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...
marijuana
That Time the U.S. Army Sprayed Millions of Americans With Zinc Cadmium Sulfide
In 1985, the classic horror-comedy film Return of the Living Dead was unleashed upon the world. In it, a worker at a medical supply warehouse accidentally releases a chemical weapon while hazing a teenage employee. The weapon, now affectionately known as “Tar-man,” was a zombie sealed away in a rusty iron barrel that had been forgotten in the basement of the warehouse. The Tar Man’s origins are explained in the film: Frank: Lemme ask a question. You ever seen that movie, “Night of the Living Dead?” Freddy: The one about the corpses eating people? Sure. That was one of the finest movies...
Lessons from Fentanyl
The use of drugs is sometimes characterized as a victimless crime, since the person who ingests them will bear the negative consequences should something go awry. Supporters of prohibition, who wish for the government to regulate and limit sales and distribution, are typically concerned with not only the moral effects on individuals themselves but also what might be called the “collateral damage”: the family and community members affected by the user who succumbs and loses “the plot” of his life, so to speak. This concern with “collateral damage,” however, applies to drug (including...
Free Crack Pipes? Time to Pardon Tommy Chong
Conservative publications have accused the Biden administration of planning to distribute $30 million worth of free crack pipes and other paraphernalia as part of its effort to achieve “racial equity” among “underserved communities.” The original notice for federal grants included provisions to pay for “safe smoking kits/supplies” but the Biden administration insists that no federal funds will be specifically used to purchase crack pipes. But taxpayers will get screwed anyway thanks to federal distribution of free condoms under the same program. While “harm reduction” is the stated goal...
1/19/2022
Covid SCOTUS rejects an emergency appeal challenging the mask mandate on airplanes. [Link] Wisconsin will deploy over 200 National Guard soldiers to nursing homes over the next two months. [Link] The US gives seven million Pfizer covid vaccine doses to Bangladesh through Covax. [Link] US News A grand jury recommended charges against three police officers that opened fire on two teens and killed an 8-year-old girl. Initially, the state charged the two teens with Fanta Bility's murder, even though prosecutors knew it was one of the cops that fired the shot that killed her. [Link] Police in...
News Roundup 11/29/2021
US News Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial will begin this week. [Link] Actor Jussie Smollett’s trial for faking a hate crime against himself will begin this week. [Link] South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem successfully wins a court challenge to overturn marijuana legalization approved by a voter referendum. [Link] After spending 43 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Kevin Strickland will not receive any compensation from the state of Missouri. [Link] Pentagon Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is suing the Pentagon because the agency is blocking parts of his upcoming book. The...
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...
News Roundup 11/16/2021
US News Rep. Nancy Mace introduces a bill to legalize marijuana. [Link] The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse case dismissed the weapons charge after the prosecutor agreed the rifle Rittenhouse carried was not short-barreled. Both sides concluded their closing arguments and jury deliberation is set to begin today. [Link] Merck and Pfizer agree to license their anti-covid pills allowing the pills to be manufactured by other companies. [Link] Biden signs the infrastructure bill into law. The law spends $1.2 trillion over eight years. [Link] Steve Bannon surrenders to police after being charged...
Texas Is Not Free: A Case of Civil Asset Forfeiture
On May 14, 2019, Ameal Woods drove from rural Mississippi to Houston with $42,300 in cash. He was ready to achieve a major goal he and his wife had worked, saved and borrowed for: Purchasing a second semi truck for the fledgling trucking business he operated with his brother, and perhaps a trailer, too. Along Interstate 10 in Texas, however, his entrepreneurial dream turned into a nightmare. It started when Woods was pulled over by a Harris County sheriff’s deputy who claimed Woods had been following too closely behind the truck in front of him. The deputy asked Woods if he was carrying...
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...