Marijuana

Santa Clara county authorities are on the lookout for a pot farmer who recycles. Workers at a San Jose recycling center found a large trash bag filled with marijuana plants last week. San Jose police say the plants could have come from anywhere in Santa Clara County. Because marijuana cultivation is illegal under federal law, the plants are evidence and won't be sent to a composting bin, authorities say.

While recreational marijuana is legal in just two states (for now), 20 states plus the District of Columbia already allow marijuana for medicinal uses, and up to nine other states may soon follow suit. Many patients swear that cannabis helps ease their symptoms, but the drug has never gone through anything close to the testing required for prescription drugs. One reason: Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug (a federal classification of the most dangerous drugs, including heroin and LSD), so researchers have to jump through a lot of hoops to even get it into their labs.

A medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the family of an Orange County girl who was revived after doctors allegedly declared her dead went to trial Monday. Mackayla Jespersen was 20 months old when she fell into a swimming pool at her Fullerton home on Nov. 7, 2003. The lawsuit alleges that the girl, now 6, suffered permanent brain damage after doctors at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center wrongly pronounced her dead and disconnected her breathing tube. More than an hour later, a police detective conducting a routine investigation noticed that her chest was moving and summoned doctors, who were able to revive the child.

Now that people in Colorado (and, soon, Washington state) can buy marijuana about as easily as they can pick up a 12-pack of Bud Light, it's a good time to ask: How risky is it to turn to pot? President Obama has already shared his opinion, telling the New Yorker magazine, "I don't think [marijuana] is more dangerous than alcohol. " The president's opinion stands in stark contrast with official federal policy that still classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, putting it in the same class as heroin and LSD. In this case, the president seems to be more correct than the government, says Richard Miller, professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

A government test has determined that a red dye used in many lipsticks is a powerful herbicide capable of killing marijuana plants, prompting some Bush Administration officials to propose using the dye in an airborne offensive against domestic marijuana cultivation.

For seven years, Scott Stokes conducted his own reckless inquiries into the physiological effects of pot. "I woke up to get high, and I got high to go to bed," recalled the 19-year-old from El Toro, who broke his marijuana habit only after he was arrested two years ago for burglarizing a head shop. "If I didn't have it, I would . . . start sweating, and when I'd breathe deep I'd get into these weird breathing patterns. "People say that marijuana is not addictive, but it's extremely addictive."

WASHINGTON - The tidy Takoma Wellness Center, one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the nation's capital, has a quaint reception area furnished with black leather chairs, plants and artwork. On the front desk are a pile of business cards and a sign-in sheet. In the back, shelves are stocked with the latest marijuana accessories: pipes, cookbooks, even a machine that mixes the drug into butter or oil for cooking. All that's missing are more patients. Since opening this summer, the three Washington, D.C.-based marijuana dispensaries have served a total of 111 patients in a district with about 600,000 residents.

As a drug, marijuana has certain effects and, depending on why you're taking it, some side effects. And not everyone wants the whole package. New research finds that for patients who consider weed's buzz an unwanted side effect, the answer might be as simple as taking an ibuprofen with their tetrahydrocannibinol (or THC). A study published Thursday in the journal Cell both demonstrates and explains why common anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen and the prescription analgesics indomethacin and celecoxib (marketed as Celebrex)

This week, Colorado replaced mile marker 420 after it was repeatedly stolen following the state's legalization of marijuana. Why? Could be because 420 is pop-culture code for cannabis. The Colorado Department of Transportation assumed it was being lifted by “weed enthusiasts,” according to NBC News. To combat further theft, the department altered the sign to “MILE 419.99.” The reasons behind 420's association with pot are relatively unknown, short of a few theories involving 1970s California hippie kids.

DENVER - At the stroke of 8 a.m. on Wednesday Colorado became the first state in the nation where small amounts of retail marijuana legally can be sold in specialty shops. The much anticipated first pot sales unfolded in a handful of stores across the state, ushering in a new era as many on both sides of the legalization debate watched the early transactions. “One minute exactly until we make history,” shouted a harried Jay Griffin, the 43-year-old general manager of Dank Colorado, a tiny shop tucked into a nondescript office building in an industrial district of Denver.

The "chef" hunkered over a batch of hash oil he was making in a kitchen in Redondo Beach, using a common but extremely dangerous method known as "open blasting. " The 26-year-old meticulously stirred and heated the marijuana extract into the highest clarity, slowly producing "butane honey oil" that would be as clear and pure as amber. This potent type of hash, also called "wax," has taken off in the marijuana market with the rise of electronic cigarettes and other vaporizing devices.

How odd is it that the two contenders in the Super Bowl -- the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos -- hail from the two states in the Union that have legalized sale and use of marijuana? Are there two activities more different than the amped-up aggression of professional football and the laid-back mellowness of smoking a joint? I've got nothing against Denver -- a perfectly fine city, as far as I'm concerned. But, as many of my readers know, I am a Seattle boy. My great-grandparents arrived in the muddy little town on the shore of Puget Sound in the 1880s.

Question: I own a rental home that has been occupied by a very nice tenant for more than 10 years. About two years ago, her adult son moved into the house. When I realized he was living there, I reminded my tenant that her rental agreement required every adult living in the property to be a party to my rental agreement. The son complied, which means both mother and son are now on the month-to-month agreement. But over the last several months, neighbors have told me that the son is growing marijuana in the backyard and selling it to his friends.

Investigators seized 200 marijuana plants and about 30 pounds of dried pot during a narcotics investigation in Lancaster, law enforcement officials said Wednesday night. The stash was discovered Wednesday morning after Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators served a search warrant at the home in the 4200 block of Westminster Way, according to department officials.  The owner of the home, Christopher Neelley, was arrested on suspicion of felony cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sales, officials said in a statement.

Colorado Springs Airport recently installed three green metal containers in the terminal where travelers can deposit marijuana, which is legal to buy in Colorado but banned in the airport. Sorry, but the airport is not taking job applications for amnesty box attendants. With recreational marijuana now on sale in Colorado, Denver International and Colorado Springs airports have made it clear that travelers cannot bring pot through their facilities. Even medical marijuana is forbidden.

SEATTLE - The new year is shaping up to be one of the marijuana movement's strongest ever. The first legal pot storefronts in America opened to long lines in Colorado 20 days ago. Washington state is poised to issue licenses for producing, processing and selling the Schedule I drug - once officials sift through about 7,000 applications. Signature gatherers have been at work in at least five states, including California, to put marijuana measures on the ballot in 2014. On Wednesday, organizers announced they had gathered more than 1 million signatures in favor of putting a medical marijuana measure before voters in Florida, a high-population bellwether that could become the first Southern state to embrace pot. "Florida looks like the country as a whole," said Ben Pollara, campaign manager for the Sunshine State's effort.

Education has long been preached as a way to keep kids away from drugs. It's the walk to school that has Supt. Tom Barnett worried. This hardscrabble Northern California town has become a hotbed for medical marijuana farming. Kids stroll much of the year past pungent plants flourishing in gardens and alleys. The red-and-black-clad Timberjacks football team moved its halftime huddle on a recent Friday night to avoid the odor of marijuana smoke wafting over the gridiron from nearby houses.

Miley Cyrus celebrated her 19th birthday recently with a cake--supposedly a Bob Marley cake. When she saw it, the singer/actress said, "You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake. You know you smoke way too much [expletive] weed. " And therein lies the latest video-spawned drug-related controversy about Cyrus, who last year appeared on grainy video smoking what she later said was salvia. She has since admitted the incident was a mistake, but the latest video has people wondering if the birthday quips suggest where there's smoke, there's marijuana.

With pot now legally for sale in Colorado, and Washington state gearing up to follow suit, marijuana legalization activists across the country are pushing hard to replicate these political successes in other states. Voters in Massachusetts could ratify legalized marijuana as early as 2016 . This is undoubtedly a sign of progress. Our nation has capriciously squandered far too many precious national resources combating a green weed that makes people feel good. As welcome as a more widespread regulated marijuana industry would be, however, one thing that no one seems to be considering is what to do with those already convicted of marijuana crimes.

This week, Colorado replaced mile marker 420 after it was repeatedly stolen following the state's legalization of marijuana. Why? Could be because 420 is pop-culture code for cannabis. The Colorado Department of Transportation assumed it was being lifted by “weed enthusiasts,” according to NBC News. To combat further theft, the department altered the sign to “MILE 419.99.” The reasons behind 420's association with pot are relatively unknown, short of a few theories involving 1970s California hippie kids.