| Flickr/Joi Ito. |
New York state Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is sick and tired of watching the New York City police abuse their power while the mayor’s office does nothing but make empty promises. From January to March, police made more than 7,000 arrests for marijuana possession in NYC, and 86 percent black or Hispanic – all after NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to right the increasingly crooked ship.
| Toke of the Town + Flickr/Keith Bacongco |
North Carolina state Rep. Kelly Alexander is sick of lawmakers in his state refusing to even debate the issue of medical marijuana. He’s attempted several pieces of legislation over the last few years – all shot down in committee – and says the time is right for voters to speak their minds on medical marijuana in the polls.
But other lawmakers hoping to pass a very strict CBD-only medical marijuana bill for children say Alexander’s proposal might sink their ship.
| Flickr/Anupam Kamal |
A tragic accident involving a four-year-old shooting his three-year-old brother occurred Sunday. Fortunately, the younger brother is OK, but because the father was in another room allegedly smoking marijuana, the St. Louis County police and local media decided to make that the focus of the story.
The shooting happened around noon on Sunday. A loaded gun was hidden inside a closet, and the child was able to reach it. He and his brother played with the gun and it went off, a bullet striking the younger brother in the left shoulder. The child was treated at a local hospital for soft-tissue injury and released.
| Flickr/Alex E. Proimos. |
Arizonans no longer risk getting a DUI for driving with an inactive metabolite of marijuana in their blood following a ruling by the state’s high court.
The Arizona Supreme Court announced this morning that it was reaffirming the trial court’s decision to dump the case of Hrach Shilgevorkyan, who was prosecuted for driving while impaired after a blood test revealed the presence of marijuana. New Times covered the case and overall issue in detail in the Phoenix New Times May 2013 article “Riding High.”
| Flickr/Fleur-Design. |
Two St. Louis-area Police officers face drug charges on suspicion of robbing heroin while on duty before selling the drugs to a dealer and splitting the profit.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Hillsdale Police Lieutenant Parrish Swanson, 40, of St. Louis, and Officer Raymond Stephens, 28, of St. Charles, with felony counts of conspiracy to distribute and attempted distribution of heroin, according to a release.
The Riverfront Times has more.
| Flickr/Anupam Kamal |
A St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer with three years on the force shot a robbery suspect during a foot chase Thursday night near Fairground Park, striking him in the thigh.
Turns out, suspect Keon Davis wasn’t involved in the robbery police were investigating. But a department-issued bullet in the leg didn’t stop the Circuit Attorney’s Office from charging the seventeen-year-old with unlawful use of a weapon, possession of up to 35 grams of marijuana and resisting arrest.
| Flickr/InkKnife-2000 |
| Iowa cornfield. |
Iowans overwhelmingly want to allow their sick neighbors and family members to be able to access legal medical cannabis according to a poll released this week from Quinnipiac University.
According to the study, 87 percent of 1,411 voters polled said that state laws need to be changed. Medical marijuana saw no less than 68 percent across all political parties, gender and age groups. Conversely, 55 percent of those same voters said recreational use of cannabis should remain illegal.