Free Republic

Cannabis users soon may be a majority among young adults in the District of Columbia and several pot-friendly states, a trend that points to a potential future of destigmatized marijuana across much of the nation. More than two-fifths of young men and women nationwide now use cannabis at least on occasion, according to federal data, a quotient that has risen steadily in a decade of relentless legalization. Much of the trend is driven by young women, who have all but closed a decades-long gender gap in marijuana use.

Detectives said doctors told them there was a high level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in his system. They believe the 4-year-old boy ate a large number of THC gummies. The attending doctor at the hospital said if someone intervened shortly after the boy ate them, his death could have been prevented. The Sheriff’s Office said statements Clements made to detectives didn’t match evidence they found in the home.

Next year, Circle K gas stations will give new meaning to the term “highway.” Circle K has partnered with multi-state cannabis operator Green Thumb Industries to sell legal cannabis at Circle K gas stations in the state of Florida. The collaboration marks the first time cannabis will be sold at a gas station. It also comes after President Joe Biden said he is starting action to decriminalize the drug. Marijuana had previously only been sold legally in dispensaries in the United States. Marijuana has also been sold at pharmacies in other countries with legal cannabis programs. Marijuana sales are expected...

‘By extending a pardon to these individuals, you would enable them an opportunity to begin a new chapter of their lives.’ Less than a day after President Joe Biden announced his administration was pardoning all Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana, Democratic Miami Gardens Sen. Shervin Jones is asking Florida’s chief executive to do the same. On Friday, Jones called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to extend “a similar policy” for all Florida citizens with prior convictions of simple possession of marijuana — having a small quantity of the drug for personal consumption. “As you may know, the majority of...

As drug legalization groups and the cannabis industry lobby to legalize cannabis across the United States, with initiatives to legalize marijuana on the November ballot in five more states, many experts warn this will only increase the physical and mental harm from the unregulated, high-potency cannabis. President of the American Board of Pain Medicine and a vice president of the International Academy on the Science and Impacts of Cannabis, Dr. Ken Finn, said high potency cannabis use is being linked to poisonings in young children, as well as psychosis and schizophrenia in an increasing number of regular users. “A lot...

At sunset from atop Haystack Butte, the desert floor below shimmers with a thousand lights Illegal cannabis farms. At this hour and distance, serene hues cloak the rugged enclave of Mount Shasta Vista, a tense collective of seasonal camps guarded by guns and dogs where the daily runs of water trucks are interrupted by police raids, armed robberies and, sometimes, death. So many hoop houses pack this valley near the Oregon border that last year it had the capacity to supply half of California’s entire legal cannabis market

Liz Truss has been made Prime Minister of Britain. This was expected, but also the darkest day possible for Britain. Previously, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had backed Liz Truss’ view that Russian forces must be pushed out of “the whole of Ukraine” – and suggested this should include Crimea. Even the Guardian at the time had accused Liz Truss’ position was “recklessly inflaming Ukraine’s war to serve her own ambition.” Meanwhile, in Russia, this was playing out on TV endorsing World War III. Everything that can possibly point to war is unfolding before our eyes. There are no peacemakers...

Washington (AFP) – Marijuana use by young Americans reached record levels last year and the use of hallucinogens is also on the rise, according to a new study. Forty-three percent of the 5,000 young adults between 19 and 30 years old surveyed reported past-year marijuana use in 2021, up from 34 percent in 2016 and 29 percent in 2011, the Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan found. Twenty-nine percent reported using marijuana in the past month in 2021, up from 21 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2011. Daily marijuana use rose from six percent in...

A 31-year-old man was making dinner Monday evening when he suddenly grabbed a knife and stabbed four people inside a York County home, killing his girlfriend and a child, Pennsylvania State Police said. Keith Kretzer, of Edgewood, Maryland, is being held in York County Prison on two counts of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide in connection to the quadruple stabbing on the first block of Firebox Court in Hopewell Township. He was arraigned Tuesday morning. An affidavit of probable cause filed by state police said this is what happened: Kretzer was in the basement with his girlfriend Christine...

In yet another report that illustrates the dangers pot poses to the young, developing brain, a new British study finds teenagers are much more likely than adults to develop an addiction to marijuana. "We found that teenagers are three and a half times more likely to have severe cannabis use disorder, which is essentially cannabis addiction," said lead researcher Will Lawn, a lecturer in addiction psychology with King's College London. "That's a very important harm which teenagers should be informed of." However, marijuana use did not appear to cause any other harms to the teenage brain, his team found. "Teenagers...

You don’t need to be a psychiatrist to know that the Highland Park shooter is sick in the head. His evil act is unfathomable, but he does fit a familiar pattern of mass killers: alienated young male stoners who appear to be in the grip of a distinctively American madness. Those who knew the 21-year-old suspect, Robert Crimo III, say he habitually smoked cannabis, a habit he appeared to share with young mass shooters, including at Uvalde, Dayton, Parkland and Aurora. Obviously weed didn’t make them commit their evil acts, but it may have scrambled their brains enough for empathy...

Sad. 25% of male Puffers going full schizo from the Wacky Weed. Explains a lot, really.

From the outside, the moms gathered in a Santa Monica living room could have been conferring about carpools, school boards or fundraisers.... The living room belongs to the author of that book, Wendy Brazill, and on a sunny April morning she invited fellow local moms Angie Stocker, Shonitria Anthony and Alyssa Wraylie over to talk not about homework or healthful snacks but about marijuana and motherhood. (Brazill has a blended family of six now-adult children with husband, comedy writer/director Chad Einbinder.) Brazill “absolutely” believes consuming cannabis made her better at being a mom. ***“I know it did,” Brazill, 57, said...

If you are not alarmed by what is happening to our largest cities, you should check to see if you still have a pulse. Once upon a time, the beautiful new cities that our forefathers constructed were the envy of the entire planet, but now many of them have degenerated into crime-infested hellholes that are absolutely teeming with violent predators. Shoplifting has essentially become a national pastime, open air drug markets operate freely right under the noses of indifferent authorities, and addicts pull down their pants and take a dump whenever and wherever they feel like doing so. Thanks to...

Indeed, research confirms people who use cannabis are four times more likely to develop chronic psychosis, or schizophrenia, compared to people who don’t. For people who smoke every day or use higher potency products, the risk is up to six times higher. One study found eliminating marijuana use in adolescents would reduce global rates of schizophrenia by 10%. Doctors and lawmakers in California want cannabis producers to warn consumers of this and other health risks on their package labels and in advertising, similar to requirements for cigarettes. They also want sellers to distribute health brochures to first-time customers outlining the...

Heavy marijuana use among youths is leading to more addiction and antisocial behavior. ... Mass shooters at Rep. Gibby Giffords’s constituent meeting in Tucson, Ariz. (2011), a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (2012), the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (2016), the First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (2017), and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. (2018), were reported to be marijuana users. It could be a coincidence, but increasing evidence suggests a connection. THC, the chemical that causes a euphoric high, interacts with the brain’s neuron receptors involved with pleasure. Marijuana nowadays on average is about four...

Yep, there it is, the first reference to cannabis use by Salvador Ramos, the Texas elementary school killer. In the New York Times. Took 24 hours, give or take. And Ms. Rodriguez recalled he would often talk about how much he despised his mother and grandmother, whom he told her did not let him smoke weed or do what he wanted.

Heavy regulation, high taxes, and local bans combined to cripple the legal cannabis industry, which accounts for just a third of the state's pot market.Six years after California legalized recreational marijuana, the black market still accounts for roughly two-thirds of the state's cannabis sales. Since legalization was supposed to eliminate the black market, that embarrassing situation represents a stark failure to fulfill the promise of Proposition 64, the 2016 ballot initiative that allowed recreational consumers to buy marijuana from state-licensed retailers. Regulatory costs, high taxes, and local bans on retailers are the main factors impeding the transition to a legal...

Democrats in Washington state are cracking down on marijuana — not the actual drug, the word itself. The Evergreen State legislature recently passed a bill banning the word “marijuana” from official state law and documents over concerns that it is “racist.” At the same time, to help increase diversity in the cannabis business, a taxpayer-funded task force has been spending the last two years focusing on helping minorities in Washington state break into the marijuana business. “The term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist,” Washington state Representative Melanie Morgan (D) said during testimony regarding the piece of legislation officially known...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Marijuana would be decriminalized at the federal level under legislation the House approved Friday as Democrats made the case for allowing states to set their own policies on pot. The bill is unlikely to become law since it is expected to die in the Senate. That would mirror what happened when a similar House-passed measure removing marijuana from the list of federally-controlled substances went nowhere in the Senate two years ago. Still, Friday’s vote gave lawmakers the chance to state their view on a decriminalization push that appears to have broad support with voters across the country....