Free Republic

Reaction to the news about Jeff Cogen's alleged pot and cocaine use runs the gamut from outrage to a lack of concern best summarized as, as long as he got his work done. /snip/ Recent polls show most Americans think pot should be legal, and many states including Oregon are taking steps in that direction. But what does that mean for public officials? Should public officials be allowed to smoke pot while holding office? Is cocaine a different matter? Take our reader poll to weigh in.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An Agoura Hills family is raising awareness about the dangers of heroin addiction among teens. The Isaac family is opening up about the drug that brought their 19-year-old son’s life to an end on Aug. 21, when he was found dead from a drug overdose. “The face of heroin has changed,” Rick Isaac told CBS2′s Serene Branson when recalling his late son, Josh. The Agoura Hills High School graduate grew up in a loving home, involved in baseball, basketball, soccer and skateboarding. Rick and Joyce Isaac now say they’ve learned a painful truth — heroin doesn’t...

A proposal to impose hefty taxes on recreational marijuana, whose use was okayed by Colorado voters in last year’s election, was an easy sell in the state Tuesday. About two-thirds of those casting ballots approved a 15 percent excise tax plus a 10 percent sales tax on pot sales that begin next year. The taxes are projected to bring in $70 million a year. The money will be used for school construction and regulating pot sales. … Also in Colorado, ten rural counties refused to approve secession from the state in an effort to form a 51st state called North...

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP -- A 2-year-old with epilepsy is now receiving medical marijuana in New Jersey after her parents' months-long push to get her the drug they believe will help treat her.

For marijuana advocates, the last 12 months have been a period of unprecedented success as Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana. And now for the first time, a clear majority of Americans (58%) say the drug should be legalized. This is in sharp contrast to the time Gallup first asked the question in 1969, when only 12% favored legalization. Public support for legalization more than doubled in the 1970s, growing to 28%. It then plateaued during the 1980s and 1990s before inching steadily higher since 2000, reaching 50% in 2011. A sizable percentage...

When it comes to altered states of consciousness, humans are nothing if not inventive. A number of new synthetic drugs, opiate painkillers and other substances have emerged recently as increasingly popular among partygoers and drug addicts. And some of these substances are alarming health experts and law enforcement officials. Here's a look at five of the most potent of these street drugs. SNIP 2C-P A little-known synthetic hallucinogen with only a brief history of use, 2C-P is reportedly a long-lasting and very potent drug. Its intense psychedelic effects don't begin until a few hours after a person takes it, but...

The Obama administration is facing criticism over its attempt to straddle the federal law that makes marijuana illegal and state laws that permit recreational use of the drug. In the first congressional hearing since the administration announced a new, permissive enforcement policy, law enforcement and drug-prevention groups and their congressional allies see an opportunity to push back. The administration's Aug. 29 announcement allows the two states where recreational marijuana use has been legalized — Colorado and Washington — to go their own way without federal interference as long as they implement strong enforcement systems. "We are at a precipice," said...

Outrage as toy company creates 'crystal meth lab' for children with Breaking Bad play sets • 500-part set has all the drugs paraphernalia used in hit American series • Lego refused to sanction or endorse the toy, which was made by independent company Citizen Brick • Twitter users blasted £160 toy as an inappropriate plaything Children can now build their own drug dens with a shocking new play kit inspired by TV show Breaking Bad. The sell-out £160 kit, branded 'SuperLab', lets any child or adult recreate Walter White's notorious crystal meth lab. Complete with protective masks, drug paraphernalia, figurines...

Normally when the police show up it means the party's over. But police officers in Seattle will be adding to the fun this weekend by providing snacks at an marijuana festival. Seattle Police Department's spokesman, Sergeant Sean Whitcomb, said the department intends to use the opportunity to spread the word about new marijuana laws, by attaching a summarized version to bags of Doritos. The law came into effect in 2012, and allows anyone to legally possess up to an ounce of recreational marijuana. But police are worried people still aren't clear enough on the rules. So, with the help of...

GULFPORT - No charges will be pressed against the 64-year-old man who was driving a Pinellas County School Bus while a 13-year-old student was brutally attacked by three bigger teens on July 9. The bus driver, John Moody, made a radio call for assistance when three 15-year-old boys kicked and stomped on a smaller 13-year-old boy, but the Gulfport Police Chief Robert Vincent questioned whether Moody did enough. Investigators determined that before the fight on the bus, the victim had encountered the one of the older boys inside a school restroom at Lealman Intermediate School. The suspect tried to sell...

A Lake County property where two men allegedly kept a Los Angeles-area girl in a metal box and sexually abused her had been under federal investigation for the previous 18 months, court documents said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had been investigating a 680-acre property in a remote section of Lakeport since December 2011.

The doctor who performed Trayvon Martin's autopsy says he has changed his opinion in recent weeks on two matters related to the teen's death. Dr. Shiping Bao on Friday said he had changed his opinion about how long Martin was alive after being shot and the effect of marijuana detected in Martin's body at the time of his death. The associate medical examiner said last November that he believed Martin was alive one to three minutes. But he testified Friday it was one to 10 minutes. He also said Friday that marijuana could have affected Martin physically or mentally, even...

The government’s star witness in the George Zimmerman prosecution is a 19-year-old Miami woman who has used her Twitter account to occasionally comment about the murder case and this week tweeted followers a photo of her new manicure with the caption “Court nails.” Rachel Jeantel is expected to soon testify about a phone conversation she had with Trayvon Martin moments before the unarmed teenager was shot to death by Zimmerman onFebruary 26, 2012. Pictured at right, Jeantel, who has been referred to as Martin’s girlfriend, has not been fully identified in advance of her testimony. She has only been referred...

Police say actress Amanda Bynes has been arrested in midtown Manhattan after she heaved a marijuana bong out of a window. It happened at an apartment building on West 47th Street at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday. Police say a building official called police to complain that Bynes was smoking marijuana and rolling a joint in the building's lobby

A list of rappers and stars, including Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Kim Kardashian, and many more, have written an open letter to President Obama to ask that he ease the nation's drug policy. They also ask that prison policy be changed, too. "During your presidency you have made important steps and you now have the opportunity to leave a legacy by transforming our criminal justice system to an intervention and rehabilitation based model. Many of those impacted by the prison industrial complex are among your most loyal constituents," they write. "Your struggles as the child of...

"...and the county's conservative lawmakers have been passing silly-season unconstitutionalities, like a law prohibiting a man from being naked in the presence of a child..."

Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush could have "conceivably been put in jail” for their drug use, ruining their lives and impacting their getting elected to office. "Look, the last two presidents could have conceivably been put in jail for their drug use and I really think - look what would've happened, it would've ruined their lives. They got lucky. But a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don't get lucky and they don't have good attorneys and they go to jail for some of these things and...

To the list of liberals who vote for higher taxes -- and then proceed to complain about them -- add comedian Bill Maher. Incredibly, the caustic, left-wing Maher recently warned, "ln California, I just want to say: Liberals -- you could actually lose me." As a resident of California, a state with high income taxes, Maher complained that his taxes are "over 50 percent." What's more, Maher made a point seldom heard except on Fox News or by a rich Parisian. Maher said, "Rich people ... actually do pay the freight in this country ... like 70 percent" of the...

Students have come out in support of a teacher who was suspended from her job after she posted half-naked photos of herself on Twitter and joked about teenager being 'jail bait'. Carly McKinney, a math teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday after admitting to a local TV station that she created the Twitter account with the help of a friend. Since then a campaign using the hashtag #freecrunkbear has started on Twitter to have her reinstated. Support: Students have backed Carly McKinney who was suspended from her job after she...