Teenagers are more likely than young adults to become addicted to marijuana or prescription drugs within a year after trying them for the first time, according to a new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The new report, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA pediatrics, adds to mounting evidence showing adolescents are more vulnerable to substance use disorders than young adults, increasing the need for early screening and drug prevention education, health experts say. "We know that young people are more vulnerable to developing substance use disorders," said Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA director and lead author of the study analysis. "Though not everybody who uses a drug will develop addiction, adolescents may develop addiction faster than adults." Researchers at the NIDA, a part of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed data from the nationally representative National Surveys on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services from 2015 to 2018. [end]
No more than five players have been suspended for violating the NBA's and National Basketball Players Association's marijuana policy in the past four seasons. The issue isn't if NBA players do or don't use marijuana. It's just that players don't have serious issues with violating the policy. After not conducting random testing for marijuana to finish the 2019-20 season inside the bubble near Orlando, Florida, the league is not doing random testing for marijuana this season. It's time the NBA and NPBA permanently altered their policy on marijuana and stopped penalizing players for using it. [end]
Americans were still waiting for clarity on the presidential race Wednesday morning. Perhaps lost in the frantic haze of election night was the legalization of recreational marijuana in four states. Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana all passed legislation Tuesday permitting the possession of weed by adults, which means 15 states have legalized recreational weed or voted to legalize it. South Dakota and Mississippi passed initiatives to allow medical marijuana, which means 36 states permit the legal distribution of medical weed, according to a tally by NORML, a nonprofit marijuana public advocacy group. [end]
From makeup and oils to capsules for stress relief, cannabis-based goods are flowing into the marketplace. But while they may not get you high, they can still cause you problems at work. Cannabidiol or CBD has been showing up in a widening array of goods. That's because federal legislation in 2018 deemed that hemp - one of its sources - was not an illegal controlled substance. But your job could be in jeopardy if one of those products, which are largely unregulated, contains THC, the same compound that causes marijuana users to get high. [end]
When Garrett Rigg moved from a "transitional living program" facility near Chicago last month into a group home, it was a major milestone for the 27-year-old, who traveled 1,000 miles from his home in Denver to get treatment after a cannabis-induced psychotic break five years ago. Rigg had to leave his hometown because it lacked suitable long-term treatment, according to his mother, Connie Kabrick. The three marijuana dispensaries at the intersection a half block from her home are the reason why she says he can't move [continues 448 words]
I've covered things that injure, sicken and kill kids and adults for more than 30 years. From auto safety to medical errors, I've competed to break stories on the latest deadly defect or health policy change, most recently on electronic cigarettes. In late August, I added vaping-related lung illnesses to the beat. Last month, I added marijuana, psychosis and other mental illness. It's a pretty solitary place to be. We reporters covered the heck out of vaping lung illnesses starting in August. Once it became clear the culprit was THC and not nicotine, however, the news media seemed to lose interest, said former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb at a breakfast event I attended in early November. [continues 784 words]
It's a new year and, for Illinois, a new era of recreational marijuana. Weed dispensaries across the state opened their doors before sunrise Wednesday, welcoming long lines of customers - some who had been waiting since 4 a.m. "Cheers to lighting up the start of 2020!" one dispensary, Sunnyside, wrote on its Facebook page. Under Illinois law, anyone over 21 with a valid state ID or driver's license can purchase recreational marijuana from licensed retailers. [end]
Early one morning in March, Madison McIntosh showed up on his day off at the Scottsdale, Arizona, driving range and restaurant where he worked. The 24-year-old sat in his car until the place opened, then wandered around all day, alternating between gibberish and talk of suicide as co-workers tried to keep him away from customers. When he was still there 12 hours later, the manager contacted McIntosh's father in Las Vegas, who called police and rallied other family members states away to converge at the young man's side. [continues 72 words]
Dannis Billups' addiction nightmare began with an actual nightmare when he was about 4 years old. His daddy sat him on his knee and gave him a half-can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer to soothe him. In the 1980s, he joined the "family trade," a young black man peddling crack cocaine on the streets of Newark, New Jersey, profiting from other people's addiction and pain. Within a few years, he became his best customer. His life became a never-ending ride on the criminal justice carousel: arrests, jail, probation and then back in the system for another spin, some two dozen times, on and off the ride he went. "They would never offer you treatment," said Billups, now 53. "They would just lock you away and forget about you." [end]
There's not much solid data about how widespread the use of a psychoactive plant called kratom is in the U.S. But if what Dr. Marvin Seppala is seeing in addiction treatment centers all over the country is any indication, use of kratom isn't just on the rise; it's becoming normalized. "What we're seeing is regular use of it, especially in adolescents and young adults," said Seppala, chief medical officer at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and a 2018 CivicCon speaker. "It really fits in with alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. It's legal, so it's really easy for kids to get a hold of, and they'll try it to see what it does to them." [continues 72 words]
Two Midwestern states are breaking into the recreational marijuana market, and dispensaries are expecting huge crowds. Legal weed sales began Sunday in Michigan, where a handful of dispensaries in Ann Arbor planned to be open for business. The landmark moment in the state's cannabis industry comes amid a temporary ban on the sale of vaping devices in Michigan as health officials investigate the causes of vaping-related lung illnesses nationwide. In Illinois, where officials are grappling with a lack of racial equity in the cannabis industry, sales are expected to begin New Year's Day. The states are the 10th and 11th nationwide to allow recreational marijuana sales. Thirty-three states allow the sale of marijuana for medical use, which Michigan legalized in 2008, followed by Illinois in 2013. [end]
When Juul Labs and Pax Labs split from one company into two in 2017, they seemed destined to reach new heights. Juul would conquer the e-cigarette industry. Pax would dominate the marijuana vaping business. Their fortunes, however, quickly diverged. Juul found itself under fire for its alleged role in getting kids hooked on nicotine after pitching itself as a safe alternative to cigarettes; Pax largely escaped scrutiny as the burgeoning cannabis market made the company irresistible to investors. But that honeymoon period might be ending for Pax. [end]
SAN ANTONIO, Guatemala - Surrounded by green fields of potatoes, oats and corn on his small farm, Carlos Lopez recalled the decent money he was earning before last year, cultivating a different crop he referred to simply as "the plant." The plants, ones with the bright red flowers, "are worth a lot more than these other crops," Lopez said, wearing a blue baseball hat, sitting on a plastic chair behind his two-room, mud-splattered house. "Amapola," said Lopez, speaking the Spanish word for poppy. [end]
DENVER - Once a politically dangerous subject, legal marijuana has become something of a de facto platform plank for the 2020 Democratic candidates: All support either legalizing or decriminalizing its use, and the differences lie in how far the candidates are willing to take it. Those differences - particularly former Vice President Joe Biden's reluctance to embrace full federal legalization and the lack of enthusiasm that increasingly organized young marijuana activists have for him - may play a role in determining who faces President Donald Trump next fall, experts said. "People from both parties are just thinking, 'Duh, we should be legalizing this at the federal level,' " said Rachel Gillette, a Denver-based cannabis activist and attorney. "It would be great if they could focus on this. It's time." [end]
It was 2012, and Ferrell Scott was watching television inside Pennsylvania's Allenwood federal penitentiary when he learned that the sale of marijuana, something he was given a life sentence for just four years earlier, was becoming legal in two states. Colorado had approved its recreational use, the inmate learned from the broadcast, and so had Washington. Scott had been struggling with depression since he was incarcerated in March 2008. But he felt a bit of hope as he watched the framework that had put people like him away without parole begin to crumble. [end]
The Centers for Disease Control and Protection warned Friday against the purchase of electronic cigarette cartridges containing THC or other cannabis or altered e-cigarette products that are sold "off the street." So far, 215 possible cases of vaping-related lung illness have been reported in 25 states, CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement, "and additional reports of pulmonary illness are under investigation." The Washington Post reported Thursday that state and federal investigators have 354 cases currently under review. [continues 52 words]
Claire Alcindor's fourth pregnancy last year was the hardest. The only way she could keep food down was by smoking marijuana, which also helped with her depression. She was living in Maryland, in a location where marijuana is legal, but still worried "people would think I'm a bad mom" - or worse. Friends warned Child Protective Services might start investigating her. But it seemed worth the risk, especially given the reported effects of some prescription nausea and depression drugs. "I needed to eat, I needed to stay alive and survive this pregnancy," says Alcindor, who now lives in Las Vegas. [continues 1527 words]
Marijuana's role in the health care universe has grown exponentially over the past few years. Currently, 33 U.S. states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, and more and more states are considering making it legal for recreational purposes as well. As cannabis becomes more accessible, many people are turning to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) products to treat health issues like rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (the aches and pains of arthritis). Unfortunately, because cannabis remains illegal and classified as a Schedule 1 drug under federal law (defined as being of no medical use), there has been a troubling lack of scientific and medical research on the effectiveness of cannabis treatments. This dearth of evidence-based data has left many health care providers unable to counsel their patients on everything from whether a cannabis treatment could be effective for their condition, to what dosages are appropriate, to how cannabis might interact with their other medications or health conditions. [continues 112 words]
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Don't hold your breath if you're thinking the NFL is on the brink of giving players the green light to smoke their pain away with marijuana. Go ahead, exhale. This is still going to take a while. Sure, the league has put a progressive foot forward in striking an agreement this week with the NFL Players Association in the name of holistic health and wellness. There's a joint committee coming - not joint as in blunt, but joint in that medical experts will be appointed by the league and union - that is charged to study data on several alternative methods of pain management and make recommendations. [end]
As attorneys argued over a section of Arizona law that differentiates between marijuana and cannabis, the state's Supreme Court justices joked about baking pot brownies in their kitchens. They clearly do not understand how the marijuana industry has irresponsibly manipulated pot into dangerously high levels of potency. My son could explain it to them. Or he could if he was still with us. "I want to die," he wrote before hanging himself at the age of 31. "My soul is already dead. Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain." [end]
CALISTOGA, Calif. - Marijuana farmers and dispensary owners across Northern California are nervously watching as wildfires burn through some of the state's prime cannabis growing areas and destroy valuable crops, which could drive up prices for consumers across the country. "This is right smack in the middle of people's harvests," said Eli Melrod, the CEO of Solful Dispensary in Sebastopol, in northern California. "It couldn't have been worse timing, frankly." A single marijuana plant can be worth up to $5,000, but pot growers can't get crop insurance like traditional farmers or the vintners whose grapevines tend to get most of the attention here. Wildfires are burning across parts of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties, which are known for both wine and marijuana, particularly among high-end consumers willing to pay a premium for the name. [end]
New approaches are definitely needed to battle the opioid epidemic. More drug war is not the answer. The rise in heroin overdose deaths is a result of a federal crackdown on prescription opioids. Criminalization of users increases the risk of overdose deaths and creates barriers to cost-effective drug treatment. The only winners in the war on drugs are drug cartels. The opioid commission created by President Trump failed to mention the potential role of marijuana in reducing overdose deaths. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that states with legal medical marijuana access have a 25% lower opioid overdose death rate. The phrase "if it saves one life" has been used to justify drug-war abuses. Legal marijuana access to ease pain has the potential to save thousands of lives. Robert Sharpe, Common Sense for Drug Policy; Washington, D.C. [end]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to steal from you. Oh, he doesn't call it that. He calls it "civil forfeiture." But what it is, is theft by law enforcement. Sessions should be ashamed. If I were president, he'd be fired. Under "civil forfeiture," law enforcement can take property from people under the legal fiction that the property itself is guilty of a crime. ("Legal fiction" sounds better than "lie," but in this case the two terms are near synonyms.) It was originally sold as a tool for going after the assets of drug kingpins, but nowadays it seems to be used against a lot of ordinary Americans who just have things that law enforcement wants. It's also a way for law enforcement agencies to maintain off-budget slush funds, thus escaping scrutiny. [end]
President Trump, in a recent phone call, congratulated Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte for a "great job" in his crackdown on drugs, which human rights groups and the United Nations have condemned as a vigilante-style campaign that has left thousands of suspected drug dealers and users dead. The exchange is found in a leaked transcript of a April 29 conversation between the two leaders published by The Washington Post and reported on by The New York Times. "I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem," Trump says, according to the transcript. "Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that." [end]
MODI'IN, ISRAEL - When Noa Shulman came home from school, her mother, Yael, sat her down to eat, then spoon-fed her mashed sweet potatoes - mixed with cannabis oil. Noa, who has a severe form of autism, started to bite her own arm. "No sweetie," Yael gently told her 17-year-old daughter. "Here, have another bite of this." Noa is part of the first clinical trial in the world to test the benefits of medicinal marijuana for young people with autism, a potential breakthrough that would offer relief for millions of afflicted children - and their anguished parents. There is anecdotal evidence that marijuana's main non-psychoactive compound - cannabidiol or CBD - helps children in ways no other medication has. Now this first-of-its-kind scientific study is trying to determine if the link is real. [end]
MONTREAL - The Canadian government announced Thursday new legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use, a move that could lure American visitors but create legal headaches when they return home. Possession of small amounts of pot will be legal throughout the country on July 1, 2018, if the legislation passes. The federal government set the minimum age at 18, but will allow each province to determine if it should be higher. The provinces also will decide how the drug will be sold and distributed. Those under 18 found with small amounts of marijuana would not face criminal charges. [continues 74 words]
[photo] Marijuana activists hand out free joints for #Trump420 in DC Hundreds of people turn out for free marijuana cigarettes at the #Trump420 event, scheduled to include a march to the National Mall where participants will light up four minutes and 20 seconds into Donald Trump's presidency. [end]
"We should be doing whatever we can to make lifesaving treatments accessible to those suffering from addiction," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. [photo] New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaks during a press conference on September 23, 2016 in New York City.(Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images) Anthem, the nation's second-largest insurance company, has ended its policy of pre-authorizations for drugs to treat opioid use disorder following an agreement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, his office said Thursday. [continues 776 words]
About 4,000 of drug suspects were killed by vigilantes or executions on the spot. [photo] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte greets spectators during a ceremony to honor the death anniversary of national hero Jose Rizal, at the Jose Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, on Dec. 30, 2016.(Photo: Mark R. Cristino, EPA) MANILA -- Sammer Torculas had just returned home from playing with his children outside in Pandacan, a lower-middle class district in the Philippine capital, when he heard a knock at the door. [continues 1004 words]
[photo] Geraldine Ferraro waves to the crowd at the 1984 Democratic Convention in San Francisco.(Photo: Dixie Vereen, USA TODAY) MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The son of former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro has been pardoned by the governor of Vermont nearly 30 years after he was convicted of selling cocaine to an undercover officer. John Zaccaro Jr. was a Middlebury College student when he was arrested in 1986 and accused of selling $25 worth of cocaine to an undercover state police officer. He was convicted in 1988 and served four months under house arrest. At the time, Ferraro accused prosecutors of unfairly targeting her son because of her high profile after becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984. Outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, pardoned Zaccaro and nine others Saturday. Zaccaro didn't immediately respond to messages left for comment. Ferraro died in 2011. [end]
DENVER - Legal pot's future is in a haze, thanks to President-elect Trump's nomination of a staunchly anti-marijuana lawmaker for attorney general. "Good people don't smoke marijuana," said Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions in an April Senate hearing. That view from the nation's incoming top cop, a sharply different tone than President Obama's, has cast a pall over an industry that's recently celebrated a watershed moment. Voters in eight states relaxed their marijuana laws on Nov. 8, raising to 29 the states that now permit medical use of marijuana, and eight with legal recreational laws on the books. [end]
Psychedelic medicine, long taboo, is moving toward the mainstream: Two new studies show the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin might relieve anxiety and depression in cancer patients. Dozens of distressed patients, treated under controlled conditions at two prestigious medical centers, saw spirit-lifting effects that lasted at least several weeks after taking the "magic mushroom" drug, according to results published Thursday in The Journal of Psychopharmacology. In an unusual move, the journal also published 10 commentaries from experts in psychiatry, end-of-life care and drug policy. The experts said the studies were small and preliminary, but all supported continued research. They suggest psilocybin, while still illegal outside of studies, is "well within the accepted scope of modern psychiatry," said an editorial by David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College, London. [end]
Damned if they do, damned if they don't. That's the yin and yang of the marijuana issue as it pertains to the NFL drug policy. Voters in seven states last week approved cannabis - either for recreational or medicinal use - and, by extension, advanced the argument that league's ban on it (officially) is like something out of the Stone Age. [end]
One of the most outspoken proponents of marijuana as an alternative to painkillers for NFL players says he views votes in several states last week to legalize the drug as another sign that stigmas are diminishing and people are taking medical applications more seriously. "I think what it represents is recognition that cannabis is a safer alternative to opioids in the athletic space that are overprescribed and can lead to people being addicted, and athletes are certainly not immune to that," Eugene Monroe, who retired in July after seven seasons as an offensive tackle with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. [end]
DENVER - With California voters poised to legalize marijuana this month, investors face a choice: jump into an industry whose tantalizing growth prospects are hamstrung by its criminal legacy or wait until federal-level banking and legal restrictions get resolved. California for decades has been home to a thriving illegal marketplace for black-market cannabis, but a legalization vote on Nov. 8 could dramatically alter the landscape. A state-taxed marijuana marketplace in California could generate $1 billion in taxes, experts say. That's money that today vanishes into the pockets of black marketers and smugglers. Polls show the measure with significant public support. [continues 56 words]
Letter to the editor: Regarding USA TODAY's editorial "Marijuana on the ballot," no further studies are needed. The results are in. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. Few Americans had heard of marijuana, much less smoked it, until Congress made it illegal in 1937. Racial profiling was the clear intent of Reefer-madness-era legislation. The ugly legacy of racially disproportionate enforcement continues. This, despite mainstream use of marijuana, generated by the forbidden-fruit appeal. If the goal is to subsidize violent drug cartels, marijuana prohibition is a success. [continues 90 words]
WASHINGTON - President Obama granted 98 more commutations to federal inmates Thursday, bringing the total for this year to 688 - the most commutations ever granted by a president in a single year. In all, he's now shortened the sentences of 872 inmates during his presidency, more than any president since Woodrow Wilson. The actions were part of Obama's extraordinary effort to use his constitutional power to rectify what he sees as unduly harsh sentences imposed during the "War on Drugs." Through a clemency initiative announced in 2014, he's effectively re-sentenced hundreds of non-violent drug dealers to the sentences they would have received under today's more lenient sentencing guidelines. [end]
The percentage of traffic deaths in which at least one driver tested positive for drugs has nearly doubled over a decade, raising alarms as five states are set to vote on legalization of marijuana. Amid a disquieting increase in overall U.S. traffic fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tracked an upswing in the percentage of drivers testing positive for illegal drugs and prescription medications, according to federal data released to USA TODAY and interviews with leaders in the field. [continues 69 words]
While USA TODAY's editorial "Marijuana on the ballot" was cautious and well-intentioned in nature, it misses several key issues about legalized marijuana. There are several factors I urge everyone to consider. As a father, I too share your concerns around children. However, I share far more serious concerns around the way we medicate our kids with pharmaceuticals, media, technology and the many distractions eroding our culture. The problem with more prohibition around this plant is the lack of education and conversation. In Colorado a dialogue has now been forced around marijuana because of its legality. The point is that as it pertains to kids, marijuana is something to talk about and as we say in our house, "Just not yet. This is for adults." [continues 224 words]
DENVER - Nearly 60 million Americans may wake up Nov. 9 to find voters in their states have abolished long-standing marijuana prohibitions, a three-fold expansion for legal cannabis across the country. Another 24 million Americans could find themselves in states with newly legal medical marijuana use, a smaller but still significant expansion of legalized pot around the United States. Already, half of the states permit some form of medical marijuana use, and more than half of all Americans live in a state that has approved medical marijuana. [continues 55 words]
America's real-world experiment with regulating marijuana has been a success. Twenty-six states now regulate the plant's therapeutic use, and four states and Washington, D.C., authorize its use and sale to all adults. Contrary to the fears of some, these policy changes are not associated with increased marijuana use or access by adolescents, or with adverse effects on traffic safety or in the workplace. Marijuana regulations are also associated with less opioid abuse and mortality. In jurisdictions where this retail market is taxed, sales revenue has greatly exceeded initial expectations. [continues 249 words]
As voters in five states consider ballot measures next month to legalize marijuana for recreational use, supporters and opponents can pluck a statistic to back just about anything they want to argue about the issue. But amid a gaggle of dueling studies, the truth is that the state experiments in legalizing recreational use are still too new to yield definitive results about the harms and benefits to society. In Colorado and Washington state, the first to legalize, retail stores did not open until 2014. As the Colorado Department of Public Safety asserted in its first post-legalization report this year: It is too early to draw any conclusions about the potential effects of marijuana legalization or commercialization on public safety, public health or youth outcomes. [continues 68 words]
TV's reefer madness is at an all-time high. This month, two new cannabis comedies are lighting up the small screen: HBO's High Maintenance (premiering Friday, 11 ET/PT), about a weed dealer (Ben Sinclair) and his New York clientele; and MTV's Mary + Jane (Mondays, 10 ET/PT), which follows a pair of chummy roommates (Jessica Rothe and Scout Durwood) running a pot-delivery service in Los Angeles. Netflix, too, is blazing ahead with its own stoner series Disjointed, which goes into production later this year. Co-created by The Big Bang Theory's Chuck Lorre, the workplace comedy stars Kathy Bates as a lifelong advocate who realizes her dream of owning a marijuana dispensary in L.A. And Margaret Cho is developing an hour-long dispensary dramedy for Amazon. [end]
WASHINGTON - For 126 federal inmates who received presidential clemency last month, the good news might have come with a dose of disappointment. President Obama had granted their requests for commutations, using his constitutional pardon power to shorten their sentences for drug offenses. But instead of releasing them, he left them with years - and in some cases, more than a decade - left to serve on their sentences. As Obama has begun to grant commutations to inmates convicted of more serious crimes, Obama has increasingly commuted their sentences without immediately releasing them. These are what are known as "term" commutations, as opposed to the more common "time served" commutations, and they represent a remarkable departure from recent past practice. Unlike a full pardon, commutations shorten sentences but leave other consequences of the conviction in place. [end]
WASHINGTON - Across the nation, while public concern about heroin addiction is the highest it has been in years, the same can't be said about attention on the national political stage. Searches about "heroin" peaked last week for the third time this year at the highest level in the past five years, according to data from Google Trends, with the exception of a spike in interest in February 2014 when actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose. Drug overdoses from heroin tripled between 2010 and 2014, and more people died from drug overdoses than car crashes in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [continues 87 words]
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to launch a renewed strategy to address the unrelenting scourge of heroin and opioid addiction, in part by placing greater emphasis on identifying links between over-prescribing doctors and distribution networks across the country. The plan, outlined by Attorney General Loretta Lynch in an interview with USA TODAY, is part of an eleventh-hour push by the Obama administration against a public health crisis that continues to claim nearly 100 people each day in the United States. [continues 53 words]
Here's how Stephen Colbert introduced Whoopi Goldberg on CBS's Late Show last week: "My first guest is an actor, author, talk show host and has her own line of premium pot." Well, who doesn't these days? Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and Tommy Chong are among the usual suspects who are pushing their own lines of specialty marijuana products. "It's almost gotten into the fad scenario at this point," Harvard Business School marketing professor John Quelch tells USA TODAY Sports, "where celebrities almost feel obligated to attach themselves to the cause." [end]
SALEM, ORE. - Marijuana leaves of all shapes and sizes lined a competition alcove at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday. The plants were surrounded by hundreds of booths listing technology, agriculture and business innovations in the cannabis growing industry. "People say we've 'Microsofted' the cannabis industry," organizer Mary Lou Burton joked. The weekend was the first marijuana growers fair in Oregon, hosted at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. Sponsored by the state marijuana business council, and with presentations from state agencies regulating the newly legalized industry, it highlighted a number of desires from Oregon entrepreneurs and businesses to turn the state into a go-to region for marijuana. [continues 219 words]
Marijuana advocates who hoped the cascade of states moving to legalize medical marijuana would soften the federal stance on the drug faced disappointment Thursday as the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it will keep marijuana illegal for any purpose. Marijuana will remain a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Substances in Schedule 1 are determined by the Food and Drug Administration to have no medical use. States that allow marijuana for medical use or legalize recreational use remain in defiance of federal law. The announcement, to be published Friday in the Federal Register, relaxes the rules for marijuana research to make it easier for institutions to grow marijuana for scientific study. The DEA currently authorizes just one grow facility in Mississippi. [end]
Suspicious Itineraries Pay Huge Dividends to Federal Drug Agency USA TODAY identified 87 cases in recent years in which the Justice Department went to federal court to seize cash from travelers. Federal drug agents regularly mine Americans' travel information to profile people who might be ferrying money for narcotics traffickers - - though they almost never use what they learn to make arrests or build criminal cases. Instead, that targeting has helped the Drug Enforcement Administration seize a small fortune in cash. DEA agents have profiled passengers on Amtrak trains and nearly every major U.S. airline, drawing on reports from a network of travel-industry informants that extends from ticket counters to back offices, a USA TODAY investigation has found. Agents assigned to airports and train stations singled out passengers for questioning or searches for reasons as seemingly benign as traveling one-way to California or having paid for a ticket in cash. [continues 1550 words]
