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EL PASO - A judge has rejected a plea deal that would have resolved Willie Nelson's marijuana possession case in West Texas with a fine, saying the country singer shouldn't get what she considers special treatment. Nelson was arrested in November after a Border Patrol agent said 6 ounces of marijuana were found on Nelson's tour bus. Judge Becky Dean-Walker told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she rejected prosecutor Kit Bramblett's suggestion that Nelson resolve the case by pleading guilty and paying a $500 fine for possession of drug paraphernalia. Dean-Walker claims the prosecutor "doesn't do that for anybody...

Congressmen Ron Paul, Barney Frank and others will introduce legislature Thursday that aims to end a major part of the war on drugs -- namely the battle against marijuana. Reps. Paul (R-Texas) and Frank (D-Mass.), though technically on opposite sides of the aisle, have often spoken out against the war on drugs and will propose a bill "tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference," according to a statement from the Marijuana Policy Project via Reason. The bill would allow the individual states to decide how they want to...

Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois September 15, 1858 MR. DOUGLAS' SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr. Lincoln to divide time, and discuss with him the leading political topics that now agitate the country. Prior to 1854 this country was divided into two great political parties known as Whig and Democratic. These parties differed from each other on certain questions which were then deemed to be important to the best interests of the Republic. Whig and Democrats differed about a bank, the...

I hope that everyone that posted in my other thread will see this.(Any Lawn and Garden Folks Out There?) Other Post That thread was getting too long and I'm really not sure how to respond back to each and every person who tried to help me out!?According to Virginia Techs 'weed' department .. the weed .. as it turns out is: Black Medic. Again .. Thanks To All 8)

Am I the first 'dummy' to ever post something SO off topic and foreign to FReerepublic?There just aren't ANY forums (Regardless of topic) where folks respond as quickly as here!I have this stuff that just 'exploded' and is taking over my lawn and have No idea what it is called or What will do away with it!?Some answers that I have received from elsewhere are: shotweed, bittercress and clover.Sure hope there's a weed expert around?Thanks Everyone.

PROVIDENCE — House Republican Leader Robert Watson, the trenchant and bitingly acerbic leader of the tiny GOP bloc in the overwhelmingly Democratic House of Representatives in Rhode Island, is facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana possession after a random stop by Connecticut police as he was driving his pickup truck through a checkpoint in East Haven, Conn., Friday night. A police report said his eyes were “extremely glassy and bloodshot,” his speech slurred, and he had difficulty performing a series of sobriety tests. After handcuffing Watson and placing him under arrest, the arresting police officer...

A young Tauranga man wants "legal weed" banned, claiming an addiction to it drove him to steal and left him riddled with anxiety. Student Robert Moore, 23, (pictured) says he smoked up to $80 of Kronic each day and claims the marijuana alternative has had damaging psychological and physical effects on him. But Kronic has rejected the claims, saying its products are not addictive and are harmless unless used irresponsibly. The R18 synthetic cannabinoid is made from a mixture of dried herbs and is available at about 20 outlets across the Western Bay. The product usually contains the 1,1-dimethyloctyl homologue...

DISCOVERY BAY (KCBS) – Boaters and swimmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are finally getting some help from the state in removing a non-native plant that is flourishing uncontrollably. The plant is called Egeria Densa, or Brazilian Waterweed. The South American aquarium plant is notorious for being almost impossible to eradicate. The problem is especially noticeable near Discovery Bay. ”There might not even be any room for boaters to navigate because it’s so thick,” said Gloria Sandoval of the California Department of Boating and Waterways. “And for swimmers, their feet could get tangled in the weeds.” Starting next month,...

A man apparently was robbed Thursday night while trying to sell his medical marijuana to two teenagers... The suspects asked if he had any marijuana and the victim, who is a medical marijuana patient, offered to sell them some. The three went behind a business where one of the boys pulled out a gun, demanding all the marijuana. The victim pulled out his knife and stabbed one of the suspects in the leg. They attacked him, took the pot and ran. “I think he got his justice,” said Colorado Springs police spokesman Lt. Kirk Wilson, noting that the victim had...

It would be easy to assume that all new entrants into the industry are coming to it in bad faith. Not so, I learn from my classmates back at school. There are guys like Bob Nead, a cable-contractor from Ohio who admits he smokes about a quarter of an ounce a week for his shot knee, as he prefers that to popping Vicodin—it helps him sleep. He wants to become a caregiver to his terminally ill aunt and to provide a better living for his two children. But, he says, after he gets certified, he’s not giving any to friends,...

GREECE, N.Y. -- One of three suspects in a triple slaying at an apartment complex near Rochester was charged with first-degree murder Friday, a day after pleading not guilty to helping distribute at least 2,200 pounds of marijuana in western New York. The suspects, all three Jamaican natives, were tracked to a house in Arizona on March 18, nine days after three other Jamaican men were found shot to death in an apartment in the Rochester suburb of Greece.On Friday, Richard Anderson, 45, an illegal immigrant who had twice been deported to his home country, pleaded not guilty at an...

SULLIVAN, Ind. (WISH) - DNR officers arrested couple camping in a western Indiana park Monday afternoon after finding them in possession of 20 pounds of pot. Officers were originally called to the campsite to split up a fight between the two. Police arrested 27-year-old Justin Adams and 25-year-old Megan Nelson of Terre Haute...

Marijuana is causing America to be more and more dysfunctional. Its time we recognize that we have a problem. Educational info on marijuana

A man busted for growing marijuana in Trousdale County said he was helping the country fight terrorism. Authorities found 283 plants at a home on Middlefork Road last week. They have not released the suspect's name, but the sheriff said the man told him he had seen former President George W. Bush once say that people who buy drugs off the street were supporting terrorism, so he decided to grow his own.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- As Bob Marley music wailed in the next room, the makeshift clinic hummed along like an assembly line: Patients went in to see a doctor, paid $150 and walked out with a recommendation that they be allowed to buy and smoke medical marijuana. So it went, all day, at a hotel just blocks from the state Capitol that was the latest stop of the so-called cannabis caravan, a band of doctors and medical marijuana advocates roaming Montana that has helped thousands of patients apply for medical marijuana cards from the state.

NEW PORT RICHEY — When a Pasco sheriff's deputy approached the window of Samuel Collins' Honda Del Sol about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Collins had a baggy of marijuana in his mouth, the deputy reported. But that was just the appetizer. To swallow the baggy, Collins, 28, grabbed a double cheeseburger with both hands and began "shoving the burger into his mouth," according to the report. The deputy, who stopped Collins off U.S. 19 and State Road 54 after seeing a McDonald's bag fly out his window, yelled for Collins to spit it out. Yet Collins continued to chew and swallow,...

EAST HAMPTON - A 27-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor and reckless endangerment after two toddlers were found wandering around town in just their diapers, police said. Police found two boys, ages 2 and 3, close to Flatbrook Road in a wooded area near a stream. Police said the boys were outside for about an hour. When their mohter, Julie Root, showed up to the scene, she appeared to be under the influence of prescription pain medications, police said.

Supporters of the initiative collected well more than the 433,971 signatures needed for it to go before voters in the fall, again putting the state at the forefront of the nation's drug debate. An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation's debate over whether to soften drug laws. [Snip] With polls showing that a slim majority of voters support legalization, the legalization campaign will be...

In December I had a great discussion with my friend Mary Grabar about marijuana legalization, the role of government, and the counterculture. The debate, collected and republished at FrontPage, can be read here and here. One of NRB’s friends, Donald Douglas who blogs at American Power, took note of the debate at the time and cautiously took Mary’s side. Now Donald was kind enough to alert me to a post he’s written today about heroin dealers in California. Donald’s point: if marijuana legalization is allowed (and it practically is in California — all you need is a doctor’s note) then...

Um, you've got the wrong state, Boss. Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen made an onstage geography goof Friday when he bellowed "Hello, Ohio!" to adoring fans at the Auburn Hills Palace -- in Michigan. The "Born in the USA" crooner referred to the neighboring state several times before trusty E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt whispered their actual location into his ear.