REEFER MADNESS - POT KILLS?

[Duchess]

I'm shocked he didn't just let her go...

I'm very surprised too given he knew it was going to be on the books. Too bad she didn't try to fight it, they may have thrown it out.

[FAHQTOO]

I'm shocked he didn't just let her go...

I'm very surprised too given he knew it was going to be on the books. Too bad she didn't try to fight it, they may have thrown it out.

I'm not seeing IN on the list of states decriminalized. I should probably go and ask her what the hell she's talking about, but I don't think I care enough...

I'll just go back to living in my illegal weed-induced haze.

[Duchess]

I'll just go back to living in my illegal weed-induced haze.

I hear ya! *fist bump*

[HairOfTheDog]

Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana -- Did it Contribute to Fatal Crash?

A New York City teenager who admitted smoking marijuana and speeding before crashing into a tree in 2012, killing four of his friends on Long Island, was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.

The judge decided against a four-year youthful offender sentence for Joseph Beer, who was 17 at the time of the crash.


^Joseph Beer.....^Beer's four friends who died in the crash

Beer, now 19, of Queens, pleaded guilty in July to the top count of aggravated vehicular homicide in the fiery crash on the Southern State Parkway. A month earlier, a jury had deadlocked on the charge, but Beer decided to plead guilty to spare the families of his friends who died the ordeal of a second trial, his attorney said.

Beer also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of marijuana. Defense attorney Todd Greenberg has argued that unlike blood-alcohol standards for drunken driving, police and prosecutors have yet to develop a reliable measurement for impairment from marijuana. An expert testified that because Beer was a chronic marijuana smoker, his body's ability to process the active ingredient in marijuana may be different from someone who is an occasional user.

"We never denied that there was some responsibility," Greenberg said during the trial. But the defense "always maintained that Joseph Beer was not impaired, and the impairment by marijuana did not cause this accident."

Prosecutors said Beer was driving faster than 100 mph when he smashed into a tree on a stretch of highway dubbed Dead Man's Curve because of a treacherous hill that leads to a sharp curve.

The crash at about 4 a.m. on the Columbus Day holiday in October 2012 cut the high-performance Subaru in half, killing the four boys instantly. Glass, debris and other car parts were strewn along a wooded area adjacent to a nearby neighborhood street, where neighbors described being awakened by the sound of a loud explosion. Beer was the lone survivor and had only minor injuries.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/26..._ref=crime
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Had he wealthier more selfish parents, an enabling Affluenza-diagnosing shrink, a cracked judge and no conscience, Beer mighta gotten off with rehab and probation.

Sad case all the way around, but I think the judge got it right.

[HairOfTheDog]

Top Doctors Support Marijuana Research and/or Legalization

We're behind the times, in my opinion. Medicinal marijuana should be legal in every state by now, not just a handful. But, at least we seem to be moving in the right direction in terms of support and research from the medical community.


Dr. Vivek Murthy ^, the nation's newest surgeon general, says that marijuana "can be helpful" for some medical conditions, and wants science to dictate policy on the federally banned substance.

"We have some preliminary data that for certain medical conditions and symptoms, that marijuana can be helpful," Murthy said during a Wednesday interview on "CBS This Morning" in response to a question about his stance on marijuana legalization.

Murthy isn't the first surgeon general to question U.S. drug policy. In 1993, Joycelyn Elders, the surgeon general under President Bill Clinton, said she believed that legalizing drugs in the U.S. would "markedly reduce our crime rate." Then in 2010, Elders called for the legalization of marijuana.

Other high-profile doctors have also come out in support of medical marijuana. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent and Obama's first choice to be surgeon general when he first took office 2009, produced two documentaries for the cable channel exploring the benefits of medical marijuana. Just last year, Gupta stated that he thinks the federal government should legalize medical marijuana.

Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04...14226.html
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Recreational Marijuana Legalization - Ironing Out the Glitches & Raking in $$$$$$



Colorado seems to be pulling it together in terms of fixing problems associated with recreational marijuana labeling and consumer safety. The state has made a damned fortune since it started taxing retail recreational marijuana; way more than originally estimated. In the first 18 months since legalization, the tax revenue = $184 million.

But, the state has also had problems with buyers over-consuming edibles.

As a result, packages must now contain products with individual doses of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and must be child proof. Producers and retailers have raced to meet the new regulations. I saw some of the new candy bars where instead of the brand name or pot leaf being embossed on each square (like the ones above), "10mg" was instead embossed -- good idea.

Refs:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/20/news/eco...-colorado/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-mov...-products/

[FAHQTOO]

I'm just going to assume Indiana will be the last state for it to become legal.
We're the last state in the country that still can't buy alcohol on Sunday.

[Duchess]

That chocolate is so cool!

[HairOfTheDog]

The man who shot his wife to death after consuming edible marijuana last year has pleaded "not guilty" to murder.

The couple had three young sons who were home at the time of the killing.

Colorado has since invoked stricter potency limits on edibles.



Story:
Defense attorneys have suggested that Kirk was so impaired by the "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger" that he may not have intended to kill his wife. She told 911 dispatchers that he was acting more drunk than violent, crawling through a bedroom window and cutting his legs on broken glass.

But prosecutors argue he had the wherewithal to remember the code to a locked gun safe and press the weapon to his wife's head.

On the 911 call, Kristine Kirk said her husband was paranoid and hallucinating after eating pot candy he had purchased in one of Colorado's recreational marijuana stores. Dispatchers heard the woman beg her husband not to retrieve a gun from a safe. Then they heard a gunshot and the line went quiet.

Denver police Detective Troy Bisgard testified during Kirk's preliminary hearing last year that the only substance found in Kirk's blood was THC, marijuana's intoxicating chemical, but drew no conclusions about whether the drug influenced his erratic behavior. The detective said Kirk's THC levels were relatively low, but defense attorney Shanelle Kindel argued the effects of marijuana can be felt in small amounts.

The couple's marital and financial problems were escalating, and Kristine Kirk was covered by a $340,000 life insurance policy, Bisgard said. She had recently told friends she had grown afraid of her husband because they had been fighting so much. (<-- HOTD: I think that's why Kristine Kirk is dead, not the THC. If so, hope he doesn't get away with the killer pot defense.)

Richard Kirk is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 26.

[Duchess]

I've been around weed and people smoking it for a very long time and I am so suspicious of "the weed made me do it". THC in this case but you know what I mean. I have never seen a violent stoned person, never. Not to say they aren't out there because I can't prove they aren't but I don't believe this man.

[HairOfTheDog]

vs.

Worrying about teen drinking and drug use has kept many a parent up at night. With marijuana becoming increasingly available and legal in some parts of the country, the question has taken on new urgency: If teens are going to experiment, which is safer, booze or pot?

"The first answer always has to be neither," Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. But then he acknowledges they're not exactly equivalent -- and he considers alcohol much more dangerous.

"After going through all the data and looking at which is more dangerous in almost any metric you would pick, pot really looks like it's safer than alcohol," he said. "So I guess if I had to choose, that would be the answer."

"... the number of crimes that are committed that have some sort of alcohol component related to them are massive -- hundreds of thousands a year, if not more," he said. "It's far worse than what's going on with pot."

Violent assaults, in particular, are often fueled by alcohol. In contrast, Carroll says research shows rates of interpersonal or domestic violence are actually "lower in people who smoke marijuana than people that don't."

Though many people associate drugs with crime, Carroll notes that most of the criminal activity tied to marijuana has to do with illegal distribution, not violence committed by people who smoke it.

"On the other hand, the number of crimes that are committed that have some sort of alcohol component related to them are massive -- hundreds of thousands a year, if not more," he said. "It's far worse than what's going on with pot." Violent assaults, in particular, are often fueled by alcohol. In contrast, Carroll says research shows rates of interpersonal or domestic violence are actually "lower in people who smoke marijuana than people that don't."

"We always worry about pot as a gateway drug," Carroll said, "but research shows us that about 9 percent of people who experiment with pot will become dependent or abuse it. The percent that later become dependent or abuse alcohol is greater than 20 percent. So more people who use alcohol are actually going to have a problem with it later in life."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/which-is-wor...weighs-in/

[Duchess]

I'm glad to see that acknowledged.

[Maggot]

Yesterday is gone and people take things to the next level, they always do, good or bad. Usually bad. Its never enough and this is the result.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ That's 23-year-old Luke Goodman, 23, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sadly, he's dead. RIP.

Goodman was on a two-week ski trip with his family and friends when he took a bus on Saturday to Silverthorne with his cousin Caleb Fowler, where the two purchased $78 worth of pot and edibles.

They then went back to their lodgings in Keystone and proceeded to get high. Fowler says his cousin started off by eating two peach tart candies at the same time - despite the fact that the suggested dosage is just one candy. Each candy contains 10mg of THC - the active ingredient in marijuana.


When Goodman didn't immediately feel the effects of the drug, he ate five more of the candies (like the ones pictured above). Several hours later, Goodman's behavior changed drastically and he became jittery, incoherent and started talking nonsensically.

Apparently unaware of his serious condition, his family later left the condo and Goodman refused to join. That's when he grabbed his handgun, which he traveled with for protection, and shot himself.

Luke's family say he was a charismatic and outgoing young man who never showed signs of depression or suicidal thoughts.

The Summit County Coroner says toxicology reports due back in a few weeks will shed more light on the edibles impact on Goodman's death.

Luke's mom says she blames the drug 100%. Though I've consumed more marijuana than I should have in one sitting in the past and never had any such reaction, it's possible to me that Luke had a different reaction to having 5x the TCH recommended in his system and it led to his erratic and fatal behavior.

Even if that's true, I don't blame the drug. It was clearly labeled -- he either didn't read the dosage recommendations or ignored them. I don't blame the gun either. I blame ignorance or negligence on Luke's part and hope others who buy marijuana edibles use more sense.

[Duchess]

I hope these dumbasses don't ruin it for those that use their head.

His Mom has got a lot of nerve blaming the weed when it was clearly her son's fault.

[HairOfTheDog]

Scary Spice


^ A disturbing photo from the Clearwater Police Department taken at Crest Lake Park shows two people slumped over and one person laying on the ground, as it's suspected they had used Spice.

Authorities in several Florida cities have seen an increase in emergency calls related to people being slumped over in a stupefied state as they have overdosed on the dangerous drug known as spice, or synthetic marijuana.

Police in Tampa say that more people than ever before are overdosing on the drug, as investigators in Clearwater say they've received dozens of calls for people who have had to be rushed to the hospital because of suspected spice use.

Police say the people who are making the synthetic drug are changing the ingredients, which means that users have no idea what they are smoking.

Authorities say they are trying to find a solution to the increase of spice-related cases, as they are teaming up to work on a solution to fix the problem. They're wondering when people are going to start dying of Spice-induced heart attacks.

Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z43T3guIeP
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Idiots. Why ruin an herb that's perfect in its natural form?

[Maggot]

Well............there goes the neighborhood.