William Breathes

NFL Pot Policy: Getting Better, But Still Not Great

By William Breathes on October 24, 2014 Stoned Sports

The NFL adjusted their marijuana policy earlier this year, raising the threshold of testing positive from 15 nanograms to 35 nanograms of spent THC carboxy for every milliliter of pee. While the increase no-doubt helps some athletes who prefer to use cannabis instead of pharmaceutical drugs to treat pain, the league falls far behind other sports when it comes to cannabis tolerance.
The threshold does make it easier to toke up during the off-season, but the increase of 20 nanograms doesn’t equate to a free ticket to get high all the time.

Missing Arkansas Pit Bull Saved in Colorado After Homeless Man Tries to Trade Him for Pot

By William Breathes on October 23, 2014 Say what?

The story of Trucker the pit bull would be weird under any circumstances. After all, he disappeared in Arkansas in June only to turn up almost four months later in Central City, Colorado. But the tale becomes that much stranger given the circumstances of his rescue: A Good Samaritan bought him from a homeless man who’d reportedly tried to trade him for pot.

Marijuana Makes You Feel Fuzzy, and Other Tips from Children’s Hospital

By William Breathes on October 23, 2014 News, Say what?

An image from the Children’s Hospital of Colorado marijuana facts page. Additional pics and more below.

Against the backdrop of a Colorado health department official formally recommending that almost all marijuana edibles be banned, the Children’s Hospital of Colorado staged a weed-related Twitter chat this morning, with one of its focuses being how to talk pot with children under the age of ten. Among the pieces of advice the facility shared: If a child asks, “What is marijuana?,” answer with something along the lines of “”It is a plant that people use to change how they feel. It can make people feel confused or fuzzy.”

Nebraska Cops Freak Out Over Denver Police Halloween Pot Candy Scare

By William Breathes on October 23, 2014 News, Say what?

The Denver Police Department has done a good job of scaring people into thinking there will be a rash of regular pot users willing to spend ten bucks on a candy bar so that they can secretly dose a little kid while trick-or-treating on Halloween; see a DPD video below.
In fact, Denver cops have made such a big deal of such possibilities that cops around Omaha, Nebraska, have started warning residents there to beware of people handing out Colorado-made pot candy.

Arizona D.A. Seeking Felony Charges for College Student Caught With a Half-Gram on Campus

By William Breathes on October 23, 2014 Medical, News

Andre Maestas, from Facebook.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (yes, that Maricopa County) is prosecuting a college student with a medical-marijuana card for felony possession of less than a gram of weed.
Andre Lee Juwaun Maestas, a 19-year-old Arizona State University student, could end up with a felony on his record, probation and stiff fines because of the March discovery of about .6 grams of marijuana and some smoking paraphernalia in his dorm room.

Marijuana Policy Project PAC Throws Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton Under Bus

By William Breathes on October 23, 2014 Legalize It, News

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and a bud of marijuana that legal Minnesota patients will never be able to access.

In a press release sent our way by an MNGOP-affiliated source, the D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project PAC pledges to make a maximum financial contribution of $4,000 to Jeff Johnson’s gubernatorial campaign. But lest you think the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization is some sort of surprisingly right-leaning group, the release also notes that the PAC plans to give a matching contribution to the Senate DFL PAC. Take that, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton!
The beef, of course, has to do with Dayton’s initial reluctance to support any sort of medical marijuana bill during this year’s legislative session. And though he did ultimately sign off on one, it didn’t go as far as the legislation supported by Johnson and the DFL-controlled Senate.

Arizona Medical-Marijuana Patients Still at Risk for DUI Conviction, Appeals Court Confirms

By William Breathes on October 22, 2014 Medical, News

Medical-marijuana patients are still at risk for a DUI conviction simply for having trace amounts of THC in their bloodstreams, the state Court of Appeals confirmed on Tuesday.
In a 3-0 ruling with disclaimers by one judge, the court upheld the conviction of a Mesa man despite an apparent exception for such prosecutions in the voter-approved, 2010 medical-pot law.
Arizona, if you haven’t heard, has a zero-tolerance law against drivers with marijuana metabolites in their veins, medical card or not. Our May 2013 feature article, “Riding High,” covered how it was possible for patients or illegal cannabis users to be convicted for DUI even when impairment wasn’t a factor, and even when the only metabolite found was carboxy-THC, a molecule known to be inactive.

Colorado Cannabis Edibles Maker on Why It’s a Little Late to Ban Most Pot Food

By William Breathes on October 22, 2014 Culture, News

The latest entry in our marijuana edibles video series arrives at a propitious moment: This week, a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment official formally recommended that almost all such products be banned. Among the arguments against a change of this magnitude is the demand described by Incredibles owner and edibles working group member Bob Eschino, who says he’s currently selling about 60,000 infused chocolate bars every month.

‘Illiterate’ Defendant Who Couldn’t Understand the Word ‘Attorney’ Nonetheless Convicted in New York

By William Breathes on October 22, 2014 FTP, News

Evan Amos/Commons.

When 18-year-old Willi Adames was held by police in connection with a fatal shooting in June of 2008, he ostensibly waived his right to an attorney before giving a detailed, recorded statement implicating himself in the crime. But it was obvious from the start that Adames was in over his head.
Functionally illiterate, with what the court characterized as “low intelligence,” Adames was confused, court records show, about the most basic aspects of the criminal investigation process.

Dime Bag Kingpins: How Two Grams Can Get You Twenty Years in Missouri

By William Breathes on October 22, 2014 News

Voice Media/Adria Fruitos.

Michael Mayo was on his way to get some new braids. He didn’t know he would end up spending the next two decades in prison. Police were watching as Mayo, then in his early twenties, made his way through his north St. Louis neighborhood back in July 2001. And Mayo, a street-level drug dealer, decided to do a little business before getting his hair done. That’s when police say they saw Mayo make a hand-to-hand transaction with somebody in the middle of the road. Without hesitation, the cops jumped out of an unmarked vehicle and placed Mayo in handcuffs.
On his person, police found roughly two grams of crack, a joint’s worth of marijuana and $176 in cash. Mayo said the money was for the braids he was on his way to get, not profits from drug sales. Besides, what kind of legit drug dealer has only a couple grams of crack? Riverfront Times has more in their cover story this week.

Author William Breathes