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A Swedish night shift nurse has been fired from a Gothenburg hospital for being high on cannabis and failing to notice a patient's rapidly deteriorating condition. "You can't be stoned while on the job," Anne Skånberg of the human resources department of Sahlgrenska Hospital told The Local. Staff at the hospital first noticed signs that the nurse, who had worked at the hospital for nearly a decade, may have been drugged after his questionable behavior in response to a patient's worsening condition. The patient had previously been taken from intensive care to the regular ward, but when the patient’s symptoms...

"Andy Dick's Stocking Stuffer Music & Comedy Show," Friday, Jack's Patio Bar, 3030 Thousand Oaks; doors at 7 p.m. $24-$30 at frontgatetickets.comYes, outrageous comedy provocateur Andy Dick is sharing the stage this weekend with One-Eyed Doll and Dick Wiggler. No, they are not one and the same person.“Andy Dick's Stocking Stuffer Music & Comedy Show” featuring Andy Dick and the Bitches of the Century hits Jack's Patio Bar on Friday. The lineup includes Dick's son, stand-up comedian Lucas Dick.Dick, 44, describes his long-running rock act (with guitarist Tim Walsh) as a fun, if more vulgar, vision of Laurie Anderson...

At least one young man in St. Tammany Parish and another in St. Martin Parish committed suicide shortly after getting high from ingesting a synthetic chemical sold as Cloud Nine High Quality Bath Salt and White Dove, law enforcement officials warned Monday.A pack of the product costs no more than $20, and some people inject or snort it to experience a euphoria similar to the one associated with the amphetamine known on the streets as "speed." However, the psychotic side effects it produces are unusually severe, St. Tammany District Attorney Walter Reed and Sheriff Jack Strain said during a news...

Willie Nelson Will Likely Go to Jail for Pot Bust, Expert SaysBy Hollie McKay Published November 29, 2010 FoxNews.com Willie Nelson was arrested in Sierra Blanca, Texas on Friday for possession of six ounces of pot. As a result, the country music legend faces as many as two years behind bars. “If the Texas prosecutors do not reduce the charges, and the marijuana's weight is indeed six ounces, then he is dealing with felony and a potential minimum of 180 days in a county jail and a maximum of two years, with a $10,000 fine,” explained former California-based prosecutor, Robin...

> Mr Rouyer said there was "no better worming substance" for ducks and that his flock was in excellent health. A police spokesman said it was the first time they had heard such a claim. Mr Rouyer, who lives in the village of Gripperie-Saint-Symphorien on France's Atlantic coast, did also admit to smoking some of the marijuana.

A kindergarten teacher in Brevard County and her boyfriend are accused of operating a drug-trafficking and counterfeiting operation, Palm Bay police said today. Ashley Denielle Webb, 24, is a teacher at Westside Elementary School. "At this time there is no indication the illegal activity impacted the school environment," Palm Bay officials said in a statement. Her boyfriend is Curtis Phillip Gallagher, 31. Get the day's top stories in your inbox. Click here to sign up for the Midday Update newsletter They face felony charges involving counterfeiting, trafficking controlled substance, possession of controlled substance and other drug and counterfeiting related charges,...

He had a stripper pole in his living room, marijuana in an ashtray and liquor bottles in his teenage daughters' room, and the overall effect prompted his arrest on Friday on a charge of child neglect, authorities said. ...A deputy who toured the 1,200-square-foot house noted the stripper pole and drugs and then found rum, vodka and champagne bottles in Genovese's daughters' room, he wrote in an affidavit for Genovese's arrest. The deputy talked to Genovese's 17-year-old daughter, who explained that her sister had a party and her friends brought the alcohol. She said "it got out of hand when...

OLYMPIA — The state Liquor Control Board on Wednesday approved an emergency ban of caffeinated alcohol drinks, the type of beverage that sickened nine Central Washington University students last month during an off-campus party. In the unanimous vote, commissioners said they took the action because of public health and safety concerns. The ban will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 18 and remain in place for 120 days while the board goes through rule-making procedures for a permanent ban. Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to hold a news conference shortly regarding the ban. In a news release last month,...

Keith Richards on drugs and relationship with Mick Jagger The Rolling Stone's autobiography reveals a lifetime of substance abuse. Why on earth hasn't it killed him? His name is synonymous with rock 'n' roll excess, his memoirs detail a lifetime spent ingesting a Herculean quantity of illegal drugs and he only gave up cocaine, aged 62, after he split his head open falling from a tree while foraging for coconuts. At 66, Keith Richards' continued survival is a source of widespread bafflement. Continue reading the main story In today's Magazine * 11th hour for the wristwatch? * Do you say...

COOS BAY — An attempt to distill the active ingredient from marijuana caused a refrigerator-demolishing explosion at a home on Monday, fire investigators in Coos County have concluded. The Charleston Fire Department got a report at about 1:05 p.m. of a loud explosion on Jerome Road, Coos County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Pat Downing wrote in a news release. Fire crews found that a refrigerator at the home had exploded, shattering a window, dislodging cupboard doors and drawers, and scattering food around the kitchen. Firefighters called for the help of the sheriff's department and the state fire marshal's office to figure...

Two 150-year-old dolls have been x-rayed in a bid to discover if they were used by Confederate soldiers to smuggle medical supplies past Union blockades during the U.S. Civil War. It is thought the large dolls - Nina and Lucy Ann - had their hollowed out papier-mache heads stuffed with quinine or morphine for wounded and malaria-stricken Confederate troops. The Union blockade lasted from 1861 until 1865 and was intended to thwart the delivery of weapons, soldiers and supplies such as medicine to the South....

The entire police force in a small Mexican town abruptly resigned Tuesday after its new headquarters was viciously attacked by suspected drug cartel gunmen. All 14 police officers in Los Ramones, a rural town in northern Mexico, fled the force in terror after gunmen fired more than 1,000 bullets and flung six grenades at their headquarters on Monday night. No one was injured in the attack. Mayor Santos Salinas Garza told local media that the officers resigned because of the incident. The gunmen’s 20-minute shooting spree destroyed six police vehicles and left the white and orange police station pocked with...

KEITH Richards wants to “road-test” any new drugs that are invented. The Rolling Stones rocker — who admits to have using numerous illegal substances over the years, including heroin and cocaine — doesn’t take drugs anymore, but he would if something new came on the market. “I’ve given up everything now — which is a trip in itself,” Keith said. “I’m just waiting for them to invent something more interesting, ha ha. I’m all ready to road-test it, when they do.” Keith gave up heroin in 1978, and was forced to quit cocaine in 2006 after accidentally falling from a...

DENVER (AP) -- Poor medical marijuana patients in Colorado won't have pay state marijuana registration fees or sales tax on the pot they buy. The Colorado Board of Health approved a plan Wednesday to waive the $90 registration fee for indigent medical marijuana patients, starting Dec. 1. Patients who want their fees waived will have to show that they meet other government standards for indigence, such as qualifying for food stamps.

Amazing and enlightening short nature film.

San Juan police arrested a 22-year-old South Texas woman after her neighbors reported that her 4-year-old daughter was trying to sell a brick of marijuana. Maria Ipina has been charged with possession of a controlled substance after her Monday arrest. A San Juan police dispatcher declined to release any information Tuesday night on Ipina. However, Police Chief Juan Gonzalez told The Monitor of McAllen that neighbors reported her daughter was going door-to-door on Saturday, trying to sell marijuana. Gonzalez said police found more than 200 grams of cocaine packaged for sale, but no marijuana in Ipina's apartment. Gonzalez said the...

Kathryn, there’s no need to go through the drug debate all over again, but I did read what Bill Bennett and the others had to say, and I am afraid I was left shaking my head. After the destruction that the drug warriors have caused in this country and others (not to speak of their disastrous contribution to the war in Afghanistan), a little more humility on their part would go a long, long way. We’ve yet to see it. No matter. I had a look at the report cited by Mr. Bennett and, having done so, I can only...

(AP) A Kentucky man accused of strangling his wife is poised to claim excessive caffeine from sodas, energy drinks and diet pills left him so mentally unstable he couldn't have knowingly killed his wife, his lawyer has notified a court. Woody Will Smith, 33, is scheduled for trial starting Monday on a murder charge in the May 2009 death of Amanda Hornsby-Smith, 28.

CINCINNATI -- A grand jury indicted a Springfield Township woman accused of giving marijuana to her toddler daughter and videotaping it, and prosecutors said it likely was not the first time. "It is disturbing to think that a parent would provide their 2-year-old child with marijuana," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters. "It is beyond disturbing when you watch the video and see a baby easily manipulating a marijuana joint and realize that she has probably done this on more than one occasion." Jessica Gamble, 21, was indicted Wednesday on one count each of corrupting another with drugs, child endangering...

George Michael wept yesterday as a judge told him he was a drug addict - and jailed him for crashing his range rover into a shop. The singer was sentenced to eight weeks for driving after taking a 'dangerous and unpredictable' cocktail of cannabis and anti-anxiety prescription medication - but may be out of jail in a month.

FOURTEEN black bears that had grown accustomed to a quiet life in the company of an eccentric pair of cannabis farmers may have to be destroyed. The bears have acquired a taste for dog food. Deep in the mountains of British Columbia, but only a few kilometres north of the rapidly expanding marijuana markets of the US, a detachment of Royal Canadian Mounted Police stumbled on the docile and apparently good-natured bears while raiding a remote cabin on a tip-off late last month. They also found a pot-bellied pig rummaging for food with the bears near the cabin above Christina...

For years, the stars of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" found the funny in films that were never intended to be comedies. A poorly-written B-grade science fiction film like "This Island Earth" was, for instance, perfect fodder for the MST3K guys. On August 19, Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy will be back in theaters for live RiffTrax presentation of "Reefer Madness." A notorious propaganda film from the 1930's, this over-the-top movie shows the horrors that come with smoking marijuana.

If marijuana was legal for adults in California, would more people show up at work high? And how would that change the definition of a "smoke break" during work hours? That's the latest issue facing proponents of Proposition 19, the ballot measure that would make marijuana legal for adults in California. Voters will have a chance in November to decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes for adults over 21 but the political debate over the controversial issue has been heating up for quite some time. The latest argument against the ballot measure is that given the legal freedom...

Officers with the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant Friday, seizing marijuana plants from the home of Poplar, Mont., Police Chief Chad Hilde. Seized during the search were several suspected marijuana plants and materials alleged to be used in the growth of the plants. Deputies are currently getting an arrest warrant for Hilde through the Roosevelt County Attorney's Office... the search was part of the department’s Operation New Beginning launched in spring 2009 to keep illegal drugs out of the community.

A South Florida teacher is behind bars for a bizarre traffic arrest. Joann Tomas -a Dr. William Chapman Elementary Spanish teacher -was reportedly driving along South Homestead Boulevard when she was pulled over for swirving lanes. After she was handcuffed, she ripped them off and threw them at an officer and kicked him in the groin before she was tasered twice. Tomas claims she was taking Xanax because she was studying to be an assistant principal. She's been charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence. She's being held on 5-thousand-dollars bond for each charge.

Congress has finally reduced the... unjust sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses... ...The Fair Sentencing Act will reduce the 100-to-1 federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, substances that are chemically indistinguishable, to 18-to-1. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession... Under current law, possession of five grams or more of crack cocaine possession triggers a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; simple possession of any quantity of most other controlled substances by a first time offender, including powder cocaine, is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year...

We all know about NPR tote bags given as rewards during pledge week. The tax funded "public radio" station KPFA in Berkeley gives away "Marijuana Growers Guide" by Rosenthal for a $150 pledge. KPFA is part of "Pacifica", the ultra liberal, wackadoo radio network. And yes they are partially tax supported.

By HOUSTON CHRONICLE Posted: July 27, 2010, 6:53 AM CDT July 27, 2010 HOUSTON — It took five hours and four minutes, but a suspected drug trafficker finally surrendered the spoils: 85 condoms of cocaine he allegedly swallowed and intended to smuggle from Houston to France. Housrou Kedji is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Friday after being caught as he tried to board an Air France flight leaving Bush International Airport. He is charged with two counts of drug-trafficking. The 42-year-old citizen of the African nation of Togo gave up 2.2 pounds of his illicit cargo while sitting...

After the last several WAMMFests encountered challenges, organizers of Santa Cruz's annual medical marijuana awareness event appear to be in for an easier time getting the city's nod of approval. Today, the City Council will consider lifting a smoking ban at San Lorenzo Park for five hours Sept. 25 to allow authorized pot users to medicate inside open-air tents designed to create privacy. The item is on the council's consent agenda, indicating that it may not be as controversial as in years past. “For the city, it's a matter of course,” Mayor Mike Rotkin said.

Special to the NNPA from Black Voice News (NNPA)—The California State Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is endorsing a ballot initiative for this November to legalize and tax recreational marijuana use. In addition, a recent poll suggests that Californians support the measure as well. NAACP State President Alice Huffman said the organization is backing the initiative, to counter marijuana arrest rates. She contends that it unfairly targets African Americans and other minorities. From a recently published article, Huffman states: “There is a strong racial component that must be considered when we investigate how...

This is disgusting. Or, is there a hidden meaning of which I'm unaware? Because I'm appalled at the message.

Julio Cesar Garcia, 20, of Grapevine, Texas, allegedly inhaled smoke from the bong and passed it to the toddler, who put his mouth on the end of the device and played with marijuana in the bowl, according to a witness.

MASSILLON, Ohio,- Police in Ohio say the fifth arrest of a "frequent flier" named Donald Duck on drunken driving charges is nothing to quack at. The Massillon Police Department said Donald Norman Duck, 51, who has four previous drunken driving convictions, was arrested Saturday after allegedly bumping another car at a drive-through Saturday, WJW-TV, Cleveland, reported Tuesday. Police said Duck's eyes were red and glassy and he smelled of alcohol when they arrived. Officers said a bag of marijuana fell out of the motorist's vehicle when he opened the door. "He's a frequent flier," Capt. Joe Herrick said. "He's got...

Walmart is being sued after an employee said he was wrongfully fired when he failed a drug test. Joseph Casias has a prescription for medical marijuana and says he uses it for pain from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor he has been suffering from for the past 10 years

You know something is changing in American mores when the supposed leader of the culture wars from the right, Sarah Palin, declares that smoking pot is “a minimal problem” and that “if somebody’s gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in.”

The empty glassine packets can be found in Manhattan, Brooklyn and beyond, scattered on streets and sidewalks with only obscure slogans or graphic images to suggest their former use. At one time they contained heroin and the markings stamped on the packets were meant to differentiate strains of varying purity or provenance. To some they are crime evidence. Addicts may see them mainly as a vehicle to fulfill a dangerous urge. For a group of artists who have been collecting them they are cultural artifacts that are equally unsettling and compelling. On Wednesday a weeklong show called “Heroin Stamp Project”...

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday night that law enforcement should not focus its energy on the “minimal problem” of marijuana. Palin made the comment during an appearance on the Fox Business Network with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The libertarian Paul said enforcing marijuana restrictions specifically and war on drugs more generally is a “useless battle,” a point Palin somewhat agreed with though she was clear that she does not support legalization. "If we're talking about pot, I'm not for the legalization of pot,” Palin said. “I think that would just encourage our young people to think that...

Come November, Californians will have the chance to legalize marijuana for the specific purpose of raising revenues via taxes. We all knew that it would be just a matter of time before the same individuals would get enough signatures to put the legalization of marijuana up for a vote by the California citizens. It is a bit ironic when you consider how militant the same individuals wanting marijuana legalized have gone on a witch hunt against tobacco products. The attack on the tobacco industry began over 50 years ago when the Surgeon General forced the tobacco company's to label...

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ― Fort Worth police Officer Wesley Lamb is accused of smoking marijuana while on duty and in uniform. Chief Jeff Halstead announced the arrest at a news conference Wednesday morning. 34-year-old Wesley Lamb was arrested Wednesday morning following a tip from a Fort Worth resident. He's accused of using and possessing marijuana while on duty. Halstead announced the arrest to a group of new police recruits Wednesday morning. He made it clear that this behavior will not be tolerated. Halstead also told the rookies that he has created a special team of investigators...

If there were a drug that would make you smarter, would you take it? Today an increasing number of healthy people are using drugs without a prescription as a way to improve their mental function. It's called neuroenhancement and if you want to find someone who's trying it out, just visit a college campus. That's where a surprising number of students are turning to drugs like Adderall and Ritalin, originally developed to treat attention disorders, to boost their brain power and help them make the grade

A science teacher beat a pupil around the head with a dumbbell while shouting "die, die, die", a court heard. Peter Harvey, 50, hit the 14-year-old boy with a 3kg weight at All Saints' Roman Catholic School, Mansfield, a jury heard. He denies attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, but has admitted a charge of GBH. Nottingham Crown Court was told students were filmed calling Mr Harvey a "psycho" moments before the attack. Another pupil was filming as Mr Harvey tried to restore discipline. The injured schoolboy, whom Mr Harvey confronted for misbehaving in class, suffered...

If the idea is to create a drug-free America, then we can safely say that after hundreds of billions of dollars spent, millions of arrests, and decades of escalating police and military efforts, the war on drugs is a complete failure. The reason is clear if you think about it. The attempt to use government force and central planning -- violence and socialism, essentially -- to effectively mold society by preventing people on an individual basis from growing, producing, transferring, and ingesting drugs of their choice, is a ridiculous fantasy and always has been. There will forever be ways to...

Decades ago comedy partners Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong got audiences high on laughter with their stoner-inspired stand-ups, so it's no surprise that the pot-stirring duo are particularly buzzed these days about getting the drug legalized. "It is going to be legalized, I’m going to be conservative here and say it will be legalized nationally in the next three years," Cheech assured Pop Tarts. "The writing is on the wall." His counterpart is predicting four years for legalization to come into play across the entire USA and blames the "right wing media" and "propaganda" for making people fearful of...

So Jason Levin is the total moron who put together the “Crash the Tea Party” web site. Levin is not your garden variety moron though. I mean it takes a pretty impressive level of idiocy to attempt to covertly infiltrate the biggest and most widely covered political movement in the country at the moment using a publicly available web site to provide details and solicit support for your plan. This idea is so completely idiotic that when I first heard about it I figured Levin would turn out to be an internet marketer and that this was really just a...

In Providence, RI three cops are among those arrested after a four-month investigation into an alleged drug trafficking ring, and one of the cops -- Sgt. Stephen T. Gonsalves -- is "a former driver for Mayor David N. Cicilline and husband of the mayor's executive assistant" Xiomara Gonsalves as reported by Thomas J. Morgan and Richard C. Dujardin for The Providence Journal. The other two cops are Detective Sgt. Joseph A. Colanduano, "a narcotics detective assigned to the Narcotics and Organized Crime Bureau" who has been "charged with conspiracy to deliver cocaine and compounding and concealing a felony, and larceny...

Teens are getting high on an emerging drug called "fake weed," a concoction also known as K2 and "spice" that is also causing hallucinations, vomiting, agitation and other dangerous effects. In the last month, Dr. Anthony Scalzo, a professor of toxicology at Saint Louis University, has seen nearly 30 cases of teenagers experiencing these adverse effects after smoking the fake weed, a legal substance that reportedly offers a marijuana-like high.

SALISBURY -- When Sarah Leach opened the box UPS had delivered, she fully expected to find a new computer she'd ordered. Instead, she says, she found packing peanuts and something that was clearly not a laptop -- several shrink-wrapped packages full of thousands of dollars worth of drugs. Leach called police immediately. She was so frightened she waited for them to arrive on her front stoop.

In December I had a great discussion with my friend Mary Grabar about marijuana legalization, the role of government, and the counterculture. The debate, collected and republished at FrontPage, can be read here and here. One of NRB’s friends, Donald Douglas who blogs at American Power, took note of the debate at the time and cautiously took Mary’s side. Now Donald was kind enough to alert me to a post he’s written today about heroin dealers in California. Donald’s point: if marijuana legalization is allowed (and it practically is in California — all you need is a doctor’s note) then...

Myrtle Beach police are searching for a man who stole three boxes of male enhancement drugs from an area pharmacy, according to a police report. An employee of CVS at 512 South Kings Highway told police that about 10 a.m. Tuesday a man came into the store and acted suspiciously as he walked through the store, police said. The man left without purchasing anything and the employee went to where he last saw the man and found three empty boxes of Extenze each valued at $41.99 hidden behind some candy, according a police report.

Carlos Laurel, 31, and Andre "Sug" Hardy, 39, of Lincoln Street, face eight charges related to cocaine trafficking. Police arrested Laurel and Hardy after they showed up at a Kingston residence and allegedly delivered 50 bags of cocaine to the unidentified occupant Tuesday at about 5:53 p.m. Police estimate street value of the cocaine was $2,500. Hardy, who is on federal parole for previous cocaine distribution charges, also had 10 bags of marijuana hidden in his waistband, cash and a cell phone. Laurel is on Luzerne County probation until 2013 and has been previously arrested on drug-related charges, according to...