Tag: Marijuana Laws

Teen vape use is skyrocketing. But the phenomenon is so viral that public health researchers have had little time to study it. Indeed, a recent survey shows that in a short time, vaping has surpassed all other methods of consuming substances except for drinking. In other words, more teens partake in vaping than smoking cigarettes, weed, or any other drug. Researchers found that among U.S. high school seniors, vape use doubled from 2017 to 2018. Equally interesting, however, was what the survey showed about adolescent substance use across the board. According to the data, teens’ use of other substances are staying constant or on the decline. Teen Vape Use Doubled From Last Year It’s difficult to study teen vaping. That’s partly due to a wide range of substances that one can vape. Students c

Rastafarian inmate James Rose has sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections for violation of his religious freedoms while imprisoned. Primary among his demands are that his jailers allow him to grow out his dreadlocks and smoke marijuana, a cornerstone practice of the faith that originated in Jamaica. In his lawsuit, Rose reports that his dreadlocks were forcibly shaved in the prison. “The injuries I’ve sustained related to the events were migraine headaches, psychological trauma, mental anguish (depression), panic attacks, and nightmares,” Rose wrote in the handwritten document that he filed on Monday. The 41-year-old is suing the department to the tune of $1 million in punitive and actual damages. Rose is currently serving a life sentence in the maximum security McCormick Correct

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has made the legalization of recreational marijuana for adults a primary goal for the first 100 days of his new term. Cuomo, who was reelected in November’s midterm elections, announced his administration’s priorities for 2019 in a speech to the New York City Bar Association on Monday morning. “We must also end the needless and unjust criminal convictions and the debilitating criminal stigma and let’s legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana once and for all,” Cuomo said. Cuomo told the Manhattan meeting of attorneys that additional reform was also necessary. “We have had two criminal justice systems: one for the wealthy and well off, and one for everyone else,” Cuomo said. “And that’s going to end.” Cuomo added that injustice has “for too long targete

In an about-face from earlier positions, provincial lawmakers in Ontario today announced that it will place a limit on the number of private dispensaries that will be allowed to open in the province. Initially, Ontario planned for a gradual rollout of recreational retail without any limits on the number of private dispensaries. But in an announcement today, lawmakers said they will now cap private dispensaries at 25. A Change in Policy Provincial authorities announced the policy change in a statement issued earlier today. In the statement, they said that Ontario will now adopt a “phased approach” in which only a set number of private weed shops will receive licenses. This is a marked change from earlier plans. In particular, as Canada prepared to legalize weed earlier this year, the Ontari

Heeding the pleas of parents convinced that their kids’ severe autism could be helped by cannabis consumption, members of the Iowa Board of Medicine voted on Friday to expand the conditions for which medical CBD oil can be prescribed. Ulcerative colitis and severe autism were added to the list of conditions cannabis can be used for. Lindsay Gaunt, mother of an autistic child, said she cried tears of joy upon hearing the news. “I would do anything for my kids, and I’m hoping to bring this to Iowa not only for Obreigh, but for many families,” said Gaunt of her six year old daughter, a nonverbal autism patient who often resorts to banging her head and forcing herself to vomit when she is given her current medication. “To have the opportunity to have this medication as an option is something t

Zixian Long was an arts student at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. As the fall semester came to a close last December, Long’s final term, she remembers finishing up her final projects when her mother approached her about a free travel opportunity. Long’s mother had been contacted by a person she met on the internet, who offered to pay her and her daughter’s round trip travel costs to Barcelona, if only they would bring a suitcase back with them. Ignoring the warning signs, they accepted. And on their way back into Scotland, unaware that the shrink-wrapped suitcase they were carrying had more than $125,000 worth of weed in it, Border Force agents arrested them. Despite denying any knowledge of the contents of the suitcase, a jury convicted Zixian Long today on drug trafficking and

Two state senators tired of their peers’ inaction on the issue have announced the creation of a 2020 ballot measure campaign to put the future of medical pot in the hands of Nebraskan voters. Lincoln’s Anna Wishart and Adam Morfeld submitted the paperwork to establish campaign committee Nebraskans for Sensible Marijuana Laws on Thursday morning. The measure will look to create a constitutional amendment that would ensure the right to medical cannabis, a feat that’s proven difficult to accomplish previously in the state’s legislature. “Today is the first step towards establishing a compassionate medical marijuana law for sick and suffering Nebraskans,” said Senator Wishart. “Thirty-two states have already adopted effective medical marijuana laws, and Nebraska will soon be joining their rank

Medical cannabis patients, caregivers, and advocates are saying better late than never to Fresno City Council’s 5-2 vote to legalize medical dispensaries. Like others across the state, the California city had passed resolutions opting out of the state’s medical and adult-use cannabis industries. But on Thursday, members of City Council, led by Councilman Clint Olivier, approved a set of regulations allowing medical cannabis retail and establishing zoning guidelines for cultivators, distributors, and manufacturers. Fresno, CA Legalizes Medical Cannabis Industry in Bid to Drive Out Unlicensed Businesses Yet there are those who say the medical-only plan doesn’t go far enough. Writing in the Fresno Bee, Marek Warszawki, a longtime critic of city council’s position on legal cannabis, says the m