News

A LEADING American newspaper has come out in favour of the legalisation of marijuana, in an editorial which compares the drug's ban to that of alcohol in the Prohibition era of the Twenties.

The Agency Is Caught Between States That Lean Toward Marijuana Legalization and Law Enforcement That Maintains a Hard Line

Marijuana is no longer whispered about nor hidden in back rooms and basements. It has slowly come into the open in American life despite decades of federal prohibition and laws treating the drug as more dangerous than meth and cocaine. DAVID M When The New York Times' editorial board made a full-throated call this weekend for the government to end its ban on weed - and let states decide how to regulate it - the newspaper reflected what a majority of Americans have told pollsters: Marijuana should be legal.

Arbitration Rulings Show It's Considered a 'Disability' MONTREAL - A war of words has broken out over a fired cocaine-using locomotive engineer.

Opinions

The New York Times has seen the light. On Sunday, the paper editorialized in favor of an end to the federal ban on marijuana. According to Tony Newman of the Drug Policy Alliance, the Gray Lady has become the first major national newspaper to support legalizing marijuana.

Someday, we'll look back on two federal prohibitions - on same-sex marriage and marijuana - and ask ourselves: "How were we ever so dumb? What's the big deal?"

Every now and then, a good deed go unpunished. So it appears with San Jose's regulation of medical marijuana distributorships.

Dr. Brian Ferguson has come up with a really novel idea. He would like to see to it that drug dealers receive training related to their trade. It might be a degree in pharmacology, or at the very least a bachelor's degree in chemistry.

Letters

Reports repeatedly conclude habitual drug use in the United States is the root cause for children from Central America to illegally come here. The drug cartels there use violence to make them leave, or the children can stay and be killed.

I'm looking forward to voting on the Florida constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana. Even though some may abuse a useful tool, many more would be helped by its medicinal qualities.

Commentator Jonathan David Farley claims that the violence in Central America is that is driving the influx of children illegally crossing the border is "not our problem" ("#Sendthemback," July 22).

Your July 20 editorial was a vast degree beyond your normal ignorance regarding cannabis issues. The "plan" for free medicine to low incomers is part of a new medical cannabis dispensary permit process, ordinance changes addressing sales, cultivation and enforcement.

Re: Medical marijuana producers attempting to woo doctors, July 24. As the directors of the association representing the majority of licensed producers in Canada, we believe it is imperative that patients with a range of chronic illnesses and severe disabilities be able to manage their conditions through a variety of treatment options, including medical cannabis. It is therefore equally imperative that healthcare practitioners have access to the information necessary to independently assess whether medical cannabis has a place in their practice.

Re: Citizens, not police, should decide on pot's de facto legalization, Daphne Bramham column, July 22

Re: Easy to get, easy to buy, Special Report, July 19 As a licensed naturopathic doctor focused on primary care and adjunctive cancer therapies, I have noticed a staggering increase in patient queries about the medicinal use of marijuana. We see the same in the media, whether CNN profiling Dr. Gupta, myriad patient testimonials, or the advent of legalization in certain states.