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I do not personally support or condone the use of marijuana. However, as a 27-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I believe it is time to reform our marijuana laws. The prohibition of the purchase and possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults has caused more harm than good. Like alcohol Prohibition did in the last century, marijuana prohibition has enriched criminal organizations and compromised public safety here and abroad.
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Your Sept. 3 article regarding a Lakeland native now working in Colorado’s marijuana industry fails to accurately represent what is really happening.

Colorado legalized marijuana as a so-called medicine in 2000. They have more than 99,000 “patients.” Pain is the most common condition cited with 94 percent of users. The more life-threatening conditions listed in your article, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and glaucoma only represent a combined 5 percent. Ream more »

Brian Vicente, a lawyer working for Colorado’s Campaign To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said it best when he said, “We all know there’s a market for marijuana, but right now the profits are all going to drug cartels or underground.” And we can’t allow that.
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For decades, Uruguay has been best known for the tranquil beaches of Punta del Este and picturesque Colonia, a 17th century town on the Río de la Plata. One of South America’s smallest nations, it may soon have another claim to relative fame as home to the world’s first government-run marijuana market.
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As far as I can tell, there’s little credible opposition to Initiative 502. (I’m not counting the “medical marijuana” people – who have a mercenary stake in its defeat – as credible.)

Last Wednesday, we were supposed to do a joint television interview of the initiative’s opponents and supporters. For something like this, we normally call the campaigns, and they eagerly supply the speakers. Ream more »

Proponents trying to legalize marijuana for the last few decades have become accustomed to road blocks standing in their way. More recently, when the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 (OCTA) submitted signatures for the early turn-in with the Secretary of State in Oregon and discovered that more than 40% of the signatures were deemed invalid, petitioners hit the streets in force to accomplish the goal of qualifying for the ballot before the July 6 deadline. Ream more »

Governor Peter Shumlin and GOP challenger Randy Brock have very different views about whether marijuana should be decriminalized. Shumlin says changing the law would allow police to focus on other, more important drug issues. Brock says Shumlin’s position sends a bad message to young people at a time when teen marijuana use in the state is the highest in the country. Ream more »

Law enforcement telling us Mexican cartels are invading Utah by setting up illegal marijuana grows in our forests. And it’s creating a dangerous situation for you and your family. What can you do if you find yourself in the middle of one of these Utah cash crops? ABC 4 News took a short drive and a short walk into Utah’s public lands in Southern Utah. “He hid his vehicle under that tree over there,” said Heath Berchinal who discovered a marijuana farm. Read more

A former Seattle police chief and a former state senator are coming to Yakima this week to hold a public forum on the legalization of marijuana.

The forum, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Capitol Theatre, will examine Initiative 502, this year’s effort to bring marijuana under state control by regulating and taxing it.
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Early as it is in its development, the rapid rise in synthetic marijuana abuse is exacerbated by a lack of certainty about the potentially catastrophic impact of these new designer drugs.

Even now, amid recent reports of violence and death associated with synthetic marijuana (herbal Spice, incense, potpourri), it is still viewed as innocuous. The reason: Because of its widespread availability in smoke shops, gas stations and online, it is difficult to comprehend that these products are so dangerous.
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