Free Republic

The missing American who’d traveled to Ukraine years ago to aid Russian separatists in Donbas was found dead in the country’s war-torn eastern region. The body of Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old U.S. Army vet, was recovered in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk Oblast, Reuters reported. -snip- The former pothead, who used “Texas” as his military call-sign, left behind a yoga instructor girlfriend to travel to Ukraine. He utilized crowdfunding sites to finance his trip, and had since become a Russian citizen. He also got married after moving to Ukraine, where he began working as a reporter for the state-owned Sputnik...

I do not advocate for pot, only for the individuals right to choose. I don't use it. It has an odor. It's bad for the lungs. I never got a euphoric "high" when I did try it. it's a nothingburger for me personally. I do have friends who partake (vets with PTSD). It is certainly less harmful than fentanyl, heroin and all of the other Schedule 1 drugs and never should have been classified as such. The only thing I can say in its defense is I hear that some of the nurses in rehab are supposedly pretty . ....

The 87-year-old self-described “frontman” for an elaborate Chinese-run drug trafficking organization active in rural Maine told the Maine Wire that he’s been living with a family of black market marijuana growers for nearly three years and helping them with electrical upgrades at facilities throughout the state. In exchange for his services, the immigrant family feeds him, provides some level of medical care, and takes him almost everywhere they go. That was just one of the stunning details revealed by J. Martin Vachon, a master electrician from Ellsworth, over the course of an hour-long phone interview — details that are confirmed...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis believes Democrats don't stand a chance in the Sunshine State going forward. This comes as reports indicate registered GOP voters now outpace Democrats by nearly 900,000. "You're talking about a million plus voter registration shift," DeSantis told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, claiming older numbers indicated Republicans were behind their Democratic adversaries by nearly 300,000 registered voters in 2018. "Part of that, I think, is a response locally where people are more likely to switch from Democrat to Republican in Florida, nonparty to Republican than vice-versa. That's been an important component of it, but I do think...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Governor Ron DeSantis is worried that if marijuana (pot) is legalized in Florida, the whole Sunshine State will smell like pot. “It’s basically a license to have it anywhere you want. No time, place, and manner restrictions. This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns, it will reduce the quality of life,” DeSantis said at a Thursday press conference in Fort Lauderdale. The Florida Supreme Court voted Monday in a 5-2 decision to allow recreational marijuana on the November general election ballot. The measure—Amendment 3—would legalize recreational use for adults 21 and over...

Biden's open borders policy has brought misery to Americans. Illegals are killing Americans and sexually assaulting women and children. Venezuelan crime gangs have set up shop along the East coast. Illegal are squatting in American's homes. Then there's the Chinese army. Joe Biden has allowed 46,000 Chinese nationals illegally into this country. That's an army of more than two divisions. Think this is coincidence? On the TV series NCIS character Leroy Jethro Gibbs had a set of his own rules. Rule 39 was "There's no such thing as a coincidence." This is no coincidence. Why are they here? This is...

The Florida Supreme Court has approved the wording of two amendments to the state constitution. The Florida Supreme Court rules that two constitutional amendments can be on the election ballot. The amendments include abortion access and the legalization of recreational marijuana. The deadline for the Supreme Court to rule on the ballot initiatives was Monday. Both of these issues will appear on the 2024 ballot in November as currently worded.

New York weed shops are stocking their shelves with Mike Tyson-branded edibles shaped like an ear with a bite mark – a callback to Iron Mike’s heavyweight showdown with Evander Holyfield. The 57-year-old Brooklyn native — who’s planning a comeback fight against Jake Paul in July — is rolling out his Tyson 2.0 brand “Mike Bites” and he’s planning a promotional blitz at shops next month, including an event in Times Square, a spokesperson told The Post. But the gummies have already appeared at dispensaries Strain Stars in Farmingdale, Housing Works in Greenwich Village, Grow Together in Brooklyn, Flynnstoned in...

It may seem like a surprise to many that there could be a confrontation between Chinese gangsters at a marijuana farm on the Oklahoma prairie.But it is a reality that has been commonplace in Oklahoma since legislators opened the state up to the medicalmarijuana business. As of January 2022, there hadn't been widely reported cases of Chinese gangsters specifically involved in the Oklahoma marijuana business. However, it's important to note that organized crime groups often exploit vulnerabilities in various industries, including the cannabis market. Here are some ways in which organized crime groups, including those with Chinese connections, might become...

Marijuana is 'as bad as smoking tobacco cigarettes,' an expert said

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).

Rats have gotten into confiscated pot at New Orleans’ aging police headquarters, munching the evidence as the building is taken over by mold and cockroaches, said the city’s police chief. “The rats eating our marijuana, they’re all high,” Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told New Orleans City Council members. Kirkpatrick described vermin infestations and decay at the offices that have housed New Orleans polic

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...

LANSING, Mich. -- The State of Michigan announced on Thursday that it will be doling out a total of $87,093,279.90 across 99 cities, 30 villages, 69 townships and 71 of the state's 83 counties. SNIP "This week, many Michigan municipalities and counties will begin seeing their share of adult-use marijuana payments appear in their banking accounts," State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. " (SNIP) Aside from the more than $87 million in funds handed out to municipalities and counties, $101.6 million was sent to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and another $101.6 million to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

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...

Mike Tyson calls out Joe Biden.Legendary boxer Mike Tyson has long been an advocate for cannabis and now owns a cannabis company called “Tyson 2.0.” As a result, he’s now calling out United States President Joe Biden for failing to uphold his campaign promise to release incarcerated marijuana offenders. In a recent letter to Joe Bide and the White House, Mike Tyson called on the president to offer clemency to all those incarcerated on charges related to marijuana. “I write in support of granting clemency to marijuana offenders still incarcerated in federal prison and restoring civil rights to those haunted...

Thailand will ban recreational use of marijuana by the end of this year but continue to allow its use for medical purposes, the health minister told Reuters in an interview. After Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to free up medicinal use in 2018, and then recreational use in 2022, tens of thousands of cannabis shops have sprung up in an industry projected to be worth up to US$1.2 billion by next year. Critics say piecemeal rules were rushed out and adopted within a week of decriminalisation, and the government has drafted a new law to regulate cannabis...

The AR-15-toting female who opened fire on worshippers at Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday before she was killed by two off-duty law enforcement officers used a male name, making her one of several gender-confused shooters in recent years. After what Houston Police Department Homicide Division Commander Chris Hassig called a rigorous investigation “talking with individuals” conducting “interviews” and scanning “documents,” the department confirmed that 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno is a Hispanic woman who sometimes masqueraded as “Jeffrey Escalante.” It's still unclear exactly why Moreno, who had a long rap sheet and, according to Moreno’s anti-Second Amendment mother-in-law, a history...

The news is breaking today that the person who walked into Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday afternoon and opened fire was transgender. I have been waiting for more information about this shooting, as a Houstonian, and as a media observer. When the shooting was breaking news, one aspect of the story didn't sit well with me. It seemed as though local law enforcement and the media were not transparent with all they knew. It seemed like they were holding back. Frankly, I was waiting for the shooter to be identified as an illegal alien. It turns out it is...