I'm going to be changing the format to an easier more concise news thread per day, with each news article being a separate posting w/in that days' news thread. Hope everyone's having a good one out there. Stay Safe, Stay stoned....

URL: hMPp://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/living/irpt-recreational-marijuana/




Lighting up a freshly packed pipe is just the kind of afternoon delight iReporter robcat20 likes after dealing with a stressful day at work as an insurance agent. Usually he'll put on a movie from Netflix while enjoying a good smoke from Stella, his pipe.

There's just one a problem: Smoking marijuana is illegal in his state of Ohio.

Robcat20, who asked not to be identified by name because he fears being "labeled as a bad person" in his small town, says it's time that changed.

"I like weed, and I'm a good person," he wrote on CNN iReport. "I am a successful businessman, a loving father, devoted husband, registered Republican, active in my community with charities, church and I give piano lessons in the evenings to children with disabilities."

The 33-year-old is not the only one who wants pot prohibition laws amended. A recent CNN/ORC International survey indicated a growing appetite for cannabis, with more than 55% of people across the United States saying marijuana should be legalized.

More than half the respondents said they have tried it themselves.

Ever since Colorado started selling pot legally at the start of this year, the lines to marijuana dispensaries haven't slowed down. Pot sales are blooming in Colorado now. Soon the state of Washington will be following suit, selling retail marijuana for recreational use. And on Wednesday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a preliminary vote to legalize up to one ounce of marijuana for recreational use by anyone 21 or older.

CNN iReport asked readers if they would consider buying retail pot if it were available in their area. Setting aside arguments around the medical efficacy of marijuana, these iReporters shared their opinions on the recreational benefits of the herb -- some citing increased relaxation, creativity and a viable alternative to alcohol. No current marijuana users wanted their names used; recreational weed is still illegal in most of the country at the state and federal levels.

From college students to seasoned computer engineers, meet some of the people who want their cannabis hobby legalized:

People are 'missing out'

Twenty-year-old iReporter carcar1 started smoking pot to help her fall asleep at night. But marijuana is more than just a sleep remedy for her nowadays. The university student from Allentown, Pennsylvania, works as a security dispatcher at her school and uses marijuana recreationally.

To say she enjoys smoking marijuana is an understatement. "I LOVE POT!" she enthusiastically wrote in an e-mail to CNN. "I like to smoke with a couple people after all my work is done and the day is over to unwind and relax. I recommend everyone does that."

Since she started smoking regularly in college, she said she feels well rested. "It definitely does not affect my grades," she said. "This semester I got straight As and I am also on the Dean's List." Even her parents and grandmother know she smokes pot, and they don't mind it. But she says they do worry about her getting caught.

She can't understand why other states are not going toward legalization. "I am very pro pot," she said. "Many people have no idea what they are missing out on."

Marijuana 'makes me a better person'

Computer engineer farmer808 has been smoking since middle school, when he says he saw his parents doing it. Now he's in his forties and still turns to marijuana after work to relax. Toking up is a family activity -- his wife and college-age children partake in it, too.

"My day gets better and my emotional health improves the moment I spark up. For me, it is a beautiful thing that allows me to be more of a positive person," he said. "I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, marijuana is a boon to my life and helps me treat my fellow humans with the patience and kindness they deserve."

He'd like to see his state of Hawaii take the next steps toward legalizing retail sales of marijuana. He asked not to be identified because "there are many people who still despise marijuana users" and he worried about it affecting his career at a multinational company.

"I am a high performing, innovative, overachiever who uses marijuana to relax after a hard day's work," he said. "I have two college degrees and over a dozen patents in computer science. Like any habit, abuse leads to problems, but properly used in moderation I feel that marijuana is a boon to society."

Just want to enjoy the 'blessed herb'

CELESTIAL96 says he grew up in the "Flower Child Revolution." The magazine writer, author and journalist first started smoking marijuana recreationally in the 1970s while living in Los Angeles.

"It made a person feel mellow and creative, it gave you a high without a hangover, and it even had a spiritual touch to it," he wrote in his iReport.

But it wasn't until he relocated to the Caribbean to become an editor at a weekly paper that he started smoking marijuana regularly, about once a month. "I cut down on my drinking and my quality of life as well as my creativity as a writer took off," he said. "It just gives a very warm, mellow creative high that can't be explained. It has to be experienced.

"My relationship to the 'blessed herb,' as the islanders call it, is one of respect and awe," he said.

He says ganja, another Caribbean colloquialism for marijuana, awakens his mind and spirit when it is smoked properly. "I have never had a bad experience with cannabis," he said.

Now in his seventies and back in the states, he wants to be able to enjoy smoking recreationally again. "I think marijuana should be decriminalized and made legal in every state," he said. "I divide my time between Pennsylvania and Missouri, and wish both states would change the law on recreational use of marijuana."

Pot lets me 'be a productive citizen'

If recreational marijuana were legal, security guard and father Tokahontas (yes, we chuckled at the username too) says he would never drink alcohol again.

It's a bold statement, but he's been a firm Mary Jane fan for the past 30 years, smoking occasionally whenever he can get his hands on marijuana. He says it allows him "to get up the next day, hangover free, and be a productive citizen."

It sounds like his wife prefers him that way, too.

"She says that when my friends and I get together and drink alcohol ... we act childish and and sometimes even furniture gets broken. Plus she usually has to fight with one of us not to get behind the wheel," he wrote in his iReport. "But when we gather to smoke a little bit, she says we are all easygoing and hassle free. Our biggest concern on pot night is whether or not we gave the Domino's guy the right address."

If pot were legalized in North Carolina, the "sweet leaf" would be "my wine at the end of the day," he said. "If pot is the gateway drug, the only drug it has led me to is more pot."

Benefits 'far outweigh' the downsides

David Harper, 65, says if pot sales were legalized where he lives he would absolutely buy -- although he's skeptical it will ever happen in his home state of Texas. The veteran and retired electrical engineer took his first hit when he was 24.
"Back in the early '70s you took what you could get," he said. Whether the marijuana was called "Mexican" or "Jamaican" or "Maui Wowi" he tried it. His college was lax about marijuana use, so he and his roommates smoked whenever they wanted in school.

"For me, the best part was the relaxation of both mind and body," he said. The former engineering major used to use it as a study aid because his mind would wander while reading his textbooks at night. "After taking a couple of tokes -- enough to get a nice buzz -- I found that it was much easier to concentrate."

He smoked pot throughout college, but stopped after graduating out of fear he'd get arrested. "This was unfortunate as, looking back, I would definitely say that some of my best [electrical] work was done during the early years of my career when
I was using pot," he said.

Although he no longer uses marijuana, he is thrilled to see that states like Colorado and Washington are taking progressive steps toward legalizing the retail sale of marijuana.

"The benefits far outweigh any potential downsides," he said.

url: hMPp://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/visit-hospital-changes-lawmakers-mind-about-medica/ncrfn/




ATLANTA — Forty-eight hours ago Allen Peake wasn’t sold on medical marijuana, but a visit to a hospital may have convinced the Georgia lawmaker to help draft a bill to make it legal.

Republican state Rep. Allen Peake, of Macon, visited 4-year-old Haleigh Cox in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston on Wednesday.

“When you see that little girl, the precious little angel," Peake said. "It's touched me deep, deep in my soul, so I'm going to do everything I can to see what we can do for these families."

Haleigh suffers from a severe seizure disorder. Her parents said because they can’t get the medicine they need in Georgia, they are relocating to Colorado, where children treated with cannabis oil are seeing amazing results.

Now Peake has joined the Cox family to fight for Haleigh’s life and for thousands of Georgians who could benefit from medical marijuana.

"This has been a huge shift for me," Peake said. "I want to be very clear. We don't want to go down the slippery slope of legalizing marijuana in our state."

Blaine Cloud said his 8-year-old daughter also suffers from severe seizure disorder. Cloud spent Thursday in the state Capitol explaining that medical marijuana is a necessary treatment and that children won’t be smoking it or getting high.

"It can be grown to a certain strain which is high CBD, which is the medicine, and low THC, which is what gets you high," Cloud said.

"It comes in an oil format, just like the Tylenol you take today. It comes out of a dropper," Blaine said.

Peake joins House Speaker David Ralston, who said he’s open to legalizing medical marijuana as this year’s legislative session opened. Ralston said it’s time to take the politics out of it.

"Why can't we as a state be compassionate enough to look at what makes sense?" Peake asked. "If it was my child I'd be crawling over broken glass to get legislation passed, as would any legislator who's here.”

url: hMPp://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/us/politics/reid-indicates-his-support-for-medical-marijuana.html




WASHINGTON — The Senate’s majority leader, Harry Reid, said Thursday that lawmakers should ease their opposition to medical marijuana, telling The Las Vegas Sun, “I think we need to take a real close look at this.”

With his comments, Mr. Reid becomes one the highest-ranking American officials to come out in favor of easing federal marijuana laws, and his remarks are likely to heighten the debate over whether and how to do so. But when he was asked about the decisions in Colorado and Washington State to legalize the use of the drug for recreational use, he said, “I don’t know about that.”

It is only the latest left turn for Mr. Reid, who, since being elected to the Senate from Nevada in 1986, has become more liberal on a number of social issues, including immigration, gay rights and gun laws, even as his home state has become more Democratic.

Mr. Reid said he began changing his mind about medical marijuana laws after witnessing the health struggles of people who would have been helped by the drug. One of those cases, he said, involved the son of an unnamed Las Vegas official.

“He was so skinny and doing so poorly, and someone told him and his mom, you know, you should smoke some marijuana,” he told The Sun in an interview published on its website on Thursday afternoon. “You get the munchies, you get extremely hungry.”

After the son gained weight, Mr. Reid said, “I thought, you know there might be some medical reasons to taking another look at this.”

I'm going to be changing the format to an easier more concise news thread per day, with each news article being a separate posting w/in that days' news thread. Hope everyone's having a good one out there. Stay Safe, Stay stoned....


url: hMPp://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140117/pa-senate-plans-hearing-on-medical-marijuana-bill


Pa. Senate plans hearing on medical marijuana bill



HARRISBURG (AP) — A bill to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Pennsylvania will be the subject of a legislative hearing this month, the chairman of a state Senate committee announced Thursday.

Law and Justice Committee Chairman Chuck McIlhinney scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 28 in the state Capitol on the proposal that was introduced this week. Seven members of the 50-person Senate have signed on as sponsors.

A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett said he remains opposed, even if the bill is scaled back to allow only non-intoxicating forms of marijuana.

In its current form, the 34-page bill would permit people with medical needs and a doctor’s approval to obtain an identification card that would allow them to acquire marijuana legally. It would create the Medical Cannabis Board and an enforcement arm within the state police.

“There are sick children who have medicine that will make them better, but under current Pennsylvania law they are not allowed to take it,” said a leading sponsor, Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery. “They are allowed to take much more toxic, less effective medicine.”

Leach said he was confident the bill will pass if it gets Corbett’s support, but the governor’s spokesman said Thursday his position has not changed.

“The FDA is the arbiter of the safety and efficacy of all drugs, all substances that are ingested,” Corbett press secretary Jay Pagni said. “If the FDA were to run a clinical trial, the governor would be interested in the findings.”

Twenty states and Washington, D.C., currently have some form of public medical marijuana program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two states have legalized it for nonmedical purposes as well.

This week New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed allowing medical marijuana for patients at 20 hospitals, and New Hampshire’s House gave preliminary approval to legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

url: hMPp://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/454485/...+%3A%3A+UK+Feed)


Woman sues police after they find cannabis plants in her house during raid

A woman handed a suspended jail term for growing cannabis is suing cops for wrecking her house during a raid.

Spinster Julia Rawson, who has a brain tumour, says that she was growing the cannabis plants for pain relief.

The plants were found when officers looking for guns raided her semi-detached house in Intake, Sheffield, in September 2012.

No guns were found, but she claims that the damage to her house has they left her with a £31,000 repair bill.

Ms Rawson was handed a nine month jail term suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to growing the 21 seedlings which could produce cannabis with a street value of £21,000

But she says when police raided her semi-detached house in Intake, Sheffield, they wrecked the house leaving a £31,000 repair bill.

Now the 59-year-old spinster is locked in a bitter legal dispute with South Yorkshire Police, after she made a county court claim for compensation.

Police - who deny any wrongdoing - acted on a tip-off to Crimestoppers that Ms Rawson, who lives alone, was an gun-runner trying to sell a cache of four handguns and ammunition.

When officers raided her home in September 2012 they found no handguns - but instead discovered a factory of cannabis plants germinating in a bedroom.

If fully grown, the plants could have yielded drugs with a street value of £21,000.

But Ms Rawson claims the presence of cannabis plants did not justify the actions of police officers, who she says ripped out her bath and toilet, causing her home to flood and ceilings to collapse.

She says 16 officers ransacked her home, destroying furniture and smashing ornaments, in their fruitless search for firearms.

She said: "They completely wrecked my house. They were throwing things out of upstairs windows, smashing ornaments to make sure nothing was hidden inside, and they removed the bath and toilet without turning off the water, so the place flooded and the ceilings came down.

"I lost everything - they put their feet through my sofas, they had no respect for anything.I had a brain tumour at the time and still do, and this has made me very ill.

"If they had checked out their so-called intelligence first, they would have realised I have never been in trouble with the police before - and I am certainly not a firearms dealer."

In papers supplied to county court, she describes the officers involved in the raid as 'pack animals'.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: "Civil proceedings brought by Ms Rawson are ongoing and the force denies liability.

"South Yorkshire Police and the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner have written to Ms Rawson on several occasions following her complaint about the search.

"Ms Rawson's complaint is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Force's Professional Standards Department."

url: hMPp://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20140116medical-marijuana-bought-tons-cannabis-2013.html



Report: Medical-pot patients, caregivers bought 3 tons of cannabis in 2013



Medical marijuana patients and caregivers bought about 3 tons of cannabis last year, spending about $33 million to purchase the drug, according to a new state report released Thursday.

Patients were more likely to buy marijuana on Fridays and Saturdays, according to the “Arizona Medical Marijuana Act End of Year Report.” The report is compiled by the state Department of Health Services, which oversees the medical marijuana program.

The report, for the first time, quantifies how much marijuana patients are legally purchasing, although it remains unclear how much pot is being grown by caregivers, who, in some instances, can legally cultivate the plant.

On average, patients made 10 transactions during the entire year, ranging from a minimum of one transaction to a maximum of 314 transactions. Five dispensaries accounted for 40 percent of the total marijuana sold, although state confidentiality laws prohibited the state from identifying the dispensaries.

Patients between 18 and 30 years old had the highest number of transactions, followed by patients ages 31 to 40, then patients ages between 51 and 60.

The report reiterated previous data, which shows most patients claim “severe and chronic pain” as a medical condition that qualified them to buy, possess and use marijuana. Seventy percent of patients were men; 30 percent were women. On average, male patients were younger than female patients.

The report provides information on qualifying patients, caregivers and dispensary agents from Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013. During that time, there were 44,675 active cardholders.

Arizona’s medical-marijuana program, narrowly approved by voters in 2010, allows people with certain debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana. They must obtain a recommendation from a physician and register with the state, which issues identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers.

Patients are limited to purchasing 2 and 1/2 ounces every two weeks.

url: hMPp://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/jan/17/cannabis-memory-loss-cbd


Cannabis and memory loss: dude, where's my CBD?


It isn't often that science and pop culture overlap, but the two fields are in agreement when it comes to the familiar trope of the forgetful stoner.

A recent study published in Schizophrenia Bulletin is the latest to reveal the detrimental effects that cannabis can have on memory. The authors report that people dependent on the drug – both healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia – show impairments in memory compared with healthy volunteers and non-smoking schizophrenia patients.

Even more striking, the cannabis-using groups had significant decreases in the volume of two brain areas that are important for processing rewards, learning and working memory – the thalamus and striatum – and these changes were linked to their memory problems. There was no evidence to connect cannabis use and schizophrenia – the authors simply compare the two groups. However, previous studies have found a higher prevalence of psychosis among regular cannabis smokers.

Reports of memory loss with long-term cannabis use are nothing new, and an influential paper published last year provided evidence that smoking marijuana has a deleterious effect on intelligence. In the investigation, the cognitive abilities of participants were tested several times over the course of 25 years. The researchers found that heavy cannabis users had significant decreases in intelligence and memory ability as they aged, not only compared with non-smokers, but also compared with their younger selves. Additionally, the earlier they started smoking pot, the bigger the cognitive decline.

Obviously these findings are worrying, especially given the recent spate of cannabis legalisations in states across the US and in countries such as Uruguay. However, before we all start worrying about the good people of Colorado and Washington, it might be helpful to look closer at what's actually in the cannabis we're smoking nowadays, and what ingredients are contributing to these cognitive deficits.

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis and is what causes the subjective "high". This includes changes in perceptual sensations, a feeling of contentedness and increased appetite. However, THC is also linked to many of the potential negative consequences of cannabis use, such as dependence, psychotic symptoms, and impaired memory and cognition.

Another important component, CBD (cannabidiol, which works by increasing natural cannabinoid levels in the brain) is associated with the calming, anti-anxiety effects of the drug. In addition, CBD is thought to protect against many of the potential negative effects of marijuana, including dependence, psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairments.

The THC concentration in cannabis has increased by as much as 12% over the past 30 years, making the drug much stronger than it used to be. At the same time, there has been a significant depletion of CBD, sometimes to levels as low as 0.1%. "Skunk", as this new strain of high-THC/low-CBD marijuana is called, is flooding the illegal marijuana market, and it is this variety that is thought to be behind the rise in cannabis dependence diagnoses, links to schizophrenia, and cognitive deficits seen over the past decade.

The changing chemical make-up of cannabis appears to be partly accidental and partly deliberate. New strains are often bred to have higher levels of THC in them, increasing the drug's potency. However, modern growing techniques have also affected these chemical levels. For example, illegal growers have turned to indoor marijuana farms to avoid detection. Growing cannabis locally in such farms also circumvents the need to import the drug, and guarantees a more reliable harvest. However, the 24-hour lighting used in these farms inadvertently reduces CBD levels in the plant. Thus, these new strains are not only bred for higher potency, with elevated THC content, they are also lacking the protection provided by CBD against the drug's negative effects.

It should be noted that the majority of research into cognitive deficits and cannabis use has focused on heavy or dependent users, and there's little evidence that occasional smokers show any of the problems mentioned above. But with the recent changes in drug policy, the chances are that more people will be smoking cannabis than ever before, and the more potent and more popular high-THC/low-CBD marijuana that is available today will increase their risk of dependence.

The recent legalisation of recreational and medicinal marijuana in parts of the US has the potential to reduce significantly the harms caused through incarceration or criminal records for minor drug-related offences. However, it also provides an opportunity to reduce the cognitive and psychiatric harms linked to cannabis use. With this shift in drug policy, it is now possible for states to monitor the commercial production of cannabis, regulating the levels of THC and CBD present in the drug. To facilitate this, they could force growers to use strains with higher levels of CBD, and revert to more old-fashioned farming methods that don't use round-the-clock lighting.

These changes could help protect individuals from the damaging effects of the drug, prevent the development of dependence in new users, and maybe even help our favorite Hollywood stoners remember where they left their car.

Colorado residents may wind up with " pot bellies" if they keep filling up on marijuana edibles at this pace.

Ever since recreational marijuana sales began in the state on Jan. 1, many shop owners said they have been unable to keep pot-infused candies, cookies and sodas in stock.

Read More: A Stoner's Guide to Legalized Marijuana Sales in Colorado

"Edibles have been really huge with the recreational market," Linda Andrews, owner of LoDo Wellness Center in Denver, told ABCNews.com. "They're great if you're not a [marijuana] connoisseur and you want something more palatable," she said. "And they are certainly more discreet."

Andrews estimates edible sales are up 300 percent at her store, which previously only served medical marijuana patients.

Among the most popular items are marijuana-infused chocolate bars, which she said are sold in a pack of four for $15 and chewy, chocolaty Dixie Rolls, which sell for $17 a pack.

In order to keep the products on the shelves, Andrews said she has had to impose a two edible purchase limit per customer until manufacturers can catch up with demand.

"We got a new supply in last week and sold out in an hour," she said.

Joe Hodas, chief marketing officer for Dixie Elixirs and Edibles, a top marijuana edibles manufacturer, said the company is building a new 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and warehouse to keep up with Coloradoans' insatiable appetites.

"Demand's been huge," Hodas told ABC News' Denver affiliate KMGH-TV. "And our employees have been just killing it working 'round the clock."




hXXp://gma.yahoo.com/colorado-shop-owners-39-t-keep-marijuana-edibles-120632624--abc-news-topstories.html



30,000 ft2

I think they're going to have to open up the licensing more in CO and Wa before they can get a good staggered constant bumper influx of product.

I am not a doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn, but I have to disagree with this statement,

Zitat

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Reports of memory loss with long-term cannabis use are nothing new, and an influential paper published last year provided evidence that smoking marijuana has a deleterious effect on intelligence. In the investigation, the cognitive abilities of participants were tested several times over the course of 25 years. The researchers found that heavy cannabis users had significant decreases in intelligence and memory ability as they aged, not only compared with non-smokers, but also compared with their younger selves. Additionally, the earlier they started smoking pot, the bigger the cognitive decline

---

I am what you may call a heavy user. This is what I experienced recently.
I have been retired for 5 years from active employment.(I still do the rentals).
When I first returned to active employment, my brain was like mush. I would have to go through the thought process to achieve anything. But after awhile that process ceased and it has returned to normal. No thinking is necessary to complete the task. Did I experience memory lost or did my brain just need to get a little workout? I think it just needed the workout. Keep working out the brain and I do not experience what they say.IMO/IME

Like any muscle it just needs to be exercised to get tone again. Gotta concur there Duck.