Free Republic

A Chinese national living in the Guangdong Province, China, became the proud owner of a “fixer upper” in Penobscot County in February thanks, in part, to title transfer services provided by Paul H. Mills, the eldest brother of Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D). Xiling Ou, 44, of Malden, Mass., was the original owner of the ramshackle house and its three-bay garage, along with nine-acres of land, located at 51 Cider Hill in Corinna. But 13 days after the Penobscot Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security agents raided an illegal marijuana grow just five miles away, she gifted the property to her...

After decades of public debate and lengthy deliberations in parliament, adults in Germany will legally be able to smoke weed on the street beginning on April 1. That became possible after the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, gave a law partially legalizing cannabis the green light on Friday, and decided not to send the legislation to a mediation committee. It had been passed by the lower house last month. After years of cannabis policy that had led to unnecessary deaths and a growing black market, the new law was designed to "close Pandora's box," Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said....

“Nobody” should go to jail for “smoking weed,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday, despite having prosecuted nearly 2,000 cases of marijuana possession, cultivation, or sale as California’s attorney general. Harris’s public flip-flop is likely due to the politics of a difficult reelection campaign in which the Biden-Harris ticket is losing to former President Donald Trump in 75 percent of 2024 swing states, polling shows. Harris condemned prosecuting those who smoke flowers while speaking at a roundtable event about cannabis reform with musician Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

New medical research in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that 11% of high school seniors admit to using a prevalent and easily accessible synthetic marijuana, known as delta-8 THC. That number translates to “at least one or two students in every average-sized high school class,” according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A lack of federal regulation means there’s no age restriction on the over-the-counter product, found readily in gas stations, online and in convenience stores in many states — leaving experts worried.

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...

After states legalize the sale of weed for recreational use, on-the-job injuries rise among younger workers, new research shows. U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for 2006 through 2020 show that legal "recreational marijuana sales were associated with a 10% increase in workplace injuries among individuals aged 20 to 34 years," the study authors concluded. They note that prior research involving older workers did not show this effect. In fact, older workers' injury rates typically decline after recreational weed is made legal in their state, perhaps because older folk are only using their marijuana to ease pain. In contrast, the rise...

A Pennsylvania man decapitated his 68 year-old federal government employee dad - then held up the victim's head for a YouTube video blasting the Biden administration. Justin Mohn, 32, beheaded his father Michael at their $390,000 home in Middleton Township, Pennsylvania then displayed the head during a rant blaming the federal government for 'woke mobs' and migrants he claims are destroying the United States. The appalling 14 minute clip - which remained on YouTube for six hours after it was posted - sees Mohn hold up his father's head in a bloodied plastic bag. He says: 'This is the head...

A California woman who stabbed a man she was dating 100 times and killed him, before turning the knife on herself and her dog, has been handed 100 hours of community service. Bryn Spejcher, 32, was given the astonishingly low sentence following psychiatrists' ruling that the tragedy was '100 percent' caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking two hits of the victim's bong. The judge ruled that Spejcher 'experienced a psychotic break from reality' and 'had no control over her actions' when she killed Chad O'Melia, then 26, on Memorial Day weekend 2018. She will spend the 100...

Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) say they have identified key neurons in the brain that are behind an appetite-inducing phenomenon familiar to cannabis users called the munchies. Previous research found a link between cannabis use and increased activity in the hypothalamus, which, among other things, regulates appetite. The new research study takes those studies even further by identifying typically dormant appetite-increasing neurons within the same brain region, which become activated after cannabis use. The researchers behind the finding believe their work can not only aid sufferers of anorexia and other eating disorders, but may also pave the way toward...

PORTLAND, Maine — Illegal marijuana grows run by Chinese nationals have sprung up all across the state of Maine, and residents say law enforcement isn’t doing enough to stop their spread. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified 270 suspected Chinese illegal marijuana grow operations in the state that could be making an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue, which are often used for more criminal activities or are sent back to China, the DCNF exclusively reported in August.

Just in case you're feeling too cheerful, here are ten more statistics to make you consider emigrating to Mars: 1. Paul Bond quotes a poll by the Barna Group: "Nearly 40 Percent of U.S. Gen Zs, 30 Percent of Young Christians Identify as LGBTQ, Poll Shows." (The Gallup Poll shows considerably less SNIP 2. We read in Breitbart that a poll shows that a majority of Americans aged 18-24 say the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians was ‘justified.’ SNIP 3. A friend of mine moved to Arizona years ago to escape New York taxes. Though that state is overly hot...

President Joe Biden took major action ahead of the holiday and pardoned all Americans arrested, prosecuted, or convicted on federal charges for marijuana use, following through on his 2020 campaign promise to expunge cannabis use offenses. Biden signed a proclamation Friday that forgives U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents caught by law enforcement for possessing the drug and charged, going far beyond the sweeping actions he took last year for thousands of people convicted of possession. The new action includes "additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law," the White House said in a...

Another reason why the 70's were the best.

Maine officials said they seized some 3,400 marijuana plants and 111 pounds of processed marijuana in June at a property in Carmel, Maine, identified as one of many unlicensed marijuana-growing operations in the state run by Chinese networks. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICECARMEL, Maine—An astronomical electricity bill was the first tipoff that something unusual was going on at a former chicken farm in this town of 3,000 people off Interstate 95.A Massachusetts-registered construction company had bought the 5.5-acre property in 2021. But instead of construction equipment moving in, a new power pole sprang up. Electricity use jumped to nearly...

This spring, rumors were swirling that HERBL, one of California’s largest cannabis distribution companies, was on the verge of collapse. So Mike Beaudry, the company’s CEO, sent out an email on May 18 declaring that “these rumors are categorically not true. HERBL continues to be fully operational.” Less than a month later, HERBL had completely collapsed. HERBL’s failure left a trail of damage that hurt small pot brands and shorted the state some $17 million in unpaid taxes. HERBL is only the latest high-flying California pot startup to crumble, following companies like Flow Kana, which raised $175 million in capital...

A woman who stabbed her boyfriend 100 times after inhaling marijuana sobbed in court, while clutching a picture of dog - which she also killed. Bryn Spejcher, 32, originally from Chicago, committed the horrific attack in May 2018, after taking two hits of her boyfriend's marijuana 'bong'. According to an expert witness, the violent act was a result of a 'psychotic episode' caused by the cannabis. 'Dog lover' Spejcher is said to have smoked pot just five to ten times in her life, according to testimony heard in the trial that started last week at the Superior Court of California....

Illegal Chinese marijuana grows have taken over much of rural Maine. The government is either incapable — or unwilling — to do anything about it. The Maine Wire has identified more than 100 properties that are part of a sprawling network of Chinese-owned sites operating as unlicensed, illicit cannabis growing operations in rural Maine. According to an unclassified memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obtained by the Maine Wire, the illicit grows are operated by Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). The properties cover Somerset County, Penobscot County, Kennebec County, Franklin County, Androscoggin County, and Oxford County. The...

Two new preliminary studies on recreational marijuana and health strengthen existing evidence that regular use negatively impacts heart and brain health, according to the American Heart Association.The first report, drawing on data from a major study involving more than 150,000 people from all walks of American society looking at the relationship between lifestyle, biology and environment, found daily use of marijuana raised the risk of developing heart failure by about one-third compared with non-users.A research team from Medstar Health, a not-for-profit health provider in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, found that among 156,999 healthy people it followed, those who used marijuana...

Marijuana, cannabis, pot, weed—call it what you will, the psychoactive drug is incredibly popular. This is especially true in the United States, where weed is big business. A staggering 16 percent of Americans—roughly 54 million—admit to smoking weed. In 2021, 13 percent said they smoked the drug.According to a recent Brightfield Group report, the annual revenue of the U.S. weed industry is estimated to reach $31.8 billion by the end of the year. By 2028, the industry is expected to be worth $50.7 billion. In New York City alone, legal marijuana appears set to become a $1.2 billion-a-year industryIn recent...

The heartbroken father of a six-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed to death by his landlord in a hate-crime fueled by the Hamas-Israel war has revealed that his brave son's final words were 'I'm fine.' Wadea Al-Fayoume, six, was killed on Sunday, allegedly by landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who was renting the family a room in his home in Plainfield, Illinois. The boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen, survived the attack and told police later how Czuba appeared at their door spouting hateful, anti-Muslim slurs. He tried to choke Shaheen, who fled inside and called 911, then produced a knife on the mother...