US CT: PUB LTE: Medical Marijuana Use Helps, Like It Or Not

New Haven Register, 25 Feb 2014 - In response to Cindy O'Neill's belief that marijuana will only benefit addicts: Cindy you've obviously never watched a loved one die a slow, excruciating death; or known someone who did receive relief from your so-called stronger pills, but was still left with nausea and drastic weight loss from chemo.

US CA: IRS Takes on Marijuana Dispensaries With Tax Code Aimed

Washington Post, 24 Feb 2014 - Sacramento - The Canna Care dispensary, an evangelical medical marijuana provider renowned for doling out buds with Bibles, is waging a public fight with the Internal Revenue Service over an $873,167 tax penalty sought under a tax code aimed at drug traffickers. On Tuesday, the U.S.

US CT: PUB LTE: Pot Prohibition A Law That Should End

New Haven Register, 24 Feb 2014 - Prohibitionist government and politicians orchestrated cannabis (marijuana) prohibition and citizens don't care how it ends (Editorial: States Should Determine Own Pot Laws, Feb. 5, 2014), as long as it is immediately. It's one of America's worst policy failures in history.

US CT: Drug Deaths Hit 10-Year High

The News-Times, 22 Feb 2014 - Drug-related deaths in Connecticut hit their highest point in nearly 10 years last year, according to statistics from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. It's a development that is not surprising to law enforcement and treatment providers throughout the state.

US CT: Column: Discuss Legalization On Its Merits

The Middletown Press, 21 Feb 2014 - A new conventional wisdom is on the rise: Drug prohibition, or "the war on drugs," is a costly flop. It not only failed to cut drug use and associated social ills significantly but has also imposed additional social costs - or "catastrophic harm," as my colleague Radley Balko put it - far exceeding the benefits.

US IL: Editorial: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Closer To Pharmacies

Chicago Sun-Times, 21 Feb 2014 - When the Illinois Legislature is of two minds on a hot topic, the result is often a law that has not been thought through. Chicago Ald.

US AZ: Editorial: Marijuana Laws Are Hazy At Best

Daily Courier, 21 Feb 2014 - It is ironic in two ways that marijuana continues to make headlines. Arizona has been working for some time now to fully implement the voter-approved medical marijuana law. First, we must remember this is not Colorado - where recreational use of the drug has been approved, in addition to medical marijuana laws already on the books there.

US CA: More County-Pot Shop Battles Expected

The Bakersfield Californian, 21 Feb 2014 - A judge's decision to strike down Kern County's medical marijuana dispensary law may generate more litigation than it settled. Now that voter-approved Measure G has been invalidated, county officials are likely to start trying to shut down the handful of collectives and cooperatives operating in unincorporated Kern.

US CT: LTE: Medical Marijuana Only Benefits Addicts

New Haven Register, 20 Feb 2014 - Am I the only person who sees that this marijuana factory is just a means to let addicts legally use drugs? What's next, heroin-on-demand? You can't tell me that the average non-addict person who has terrible pain from cancer or another illness would ask for marijuana for pain instead of taking a strong pain pill prescribed by their doctor.

US IL: Burke: Burke: State Rules on Sites for Pot 'Impossible'

Chicago Sun-Times, 20 Feb 2014 - The city is caught in a Catch-22 when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries, Ald. Ed Burke (14th) has told state officials in a letter obtained by the Chicago SunTimes. On the one hand, the state has said dispensaries can't be located in residential areas and they have to be 1,000 feet away from a school or day care center.