Salon.com > marijuana http://www.salon.com Wed, 03 Jul 2013 01:14:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 How Humboldt became America’s marijuana capital http://www.salon.com/2013/06/30/how_humboldt_became_americas_marijuana_capital/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/30/how_humboldt_became_americas_marijuana_capital/#comments Sun, 30 Jun 2013 16:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13340019 Late one morning in the winter of 1970, when Mare Abidon was a young woman of thirty, with blond hair that streamed down her back, she stood outside her San Francisco apartment holding a cardboard box and prepared to say good-bye. The box in her arms brimmed with the remnants of the life she was leaving behind, and all the lives that came before that: art supplies from school, horn jewelry purchased on the street in India, and batik granny dresses from her years in the Haight. Len was waiting in his truck nearby. Brooding Len with the dark beard and strong arms, who had made Mare’s heart skip a beat the first time she laid eyes on him years ago at the post office.

Instead of feeling melancholy about the life she was leaving behind, Mare was brimming with excitement. The Beast, Len’s old green Chevy, was loaded down with their belongings and ready to carry them north. Six years earlier, Mare had arrived in San Francisco with her new husband, Gene. When her marriage fell apart a year later, she fled to the Haight-Ashbury. What a refuge the Haight had been. The neighborhood was brimming with creativity and hope. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane all called it home. The Diggers served free soup down the Panhandle from Mare’s apartment. The Haight was famous the world over. During that summer they called Love, even more dreamers flocked to San Francisco. There was such a spirit of freedom and communalism to the place that, for a moment, Mare really believed love could conquer all.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/30/how_humboldt_became_americas_marijuana_capital/feed/ 19 Pot farmers threaten endangered species http://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/pot_farmers_threaten_endangered_species_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/pot_farmers_threaten_endangered_species_partner/#comments Mon, 24 Jun 2013 22:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13335815 The story is what you could call, um, an evergreen: As folks have reported here, here and here, illegal marijuana farms on public lands in California often cause serious environmental damage. Tresspass growers, as they are called, have been known to clear cut forest groves, trash wild areas with irrigation equipment and human waste, and use large amounts of chemical pesticides. Now illegal pot growers are being blamed for another environmental impact – killing rare species like the Pacific fisher and the northern spotted owl through their indiscriminate use of rat poisons.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/pot_farmers_threaten_endangered_species_partner/feed/ 8 Top 5 investigative videos of the week: Intergalactic blunts! http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/top_5_investigative_videos_of_the_week_intergalactic_blunts_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/top_5_investigative_videos_of_the_week_intergalactic_blunts_partner/#comments Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13334008 The I Files Snipers, a hermit, the hermit kingdom and the mother of all flying joints make an appearance in this week’s top videos.

Some burning questions answered in these stories:

• Why are some of the most resource-rich countries in Africa still so poor?
• If you eschew all human contact for three decades, can you still escape the Kardashians?
• What exactly does 17 million pounds of pot look like when it is rolled up into a single joint and sent aloft in space?

For the best news and documentaries available online, make sure that you subscribe to The I Files, the informative, fun and Kardashian-free news source.

“Escape from North Korea,” Ann Shin for The New York Times’ Op-Docs

“Even if I die trying, I want to get out of this country.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/top_5_investigative_videos_of_the_week_intergalactic_blunts_partner/feed/ 0 A life sentence … for pot? http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/why_is_an_obama_appointee_launching_an_anti_marijuana_crusade/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/why_is_an_obama_appointee_launching_an_anti_marijuana_crusade/#comments Fri, 21 Jun 2013 21:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13333045 In March of 2011, federal agents in hazmat suits -- guns brandished and sirens blaring -- raided dozens of marijuana greenhouses and dispensaries in Montana, and arrested citizens who were growing pot in accordance with the state's medical marijuana law. It all happened without warning -- unlike in California and other states where fair notice, and lead time, was given to folks so they could close up shop. The timing of the raids was highly suspicious. They took place on the very day -- the very hour, in fact -- that the Montana Legislature was holding a much-anticipated hearing on how to tweak the medical marijuana statute, so as to cut down on recreational use and sham prescriptions, and also to clarify several parts of the law that were ambiguous.

The top federal prosecutor in Montana -- Mike Cotter, the U.S. attorney appointed by President Obama in 2009 --  then charged the growers, their greenhouse workers, their bookkeepers, some of their spouses, and even their landlords who had simply provided buildings to the growers with decades in prison and in some cases virtual life sentences, all under federal drug trafficking statutes.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/why_is_an_obama_appointee_launching_an_anti_marijuana_crusade/feed/ 128 Five theories on Glenn Beck’s earth-shattering scoop http://www.salon.com/2013/06/14/lets_try_and_guess_what_glenn_becks_big_news_is/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/14/lets_try_and_guess_what_glenn_becks_big_news_is/#comments Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:54:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13326587 On Wednesday, Glenn Beck warned that "in the next 10 days, you are going to witness things in American history that have never been witnessed before,” saying that he had news that would "take down pretty much the whole power structure" and “greatly divide” the nation. Titillating, right?

Less than 24 hours later, the Internet started speculating about what Beck's big revelation might be.

Here's a roundup of theories being floated about the news that will "change everything" -- and a few we came up with ourselves:

Immigration reform is really a ploy to implement a perpetual Democratic majority 

Conservative watchdog site Right Wing Watch speculated that a Beck radio segment about an "immigration revolt" among Congressional Republicans may have been the pundit's big news. That same day, the Blaze floated a theory -- echoing Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. -- that progressive Democrats were conspiring to sneak "perpetual amnesty" into the immigration reform package to ensure they stay in power forever, basically. "The bill is worse than universal healthcare. Listen to me, it is worse than universal healthcare, and in the coming days as we get closer, we will explain why it's worse than universal healthcare. It is the death knell of the country, there is no recovery from this one. None. No recovery," Beck said.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/14/lets_try_and_guess_what_glenn_becks_big_news_is/feed/ 75 Red, blue states more brightly colored than ever http://www.salon.com/2013/06/10/red_blue_states_more_brightly_colored_than_ever_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/10/red_blue_states_more_brightly_colored_than_ever_partner/#comments Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13321796 Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only dreamed of when Tea Partiers streamed into Congress at the start of 2011: They’ve basically shut Congress down. Their refusal to compromise is working just as they hoped: No jobs agenda. No budget. No grand bargain on the deficit. No background checks on guns. Nothing on climate change. No tax reform. No hike in the minimum wage. Nothing so far on immigration reform.

It’s as if an entire branch of the federal  government — the branch that’s supposed to deal directly with the nation’s problems, not just execute the law or interpret the law but make the law — has gone out of business, leaving behind only a so-called “sequester” that’s cutting deeper and deeper into education, infrastructure, programs for the nation’s poor, and national defense.

The window of opportunity for the President to get anything done is closing rapidly. Even in less partisan times, new initiatives rarely occur after the first year of a second term, when a president inexorably slides toward lame duck status.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/10/red_blue_states_more_brightly_colored_than_ever_partner/feed/ 28 U.S. woman charged with drug smuggling released in Mexico http://www.salon.com/2013/05/31/u_s_woman_charged_with_drug_smuggling_released_in_mexico_ap/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/31/u_s_woman_charged_with_drug_smuggling_released_in_mexico_ap/#comments Fri, 31 May 2013 11:39:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13313725 NOGALES, Mexico (AP) — An Arizona woman facing drug smuggling charges in Mexico was freed late Thursday night, after court officials reviewed her case.

Yanira Maldonado was greeted by well-wishers as she left the lockup on the outskirts of Nogales and hugged her husband, Gary, as officials closed the jail doors behind her.

"She lived through a nightmare," said her attorney, Jose Francisco Benitez Paz.

Maldonado was arrested by the Mexican military last week after they found nearly 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) of pot under her seat on the commercial bus traveling from Mexico to Arizona.

The case created a nightmare scenario that has prompted outrage in the U.S. among politicians and pitted the conservative Mormon family against a judicial system that has long struggled with corruption.

Her release came hours after court officials reviewed security footage that showed her and her husband boarding a bus in Mexico with only blankets, bottles of water and her purse in hand.

The judge determined that she was no longer a suspect and all allegations against her were dropped, according to Benitez Paz.

She spoke briefly to reporters clustered outside the jail, saying she thanks God, her husband and her lawyer.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/31/u_s_woman_charged_with_drug_smuggling_released_in_mexico_ap/feed/ 7 Is recreational pot use safe? http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/is_recreational_pot_use_safe_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/is_recreational_pot_use_safe_partner/#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 12:18:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13306373 Scientific American

Marijuana is more popular and accessible in the U.S. than any other street drug. In national surveys, 48 percent of Americans say they have tried it, and 6.5 percent of high school seniors admit to daily use. So it was not too surprising when two states, Washington and Colorado, became the first to legalize recreational marijuana in the November 2012 general election, albeit in limited quantity, for anyone over the age of 21. Activists expect that similar measures will soon win approval in other parts of the country.

Some success with medical marijuana helped to pave the road to wider legalization of pot. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia permit possession and consumption of the drug for medical purposes. Doctors in those jurisdictions may prescribe cannabis to treat or manage ailments ranging from glaucoma—an eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged—to menstrual cramps. Cancer patients sometimes smoke pot to relieve the pain and nausea brought on by chemotherapy, and some people with the inflammatory disease multiple sclerosis rely on marijuana to ease muscle stiffness.

Although many physicians agree that marijuana is safe enough to temporarily alleviate the symptoms of certain medical conditions, the safety of recreational use is poorly understood. Researchers worry that both the short- and long-term use of the drug may harm the body and mind. Marijuana's continued popularity among teenagers raises particular concern because the drug might hinder the ongoing maturation of the adolescent brain. Making matters worse, new growing techniques for the Cannabis sativa plant—from which marijuana is prepared—have dramatically increased the drug's potency. Some experts suggest that such high-octane weed is fueling a rise in cannabis addiction. Finally, although investigators still debate how the legalization of recreational marijuana will change road safety overall, studies indicate that the drug slows reaction time and impairs distance perception behind the wheel. Despite such evidence, most new marijuana regulations, for medical or recreational use, fail to account for these potential risks.

Weeded Out

Whether rolled into a joint or mixed into brownie batter, marijuana profoundly changes behavior and awareness. The primary psychoactive compound in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), mimics the structure of molecules called endocannabinoids that the human body produces naturally. Endocannabinoids act on a group of cell-surface molecules called cannabinoid receptors that help to regulate appetite, mood and memory. Because of its shape, THC fits into these receptors, too. After all, jokes neuroscientist Giovanni Marsicano of the University of Bordeaux in France, “We don't have a receptor in the body just to smoke marijuana.”

When THC strikes specific cannabinoid receptors, it triggers domino chains of interacting molecules in neurons that culminate in both unusually elevated and abnormally low levels of various neurotransmitters (the molecules that brain cells use to communicate with one another). The result is the well-known “high” of marijuana. Suddenly, the mundane seems hilarious, and ordinary foods taste delicious. People generally feel merry, relaxed and introspective, although undesirable effects—such as paranoia and irritability—are common as well.

Marijuana also temporarily impairs an array of mental abilities, especially memory and attention. Dozens of studies have shown, for example, that people under the influence of marijuana perform worse on tests of working memory, which is the ability to temporarily hold and manipulate information in one's mind. Participants in these studies have greater difficulty remembering and reciting short lists of numerals and random words. Research has further revealed that cannabis blunts concentration, weakens motor coordination and interferes with the ability to quickly scan one's surroundings for obstacles.

Such mild cognitive deficits may not endanger anyone if a marijuana user lazes on the couch, but it is a different story when someone takes that high on the road. In driving-simulation and closed-course studies, people on marijuana are slower to hit the brakes and worse at safely changing lanes. Investigators still debate, however, at what point these impairments translate to more traffic accidents. A 2009 study found an increased risk of accidents for levels of THC higher than five nanograms per milliliter of blood, which some evidence indicates is as impairing as a blood alcohol concentration around the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Typically one would have to take several puffs of a joint to reach such a concentration. Consequently, voters in Washington State have adopted 5 ng/mL as the upper threshold for drivers.

Enforcing that limit presents a technical challenge, however. Unlike alcohol, marijuana cannot be detected with a relatively unobtrusive Breathalyzer test. Police officers would have to look for it in blood—something that often requires a warrant. “There is currently no practical method for law-enforcement officers at the scene to collect blood samples from suspected DUI cannabis drivers in a timely manner,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the Washington, D.C.–based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates the legalization of marijuana. Instead of using a blood test, Armentano says that police should look for poor maneuvering and the smell of pot wafting from the vehicle.

Smoke Signals

Although marijuana's immediate effects are relatively easy to monitor in the lab, the drug's long-term effects on body and mind are harder to determine. So far the results—which admittedly are subject to multiple interpretations—indicate the need for caution. In one recent study, clinical psychologist Madeline Meier of Duke University and her colleagues examined data from 1,037 New Zealanders. They found that people who began using pot earlier in life and used it most frequently over the years experienced an average decline of eight IQ points by the time they turned 38. By comparison, those who never smoked pot had an average increase of one IQ point by the same age.

A reanalysis of the New Zealand data by Ole Røgeberg of the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo, however, suggested that the IQ difference could be explained by socioeconomic factors. People who start smoking marijuana at an earlier age are often less intelligent to begin with. Even if this is true, Meier says, her study shows that the IQ drop is greatest for those who started smoking pot as teenagers rather than in adulthood, indicating a worrisome cumulative effect regardless of intelligence. This finding, she thinks, makes it all the more important to discourage the early use of marijuana among teens.

Increasingly potent marijuana of recent years may be driving a sharp rise in cannabis addiction among adolescents, according to a report released last year by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Between 1993 and 2008, the average concentration of THC in confiscated marijuana jumped from 3.4 to 8.8 percent. Meanwhile hospital and rehabilitation center admission rates for minors abusing marijuana soared by 188 percent between 1992 and 2006. In contrast, admissions for alcohol abuse for the same group over the same period declined by 64 percent.

In addition to tracking levels of THC itself, some researchers have focused on the dangers of lingering contaminants in marijuana sold on the street. Dealers typically sell cannabis by weight, so some use sand or glass beads to make their products heavier. Breathing in these particles over the years may inflame and eventually scar the lungs. An analysis published last year of data on more than 5,000 Americans did not find a decline in lung function among individuals who smoked joints two or three times a month over two decades. The authors emphasize, however, that they did not assess the effect of daily use on lung health. “Somebody should do that study if marijuana is going to become legalized and prescribed” more widely, says Mark Pletcher, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who co-wrote the paper.

Some opponents of legalization worry that lax regulation of medical marijuana foretells even looser laws concerning recreational marijuana. In states that have legalized medical pot, current laws do not guarantee the safety or quality of cannabis products or standardize levels of THC. In Oakland, Calif., people can fill a marijuana prescription at Harborside Health Center, a massive dispensary with a strict quality-control system. Elsewhere in the state, however, people get their medical marijuana at mom-and-pop outfits or on the street. The next big round of ballot initiatives to legalize cannabis in states other than Washington and Colorado could happen as soon as three years from now, in the 2016 presidential election. Until then, researchers have plenty of marijuana health risks to weed through.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/23/is_recreational_pot_use_safe_partner/feed/ 219 Marijuana opponents’ new plan: Kill First Amendment http://www.salon.com/2013/05/20/marijuana_opponents_new_plan_kill_first_amendment/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/20/marijuana_opponents_new_plan_kill_first_amendment/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13303016 Can the mere image of a green leaf be considered obscene? If you think that's the kind of navel-gazing philosophical question to only be pondered by stoners, you are half right -- it does have to do with marijuana. But it isn't just an abstract and pointless query; it's an important and relevant legal one thanks to a bizarre effort to criminalize the mere image of the cannabis plant.

The setting for this effort is Colorado. After citizens here overwhelmingly backed Amendment 64, which fully legalizes marijuana, the state is now experiencing predictable attempts to thwart voters' will. The first of those was an attempt to automatically repeal the amendment if voters didn't approve a new tax to fund marijuana regulatory enforcement. The second of those has been municipal and state proposals to criminalize images like the cannabis leaf and media content about marijuana, despite the fact that access to the substance is now a constitutionally protected right in Colorado.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/20/marijuana_opponents_new_plan_kill_first_amendment/feed/ 27 Medical pot dispensaries to open in D.C. http://www.salon.com/2013/05/13/medical_pot_dispensaries_to_open_in_d_c/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/13/medical_pot_dispensaries_to_open_in_d_c/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 16:08:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13297195 In recent months the Justice Department has overseen harsh crackdowns on medical marijuana dispensaries in states like California where the sale of the drug for medical purposes has been legalized. As we noted earlier this month, a U.S. attorney is threatening California landlords housing medical marijuana dispensaries with 40 years in federal prison. Now the DoJ will contend with medical marijuana on its doorstep, as dispensaries plan to open in D.C.. Under district law, the highly regulated dispensaries will be legal, but illegal under the federal system. The unusual and delicate interplay between district and federal policy in the capital leaves the question open as to whether feds will intervene with dispensaries as they have in other states. Dispensaries are expected to open at the end of this month

Via McClatchy:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/13/medical_pot_dispensaries_to_open_in_d_c/feed/ 7 Feds threaten medical pot dispensaries with 40-year sentences http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/feds_threaten_medical_pot_dispensaries_with_40_year_sentences/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/feds_threaten_medical_pot_dispensaries_with_40_year_sentences/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13286000 In the latest act in the ongoing drama pitting federal drug laws against state legislation permitting the sale of marijuana, a U.S. attorney is threatening the landlords housing medical marijuana dispensaries with 40 years in federal prison. After ballot measures legalizing the sale and possession of recreational pot use passed in Colorado and Washington state, we wondered whether Obama's second term would see the beginning of the end of the federal war on drugs.

But as the San Jose crackdown, among others, suggests, the Justice Department will not be backing down. In January, Southern California medical marijuana dispensary operator Aaron Sandusky was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for running a business deemed legal in his state since California legalized marijuana for qualified patients, caregivers and collectives in 1996 and 2003. Now, as the East Bay Express reported, "a new round of actions against lawful medical cannabis dispensaries in the South Bay" has begun following crackdowns in 2011:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/30/feds_threaten_medical_pot_dispensaries_with_40_year_sentences/feed/ 61 Anti-pot GOPer in New York takes plea deal for possession charge http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/anti_pot_goper_in_new_york_takes_plea_deal_for_possession_charge/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/anti_pot_goper_in_new_york_takes_plea_deal_for_possession_charge/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:42:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13282712 New York's Republican State Assemblyman Steve Katz will have his pot charge wiped out if he completes twenty hours of community service and keeps out of other legal trouble, according to a plea agreement.

From The Journal News:

In the deal announced Thursday, Katz received a lesser parking ticket and an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, which would result in the marijuana charge being thrown out if he finishes the community service by the end of June and doesn’t run afoul of the law for up to a year. He did not appear in court Thursday, leaving it to his attorney to formally enter the plea. Katz did not return a call for comment.

Katz, who was pulled over for speeding in March and then charged with pot possession, sits on the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and also happens to have voted against legalizing medical marijuana in 2012.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/anti_pot_goper_in_new_york_takes_plea_deal_for_possession_charge/feed/ 29 Going green at California’s first pot farmers’ market http://www.salon.com/2013/04/14/go_green_at_californias_first_pot_farmers_market_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/14/go_green_at_californias_first_pot_farmers_market_partner/#comments Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13269407 Modern Farmer Northern California’s first pot farmers’ market is like most other farmers’ markets, except you buy weed instead of kale and there’s the possibility you’ll go to prison – which gives visits to the Organicann Harvest Market in Sonoma County a bit of an edge this chilly morning.

Driving through Sonoma’s famed pastures and rolling vineyards, I note billboards advertising casinos and hydroponics — a favored tool for cultivating pot indoors. This is pot country as much as wine country. Marijuana is the second most-popular intoxicant in the world (after alcohol) and largely legal in the Golden State thanks to 1996 and 2003 laws that allow its use for medicinal purposes.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/14/go_green_at_californias_first_pot_farmers_market_partner/feed/ 16 Colorado considers huge legal weed tax http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/colorado_considers_huge_legal_weed_tax/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/colorado_considers_huge_legal_weed_tax/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13265037 Taxes on recreational marijuana legalized in Colorado could be so high that recreational users may continue to rely on illegal sales. As HuffPo reported Monday:

The House-Senate committee, which will introduce a bill this week drafted from the 58 recommendations that the pot task force issued last month with taxes being one of several issues the committee is considering, would ask voters to approve a 15 percent excise tax and a 15 percent special sales tax. Those rates plus existing local and state tax rates -- for food and beverage sales in Denver, the the combined total tax rate is 8 percent -- could mean a total tax rate 0f 38 percent on marijuana purchases in the Denver area.

Currently, medical marijuana is taxed like all food and beverage sales are and fluctuates from county to county, in Denver that rate is just 8 percent.

The proposed Colorado taxes are markedly higher than the taxes placed on recreational marijuana in the only other legalization state -- Washington. At present, Washington state's Initiative 502 legalized small amounts of marijuana and marijuana products for people 21 and older and established a 25 percent excise tax on those products.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/colorado_considers_huge_legal_weed_tax/feed/ 27 For the first time a majority of Americans support legalizing pot http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/for_the_first_time_a_majority_of_americans_support_legalizing_pot/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/for_the_first_time_a_majority_of_americans_support_legalizing_pot/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:05:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13261503 A new Pew Research Survey finds that for the first time ever, a majority of Americans think that pot should be legalized, by a margin of 52-45 percent.

The poll also found that almost half of Americans say they've tried pot:

The survey finds that an increasing percentage of Americans say they have tried marijuana. Overall, 48% say they have ever tried marijuana, up from 38% a decade ago. Roughly half in all age groups, except for those 65 and older, say they have tried marijuana.

Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority said in a statement that this is a good sign for legalization: "A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, and you're going to start seeing more politicians running toward our movement instead of away from it, just as we've seen happen with marriage equality recently."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/for_the_first_time_a_majority_of_americans_support_legalizing_pot/feed/ 15 Bryan Fischer: Pot use should be fined like a speeding ticket http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/bryan_fischer_pot_use_should_be_fined_like_a_speeding_ticket/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/bryan_fischer_pot_use_should_be_fined_like_a_speeding_ticket/#comments Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:41:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13250448 In response to Rand Paul's comments that he opposes pot use but "I also don’t want to put people in jail who make a mistake," social conservative Bryan Fischer suggested that we should just be fining people for pot use, not sending them to jail.

In a tweet, Fischer, the Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association, wrote:

[embedtweet id="315835818637934592"]

Evangelical Pat Robertson also recently came out for changing marijuana policy: “I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol,” he told the New York Times. “I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/bryan_fischer_pot_use_should_be_fined_like_a_speeding_ticket/feed/ 11 Rand Paul: We shouldn’t jail people for pot use http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/rand_paul_we_shouldnt_jail_people_for_pot_use/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/rand_paul_we_shouldnt_jail_people_for_pot_use/#comments Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:56:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13250419 Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said that though he opposes drug use, he thinks that the penalties are too harsh and, "I don't want to put them in jail and ruin their lives."

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Paul said that even the last two presidents used drugs at some point. "Look, the last two presidents could have conceivably been put in jail for their drug use and I really think - look what would've happened, it would've ruined their lives," he said. "They got lucky. But a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don't get lucky and they don't have good attorneys and they go to jail for some of these things and I think it's a big mistake."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/24/rand_paul_we_shouldnt_jail_people_for_pot_use/feed/ 17 How to turn a state liberal http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/how_to_turn_your_state_liberal/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/how_to_turn_your_state_liberal/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13246390 As Colorado goes, so goes the nation. With the culture and demographics of the Intermountain West so rapidly changing, this motto about my home state has become conventional wisdom in national electoral politics, and for good reason. After all, the square state is the capital of the so-called Rocky Mountain Empire, a region that is fast becoming the political equivalent of a test market for the whole country. And if it is true that the way Colorado goes is the way the nation as a whole goes, then America better get ready for some extremely large changes.

Part of Colorado's story of change comes from the statehouse where Democrats control both the governor's office and both chambers of the Legislature. But as much of the story comes from outside the Capitol, where organic grass-roots uprisings are obliterating old political assumptions.

For decades, this was a state whose electoral topography was reliable Republican and whose politics was dominated by an unholy coalition of cultural conservatives and oil and gas interests. In the 1980s and 1990s, it became the national conservative movement in a microcosmic petri dish, passing socially conservative constitutional amendments and a so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights aimed at pulverizing the public sector.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/how_to_turn_your_state_liberal/feed/ 186 United Nations’ pot hypocrisy http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/united_nations_pot_hypocrisy/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/united_nations_pot_hypocrisy/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13229478 The notion of alcohol consumers piously demanding that others stop using pot probably makes you think of the beer-swilling World War II generation berating weed-smoking hippies during the 1960s. Now, thanks to the United Nations, that caricature gets an update, and the hypocrisy is at once amusing and depressing.

You may have read the headline-grabbing news that in advance of its conference on drug policy this week, the U.N. issued a report urging the United States government to block Colorado and Washington state from moving forward with voter-approved laws that allow adult citizens to use marijuana as a less harmful alternative to alcohol. What you may not have heard is that on the very same day the U.N. released that report, U.S. ambassador Joseph Torsella slammed his U.N. colleagues for drinking too much on the job. Apparently, binging at the U.N. is so commonplace and excessive that it is hindering the organization from conducting its most basic work.

As hypocrisy humor goes, this is pretty funny. An international body immersed in one drug (alcohol) yet telling governments to outlaw an objectively less harmful drug (marijuana) is biting comedy. It hilariously exemplifies the double standards and contradictions that still define many global leaders' views of drugs.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/united_nations_pot_hypocrisy/feed/ 23 Missouri pot activism finds unusual ally: A veteran cop http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/missouri_pot_activism_finds_unusual_ally_a_veteran_cop/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/missouri_pot_activism_finds_unusual_ally_a_veteran_cop/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:16:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13229420 Given the national epidemic of marijuana arrests disproportionately targeting young black and brown men, cops rarely appear favorably in marijuana reform stories. One veteran officer in Missouri has, however, struck out against the grain. As the local Fox affiliate reported:

Sergeant Gary Wiegert has been a city cop for 32 years. He’s twice been president of the St. Louis Police Officer’s Association. His other part-time job is as a lobbyist in Jefferson City. One of his clients is the St. Louis Tea Party. Another, is a group called Show-Me Cannibis Regulation, which is trying to decriminalize marijuana in Missouri.

Wiegart's police department have not reacted well to his position on pot. "Sergeant Wiegert is not representing the department. His comments are his own and not what is expected of our officers,” the department chief said in a statement, explaining why the department was blocking Wiegart speaking to the media. Now, according to St. Louis Today, Wiegart has filed suit against the department for "allegedly stifling his pro-pot politicking."

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