Free Republic

When it comes to smoking marijuana and driving, many variables affect impairment—the potency of the drug, the tolerance of the toker, when the drug was taken, how the drug was taken—making guidelines difficult to implement. But with some states decriminalizing the possession of weed, the feds are investigating a pot version of the .08 breath alcohol concentration set as the legal driving limit in most of the country.

A new study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that while alcohol abuse decreased 7.6 percent globally since 1990, it increased 5.5 percent in the United States during that same time period. The research, published in The Lancet on June 8, found that 76.8 million people in the world were diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in 2013—a figure greater than the population of more than 200 countries, including the United Kingdom. Of those, 5.1 million individuals—or a little under 10 percent—were in the United States. In addition to the 5.5 percent increase in alcohol abuse, the...

The death toll from India's latest incident of mass alcohol poisoning following the consumption of toxic homemade liquor has risen to 90, Mumbai police say. Dhananjay Kulkarni, deputy police commissioner in the western Indian city, said it was possible the number of dead from drinking the illicit moonshine could reach three figures. "Ninety people have now died," he said. "More than 40 are being treated in hospital and the death toll may reach 100." Victims first started to fall ill on Wednesday morning after consuming the illegal booze and new patients were still being admitted to hospital on Saturday, Mr...

A 26-year-old mother faces several charges, including driving while impaired, in a Sunday morning crash that killed her 3-year-old son, according to police. Chantee Tranise Boyd was in Mecklenburg jail under $405,000 bail after the crash on Billy Graham Parkway near Charlotte Douglas International Airport just after midnight Sunday. She was charged with felony death by vehicle, two counts of felony child abuse, reckless driving and DWI. Boyd’s two sons were in her Honda as she drove south along Billy Graham Parkway. About 12:20 a.m., she drove off the left side of the road and into the median before striking...

A Kenucky polie officer shot a drunk man dead after the man attacked the officer with a flagpole.A Kentucky police officer shot and killed a man who attacked him with a flagpole. The local police chief said his officer was justified in using deadly force against the attacker.NBC News reported: A police officer who killed a flagpole-wielding man in Louisville, Kentucky, appeared justified in using deadly force, Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said Sunday.“The officer believed his life was being threatened,” Conrad said at a news conference, adding that the shooting — which was captured in dramatic surveillance video...

A transgender woman said Tempe Tavern in Tempe, Ariz., refused to serve her Saturday. The woman said she walked into the bar to get a soda and instead was kicked out. “All I wanted to do was see a horse race and have a drink,” Briana Sandy said. But Sandy said she didn’t expect what happened. “‘I can’t serve you any drinks,’ and I go, ‘What? What’s the problem?’ And she goes, ‘We don’t serve your kind,’ and I’m like, I didn’t just hear that. And then all of a sudden, this guy, who was I guess the bouncer, walked...

A game of beer pong taken too seriously ended with the death of a 19-year-old college student in Texas, a news site reported. Ronald McNeil, 39, is currently being held in Brazos County Jail on charges of murder, deadly conduct for discharge of a firearm and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. McNeil crashed the graduation party of Texas A&M student Landon Duke along with some friends, Duke told The Eagle in College Station. One of McNeil’s friends got in an argument with one of Duke’s friends over beer pong rules around 1 a.m. on May 3...

Lacie LaRose was shot and killed after a fight over a beer pong game last month. An argument over a game of beer pong at a graduation party in College Station ended in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Blinn college student. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported that Lacie LaRose was shot by Ronald Wayne McNeil, a 39-year-old neighbor of party’s host on May 2. McNeil showed up to the party uninvited and watched the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match with other guests. Most of the guests left after the fight was over, by a few dozen adjourned to the...

As the German army was in retreat at the end of 1944 and the country starved, Hitler stashed away his precious liquor, where it lay hidden for 76 years - until now. When restauranteur Silvio Stelzer bought a villa on the grounds of the splendid Wasserschloss Moritzburg estate in Saxony, the old seat of the royal family of Saxony, he knew he was moving into a place rich with history. What he probably didn’t expect was to find quite such a wealth of historical treasure when renovating his grounds. But Bild reported on Thursday that the well-known chef, who has...

California senators too drunk to drive can turn to a 24-hour ride service funded by taxpayers, a local newspaper reports. State records show that the California Senate hired in February two part-time employees whose duties include “ground transportation for Senate members.” The employees are paid $2,532 per month, the Sacramento Bee reported. The service comes after high-profile arrests of lawmakers on suspicion of drunken driving. Four lawmakers in the last five years have been accused of drunk driving, including three on streets around the Capitol.

Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced his presidential bid at Liberty University, a well-known conservative, Christian college founded by Jerry Falwell. It's a testament to his faith and Southern Baptist roots that have kept him grounded throughout his life. But here are five facts you may not know about Cruz's personal faith. 1. While Cruz says that government should protect the religious rights of people, leaders should avoid using their faith for political gain. In a 2013 interview, he explained that faith is "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Life, liberty, and property, the...

<p>I do not like vodka. Let me start there. In fact I’ve previously written that a vodka soda is the world’s most dangerous drink because you will fall asleep and choke while drinking it’s so fucking boring. So, when I walked into the Woody Creek vodka distillery near Aspen, Colorado, it was not without a great deal of skepticism.</p>

SOUTH HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. —A Westmoreland County woman is suspected of having sex with a 15-year-old boy at an underage drinking party at her home after a Yough High School football game and telling him to keep their encounter between them, according to a criminal complaint.Sherry Lee waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday and was ordered by District Judge Charles Moore to stand trial at a later date. She declined to comment, but her attorney said Lee is denying that anything happened with the teenage boy.Lee picked up the boy and two of his friends after the Cougars...

China has employed an unusual method in trying to crack down on Muslim violence and attacks by Uyghurs in the western Xinjiang region—in a new notice, it has ordered Muslim merchants to sell alcohol prominently to “weaken” Islam, which forbids the consumption of alcohol. In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region separatist Sunni Muslim Uyghur factions have conducted numerous attacks, including those with guns and explosives. China has cracked down in response and is trying to have them blacklisted as terrorists, although much of the international community has denounced the Chinese actions accusing the state of repression. In its latest move,...

A BAR owner accused of killing a customer by letting him drink 56 “shots” of spirits went on trial for manslaughter yesterday.The 57-year-old man was trying to beat a record of 55 shots in one evening at Le Starter, a bar in Clermont-Ferrand, central France. The landlord allegedly told his customer “only 12 to go” as he neared his target. After completing the challenge, he was carried home by his daughter and friends – but he had a heart attack and died the next day. The daughter’s lawyer Antoine Portal said before the trial: “It is not known whether he...

A new Norwegian study has shown that alcohol and drug abuse is much more common among patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression than in the population at large. The study, conducted by the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, looked into the extent of drug and alcohol dependence among Norwegians diagnosed with serious mental health disorders. Every fourth patient with schizophrenia and every fifth with bipolar disorder also suffered problems with substance abuse.  One in ten people who were severely depressed also had problems with alcohol or drug-related health problems.  It is estimated that one in forty Norwegians indulge...

Woman steals $10k worth of mini alcohol bottles • An aeroplane cleaner working at JFK Airport has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than 1,400 miniature bottles of booze worth US$10,000. Juanette Cullum, 48, of Brooklyn, allegedly stole the alcohol over a three-year period from American Airlines planes in Terminal 8, reports the New York Post. Police were alerted to the thefts by an airport security guard, and uncovered 1,429 miniatures bottles hidden in a wardrobe at Cullum’s home. On average, the 50ml bottles have an RRP of US$7 each on flights. But while the loot is estimated to worth...

History buff Tiffany Alnefelt, 30, met her Swedish husband while she was studying in Ireland. The pair now run an alternative tour for visitors to Stockholm, via some of the city's oldest pubs. Bobbie Carlson tagged along. Long wooden tables fill candle a candle lit room. Cosy furs cover the seats and Viking shields and helmets adorn the walls. This is the setting at Aifur, a well-known Viking bar in Stockholm's Old Town (Gamla Stan) and the first of four stops on the Stockholm Historic Pub Tour. What started as a mutual interest, has turned into an exciting part-time career...

Dozens of people got into a chair-flinging, glass-shattering midnight melee at a racetrack casino when patrons clashed at a daiquiri bar opening, police said Saturday. The brawl unfolded in front of hundreds of people late Friday in a food court at the Aqueduct track's Resorts World Casino, where the Fat Tuesday chain's first New York location was opening.

A brawl involving hundreds of people broke out inside the Resorts World casino at Aqueduct Race Track on Friday night, turning the opening night of a Fat Tuesday daiquiri bar into a fight night worthy of Las Vegas...