Free Republic

Fireworks won’t be the only thing flying high over the Capitol during the Fourth of July celebration. An American flag made of hemp, a non-psychoactive variant of marijuana, will be flown over the Capitol on July 4 for one day. Industrial hemp–which is considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be a Schedule I substance along with ecstasy and heroin–is a type of cannabis plant that cannot legally be grown in the U.S. but is legally imported and used in hundreds of products ranging from rope to clothing.

Vet Wants to Legalize Pot for Dogs Polls show the majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, but should dogs have it too? It sounds crackpot, but Veterinarian Doug Kramer thinks that the THC in marijuana could help dogs and other pets with painful conditions that don't respond to other treatments. VICE chatted with Kramer about his pot-for-pets campaign. "A client first brought it to my attention," Kramer told VICE. "She had a pet that was not responding well to any of the pain medications or the steroids that we were giving it, and she wanted to talk about getting medical...

Around 30,000 Dutch households are to receive marijuana-scented scratch cards in a bid to uncover illegal urban cannabis plantations. Authorities in Rotterdam and The Hague say they are distributing the cards to help people recognise what cannabis smells like. The cards also include a number to call to report suspected marijuana-growing. Dutch authorities turn a blind eye to citizens growing up to five marijuana plants for personal use.

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.

Deborah Dark, 45, didn't know she was convicted on drug charges in France. (July 27) -- Deborah Dark, 45, has been a fugitive in France for 20 years -- without knowing it. The grandmother from London has lost her job and gone into debt after discovering her criminal status when she attempted to travel internationally and landed in police custody. When Dark was 24 in 1988, she was stopped at a French border while on her way home from a vacation in Spain. Agents searched her car and uncovered cannabis under the floor and in the sunroof, reported The Times...

Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy - almost impenetrable forests of 10-feet-high marijuana plants. General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said on Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armoured car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana. "The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices ... and as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those...

A new study has found that cannabis use by pregnant women has a significant negative effect on their babies' health. The study was carried out by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. In what it describes as the largest study of its kind, the research centre analysed more than 400,000 live births over a five-year period, studying the effects of cannabis, opiods and stimulants, on the developing foetus. Dr Lucy Burns says it showed that cannabis smoking had a major effect. "Cannabis use seemed to have quite a significant impact on the baby in terms of the baby's weight...

he government's decision that cannabis should remain a Class C drug came as it accepted it could trigger serious mental illness. Here, one father tells the traumatic story of how cannabis turned his bright and promising teenage son into a wreck. My son James was always a popular teenager. He had masses of friends, was good at sport, and was also intelligent and handsome. Like many boys in their teens, he was constantly going out to meet friends, arrange football or cricket games or see his long-term girlfriend. He'd done well at school with 10 GCSEs and three A-levels, and...

Nov. 6, 2003 -- The pain and muscle stiffness of multiple sclerosis may subside when patients take a pill containing the active ingredient found in marijuana, a new study shows. But spasticity may not improve, even though patients may think otherwise. The study, conducted in Great Britain, looks at this connection -- a study triggered by numerous reports from patients who have had success. It appears in this week's issue of The Lancet. "Our aim was to test that notion," writes lead researcher John Zajicek, PhD, with the University of Plymouth. The available therapies for multiple sclerosis often are inadequate...

Thousands of people are marching in cities across the UK to mark Cannabis Liberation Day. The Million Marijuana March is a worldwide event involving people taking to the streets in nearly 200 cities across the globe. According to the organisation's website, marches are taking place in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Hull, Sheffield and Stafford. In London the march, entitled Dance on the Grave of Cannabis Prohibition, will go from Kennington Park to Brockwell Park, in south London, where a festival is being held featuring live music, a speakers tent and food stalls. Across the world marches are taking place...