On Friday, the University of Colorado-Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its first Buechner Breakfast of the 2014-2015 school year. The topic: “Driving Stoned: The Challenges of Regulating Marijuana and Driving.”
Most of the arguments about marijuana impairment and driving that panelists Robert Ticer (chief of the Avon Police Department and chair of the Impaired Driving Task Force) and Mike Elliott (executive director of Marijuana Industry Group) traded back-and forth were not new. But some of the audience commentary shed light on alternatives to testing blood for THC.

There’s a certain sweetness that comes from reporting on scumbag cops who knowingly break the law while using their badge as a cover. So it’s with great pleasure we bring you the story of Miami Police Officer Christopher Vital, who had a wild night Wednesday night. It started with speeding more than 100 miles per hour down the roads of Miami Beach, peaked with him kicking out the window of a Miami Beach Police cruiser, and ended with him jail. For good measure there were drugs and a suspended license involved.
At around 4:45 a.m., a Miami Beach police officer clocked Vital’s blue BMW speeding in the triple digits. The officer pulled the car over, and noticed that Vital had bloodshot eyes, was slurring his speech, was wobbly on his feet and smelled of alcohol.

They called it the “Farmer’s Market” because you could order illicit drugs online–LSD, ecstasy, marijuana–and get what you paid for, farm-to-table, so to speak, according to federal authorities.
But an undercover agent based in Los Angeles ordered LSD, which led to a federal case against several of the marketplace’s alleged operators, including 45-year-old Marc Peter Willems of the Netherlands. He was brought to L.A. to face federal charges, and this week he pleaded guilty, U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek confirmed.

Remember the itty-bitty pot raid that Santa Ana PD carried out on July 31st? September 2nd was the arraignment for some 123 total marijuana misdemeanor violations. And so far it seems only one out of this smorgasbord of arrestees plead guilty and swallowed the $500 fine. That’s right folks. A large number of them waived their right to a speedy trial and are opting to fight the charges.
Meanwhile the judge is none too happy with the local prosecutors.

It’s been said that while marijuana doesn’t kill people, the war on marijuana does.
A 42-year-old man allegedly shot himself yesterday after a standoff with Ashville, Ohio police that stemmed from seven marijuana plants and a few jars of herb. News reports say that Timothy Sturgis stood with a gun to his head on the property of his 21-acre home in the woods of Ashville for about two hours before taking his own life as cops moved in. All of this thanks to about $25,000 in herb.