News

Denver City Council will continue rulemaking around marijuana with a bill to be voted on next week that would limit the number of pot plants that can be grown in a dwelling.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are now banned in the unincorporated areas of Solano County. Following a decision made by six of the seven cities in the county, the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously decided to "permanently prohibit medical marijuana operations."

LANSING -- The state Legislature has plenty of thorny issues -- including a ban on traditional abortion insurance coverage -- to sort out before the end of the year.

Pot Use Causes Male Breast Growth As legalized medical marijuana gains acceptance across the country, a long-smoldering question burns a little hotter.

Opinions

Coming to Colorado Though Kristie Wheeler recently resigned her post as leader of the local chapter of Moms for Marijuana International, citing issues with the group's financial transparency, the activist is keeping busy through a new venture: Moving for Marijuana (213-0366), a grassroots organization created to help people outside of Colorado relocate to the state to better treat their ailments with cannabis. The topic's been in the air lately, with CBD-heavy strains grown by the local Stanley brothers getting national exposure for their effect on epileptic maladies.

Through the bruising I-502 debate last fall, those who suggested the cannabis-legalization initiative was deeply flawed were brushed aside as naysayers and paranoiacs. One of those flaws-an arbitrary, unscientific marijuana DUI cut-off blood level of five nanograms per milliliter-is now impacting enforcement statewide.

Another Thanksgiving has passed without a presidential commutation for Clarence Aaron, who at age 24 was sentenced to life without parole for a first-time nonviolent drug conviction in 1993.

This week marks a tragic anniversary for the U.S. Coast Guard as we remember the death of Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne. He was killed in the line of duty off the Santa Barbara coast as he protected his shipmates while attempting to interdict a high-speed "panga" engaged in illicit smuggling between Mexico and Southern California. Once thought to be a scourge limited to our southwest border regions, maritime drug smuggling is now migrating north, with vessels delivering millions of dollars in illicit drugs under cover of darkness to our Northern California beaches.

Letters

I applaud the Rev. M. William Howard's opinion piece "Newark pastor: Why we should decriminalize marijuana" (nj.com, Nov. 17). He correctly points out the destructiveness, wastefulness, futility and racism that are at the heart of our drug laws and the way they are enforced.

Cartel operations in free states may be a cause for major concern, but rest assured the Wild West period in the cannabis trades is coming to a close and their days (more like years) are numbered.

As a physician and the father of two, I concur with the Rev. M. William Howard Jr.'s commentary "Why we should decriminalize marijuana" (nj.com, Nov. 17) and strongly endorse New Jersey bill S1977, which would remove criminal penalties for possession of small quantities of marijuana.

As a person affected by a rare neuromuscular disorder, I took offense at the headline "21 Seek Chance To Sell Pot" [Dec. 2, Page 1]. It was a poor choice of words, suggesting a picture of street thugs selling to recreational dopeheads rather than legitimate professionals providing a legal medication to patients.

To the editor: Social intervention by the government always brings unintended consequences to the table. Drug prohibition is no different.

To the editor: Regarding Glenn Cook's Nov. 24 column ("Medical marijuana going to pot?"), not only should medical marijuana be made available to Nevada patients in need, but adult recreational use should be legal too. The days when politicians can get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success.

Rep. Trey Radel was recently arrested for buying cocaine from an undercover agent and has been sentenced to a year's probation. So that's what happens to the "War on Drugs" when the individual arrested is white and powerful? Meanwhile, poor black and Hispanic men and women who have been and are being charged with similar possession of marijuana and other drugs like cocaine serve lengthy prison sentences or live the rest of their lives under a felony arrest and/ or conviction. Yet, some continue to refer to this as a "criminal justice system." Where is the justice in the system?