Federal Government at Odds With 25 States That Allow Therapeutic Use. The Obama administration has decided marijuana will remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, fully rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization, but said it will allow more research into its medical uses. In an announcement in the Federal Register and a letter to petitioners, the Drug Enforcement Administration turned down requests to remove marijuana from "Schedule I," which classifies it as a drug with "no currently accepted medical use" in the United States and precludes doctors from prescribing it. [continues 969 words]
Marijuana Use Could Overtake Cigarette Use in a Few Years. A new Gallup poll out today finds that the percent- age of American adults who say they currently smoke marijuana has nearly doubled over the past three years. In 2013, only 7 percent of adults said they were marijuana smokers. When Gal-lup asked again in July of this year, 13 percent admitted to current marijuana use. That works out to more than 33 million adult marijuana users in the U.S. If America's marijuana users resided in one state, it would be bigger than Texas and second only to California in population. [continues 296 words]
Marijuana Use Could Overtake Cigarette Use in a Few Years. A new Gallup poll out today finds that the percent- age of American adults who say they currently smoke marijuana has nearly doubled over the past three years. In 2013, only 7 percent of adults said they were marijuana smokers. When Gallup asked again in July of this year, 13 percent admitted to current marijuana use. That works out to more than 33 million adult marijuana users in the U.S. If America's marijuana users resided in one state, it would be bigger than Texas and second only to California in population. [continues 294 words]
Take a bow, San Francisco: The Bay Area is home to the highest concentration of marijuana smokers anywhere in the country, according to new data released Tuesday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Every few years, SAMHSA combines data from the annual National Surveys on Drug Use and Health to derive estimates of monthly marijuana use among Amer-icans age 12 and older. The latest cut of that data, encom-passing the years 2012 to 2014, includes responses from about 204,000 people. That huge sample makes it possible to visualize marijuana use rates with a level of detail not possible with traditional surveys. [continues 200 words]
To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 225 words]
Legislators who want to expand the use of medical marijuana in Texas - - as well as the green-seeking entrepreneurs who could benefit financially from more state-approved, pot-derived treatments for what ails Texans - might be able to lean on a new study to bolster their argument when the Legislature convenes in January. State senators and Texas House members undoubtedly will be looking for ways to save money next session, especially since the price of oil has dropped into an abyss, taking with it much of the state's oil-based tax revenue. They'll cut programs. They always do. But they also will search for savings. [continues 415 words]
Within GOP, Sentiment Appears to Be Growing to Allow More Remedies. Is Texas ready to embrace expanding medical treatments from marijuana? Some state elected officials - along with some eager entrepreneurs - would like to see more allowable uses of the controversial plant when the 2017 legislative session comes around. Last session, many Capitol observers were stunned when both chambers passedSenate Bill 339 and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law. The law - which was authored by now-departing state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, and sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth - allows patients who suffer from a rare form of epilepsy to be treated legally with cannabidiol, or CBD as it is better known. [continues 1507 words]
High Court: Civil-Asset Forfeiture Is Not Subject to Criminal Court Rules. Law enforcement can seize private property that was used in the commission of a crime, even if evidence of wrongdoing was illegally obtained by police, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. Because the process of seizing property takes place in civil court, property owners aren't protected by criminal court rules that call for evidence to be tossed out if it was obtained in an unconstitutional search or seizure, the unanimous court ruling said. [continues 416 words]
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently restored the right to vote for 206,000 citizens in his state, many of whom had completed their sentences decades ago. One of them, Terry Garrett, had struggled with homelessness and drug addiction, receiving multiple felony convictions, before turning her life around. She's now sober, a grandmother, and helps people facing addiction. Told that she could now vote, she said, "Finally, someone sees past what we did." As the 2016 presidential race heats up, it's clear that the outcome will affect the course of the nation for some time to come. Yet nearly 6 million Americans will not be at the polls this November. It's not that they don't care about the outcome of the election, but rather, they're prohibited from voting due to a current or previous felony conviction. [continues 640 words]
As we prepare to vote for the next president of the United States, it is important for voters to carefully consider the character of the candidates. Why? Because although a presidential term only lasts for four years, a president's policies and legacy can cause devastation for decades. Case in point: President Richard Nixon and the "War on Drugs." Nixon's drug policies that began in the 1970s seeped into our nation's education policy 20 years later; today it funnels hundreds of thousands of youths from schools into prison. [continues 615 words]
Proposal Targets Users of Heroin, Prescription Drugs. White House officials announced Tuesday that they will seek nearly $1.2 billion in new federal funding over the next two years to address the growing problem of heroin and prescription opioid use, an epidemic that has become an increasingly important policy priority among the nation's politicians. The centerpiece of the proposal is $1 billion in mandatory funding over two years to expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use, $920 million of which would go to the states. Another $500 million, some of which is a continuation of existing funds, would support work by the departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to expand not just treatment but access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, and support targeted enforcement activities. [continues 308 words]
Re: Sept. 19 article, "Synthetic High: New drug ban takes effect amid crisis afflicting city's underprivileged." K2 is the Frankenstein spawn of the monumental failure that is the "war on drugs." Legalize cannabis and K2 fades away, as is now happening in both Colorado and Washington. Comparing it to cannabis is akin to comparing a square of Hershey's to Ex-Lax. Similar look, somewhat similar taste - but entirely different things. Do keep in mind: Cannabis is the oldest known medicinal herb and has been used recreationally since the beginning of human history. In all that time not one death has ever been attributed to it. Fact. Anyone who thinks otherwise should open the Google and type "medical marijuana" to begin an education. What you learn will enrage you. It is the most helpful plant on the face of the earth. Continued prohibition is sheer lunacy. STEVE WARREN, SAN MARCOS [end]
Man Who Had Faced Possible Life Sentence Takes 7 Years Probation. GEORGETOWN - A man whose case made national news when he was facing up to life in prison for possessing pot brownies in Williamson County has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Jacob Lavoro, 20, pleaded guilty Wednesday to the second-degree felony of possession of tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, said his lawyer, Jack Holmes. Lavoro agreed to the plea in exchange for a sentence of seven years' probation, Holmes said. [continues 339 words]
The measure, approved unanimously by the council, is symbolic. The city has very little influence over whether the Legislature legalizes marijuana and it's considered unlikely to gain approval in the 2015 legislative session. Only two speakers testified about the measure to the council, and both were in support. In a sign of how non-controversial this issue is in left-leaning Austin, it was approved with no council discussion or debate as part of the consent agenda. Council Members Bill Spelman and Mike Martinez, who sponsored the resolution, cited a Scripps-Howard poll that found 75 percent of Texans would support legislation allowing people with serious illnesses to use marijuana to treat themselves. Supporters consider it an important step in the effort to legalize marijuana for medical use. Currently all forms of marijuana are illegal in Texas. More than 20 states, including Colorado and California, have taken steps to legalize the use of marijuana for medical ailments, such as muscular dystrophy. [end]
Re: June 9 commentary, "Pot isn't harmless; making it legal would be a disaster." I agree that legalizing cannabis would be a disaster for professional drug war cheerleader Calvina Fay because she would be unemployed. I'd like to add that the cannabis legalization issue is not whether cannabis is completely safe for everybody, including children and adolescents; it is not. The issue is freedom of choice for adults. Children have died from eating peanuts and peanut butter but we don't cage peanut growers, sellers or consumers. One in thirteen children suffer from food allergies, yet we have no foods that are outlawed. And the voters of Colorado and Washington state have decided that we should not cage cannabis growers, sellers or consumers. Texas adults have the freedom of choice of whether or not to consume legal alcohol. Shouldn't they have the same freedom of choice regarding legal cannabis? MESA, ARIZ. [end]
Re: June 9 commentary, "Pot isn't harmless; making it legal would be a disaster." Calvina Fay is right about one thing. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused. Marijuana prohibition doesn't make the plant safer though. Prohibition opens up a gateway to hard drugs by granting a marijuana monopoly to drug cartels that also sell meth, cocaine and heroin. Like alcohol prohibition before it, marijuana prohibition has given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Drug cartels don't ID for age. [continues 78 words]
Police Were Allowed in Apartment by Resident, Arrest Warrant Says GEORGETOWN- The case against Jacob Lavoro, who could face a steep sentence for allegedly making and selling pot brownies, should be thrown out because police never had a warrant to search his apartment, his lawyer said Thursday as supporters rallied outside a court hearing at the Williamson County Justice Center. Police were responding in April to a tip from a neighbor complaining about marijuana smoke coming from Lavoro's Round Rock apartment when they arrived at his door announcing they were maintenance men, said Jack Holmes, Lavoro's lawyer. Even after someone opened the apartment door, police had no evidence that there were illegal substances inside, but they entered anyway, Holmes said. [continues 425 words]
Radical shifts in public policy are far-reaching and have everlasting effects that may not be foreseen. Marijuana legalization is an extreme measure of policy reform and a dangerous social experiment. Policies should be implemented with public health and safety in the forefront. However, marijuana legalization seems to only benefit those who stand to profit. Following the legalization of marijuana, Colorado and Washington have seen increases in drugged driving and marijuana use. Colorado experienced an infestation of "drug tourism." [continues 585 words]
You might find yourself racing to the eye doctor if you picked up your newspaper and read "Governor Perry and the ACLU agree." When the discussion is about marijuana, though, you'd be wasting your co-pay. In January, at an international conference in Switzerland, Perry said he supports softening penalties for pot users. He correctly pointed out that our state has been in the forefront of the movement to implement policies that provide sentencing alternatives such as drug courts and rehabilitation programs outside the prison setting. [continues 603 words]
Marijuana Supporters Encouraged by Politicians' Comments. Democrats want to turn Texas blue. Republicans want to keep it red. Now, members of a new advocacy group in Austin have something else in mind: They want to make Texas green. The Washington, D.C.based nonpartisan organization isn't blowing smoke about environmental causes. Rather, the Marijuana Policy Project sees an opening to loosen marijuana laws in Texas, following recent comments by Gov. Rick Perry and other state politicians. Heather Fazio, the newly installed Texas political director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said she, a lobbyist and several volunteers will work toward passing state laws that would permit the use of medical marijuana, decriminalization of the controlled substance and eventually allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana. Similar efforts will be made in several other states. [continues 724 words]
