| New York City Diesel. |
The 2015 legislative session doesn’t start for another four moths, but New York state Sen. Liz Krueger says she’s readying a bill that would legalize the recreational use of limited amounts of pot for adults 21 and up.
The bill will be based on originally introduced last December that never made it out of committee, but Kreuger’s office says it will be further amended to be more palatable to other lawmakers.
| The president of the Louisiana State Fair got a ticket and a ride from local police |
Every fall in Shreveport, folks travel from far and wide to attend the annual Louisiana State Fair. Besides the carnival games, rickety rides, and overripe port-a-potties, fair-goers to this southern affair can drop their hard-earned dollars on such heart-stopping treats as bacon-covered caramel apples and deep fried watermelons. Not only is this carb-filled-cardiac-arrest-inducing fair food totally legal, it is one of the main attractions.
Chris Giordano runs the Louisiana State Fair, and he says, “Every year we bring new foods and try to mix things up with the attractions and rides to keep the fair fresh for everybody and I think it’s something that some people look forward to all year long.”
Giordano, 43, was arrested this past Saturday and was promptly taken to jail when local cops busted him with pot in his car after pulling him over to ticket him for rolling through a stop sign.
Positive tests for pot have increased by about 20 percent in Colorado from 2012 to 2013, according to Quest Diagnostics, a company responsible for a huge number of work-related drug testing across the country.
But the director of the drug testing branch of Quest says it’s too early to draw any conclusions from the data, though it’s easy to draw a parallel between the increase in positive pot tests and the legalization limited amounts of pot to adults 21 and up. Sales of cannabis to adults didn’t start until January of 2014, so that would not factor into the data.
| Aspen, CO – Home of the 1st Annual Cannabis Grand Cru – November 14th-16th, 2014 |
When it comes to the changing of the seasons, and outstanding venues for cannabis themed events, nobody does it quite like Colorado. Aspen in the fall, much like the trees it is named after, radiates a golden glimmer leading into the first snowfall of the year.
From Friday November 14th – Sunday November 16th those attending the Cannabis Grand Cru will take over the entire Sky Hotel in Aspen for a 3-day event full of seminars, Q&A sessions, hands-on learning, and loads of entertainment. Tickets for this 21+ members-only experience will be made available only by invitation. The good news is, we’ve got the scoop on how to get yours.
| Pink House Pearl Facebook page |
| More photos below. |
Eleven dispensaries opened their to recreational marijuana users age 21 and older in Colorado in recent weeks — ten in August, plus one that we missed in our July roundup. The total includes four in Denver, three in Boulder and one each in four different municipalities around the state. Here’s our the latest batch:
| Senator Pat Roberts and opponent Greg Orman at a debate this weekend. |
For years, marijuana advocates have warned folks from Colorado to think twice before taking cannabis over the state line to Kansas, which has some of the toughest weed-related penalties in the country and has been repeatedly accused of pot profiling. So it’s something of a surprise to discover that the two candidates in a suddenly competitive Kansas senatorial race — incumbent Pat Roberts and independent upstart Greg Orman — both have problems with federal marijuana policies.
| The most popular ball sport on any college campus these days. |
According to a University of Michigan study of about 1,100 college students nationwide as part of the ongoing, government-funded Monitoring the Future study, 51 percent of all full-time students admitting that they’ve expanded their minds at least once with a little toke. Researchers say pot use on campus is up to the highest it’s been since the study started in 2006, when 34 percent said they had smoked pot at least once.
And that’s the part of the study that will get the most amount of press, of course (especially since the researchers put out a press release with that exact angle). But the real story here is that, while alcohol by students dipped some, 63 percent of all students still say they’ve drank in the last 30 days with a majority of them drinking to excess.
The conflict between the increasing numbers of state laws favoring the medicinal or recreational use of marijuana, and the federal government’s insistence on keeping its use highly illegal, has led to a dangerous amount of grey area attached to any of the various pot laws passed around the country so far.
One place where this grey area is in full effect every single day – whether the boss knows it or not – is the workplace. Though the courts have historically favored the employer in cases involving medical marijuana, one man in New Mexico just bucked that trend in a Worker’s Comp decision whose ripple effects could set a very meaningful precedent for future cases.
| John Morgan. |
Opposition to the legalization of medical marijuana has been circulating a cell-phone video showing United for Care benefactor John Morgan giving a profanity-laced speech to young voters about marijuana. The anti-medical marijuana group No On 2 cut down a six-minute video of Morgan at a post-debate party last week, showing him ranting about marijuana to a rowdy crowd.
This, No On 2 is trying to show, is proof that the quest for legalized medical marijuana is a front to getting marijuana legalized outright in Florida.
It’s probably pretty fair to say that Cletis Williams didn’t have a whole lot of respect for the law.
With a rap sheet as long as his Arkansas drawl, including an alleged “previous altercation” with local police, Williams’ literal and legal contempt for the court system of Jonesboro, Arkansas had earned him a whopping 23 arrest warrants.
Even at the tender age of 57, the 6’2″ 250 pound Williams was not a hard man to find, and it wasn’t long before Jonesboro PD came looking for their version of southern justice.