Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy has received a $3 million donation to endow a fellow in drug policy to provide objective scientific research in the highly charged political arena of drug addiction, university officials announced Wednesday. Katharine Neill Harris, who currently holds a post-doctoral fellowship in drug policy at the Baker Institute, will become the Alfred C. Glassell III Fellow in Drug Policy. The money to fund her new position comes from the Glassell Family Foundation led by Houston philanthropist Alfred C. Glassell III. [continues 299 words]
Neighboring States See an Uptick in Drug Arrests As Marijuana Flows Illegally Across Their Borders. SIDNEY, Neb. - Sheriff John Jenson watched the 2012 election returns crawling across his TV screen in this rural area just over the Colorado border. Tuned to a Denver news station, he soon realized Colorado voters were about to legalize recreational marijuana. That's when he turned to his wife and started to swear. "I felt just sick," he remembers. "The drug war in this country used to be along the U.S.-Mexican border. Now it's eight miles away." [continues 1075 words]
Edible Form of Drug a Concern in Colorado DENVER - It was spring break, and Levy Thamba, a 19-year-old college student from Africa, had checked into a fourth-floor hotel room here with three of his buddies. They had come from their small college in Wyoming looking for an adventure. No one is sure how much Thamba ate of the marijuana cookie purchased by one of his friends at a local pot shop. But soon the engineering student, who had never tried marijuana before, began acting strangely hostile, tearing around the room and pulling pictures from the wall. [continues 970 words]
In Colorado, Some Worry That the State Is Overlooking the Risks of Edible Marijuana. DENVER - It was spring break, and Levy Thamba, a 19-year-old college student from Africa, had checked into a fourth-f loor hotel room with three of his buddies. They had come from their small college in Wyoming looking for an adventure. No one is sure how much Thamba ate of the marijuana cookie purchased by one of his friends at a local pot shop. But soon the engineering student, who had never tried marijuana before, began acting strangely hostile, tearing around the room and pulling pictures from the wall. [continues 980 words]
Driving While Stoned? With Legalization, Officers Must Learn to Identify Those WHO Are High GOLDEN, Colo. - The instructions seemed simple enough: nine steps forward, heel to toe, a quick turnaround, then nine steps back. But for the guy swaying a bit as he walked, his face slack, his eyes half closed, it was all too much. He made the nine steps forward and stopped, forgetting what came next. "Wait. What?" Colorado State Trooper Jason Morales dutifully marked it down in his report, just as he had a few minutes earlier when the suspect closed his eyes and tilted his head back to guess the passage of 30 seconds. After 90 seconds, Morales shook his head. [continues 815 words]
After Waiting Years, Crowds Eager for Sale of Recreational Pot DENVER - At 7:59 a.m. Wednesday, a harried Jay Griffin shouted to the crowd pressed against the roped off lines leading to his storefront counter: "One minute until we make history!" Sixty seconds later, he and a handful of other pot shop retailers opened a new and closely watched chapter in the national debate over legalizing marijuana when Colorado became the first state in the country where small amounts of recreational pot can be legally sold in specialty stores. [continues 724 words]
Lines Form in the First State to Let Specialty Stores Sell Marijuana to Casual Consumers. DENVER - At 7:59 a.m. on Wednesday, a harried Jay Griffin shouted to the crowd pressed against the roped off lines leading to his storefront counter: "One minute until we make history!" Sixty seconds later, he and a handful of other pot shop retailers opened a new and closely watched chapter in the national debate over legalizing marijuana as Colorado became the first state in the country where small amounts of recreational pot can be legally sold in specialty stores. [continues 909 words]
In Colorado, the First Commercial Hemp Crop in Decades Gives Hope to Farmers. SPRINGFIELD, Colo. - Out near a lonely highway southwest of town, a farmer's son stuck some seeds in the ground last spring to see what would happen. What he pulled from the soil made history and has sown new hope for struggling farmers both here and across the nation. Last weekend, 41-yearold Ryan Loflin, a fifth-generation Coloradan, along with an enthusiastic crew of 45 volunteers, harvested what is being called the first U.S. crop of commercial hemp in more than half a century. [continues 918 words]
Some Use Kits As Deterrent or Bargaining Chip With Their Teen Children The mother in Boulder, Colo., had been down this road with one child and swore she would never make a return trip. When she became suspicious her youngest son was trying drugs, she went to Walgreens, plunked down $38 for a home drug-test kit and told him to pee in a cup. The high school junior was furious. And busted. "Don't you trust me?" he wailed. His mother would not budge. [continues 1141 words]
Addiction experts say home tests have a big drawback: They destroy child-parent trust. The Boulder mother had been down this road with one child and swore she would never make a return trip. When she became suspicious her younger son was trying drugs, she went to Walgreens, plunked down $38 for a home drug-test kit and told him to pee in a cup. The high school junior was furious. And busted. "Don't you trust me?" he wailed. His mother would not budge. [continues 1140 words]
