Drugs & Prohibition

Medbox: Dawn of the Marijuana Vending Machine

"'We are in the right place at the right time,' says Bruce Bedrick, a 44-year-old chiropractor, occasional pot user, and chief executive officer of Medbox (MDBX), maker of one of the world’s first marijuana vending machines. 'We are planning to literally dominate the industry.' Medbox’s core product resembles a Redbox DVD dispenser, only it’s black, refrigerated, and armored. Bedrick avoids the term vending machine because you can’t just saunter up to a Medbox, put in a few bills, and walk away with a stash of weed. The devices sit behind sales counters at state-licensed marijuana dispensaries." Continue reading →

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Tommy Chong claims cannabis helped cure his prostate cancer

"Tommy Chong, the veteran star of the dope-fuelled Cheech and Chong films, says he has beaten prostate cancer with a combination of cannabis use and a special diet. Chong, 74, was diagnosed with cancer in June last year following a three-year period in which he said he had been drug free. He now says he is 99% free of the disease after a Canadian doctor helped him change his diet to include a variety of special supplements, as well as hemp oil. He then sat for a number of sessions with a practitioner named Adam Dreamhealer, described as a 'world-renowned healer'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTommy Chong claims cannabis helped cure his prostate cancer

Montana’s Medical Marijuana Industry Goes Down

"The drop was driven in part by a tougher 2011 law on medical marijuana use and distribution. But more than anything, marijuana advocates say, the demise of the once-booming medical pot industry was the result of the largest federal drug-trafficking investigation in the state's industry. The three-year investigation by the U.S. attorney's office, the DEA and other federal agencies wrapped up last week when the last of 33 convicted defendants was sentenced. That allowed its architect, U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter, to speak publicly for the first time on the crackdown. Cotter said he believes he is on the right side of history, regardless of what is happening in the country." Continue reading →

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With ‘Charity’ For All

"Readers of a certain age will remember tedious elementary-school experiences with Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E. Founded in 1983, D.A.R.E. was, at its height in the 1990s, used in 75% of U.S. school districts and in 54 countries around the world. There was just one problem: D.A.R.E. didn't work. Long-term studies have shown overwhelmingly that the program produced no meaningful reduction in drug use and in some cases actually made kids more likely to use drugs. Yet the nonprofit survives, having consumed an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion in donor and taxpayer funds over the past decade." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith ‘Charity’ For All

Anti-cocaine vaccine research edges closer to human trials

"Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have successfully used a vaccine to produce a long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in nonhuman primates. 'The vaccine eats up the cocaine in the blood like a little Pac-man before it can reach the brain,' the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, said in a news release. Using PET imaging, Crystal and his colleagues found the vaccine prevented cocaine from reaching the brain. The vaccine stimulated the immune system to produce specific antibodies that attached themselves to cocaine molecules in the bloodstream. This prevented the drug from passing through the blood-brain barrier." Continue reading →

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California Medical Marijuana Crackdown Ramps Up As More Dispensaries Targeted For Closure

"Several dozen protesters gathered in downtown Berkeley Wednesday afternoon to fight federal action against one of California's oldest medical marijuana dispensaries, targeted for closure by the Justice Department. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag on Friday served pot shop Berkeley Patients Group with a lawsuit that attempts to seize the property and ultimately shut the business. Dispensaries throughout northern California have received similar legal threats from the U.S. attorney over the past few weeks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia Medical Marijuana Crackdown Ramps Up As More Dispensaries Targeted For Closure

Nevada bill would levy 8% tax on brothels, Burning Man festival

"The tax man may soon be visiting a few Nevada brothels. A bill to be introduced in the Nevada legislature on Wednesday will propose an 8% flat tax for live entertainment at business ventures in the state ranging from brothels to the annual Burning Man festival. Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-North Las Vegas) says the bill would target events and businesses that have either been deemed exempt from state sales taxes or have simply been overlooked. Those operations include brothels, which Nevada lawmakers have been hesitant to tax out of fear that doing so would further legitimize the stigmatized, but legal trade." Continue reading →

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Building superintendent mistakes tomato plants for pot, and so did cops he called

"Experts don’t know how the cops could have confused the two. Cops eventually got hip to the difference and closed the investigation, leaving the tomatoes alone. The unidentified owner of the tomato stash won’t have to deal with the cops but he will have to deal with his super, who said he’d lock the door to the roof. 'No one’s supposed to be there anyway,' Delarosa said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBuilding superintendent mistakes tomato plants for pot, and so did cops he called

Why Cops Bust Down Doors of Medical Pot Growers, But Ignore Men Who Keep Naked Girls on Leashes

"Strange, isn’t it, that hunches and vague tips about potential marijuana growing (in a state that recently legalized the drug!) is motivation enough to send a SWAT team busting down a door? Compare that to recent reports that police in Cleveland, Ohio ignored years of tips and calls about strange things going on in the home of the three Cleveland men suspected of holding captive, brutally raping and beating three women for nearly a decade. Neighbors say they knew something was up and claim that they repeatedly called the cops. The police did not appear concerned; they certainly lacked the enthusiasm many law enforcement officers display regarding drugs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Cops Bust Down Doors of Medical Pot Growers, But Ignore Men Who Keep Naked Girls on Leashes

Colorado passes laws for the legal sale of marijuana beginning Jan. 1

"Lawmakers in Colorado voted Wednesday night to approve a historic, first-ever regulatory framework for the production, taxation and sales of marijuana. Four bills awaiting the governor’s signature Thursday morning — SB 283, HB 1317, HB 1318 and HB 1325 — will convert the state’s medical marijuana regulatory agency into a body governing all marijuana sales and establish legal limits for driving while under the influence of marijuana. Voters will also be given the chance to approve a series of taxes on marijuana in November, starting at 10 percent sales tax at retail and 15 percent excise tax at wholesale, with additional local taxes to be set by each municipality." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingColorado passes laws for the legal sale of marijuana beginning Jan. 1