AltWeeklies Wire
The Racial Disparity of Pot Arrests in Pasadenanew
For the past five years, Pasadena police officers have arrested African Americans on marijuana charges at rates wildly disproportionate to Pasadena's demographics, according to a review by the Weekly of nearly four decades worth of arrest data.
Pasadena Weekly |
Jake Armstrong |
11-03-2009 |
Drugs
Will Medical Marijuana Regulations Turn the Wild West into the Mild West?new
Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown is getting ready to give medical marijuana speculators a good, swift kick with his cowboy boot, to get them to toe whatever line the city decides to draw. Better that, he says, than kick them out of Denver altogether -- as towns across the metro area have started to do.
Natural Seletion: A Field Guide to Portland's Legal Pharmacopeianew
While DIY mushroom hunters are pulling on rain gear and heading outdoors in search of forbidden fruit, others are staying high and dry by sampling a crop of legal psychoactive plants found right here in the city limits.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
10-29-2009 |
Drugs
All Sides In L.A.'s Pot Wars Agree: City Hall is Incompetentnew
The disparate groups in the pot debate agree on one thing: Los Angeles City Hall has been almost comically inept at complying with simple state deadlines for municipalities to create rules for medicinal marijuana.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Jill Stewart |
10-23-2009 |
Drugs
Smack Time: Is There Really a New Heroin Epidemic?new
A spate of recent media reports have claimed that America -- and especially the New York metro area -- is suffering from a terrifying new heroin epidemic. Curious, I decided to revisit a world that had once held me in its clutches for so long. This time around, I brought along a notebook and a clear head.
New York Press |
Matt Harvey |
10-22-2009 |
Drugs
How Today's Pot Debate is Like the Fall of Prohibitionnew
Law-enforcement maverick Norm Stamper noted "striking" parallels between Prohibition of a bygone era and today's drug debate. "Major difference? It took us only 13 years to end the former" over "essentially identical" reasons: violence, overdose deaths on bad "bathtub gin," public health and revenue.
San Diego CityBeat |
John R. Lamb |
10-07-2009 |
Drugs
A Year Late, L.A. Tries to Uninvite its Unvetted Pot Shopsnew
The Los Angeles City Council now faces one of its potentially most expensive legal battles ever, a war over medical pot that could draw in shady drug dealers, serious medical-marijuana activists, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-25-2009 |
Drugs
Ganjapreneurs Are Cashing in on Colorado's Booming Medical Pot Businessnew
To meet an increased demand, at least seventy new Colorado dispensaries have opened, forty in the metro area alone. Many of these are operated by what insiders are calling a "second wave" of ganjapreneurs -- savvy, experienced businesspeople and professionals.
Success at Colorado Springs Medical Marajuana Dispensariesnew
"We have, I think, something like 13 [medical marijuana] dispensaries in Colorado Springs -- in one of the most conservative cities in the country."
Colorado Springs Independent |
J. Adrian Stanley |
09-03-2009 |
Drugs
Altered State: Legalization, Cannabis Clubs and California's Marijuana Sea Changenew
Legalization and pot clubs in California grow increasingly popular, but law enforcement and government officials still can't think outside of the box.
Sacramento News & Review |
Nick Miller |
08-27-2009 |
Drugs
New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Coordinator Quits, Questions Pot Producer's Practicesnew
New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Program coordinator has resigned and, due to budget constraints and a hiring freeze, the state Department of Health has not refilled the position yet. The vacancy is another hurdle for a program that some patients and advocates say has been too slow to achieve its statutory goal.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
08-27-2009 |
Drugs
Cancer: A New Front in the War Against Pot?new
A California panel concludes that cannabis causes cancer. But the research is still young, the industry seems undeterred and pro-legalization advocates don't seem fazed by the ruling or its potential consequences -- which they contend will not deter marijuana usage.
East Bay Express |
Paula Lehman |
08-26-2009 |
Drugs
Smokey Dare: Maybe it's Time to Regulate Marijuana Like Cigarettesnew
Not many supporters of regulated marijuana have undertaken the work completed recently by ProtectYouth.org, which has spent the past year or so compiling reams of government and law enforcement data to support a fairly straightforward, reasonable case.
Dallas Observer |
Patrick Williams |
08-24-2009 |
Drugs
Are Party Girls Starting to Catch Up With the Boys When it Comes to Meth Use?new
In the early 2000s, crystal meth abuse became so rampant in San Francisco that city officials formed the Crystal Methamphetamine Task Force in 2005, which focused on the gay men's party circuit. But while the boys got the attention, the drug appears to now be taking an increased toll on women. Has focusing on men meant that women users aren't getting enough information on reducing harm?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
C. Nellie Nelson |
08-19-2009 |
Drugs
Marijuana Decriminalization Moves Forward on Several Fronts in Californianew
Reform advocates are making an intriguing argument: if state or local governments legalize and tax even a fraction of marijuana sales, the state could see billions of dollars in new annual revenue and reduced enforcement costs.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Sarah Phelan |
08-19-2009 |
Drugs
