Santa Cruz Sentinel, 30 Aug 2010 - SANTA CRUZ -- A new synthetic marijuana and the resurgence in popularity of a hallucinogenic drug have police and community leaders worried because both substances are legal and for sale in the Santa Cruz area. "I don't know enough about this stuff," Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano said. "That's what concerns me."

Victoria Times-Colonist, 27 Aug 2010 - Forget Reefer Madness. What we're experiencing across North America these days is Reefer Sanity. In an Angus-Reid poll conducted last year, more than half of those Canadians asked said possession of marijuana should be legalized. And in the U.S., California voters will soon determine that very issue. Reefer Madness was the name of a 1936 cautionary "documentary." Originally called Tell Your Children, it was financed by a small fundamentalist church group in the U.S. whose intent was to frighten the beejezus out of parents regarding the dangers of marijuana use among their children. Ostensibly narrated by a high school principal whose hands-on experience with his charges made him an expert, it depicted scenes of teenagers smoking pot, playing "evil" jazz music and descending into insanity and murder lickety-split.

Toronto Sun, 06 Aug 2010 - Thousands Likely to Flock to Church If Weed Claims Are Recognized Thousands of pot users will flock to the Toronto branch of the Church of the Universe to join if a court recognizes its unlimited marijuana use as religious freedom, a federal prosecutor warned Thursday.

Appeal-Democrat, 01 Aug 2010 - Dear Straight Talk: Can you tell me if DMT is safe? Articles I've read in Spirituality & Health magazine seem to indicate it is probably OK to use for a mind-expanding, healing experience. But I'm wary. I've heard there are different types of DMT and that some are hard to recover from. I took sacred mushrooms in Mexico and it was an extremely healing and helpful experience, but the dose was small. I'm an elder. I know wisdom can be obtained from sacred plants with a qualified guide, but it's not worth having a bad reaction or messing up my mind.

Arizona Republic, 30 Jul 2010 - In just three short years with Chandler police, Detective Carlos Ledesma already had his sights on taking down some of the Valley's biggest drug movers. As the department mourns a fallen colleague, others are mourning the married family man and father of two young boys.

AlterNet, 28 Jul 2010 - More Than 800,000 People Are Arrested on Marijuana Charges Each Year in the United States, Many on the Basis of an Error-Prone Test Raised in Montana and a resident of Alaska for 18 years, Robin Rae Brown, 48, always made time to explore in the wilderness. On March 20, 2009, she parked her pickup truck outside Weston, Florida, and hiked off the beaten path along a remote canal and into the woods to bird watch and commune with nature. "I saw a bobcat and an osprey," she recalls. "I stopped once in a nice spot beneath a tree, sat down and gave prayers of thanksgiving to God." For that purpose, Robin had packed a clay bowl and a "smudge stick," a stalk-like bundle of sage, sweet grass, and lavender that she had bought at an airport gift shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Under the tree, she lit the end of the smudge stick and nestled it inside the bowl. She waved the smoke up toward her heart and over her head and prayed.

AlterNet, 14 Jul 2010 - In 1985 I was sentenced to 15 years to life under the Rockefeller Drug Laws of New York State. I struggled to survive in the maximum security hell hole, Sing Sing, and did many things I was not proud of to stay alive. Being in prison for many years had drained me spiritually and emotionally. There were times when the only emotion I was aware of was a quiet, smoldering rage. Because of the barriers I'd built to survive, I'd become desensitized, and I knew it. There was still a part of me that could see myself from the outside in, and what I saw I didn't like: a callous, bitter individual consumed with the injustices of the world. I knew that I needed to heal if I ever wanted to interact normally with people upon release. I had some insight into human behavior because of the bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science I'd earned from Mercy College in 1993. The problem was, the program was over and I had to serve an additional 7 years.

Missoulian, 06 Jul 2010 - There have been several alarming crimes in the news recently, reportedly linked to the burgeoning marijuana industry. The lurid headlines are leading some to believe that Montana's medical marijuana system is broken or even hopeless. Clearly, some changes are needed. The ultimate fix, however, is eluding most coverage. Medical cannabis didn't "cause" the crimes mentioned. Cannabis is just a plant, used from time to time by some 100,000 Montanans for medical, spiritual, personal or social reasons.

Asheville Citizen-Times, 02 Jul 2010 - This week, I helped form a new North Carolina non-profit-- The North Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NC NORML). Yes, that's right. Weed, dope, pot, ganja, reefer, cannabis. Everyone knows it illegal, but when asked, nobody really knows why. Alcohol, which leads directly to violence and death, is perfectly fine so long as you are of age. Ask any police officer if someone being arrested for marijuana without alcohol has ever resisted, or ask any domestic violence victim if marijuana led to a battering? Anyone who knows the history laughs at the federal government's original basis for the prohibition back in 1937 that "marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind," claimed to be even more dangerous than heroin or cocaine. The false news reports that black men, most notably those insidious jazz-musicians, raped, murdered and assaulted white women after smoking marijuana cigarettes were clear race-baiting. The problem, however, is that law and policy remains the same, with the same effect.

The Gazette, 22 Jun 2010 - What did Moses do after kneeling by the burning bush? "He smoked it," said the Rev. Roger Christie, who gave a lecture Tuesday at Penrose Library on ingesting marijuana to heighten religious experience.

Red Bluff Daily News, 15 Jun 2010 - The World Hemp Extravaganga Event 2010 has come and gone but the debate goes on as to whether the gathering was appropriate or reflects well upon the citizens of Tehama County. The fact that federal and state statutes are at odds about the medical efficacy and legality of cannabis sativa (marijuana) and its psychoactive chemical constituent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), underscores the extent of dissention. When legal and medical wrangling combines with polarized accounts and attributions of THC effects on individuals the debate often devolves into personal attacks and widespread stereotyping.

AlterNet, 23 May 2010 - Despite a $40 billion a year "war on drugs" that is premised on the goal of creating a "drug-free society," our country is swimming in drugs. Most people start using drugs before they even leave the house in the morning. Yes, that first cup of coffee is what many of us need to start the day. The next drug that millions of Americans use, sometimes up to 20 times a day, is our nicotine! And then, after a long day of work, many of us head to a local bar or to our refrigerator and pour ourselves a cocktail, ice cold beer or a nice glass of wine.