A Map That Shows the Dramatic Spread of Legal Weed in the U.S.
Very pertinent today, with a bill awaiting Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s signature to legalize medical marijuana.
Nearly half (48%) of all adults have tried marijuana, including 57% of Millennials. In the past year, 12% of Americans have used marijuana either for a medical issue or recreationally, or both. Age makes a difference: 27% of those under 30 say they have used marijuana in the past year, three times the percentage in any other age category.
To whatever extent cannabis use among adults still holds a level of stigma or taboo thanks to its illegal nature, by the numbers it’s clearly something of an open secret. Support for legalizing it has now reached majority levels, and this isn’t something to be laughed off with some lame joke about Cheetos — countless thousands of Americans now languish in prison for non-violent use.
Eight former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs said Tuesday that the federal government needs to act now or it might lose the chance to nullify Colorado and Washington’s laws legalizing recreational marijuana use.
The statement came on the same day a United Nations-based drug agency urged the U. S. government to challenge those laws, saying they violate international drug treaties.
The Department of Justice is expected to officially address the recently-passed marijuana legalization legislation in Washington and Colorado, and few expect the Obama Administration to react favorably to the new laws. That said, with the possibility that 25 of the 50 United States could have legalized medical marijuana by the end of 2014, it’s becoming increasingly clear that politicians are fighting a losing battle that is likely to start costing them votes (if it hasn’t already) in the years to come.
A new study from the Instituto Mexicano Para La Competitividad A.C. (Mexican Institute for Competitiveness) reveals potentially devastating consequences for a number of Mexican drug cartels should marijuana be legalized in a handful of the United States. The Mexican think thank believes the legalization measures on the ballot in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington could cut combined cartel profits by as much as 22 to 30 percent, and could severely cripple the infamous Sinaloa Cartel that operates in Western Mexico. source
An elderly couple have unwittingly grown the “biggest cannabis plant” police officers had seen after buying what they thought was a shrub from a car boot sale.
The couple, who live in Bedford, had planted the drug in their garden.
Police officers were astounded when they spotted the plant. They have collected it and a spokesperson said it would be disposed of.
The couple will face no action from the police.
Something tells us that you aren’t going to find a police department here in the U.S. that’s willing to be this forgiving, or with such a great sense of humor about the whole thing.
Young pot users risk lower IQ, study says: ”Persistent cannabis use over 20 years was associated with neuropsychological decline, and greater decline was evident for more persistent users,” according to a group of New Zealand researchers, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The group studied a group of over 1,000 individuals for over 20 years when creating their findings, and says that heavy users — those who smoked four times or more each week — risked a drop in intelligence. Buy it? (photo by ukhomeoffice)
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the L.A. City Council voted to end the era of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Letters demanding an immediate end to all operations will be sent to all 762 registered dispensaries in Los Angeles; however, some older dispensaries may be allowed to re-open at a later date thanks to a “grandfather clause” proposal which also passed a vote. Many activists have pledged to fight the new measure — both in court and with ballot initiatives if necessary — including the California branch of Americans for Safe Access. So, do you think this was the right move? (Photo via Dank Depot) source
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With the state’s Democratic governor expected to sign the bill into law, Connecticut would become the 16th of 50 U.S. states to embrace marijuana as an option for people seeking medical relief, though in Connecticut they’ve approached it with tightened regulation to try to avoid abuse of the system, and trouble with the federal government. In particular, all patients must register with the Department of Consumer Protection in order to receive the drug, which is used for a variety of ailments, glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis being prominent examples. (Photo by the appropriately named Dank Depot) source
» The GOP did maintain its hard-right stance on a number of other issues, with ninety-six percent of those in attendance voting to repeal “Obamacare”, and another eighty-nine percent supporting restrictive Voter ID laws. Eighty-three percent also voted in favor of making English the country’s official language.
» Who would have guessed that getting high reduces stress? While the study stopped short of conclusively saying that medical marijuana was the direct cause of the lower rates, the authors did note that, when used in moderation, cannabis acts as an anti-depressant. The authors also found that states with medical marijuana programs saw a reduction in alcohol consumption by young men, and note that alcohol is a known depressant. Read the full results of the study here.
» “Spice” and “K2” are off the shelves: The DEA has placed five chemicals onto Schedule 1 (the most restricted level of drug enforcement) that are integral to the production of the two fake-pot compounds, effectively putting the kibosh on the products. Once widely and legally sold in smoke shops (as the intensely hallucinogenic herb Salvia astonishingly still is), these products had become popular buys for people looking to get high without fear of legal action.
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