Earlier this year, Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize the medical use of marijuana, which is also legal in the U.S. territories of the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, every couple of years, another state or two are added to the list (there were five in 2016). It is inevitable that the medical use of marijuana will eventually be legal in all 50 states. The effectiveness of medical marijuana has been debated ever since the residents of...
cannabis
Is the GOP Finally Turning the Corner on Weed?
Both Bloomberg and the cannabis industry publication Marijuana Moment now report that Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace is preparing to introduce new legislation ending the federal prohibition on marijuana. According to Bloomberg: A Republican bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level in the U.S., expected to be unveiled soon, would have a lighter regulatory touch [and] lower taxes…“It would largely delegate regulatory powers to the existing state governments,” said Brady Cobb, a board member of Captor Capital, an Irvine, California-based operator of dispensaries, who saw the...
On-Duty Cop Solicited Child for Sex, Will Serve No Jail Time And Won’t Be Registered as Sex Offender
Benjamin Reinhart, a disgraced officer with Genesee County received some great news this week. Despite being caught up in a child sexual trafficking sting, he won’t have to go to jail and he won’t have to register publicly as a sex offender. Reinhart was “sentenced” this week as part of a plea deal, to just five years of probation. The Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, or GHOST, caught the officer in April attempting to lure a child for sex. He was on duty at the time. Despite facing multiple charges, Reinhart was given a sweet plea deal for pleading guilty in August to a single count...
They Never Learn: National Review Demands Marijuana Criminalization
Aron Ravin, a self-described “nudnik,” who writes for National Review thinks so and I suspect others do as well. This thinking, however, is that of an ever-shrinking minority and it is hard to imagine the pro-legalization trend being reversed. Nevertheless, let’s look at the arguments and why he claims libertarians are so wrong on this issue. Before we press on, it is important to remember that cannabis legalization is basically citizens of individual states standing up to federal authority and flipping it the bird. Ravin claims, “I do not, and do not plan to, partake in the devil’s...
7/9/21 Jared Wall on the Delta-8 THC Loophole Allowing Americans to Buy Cannabis Legally
New advertiser Jared Wall joins the show to discuss his website, thchempspot.com, which offers cannabis products containing Delta-8 THC, a form of psychoactive THC that's perfectly legal almost everywhere in the United States. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG....
News Roundup 6/29/21
US News Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says the federal ban on cannabis is contradictory and maybe unconstitutional. [Link] The city of San Francisco spent over $18 million to put 260 homeless people in tents during the pandemic. [Link] Iran Biden told the Israeli president he would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. [Link] Iran has several months of data from its nuclear program that the IAEA has not had access to. Iran made a deal with the IAEA to keep the data for three months and it would be turned over if the US returned to the Iran Nuclear Deal. Iran extended the...
News Roundup 6/15/21
US News California will spend $100 million to try to help the legal cannabis business compete with the illegal sellers. [Link] Biden backs a House bill that will repeal the 2002 AUMF. [Link] USAID is giving El Salvador $115 million. About half of the money will go to security assistance. [Link] Great Power Biden says Ukraine can join NATO after it cleans up corruption. [Link] A joint statement from the NATO meeting says member states agree that an attack in space can invoke the mutual defense clause of the treaty. [Link] The joint statement from the G7 summit identified China as a target....
News Roundup 5/17/21
US News A Louisville detective, Mark Handy, was sentenced to a year in prison for falsifying evidence and testimony that led to four men serving decades in jail. One of the men has been released after ten years and received $8.5 million from the city. [Link] A North Carolina jury awarded $31 million each to Henry McCollum and Leon Brown who spent 31 years in jail for a murder they did not commit. [Link] A 38-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for 1.5 oz of cannabis. [Link] Biden adds Neera Tanden to his administration as a senior advisor. [Link] Democrats introduce a $2 billion...
Should Libertarians Compromise with Taxing Marijuana?
Marijuana freedom is a good thing. The taxation of marijuana is a bad thing. Unfortunately, owing to the greed of spendthrift politicians, it looks as though we will have to take the good with the bad or not at all. Now, this does not mean that smoking marijuana is “good.” It just means that the freedom to smoke marijuana — and be responsible for any negative consequences that may come with it — is a good thing. On the federal level, a bill (H.R.3884) to decriminalize marijuana that would have removed “marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act”...
News Roundup 4/14/21
US News FBI special agent James Hendricks was labeled by his colleagues as a “skilled predator” and the DoJ IG found he sexually harassed at least eight women. After being exposed as a predator, he was allowed to retire with benefits. [Link] Marvin Scott was arrested in Texas with less than two ounces of cannabis. He had a schizophrenia diagnosis. Prison staff restrained, pepper-sprayed, and put a spit hood on Scott, killing him. His family has been protesting for justice for four weeks. [Link] The Minneapolis police officer - Kim Potter - who murdered Daunte Wright resigns. [Link] The US...
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