A 35 minute conversation on medical marijuana with Michael Backes.
posted by gman on May 3, 2011 - 19 comments

Missoula District Court: Jury pool in marijuana case stages ‘mutiny’. 'A funny thing happened on the way to a trial in Missoula County District Court last week. Jurors – well, potential jurors – staged a revolt. They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they weren’t about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana. Never mind that the defendant in question also faced a felony charge of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs. The tiny amount of marijuana police found while searching Touray Cornell’s home on April 23 became a huge issue for some members of the jury panel. No, they said, one after the other. No way would they convict somebody for having a 16th of an ounce.'
posted by VikingSword on Dec 22, 2010 - 48 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

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

An article in the upcoming issue of Playboy (via MAP) examines in more detail a lethal standoff between a pot-smoking festival organizer and the government. Another attempt to drop out and do as one pleases met with another unhappy outcome. Rainbow farms was previously discussed here.
posted by trondant on Sep 2, 2003 - 9 comments

Ontario land of beautiful parks, vibrant nightlife, and as of June 6th, smoking pot is completely legal. What's striking is the silent acceptance of this by the Canadian public, who overwhelmingly sees the current laws as archaic. Previous discussion.
posted by CrazyJub on Jun 8, 2003 - 34 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

Once-Secret "Nixon Tapes" Show Why the U.S. Outlawed Pot
Ok, I'll admit that I was amused by the fact that 420,000 people were arrested in that first year....
posted by ookamaka on Mar 21, 2002 - 8 comments

If citizens voted for it and juries made of citizens refuse to convict other citizens for it ... Where is the dilemma?
posted by magullo on Mar 19, 2002 - 5 comments

Man, I love Ontario. Monday afternoon, an amazingly significant court trial ruled that possession of marijuana being criminal is unconstitutional, and that new laws need to be written.
posted by cCranium on Aug 2, 2000 - 9 comments