| Just say no to Sheldon Adelson. |
Sheldon Adelson, the mega-rich casino magnate who last week donated $2.5 million to the anti-Amendment 2 group Drug Free Florida, also happens to have his own medical research group. And according to that group’s own studies, medical marijuana has been shown to aid those who suffer from multiple sclerosis.
June Cutright, a progressive-MS patient who lives in Florida, called Sheldon’s decision to back anti-medical marijuana, despite his own research group’s findings, “unconscionable.”
| Dustin Schaefer/Loveland Ski Area |
At the start of the 2013-2014 ski season, marijuana seemed like it might be a bigger story than moguls, what with some snowbirds threatening to stay away from Colorado if they were subjected to legal pot, a ski-area executive pledging to yank lift tickets from public tokers, a Forest Service rep saying pot enforcement at resorts on federal land was a priority and the destruction of a venerable smoke shack after it was featured on Inside Edition.
In the end, though, Colorado experienced a record ski season — and one industry rep doubts that weed had anything to do with it.
| chphospice.com |
Legally obtaining and using marijuana just got easier for patients of one Phoenix-area home-hospice service. Starting this month, Comprehensive Hospice and Palliative Care offers an in-house doctor who will recommend cannabis for patients who qualify under state law.
To avoid trouble with Medicare, which often pays the hospice’s bills for patients, the hospice requires the patient or someone else to send the recommendation to the state Department of Health Services for final approval, and to pay the fees.
There is an imbecilic group of conservatives currently humping the political landscape of Montana in hopes of persuading the local yokels into outlawing marijuana across the state.
Earlier last week, the collaborative effort between anti-cannabis group Safe Montana and a shifty-eyed car salesman by the name Steve Zabawa won approval from the Secretary of State to begin collecting signatures for their petition, Initiative 174, aimed at banning the use and possession of all Schedule I substances deemed illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act — including medical marijuana.
Every day in prisons across the country, inmates are scheming to devise innovative, or disgusting, new ways to smuggle in drugs, phones, and other contraband. Every day, surely some of those attempts get busted, but maybe none quite as ridiculous as what happened this past Sunday in Jackson, Michigan.
When it comes to ridiculous prison smuggling attempts, there is some pretty stiff competition.
Denver police officers have gotten into trouble lately — and a number of the incidents, including a brawl apparently spurred by wife swapping, featured alcohol. And that’s not to mention assorted busts involving law enforcers and drunk driving.
Could some of these episodes have been prevented if Denver cops were allowed to smoke pot while off-duty as an alternative to liquor? One marijuana advocate thinks it’s worth giving a try. More over at the Denver Westword.
A traffic stop in February on the southern edge of Eloy, Arizona led to law enforcement discovering that marijuana smugglers had lookouts hiding in the mountains, making sure authorities didn’t come into contact with the people carrying the product. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has just announced that sheriff’s deputies and Border Patrol agents have found eight such lookouts hiding in the hilltops over the last few months.
This all started with that traffic stop south of Eloy, in which a 22-year-old Mexican citizen was pulled over while driving a Ford van the morning of February 20. When the deputy approached the van, the driver was on a cellphone, and explained to the deputy that “spotters” in the area were watching, and told him to run. The Phoenix New Times has more.
| More photos below. |
Ever have big plans for your life, but then you got high? Lethargic and under-achieving potheads may have created a bum rap for all of us, but that doesn’t mean success and lighting it up are mutually exclusive.
Breaking news: a lot of famous celebrities and creative-types smoke weed. If this surprises you, then congratulations on getting an Internet connection under that rock you call home. But what about the truly rich and powerful who got faded?
| High-CBD oil. |
Florida now officially recognizes marijuana as a substance with medical benefits… well, at least in some very narrow cases. As expected, Gov. Rick Scott signed the “Charlotte’s Web” bill into law today. The bill allows certain strains of non-euphoric marijuana tincture to be used to treat a very small list of maladies, including childhood epilepsy.
“As a father and grandfather, you never want to see kids suffer,” the governor said in a statement. “The approval of Charlotte’s Web will ensure that children in Florida who suffer from seizures and other debilitating illnesses will have the medication needed to improve their quality of life.”
Of course, cynics might point out that Scott’s signing of the bill may have just as much to do with his opposition to a wider medical marijuana policy in Florida as it does children.
| Pat Arnow/Flickr. |
The New York State Legislature has just more than three days to approve a bill that would legalize medical marijuana across the state, before the legislative session ends on Thursday, June 19. If it doesn’t pass–and it hasn’t passed the last sixteen times it has been introduced–it will be back to the drawing board.
Activists who have pushed to pass the bill, known as the Compassionate Care Act, remain stubbornly confident this will be the year–it is, after all, the furthest the bill has made it through the legislature since it was initially introduced in 1997. But Governor Andrew Cuomo is not bending over backwards to help move the legislation along. To the contrary, on Monday, Cuomo enumerated a laundry list of changes he wants to see implemented before he will support the bill to the Daily News.
The Village Voice has more of the local angle.