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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn't legalize it for recreational use. The proposal would move marijuana from the “Schedule I” group to the less tightly regulated “Schedule III."... ...The proposal must be reviewed by... a potentially lengthy process... ...Schedule I put it on par, legally, with heroin, LSD, quaaludes and ecstasy, among others... Schedule III drugs — which include ketamine, anabolic steroids and some acetaminophen-codeine combinations — are still controlled substances... ...this move from Schedule I to Schedule...

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and funded by the National Institutes of Health found that those who smoke weed daily are at a significantly higher risk of suffering heart attack and stroke than those who don’t. “We know that toxins are released when cannabis is burned, similar to those found in tobacco smoke,” said Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and former researcher at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, where the study was based. “We’ve known for a long...

Chinese gangs have set up thousands of illicit weed farms across the US as they begin to challenge Mexican cartels for supremacy as America's cannabis kingpins. Authorities in Oklahoma, Oregon, California, New Mexico and Maine have all been battling a surge in Chinese weed farms, with some thought to be linked to criminal gangs known as 'triads'. The spread is seemingly uncontainable, with police in Penobscot County, Maine, last week arresting three Chinese nationals at a weed farm and seizing 40 pounds of the drug alongside $4,700 in cash. It is thought to be one of around 270 illegal weed...

George Santayana famously wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Leftist policies daily show his wisdom. The latest leftist policy to go down in flames is Oregon’s experiment with legalizing all drugs. It turns out that when you give people license to sin, and also delete all moral constraints, they’ll sin themselves to death. Now, Oregon’s very leftist governor, Tina Kotek, is walking back the policy, having declared a state of emergency over fentanyl drug overdoses. The Founding Fathers never forgot the past. Indeed, they were imbued with it. One example of that wisdom was...

A nationwide social experiment launched by a wave of marijuana legalizations is finally bearing results in the form of higher depression rates and addiction. It started in 2012 in Colorado and Washington, setting off a domino effect that has seen restrictions lifted across nearly 40 states, including 23 where it's legal to use marijuana recreationally. The Biden administration now aims to demote the drug from its schedule I status, which lumped it in with heroin and LSD, to schedule III, the first step toward total decriminalization at a federal level. Marijuana has been lauded for its purported benefits for pain...

It's possible marijuana use changes how blood clots or affects peripheral vascular tone, a recent study suggested. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI It's possible marijuana use changes how blood clots or affects peripheral vascular tone, a recent study suggested. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo Smoking cigarettes has long been linked to peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition where the buildup of plaque narrows arteries and limits blood flow to the legs or arms. Now, a new study suggests that marijuana may have a similar impact, after finding that users had three times the risk of developing PAD....

The Big Apple is now the Big Blunt. Not just because decriminalized marijuana led to proliferating mayhem in the five boroughs. Not just because stinky smoke hangs everywhere, seeping into subway cars and even Broadway theaters — the acrid odor I detected in the crowded men’s room of the Majestic Theatre a few weeks ago was not from “The Phantom of the Opera” smoke machine. It’s also because of a forbidden-to-utter truth, in an age where raising the minimum wage ever higher has become mantra — namely, a license to get high has turned service employees into zombies.

A 22-year-old content creator and model is getting real about withdrawal symptoms she said she’s experienced since she stopped smoking marijuana two months ago. Suede Brooks from Las Vegas made a viral TikTok on Sunday in which she claimed to have gone through a pound of weed every three months while smoking every day for nine years. “Thought I would open up a bit,” she captioned the clip, which has sparked over 2.3 million views. “For the longest time, I never thought I had a problem with it until I realized the amount of money that I was spending …...

The number of seniors visiting emergency rooms in California for cannabis-related issues is growing, according to new research. From 2005 to 2019, the state’s emergency departments saw a 1,808 percent relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips among those aged 65 and older. Cannabis is currently legal for both medicinal and recreational use in California. The state became the first in the country to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, while the substance was not approved for recreational use there until November 2016. The study found that cannabis-related emergency department visits in California rose sharply among seniors from 2013 to...

Contrary to political rhetoric, Mexican-style cartel killings and gun battles appear to have already reached the U.S. and are spreading — particularly in California. The region experienced an explosive growth of cartel marijuana grow operations that are taking advantage of legalization and lax laws. This week, federal authorities clashed with one of two gunmen who are accused of killing a family of six — including a 16-year-old female and her baby. The murders took place last month in Tulare County, California, in what some authorities have dubbed a cartel killing.

Seven years ago, Business Insider published, “14 reasons why Denver is the best place to live in America.” They recommended everyone consider Denver as “your next hometown” citing a strong job market, low unemployment, great restaurants, and practical perks such as a low crime rate and good schools. That was then. How is Denver doing now as “trendy and desirable”? In answering that question, the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle published, “Denver becoming America’s crime capital.” That’s quite the turnaround in less than a decade, especially when we think of New York City, Baltimore, or Philadelphia as America’s crime capitals. In...

People who used marijuana daily were found to be about one-third more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) compared with people who have never used the drug, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology. As cannabis becomes legal in an increasing number of U.S. states, this study is among the largest and most comprehensive to date to examine the potential long-term cardiovascular implications of using the drug. CAD is the most common form of heart disease and occurs when the arteries that supply blood to...

I was surprised to learn something recently about the topic of this thread.A friend of mine reported that he tried some locally bought (at a smoke shop) delta 8 gummies. Though delta 8 is a supposedly milder form with delta 9 being the regular, stronger stuff, my friend reported to me that, after 1 gummie (100mg), he was too stoned to drive (he was at home though). This guy also said he hasn't smoked a joint in many years and never takes even over-the-counter drugs unless his doctor insists. He said he ate this gummie more as a lark than...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marijuana will soon be legal in Missouri after voters passed Amendment 3 during Tuesday's midterm election, according to a projection from NBC News. After implementation, people in Missouri age 21 and older will be legally allowed to buy and possess up to three ounces of marijuana and grow as many as six flowering plants at home. Possession limits for medical marijuana card-holders will be even higher. The lingering question: How soon will this go into effect? Missouri, which was slow to roll our medical marijuana after its passage in 2018, has until Feb. 7 to figure...

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.

Coming soon to a Texas town near you: a roving cannabis dispensary. The CannaBus has returned on its "Ride For Your Rights" tour, with a mission to let residents know how they can qualify for medical marijuana.

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.

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...

The U.S. Department of Justice told a Florida federal judge on Monday that the Sunshine State's medical marijuana patients had no Second Amendment right to possess firearms since they were breaking a federal law. The DOJ's brief was filed in response to a lawsuit brought by the commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and three Florida residents, who allege a federal rule barring medical marijuana patients from having guns is unconstitutional. In its motion to dismiss the case or secure a favorable judgment, the government countered that the policies being challenged by the lawsuit only apply...