More than 20 percent of all vets coming home from the Middle East report at least some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. For some, it shows in depression and anxiety or an inability to function normally in day-to-day civilian life. For others, it’s more grave.
After two tours in Afghanistan, Matt Kahl says the only way out he saw after returning home was through suicide. He tried and failed, and likely would have tried again if it wasn’t for one thing: cannabis.
The Food and Drug Administration could change the federal controlled substance scheduling of marijuana, possibly opening up the plant for wider medical usage. Interestingly, the review was initiated by a Drug Enforcement Agency request, according to the Huffington Post, which broke the story.
| Lone Star Mike/Creative Commons. |
Though it wouldn’t change any laws if passed, Austin City Council will consider a resolution supporting medical marijuana in Texas this Thursday. The resolution would merely show that Austin City Council supports the idea of medical cannabis. Marijuana – medical or otherwise – remains illegal in Texas.
Oregon pro-pot activist Paul Stanford has announced he will not have enough signatures to get his legalization proposal on the November ballot.
Stanford made the announcement last week on his Cannabis Common Sense internet show, saying it would be impossible to collect the needed signatures by the July 3 deadline and blamed much of it on the popularity of another legalizaiton measure from New Approach which has received widespread funding support.
According to Washington state officials, the first recreational marijuana dispensary licenses will be issued July 7.
But could high prices, low supply and a better value in the medical and black markets keep sales down? Some dispensary owners think so.
Police in St. Ann cities across the country claim that legalized marijuana in other states are causing a big influx of weed to come into the area. But even if that’s true, is it really a bad thing?
Stories like this pop-up around the country every few weeks. And ever since marijuana laws have progressed more towards sanity in states like Colorado and Washington, the threat that more weed will come into places where it’s not legal has been a common complaint for people opposed to legalization. But whether or not legal weed in Colorado is making its way to St. Louis through the mail, it’s never really explained why this is worse than illegal weed getting here from other places. In fact, despite that whole federal crime for mailing controlled substances over the postal service, it’s probably better. Click over to the Riverfront Times for the full list.
Our partners at the Dallas Observer discuss how popular synthetic weed used to be in Abilene, Texas:
For a thankfully brief period in the mid-aughts, I lived in Abilene. Having experienced it in all of its splendor, I can say without hesitation that it is one of the most boring places on Earth. If you can avoid it, don’t go there, ever, for any reason.
If you do have to spend some time there, you should know that, according to a forfeiture complaint filed in federal court Friday, one of the substances that you might have sought out to alleviate your inevitable ennui might be in short supply.
For the first time in its history, Minnesota NORML plans to draft a marijuana legalization bill for consideration during the next legislative session. Marcus Harcus, the new associate director of the organization, tells us “the precedent that was set in Colorado and Washington gives me hope that it’s a reasonable fight.”
Discussions about the bill are preliminary at this point, but some of the details will be hammered out during an upcoming MN NORML strategic planning retreat, Harcus, who came to NORML from Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, says. Legal experts will be brought in to help write the bill, he adds.
A study due to be released in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC) has concluded that whether you like to spark up a joint once in a while, once a week, or once the last one goes out, the cannabis smoke alone that you inhale does not increase your risk of lung cancer or COPD.
While this may seem like old news to those in the know, the tired old myth that smoking pot leads to certain respiration issues is still a favorite, and effective, strategy of those opposed to cannabis legalization of any form.
Myles J. Ambrose, one of the paranoid forefathers of the American drug war, died earlier this month at the age of 87 in Leesburg, Virginia. Although, throughout the years, there was speculation that bookies were taking wagers on who would be the first to dance on Ambrose’s grave: a prominent Mafia family or a Mexican drug cartel, in the end it was a heart attack that led to his demise.