The New York Times discovers the significance of today's date. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Apr 20, 2009 - 63 comments

"To make off with hubby's fortune, yea, I think I heard of that happenin' once or twice around L.A. And… you want me to do what exactly?" He found the paper bag he'd brought his supper home in and got busy pretending to scribble notes on it, because straight-chick uniform, makeup supposed to look like no makeup or whatever, here came that old well-known hard-on Shasta was always good for sooner or later. Does it ever end, he wondered. Of course it does. It did. Thomas Pynchon's next novel, the 416-page Inherent Vice, is described by Penguin Press as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog." While we wait for its August 4 publication, we can read an essay on the dystopian musical he co-wrote at Cornell or watch a clip of that movie they made of Gravity's Rainbow. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Feb 6, 2009 - 76 comments

(Some links NSFW) Any down on their luck stoner is familiar with so called, "legal bud" Herbs of all kinds have been marketed online to the connectionless or legally restricted that offered a marijuana like high without the legal consequences. Everyone knows they are all scams. It might surprise you, that some were not. Commonly sold under the names Spice or Zohai, mixtures of herbs sprayed with synthetic cannabinoid substances such as HU-210 or JWH-018 have been available online for at least the past four years. [more inside]
posted by furiousxgeorge on Jan 25, 2009 - 53 comments

Salon has an article up which is a pretty solid summary of why marijuana is illegal.
posted by Pope Guilty on Jan 7, 2009 - 116 comments

Thirty-six years after the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse recommended that "simple possession" of pot be decriminalised, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), to remove federal criminal penalties for possession of up to 100 grams (about three-and-a-half ounces) of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce (28.3 grams). Drug reform advocates lit up hailed the legislation as "an important step toward bringing federal law into line with scientific fact, practical reality and public opinion." Is America, at long last, having a collective moment of sanity?
posted by kliuless on Apr 20, 2008 - 76 comments

Ten Years in Jail for Selling Lightbulbs
posted by lalochezia on Mar 6, 2008 - 91 comments

Robin Prosser was a former concert pianist and systems analyst who suffered from an autoimmune disease similar to lupus for over 20 years. The disease left her in constant pain and made her allergic to most pharmaceutical painkillers. Only medical marijuana brought her relief, but last spring the DEA seized her medicine. Unable to cope with the chronic pain any longer, she committed suicide on October 18th. [Via Andrew Sullivan.]
posted by homunculus on Oct 29, 2007 - 68 comments

The Indoor Yield-O-Rama is a scientific look at how much marijuana people can expect to grow under certain conditions. No matter you think about marijuana or your country's drug laws, the level of sophistication in this statistical analysis may surprise you.
posted by mistermoore on Jul 10, 2007 - 56 comments

Many people want to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana and other drugs, however, few know that many U.S. states are content simply to tax. In fact, even the federal government wants a share (middle of p. 89 of the PDF), and used tax stamps in early prohibition, but only the states have recently issued issued cool stamps (be sure to click "exhibit"). The point, of course, is not to actually tax the drugs, but to penalize the drug dealers for tax evasion as well as drug sales. They have brought in some money, though. A few interesting state government pages: Conecticut, Nebraska, North Carolina and their tax return form, and Kansas.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Jan 15, 2007 - 30 comments

From the guy who brought you the Whitewater scandal and the impeachment of President Clinton for lying about oval antics in the Oral Office, a legal push to make the Supreme Court just say no to "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Ken Starr's petition to the Court [PDF] makes clear that Starr believes this is no laughing matter, but a chance for the Court to make a landmark ruling that will give school adminstrators the power to limit student speech: "This case presents the Court with a much-needed opportunity to resolve a sharp conflict among federal courts (and to eliminate confusion on the part of school boards, administrators, teachers, and students) over whether the First Amendment permits regulation of student speech when such speech is advocating or making light of illegal substances."
posted by digaman on Aug 28, 2006 - 131 comments

Fox pussies out. Recently a bill passed in mexico legalizing all drugs under certain specified quantities. The bill was promoted By Vincente Fox's party, and came from his offices. However he decided not to sign it under U.S. pressure.

There go my vacation plans.
posted by Paris Hilton on May 4, 2006 - 57 comments

When was the last time your country's minister of Justice expressed his policies in rap form? Here's the Dutch justice minister's Piet Hein Donner's debut on the mic (mp3). [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Feb 27, 2006 - 19 comments

Overgrow.com --one of the largest and most comprehensive sites written by and for cannabis growers about cannabis cultivation, complete with user forums and immense photo galleries--along with Heaven's Stairway Seeds (hempqc.com), Cannabisworld.com, and Eurohemp.com have all been shut down, their owners arrested in Canada, and the servers seized. The story hasn't yet made the Canadian news, but it raises many questions about free speech online.
posted by fandango_matt on Feb 5, 2006 - 45 comments

That'll teach 'em. Two 10-year old girls arrested in Florida and suspended from school for possession of... well uhm, parsely, actually.
posted by digaman on Nov 29, 2005 - 55 comments

Marc Emery speaks out about his activism, recent arrest and possible extradition to the US. A follow up to this post.
posted by btwillig on Aug 17, 2005 - 19 comments

Where are the areas in the United States with highest marijuana use? Where are the areas with the lowest? A different kind of red versus blue. But wait, there's more, especially if you would prefer to be binge drinking to wash away those lonesome blues. And a list of information broken down by drug, if your fix is more obscure.
posted by nervousfritz on Jun 17, 2005 - 48 comments

The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition by Jeffrey Miron of Boston U.. So far, endorsed by 500+ economists, including Milton Friedman.

Key points:
*End prohibition and save $7.7 billion in govt. expenditure.
*Tax its sale, like alcohol, and generate $6.2 billion in revenue.
posted by daksya on Jun 1, 2005 - 79 comments

Twenty-year sentence for selling two Oxycontin pills "I want to be a good person." said Johnson. "I wish I could have the chance to better myself and repay my debt to society. I want to go to college. ... It was just two little pills. ... This one time, please give me a chance. Please." A small town in Indiana doles out tough sentences and offers classes on the community's out of control drug problem.
posted by billysumday on Feb 8, 2005 - 268 comments

AARP poll finds older Americans favor medical marijuana. With a medical marijuana case in front of the Supremes, and with a dozen states now with medical marijuana laws on the books, AARP decided to take a poll. Here's what they found: "Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use." My father (a senior citizen) takes prescribed Marinol (synthetic THC) as an appetite stimulant; my wife, a cancer survivor, got through chemotherapy largely on the strength of the weed I was able to buy on the street in New York. [MI]
posted by enrevanche on Dec 18, 2004 - 23 comments

The Washingtonian wants you to know: Kids smoke pot. And sometimes you can't even tell! "You could have the honors student, cheerleader, football-player-dating girl with straight A’s who may be the go-between for some drug dealer, just selling the stuff at school.” Even in the suburbs! Got your pearls clutched tightly? The Washington City Paper responds.
posted by occhiblu on Dec 3, 2004 - 76 comments

Rescheduling marijuana: third time's the charm? Rather than hoping activist judges use the outdated notion of state's rights to allow Angel Raich to use marijuana medicinally (she claims she'd die without it), why not reclassify it as Schedule II? Or more appropriately, Schedule III? Don't hold your breath. They've been trying since 1972.
posted by mrgrimm on Dec 2, 2004 - 42 comments

It's Just A Plant: a children's story of marijuana "One night Jackie woke up past her bedtime. She smelled something funny in the air, so she walked down the hall to her parents' bedroom." Here's a new way for parents to teach their kids about drugs--through a brightly-illustrated children's book, not second-hand misinformation or Drug Warrior scare tactics. Parents, librarians, and booksellers, please take note. [via D'Alliance, the blog of the Drug Policy Alliance]
posted by Asparagirl on Nov 12, 2004 - 59 comments

Eat 'em if you got 'em: hemp-based foods were banned several years ago, thanks to the Drug Enforcement Agency's neverending "war on (some) drugs" but lawyers for hemp-based food companies successfully overturned the law, and the deadline ran out on the DEA to challenge it. Not that I would ever want to eat a hemp cheeseburger, but it's nice to know I can. Hopefully hemp rope will remain legal as well.
posted by mathowie on Sep 30, 2004 - 19 comments

Rep. Kirk (R), states, that Washington now must fuse counterterrorism and counternarcotics into an inseparable mission. It seemed almost inevitable, but could this indicate use of broad (possibly unconstitutional) anti-terrorism legislation for prosecuting drug users? With Britain downgrading marijuana, and much of the Western world softening on drug use, it seems that the United States won't give up. In fact, they even have Wal-Mart in on the action.
posted by geoff. on Jan 27, 2004 - 58 comments

Phylogeny recapitulates potheads. Apparently getting stoned affects the behavior of the smoker's sperm. The little guys start out really excited but then burn out before achieving their goals. Why does this sound familiar? Would it be a good ad campaign? Ah, I can't be bothered to figure it out, pass the bong.
posted by alms on Oct 13, 2003 - 24 comments

Pot doesn't cause permanent brain damage? According to this University of California at San Diego study, no it doesn't even though other illegal drugs, even alcohol, can cause brain damage.

"...marijuana has only a marginally harmful long-term effect on learning and memory."
posted by Ron on Jun 27, 2003 - 33 comments

Threat of ban to Dutch cannabis cafés...
It'd be like an airplane without wings! Surely the whole point of buying some weed at these places is to smoke it on the premises?
posted by tomcosgrave on May 29, 2003 - 7 comments

"Hemp for Victory!" A USDA educational film from 1942 extolling the patriotic virtues of growing the crop that, a half-century later, over 600,000 people would be arrested for possessing. (Gotta love the official "Producer of Marihuana" license.) How times have changed.
posted by digaman on May 4, 2003 - 7 comments

U.S. warns Canada against easing pot laws "David Murray, right-hand man to U.S. "drug czar" John Walters, says he doesn't want to tread on another country's sovereignty, but warned there would be consequences if Canada proceeds with a plan to decriminalize the possession of marijuana." WTF?
posted by ZenMasterThis on May 2, 2003 - 95 comments

Dude, You're Under Arrest Ben "Dell Dude" Curtis, was arrested in New York last night on charges of criminal possession of marijuana. Thanks to The Smoking Gun we now have something to make us laugh on a Monday.
posted by mkelley on Feb 10, 2003 - 34 comments

Well known for speaking the truth about governments and getting pressured for it [7th paragraph from the top], Alain Labrousse recently published his Dictionnaire géopolitique des drogues [Geopolitical Dictionary of Drugs]. I don't think it's been translated in English yet, but all his previous works have, so I'm sure an English version is on the way. His latest book is being well received by everyone who's interested in "open source" information about drugs, particularly how the various national economies profit from them. A recent review [in French], cites one example of twisted international relations concerning drugs [my translation]: Europe speaks no evil about activities in Morocco, the most important source of cannabis in the world, or in Turkey, where scores of laboratories transform afghan opium into heroin, simply because these two countries provide a frontline of resistance to radical Islam. In North America, in Mexico, the United States tolerated for 70 years the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional - PRI), even though its leaders supported, and even chose mexican drug cartels. Geostrategic interests outweigh the most basic needs of the war against drugs.
posted by titboy on Feb 5, 2003 - 0 comments

Drug War Roundup V. "It's the most horrible mistake I've ever made," says a juror who helped convict Ed "Guru of Ganja" Rosenthal of marijuana production. The judge in Ed's case didn't consider him a flight risk, but may have after reading "The Drug War Refugees" (reg. req.), about Americans fleeing to Canada. The entire drug trade is approximately "the size of the Spanish economy and about 8 percent of world trade." And, of course, is responsible for hippo migration to Columbia.
posted by raaka on Feb 4, 2003 - 22 comments

Pot in Canada may soon be a click away with the launch of a home-delivery service for medical marijuana over the Internet (more info on Canada's medicinal pot laws here ).
posted by Badmichelle on Dec 20, 2002 - 16 comments

Can the current prohibition really be blamed on one guy? First he tells Congress that "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind" and then World War 2 comes and farmers are encouraged to grow it. After the War, he turns around and tells Congress that it could be used by the Russians to make our men lazy and pacifistic. If he had kept his original argument, our men would be insane killers against the Russian army. What would the country be like if there never was a HARRY J. ANSLINGER ?
posted by Degaz on Oct 14, 2002 - 27 comments

Nevada prosecutor accuses pro-marijuana group of using drug cartels for funding. A prosecutor has suggested a drug cartel backs efforts to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana in Nevada. But an advocate for the proposal says the statement is "an outright lie, slanderous and libelous." Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement (backed by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), adds that Gary Booker, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, "ought to have his mouth washed out with soap."
posted by botono9 on Oct 8, 2002 - 21 comments

Drug War Roundup IV. An athlete who refused a drug test was stripped of her awards. She plays bridge. American Indians who honed their skills tracking drug smugglers recently trained Baltic border guards in the hopes of preventing nuclear weapon proliferation. Another chapter was written in the ongoing "is ecstasy all that dangerous?" debate. Salvatore Gravano is on his way back to prison for running an ecstasy ring. Nevada is edging closer to legalizing up to three ounces of marijuana, to the disdain of Bush's Drug Policy director and Nevada's biggest police group. A Canadian right wing party and cops came out against their government's recent pro-legalization report. I see a pattern, but maybe it's just the pudding.
posted by raaka on Sep 7, 2002 - 30 comments

Medical marijuana takes a hit.
Ajulemic acid (also known as CT-3) is a new synthetic THC analog that helps relieve arthritis pain without the side effects of other non-steroidal analgesics, such as aspirin and ibuprofen -- and without the high of its chemical cousin. More inside...
posted by me3dia on Aug 22, 2002 - 36 comments

Nevada looking to legalize marijuana. And not just for medicinal use, but for recreational use as well. So far, it looks like there's a good chance it might happen.
posted by triggerfinger on Aug 14, 2002 - 34 comments

Nevada may be the first state to decriminalize marijuana. In the meantime Drug Czar John Walters believes that if drugs were decriminalized users shouldn't have the rights everyone else has.
posted by skallas on Jul 31, 2002 - 50 comments

Smoke pot, stay out of jail. As your lawyer, I advise you to read this cartoon by Ellen Forney. See also: Bustcard.
posted by xowie on Jul 24, 2002 - 23 comments

Christians for Cannabis. It's a religious high...
posted by Rastafari on May 6, 2002 - 21 comments

Can Renee get political asylum in Canada over drug charges? Over half of those in US federal prisons are in on drug charges, and one in five of those people are there on cannabis-related charges. In a word, this is wrong. It is time for Canada to once again act as the conscience of our neighbors to the south, as we did during the final days of slavery, providing a sanctuary at the end of the Underground Railroad; as we did in the final days of the Vietnam War, providing a haven for its conscientious objectors. Once again it is time to tell America, both firmly and with compassion, "what you are doing is wrong." To do so and to act thus, is a Canadian tradition and an obligation to the world at large.
posted by skallas on May 2, 2002 - 21 comments

"and i enjoyed it" Finally an honest politician. Is this a new trend in politics?
posted by specialk420 on Apr 10, 2002 - 15 comments

If sniffer dogs can detect marijuana on clothing months after exposure, then why was a 15-year-old Ottawa high-school student suspended from school for two days when a sniffer dog apparently smelled pot on his winter coat? No other evidence was found. It seems to me that second-hand exposure ought to have been considered as a possibility here (cf. the Ross Rebagliati defence). The student has hired a high-profile lawyer. (Good for him.) Arbitrary school discipline at its best.
posted by mcwetboy on Mar 28, 2002 - 10 comments

Cannabis is given health all clear in UK
posted by semmi on Mar 23, 2002 - 27 comments

Smoke Different An old Mac gets overhauled as an iBong, and sparks some interesting hypothesis about where does Apple's creativity spirit really comes from.
posted by betobeto on Mar 17, 2002 - 15 comments

"The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS)" is the Trade Association for "America's favorite brands of distilled spirits." They try to promote pro-liquor causes such as reducing tariffs on alcohol and increasing the number of states selling it Sunday. Here is where it gets interesting: their site is at: www.discus.health.org/ which is (obviously) a subdomain of health.org. If you go to health.org there is no mention of DISCUS involvement. The health.org 'about' page implies that the site is jointly run by several Federal Agencies. Health.org itself seems devoted to stopping drugs in their seedy illegal tracks. Take a look at: "Marijuana: Weeding out the hype" or this "Prevention Alert" which suggests "Skewed articles can be used in the classroom to provide 'teachable moments' in seeking the facts about... ecstasy." Is it troubling that "the trade association for... America's favorite brands of distilled spirits" is operating behind the scenes of the 'government sponsored' anti-drug site with no disclosure? Would it be too jaded to conclude that when health.org commands teens: "If you're smoking marijuana--stop!" that the puppet master is more worried about the fierce competition presented by non-alcoholic drugs than they are genuinely concerned about the health.org of young people?
posted by limitedpie on Mar 8, 2002 - 22 comments

Wow, talk about your bad luck. Or perhaps proof that heavy pot use(or hot-tubbing) can addle your thinking processes.
posted by jonmc on Feb 6, 2002 - 11 comments

EU Countries Soften Cannabis Policy. This past week, experts and officials from around the EU met in the central Dutch city of Utrecht to exchange views at the European City Conference on Cannabis policy. (From Radio Nederlands)
posted by tpoh.org on Dec 8, 2001 - 10 comments

weekend drug use ok? Interesting article... I hesistate to sign my neam this time though - i wouldn't want to put anyones nose out of joint.
posted by Spoon on Nov 20, 2001 - 14 comments