Free Republic

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.