News

Peoria, IL - Medical marijuana becomes legal in Illinois in January, but Washington resident Adam Frederick has already been to Springfield to get the state law expanded.

A nationally renowned pediatric neurologist at Saint Barnabas has gotten FDA approval to study whether a cannabis-based drug could prevent seizures in children diagnosed with severe forms of epilepsy.

John Morgan stood on the steps of the Florida Supreme Court, looked across the street at the state Capitol and spoke about the Tallahassee political establishment opposing a citizen's initiative to allow sick people to smoke marijuana.

The North Bay town of Sebastopol made history this week when the City Council picked a marijuana activist as mayor.

Opinions

The more we find out about hemp the less we like it as an option for western farmers. The more we learn about hemp, the less enthusiastic we are about it as an option for western farmers.

Leading by example is one of the top three "to-do's," in almost every parenting survival guide. We all know it, but the expression, "Do as I say, not as I do," has gone through the minds (if not the mouths) of every parent who ever existed.

Here's a subject you probably didn't expect a pastor to weigh-in on: marijuana decriminalization. Recently I have been privy to a string of conversations where people express their concerns about recreational marijuana use becoming legal. There are many people who see this as a symptom of moral decline, believing that those who choose to use marijuana recreationally are morally suspect and therefore they oppose commercial recreational marijuana facilities opening in our town. Like "dry counties" through the South hearkening back to the prohibition of alcohol in the 20's, we will hang on to our anti-marijuana outlook for a little while longer.

Demand for Retail Marijuana Could Outstrip Supply. The time is drawing nigh. In less than a month, Colorado and Washington will open the first adult recreational marijuana markets in history. Which brings up an interesting question. Will there be enough product to supply this emerging consumer base?

Letters

DIVERSIFYING THE ECONOMY THROUGH MEDICAL MARIJUANA THE EDITOR, Sir: Over the last few months, the debate as to whether marijuana should be decriminalised for medicinal purposes has gained traction. Recently, Dr Fenton Ferguson, minister of health, has asserted explicitly that he will endorse the decriminalisation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, an encouraging position. The minister should be commended for his boldness and, hopefully, he will convince his Cabinet colleagues of the economic imperative of the medical marijuana industry.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom should stick to his role: enforcing, not writing, the law ("Backstrom firmly against medical use of marijuana," Dec. 1)

In response to the Dec. 1 letter by Linn County District Attorney Doug Marteeny et al.: It's true that anyone in California who wants a medical marijuana recommendation can get one. So-called medical marijuana abuses are not to be feared. As long as there is a demand for marijuana, there will be a supply. The medical recommendation allows consumers to purchase locally grown marijuana of known quality and safety from dispensaries that generate tax revenue. Is it somehow preferable that consumers purchase untaxed, unregulated and potentially unsafe marijuana from criminals?

It's encouraging to see more states working to allow hemp cultivation (Kentucky officials again approach DEA on hemp issue, Nov. 27). It's time to Re-introduce hemp as a component of American agriculture.

Since the 1980s, the war on drugs resulted in stiff minimum mandatory sentences for drug traffickers caught with boatloads of drugs imported from foreign countries.

To the editor: It was encouraging to read the Review-Journal's Monday editorial ("No drugs or guns? You're busted anyway"), calling out one of America's worst policy failures in history. Hopefully, the Review-Journal has a positive editorial when it's Nevada's turn to fully legalize the God-given plant cannabis (marijuana), since cannabis prohibition props up the discredited war on drugs.

Kudos to Senator Daylin Leach for calling Gov. Corbett out for refusing to support medical marijuana legislation. While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps them feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality of life decision best left to patients and their doctors.