Author William Breathes

This, times 30.

Ray Martin McFeters isn’t shy about his drug habit. The 73-year-old Air Force veteran lives in the rural Minnesota town of Aitkin, right on the north end of Mille Lacs Lake. He’s been smoking pot most of his life, currently up to about 25-30 bowls a day, according to a recent interview with the Mille Lacs Messenger. “I go through about an ounce every couple of weeks,” he tells the paper.
McFeters was recently charged in Aitkin County with distribution or possession of “more than 42.5 grams” of marijuana and failure to attach tax stamps to the marijuana. The latter charge alone could carry up to 7 years in prison and $14,000 in fines, according to the complaint.The Minneapolis City Pages has the full, strange tale and an active comment section debating it.

A Colorado medical marijuana dispensary.

The state of Oregon is one step closer to having a single, statewide set of medical marijuana dispensary rules today. The state House yesterday gave approval to House Bill 3460, which sponsors say will legitimize the roughly 150 cannabis collectives already existing in the state.
The bill passed on a 31 to 27 margin, with several legislators arguing that the bill doesn’t do enough to ensure cannabis is going to medical patients in need and not hippies who want weed.

17,000,000 lbs next to the Sydney Opera House.

Ever wonder what 17 million pounds of pot looks like? Neither did we, but thanks to the folks over at the Center for Investigative Reporting, we now have an idea.
As part of their series “Crossing the Line”, the group put together this video to demonstrate the absurdity of the war on drugs. Keep in mind that for all of 17 million pounds seized, untold amounts still flow across the border.

A video still of Vivian Wilson from NBC New York.

Update 6/25/2013: The New Jersey General Assembly approved changes to the state medical marijuana laws that will help severely sick children access beneficial medical cannabis.
The bill now heads to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has been reluctant in the past to implement state medical marijuana laws and has been a vocal critic of making medical cannabis available to children.

A federal prosecutor has won guilty plea agreements from two of seven men arrested in February by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for attempting to smuggle nearly 1,200 pounds of marijuana on a boat from Mexico to Laguna Beach.
Kevin Anthony Gilbert and Francisco Javier Chavez, both Los Angeles residents, acknowledge they agreed with co-conspirators to check into the Sandpiper Motel in Costa Mesa before driving in the middle of the night on Pacific Coast Highway to unload marijuana from a 30-foot panga boat headed to waters off Crystal Cove State Beach. OC Weekly has the rest.

Dr. Donald P. Tashkin isn’t a household name, even for cannabis smokers. But he should be. TAshkin’s studies on cannabis use have shown time and time again that cannabis use is not associated with increased lung cancer incidences or risk.
Tashkin’s work is the focus of an article in this month’s Annals of the American Thoracic Society, highlighting the doctor’s work with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Oregon legislators are set to vote this week – possibly even today – on creating a program through the state health department to regulate medical marijuana businesses.
Legislators say the program is needed because dispensaries currently operate under a hodgepodge of regulations while advocates point out that keeping dispensaries legal and operation is key to patient medicine access. Not every one of the 53,000 registered medical marijuana has the ability to grow cannabis, and medical marijuana centers allow a safe and legal point to procure their pot.

So far, 24 Colorado cities have banned recreational marijuana sales since the passing of Amendment 64. This is not a surprise, since most already had an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana stores.
But what about those that have MMJ shops that now won’t be able to switch to recreational — like, for instance, Englewood, which briefly allowed dispensaries in 2009 but has since banned them. The three dispensaries that were grandfathered into that city have found it hard to stay open ever since. Denver Westword has the full story.

As if things weren’t Big Brother enough lately, CNN released a story this week about roadblocks set up around the country to study drugged and impaired driving through blood and saliva draws.
Yes. Blood and saliva draws. The reallymessed up part? It’s all done on a volunteer basis. That’s right: people are willingly giving their blood and spit to cops for $50 or less. The cost to taxpayers? About $8 million per report.

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