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February 16, 2015 Bucky Turco

When it comes to cannabis, England is a funny place. It’s quite possibly the only location on the planet that has ever reported a death from cannabis poisoning, a statistical impossibility. It’s also responsible for conducting questionable studies on weed, the latest of which (PDF doc) is inviting a lot of attention and scrutiny. “Scientists […]

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February 12, 2015 Bucky Turco

The results are in: taxes from recreational weed sales in Colorado totaled $44 million. While that number is far lower than estimates it is still tens of millions of dollars more than the previous year. Add taxes revenue from medical pot and other fees and the figure rises to $76 million for 2014 according to […]

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January 23, 2015 Bucky Turco

“Legalize it, don’t criticize it,” officially bellowed reggae great Peter Tosh in 1975 when he recorded what would later become one of the most popular songs of all time. Four decades later, lawmakers in Jamaica are finally getting the message. Although elected officials are not fully legalizing cannabis like in Colorado and Washington, a bill […]

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October 24, 2014 Bucky Turco

According to a new study (PDF) by a “research and advisory firm serving the burgeoning marijuana industry,” revenue from legal weed sales has the potential to hit $35 billion in six years. But there is a caveat: Americans would have to finally grow up and adopt a more mature policy concerning pot nationwide. For this […]

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September 16, 2014 Bucky Turco

New York State Senator Liz Krueger will be proposing a bill to legalize weed, again. The ardent Democratic attempted to introduce legislation earlier this year, but apparently it was dead in the water due to the political climate at the time (an untoppable Republican-controlled senate and a hesitant governor). Then something miraculous happened and New […]

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June 3, 2014 Andy Cush

NYPD Inspector General Philip Eure started work last week, and to welcome him to the job, Communities United for Police Reform compiled a list of police problems that need fixing. The grievances are sadly predictable: lack of transparency, surveillance of Muslims, excessive force, use of condoms as evidence in sex work cases. The organzation also points […]

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May 21, 2014 Andy Cush

And according to FBI director James Comey, the bureau’s no-tolerance policy for hiring pot smokers means it is missing out on the upper echelon of cybersecurity specialists. All the best hackers, it would seem, smoke weed. At the White Collar Crime Institute, a conference Monday at the New York City Bar Association, Comey admitted he’s […]

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May 12, 2014 Andy Cush

An Associated Press update from Washington, where pot is supposedly legal: Larry Harvey, a 70-year-old medical marijuana patient with no criminal history, three of his relatives and a family friend each face mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in prison after they were caught growing about 70 pot plants on their rural, mountainous property. […]

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April 25, 2014 Andy Cush

April 15, 2014 may go down in history as the day that ended the debate on pot legalization. On that date, the Dayton City Paper published an installment of its “Debate Forum” column that focused on the issue, with the intent that one staff writer would argue in support of legalization and another would argue against it. […]

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April 16, 2014 Andy Cush

Weed is fully, recreationally legal in two states now, and the U.S. government’s highest law enforcement official doesn’t totally hate it. “I think, so far, I’m cautiously optimistic,” Attorney General Eric Holder told HuffPo recently of legalization in Washington and Colorado. “But as I indicated to both governors, we will be monitoring the progress of those […]

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