress. [1]

Nevada state Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, smells a sample of marijuana as Christopher Price, a ”budtender” at the Blum medical marijuana dispensary in Reno, Nev. March 24, 2017. (AP/Scott Sonner)
CARSON CITY, Nev. — A state judge has ruled that liquor wholesalers have the exclusive right to be distributors for the first 18 months of Nevada’s new recreational-marijuana industry, with sales set to begin July 1 under a stepped-up program.

A memorial including a photo of Philando Castile adorns the gate to the governor’s residence where protesters demonstrated in St. Paul, Minn., against the July 6 shooting death of Castile. (AP/Jim Mone)
A transcript released Tuesday by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reveals that former officer Jeronimo Yanez originally told investigators he shot Philando Castile seven times because the smell of marijuana made him fear for his life.

Medical marijuana is now a legal treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Colorado. Governor John Hickenlooper signed SB17-017 on June 5, 2017, officially giving doctors the green light to prescribe cannabis to patients suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Colorado joins at least 20 other states in allowing cannabis-based treatments for the disorder. [1]

Los Angeles Police officers assist Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA agents serving a federal warrant to shut down a Marijuana dispensary operating in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles.
SAN DIEGO – The parents of a young man shot to death last year during a federal drug sting claim in court the Homeland Security agent who killed their son shot him in the head when he was already on the ground.

Yet another study shows the natural healing power of marijuana, and it could give hope to the millions of people who suffer from chronic migraines.

A little background: I was a major stoner... in the 1960s, when I was in college. I stopped using drugs on January 1, 1969 sitting in my van on the border between Pakistan and India. I had no interest in smoking pot after that-- other than when Neil Young delivered a new album to me personally-- I worked at his record label. Once I was up at his ranch listening to his new songs and I took a couple of hits and got wasted and there was a huge buffalo staring at me on the other side of a window. Other than those times, pot was off my radar.