pot

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Maryland's Governor Is About to Issue a Mass Pot Pardon

About 100K people will receive clemency for misdemeanor pot possession

(Newser) - Good news for many who've been busted with pot in the state of Maryland: Gov. Wes Moore is set to put out a mass pardon on Monday for more than 175,000 marijuana convictions, forgiving low-level possession charges for about 100,000 people. The Washington Post notes the move...

Workers Are Cheating on Drug Tests Like Never Before
Workers Are Cheating on
Drug Tests Like Never Before
the rundown
May 15, 2024 12:15 PM CDT

Workers Are Cheating on Drug Tests Like Never Before

Quest Diagnostics describes 633% spike in swapped tests in 2023

(Newser) - Most of the millions of drug screens performed in the US each year come back negative. A small but growing fraction, however, come back positive. And a rapidly increasing number show signs of tampering. Indeed, US workers are cheating on drug tests at the highest rate in decades, according to...

With New Pot Law on Books, Germans Light Up Their Joints

Germany legalizes small amounts of marijuana for personal use, and aficionados stage a 'smoke-in'

(Newser) - Marijuana campaigners in Germany lit celebratory joints on Monday as the country liberalized rules on cannabis to allow possession of small amounts. The AP reports that the German Cannabis Association, which campaigned for the new law, staged a "smoke-in" at Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate when the law took...

'Diet Weed' Is Teens' Latest Kick
Teens Have a New Marijuana
Workaround: 'Diet Weed'
NEW STUDY
Mar 13, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

Teens Have a New Marijuana Workaround: 'Diet Weed'

Researchers say 'appreciable' number of high school seniors are using delta-8, a cannabis compound

(Newser) - In some states, pot hasn't yet been legalized, and even in states where it has been, you have to be 21 to legally consume it. But teens across the US have found a workaround of sorts—a less-potent, more readily available form of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound...

State's Bong Auction, Meant to Bring In Millions, Netted $2K

California's auction went bust after trying to sell confiscated fixtures

(Newser) - When the state of California raided 10 cannabis businesses that collectively owed $14 million in back taxes, officials had high hopes for the goodies they seized, with plans to put them all up for auction to raise millions. The grand haul after a Feb. 16 sale of various glass bongs...

When It Comes to Pot, a 'Big Concern' About Driving

Figuring out when it's safe to drive after marijuana consumption remains a challenge

(Newser) - Amid increasing marijuana legalization over the past two decades or so, both medicinal and recreational, has come a spike in accompanying car accidents. According to a 2021 study in the American Journal of Public Health , the percentage of car-crash fatalities tied to cannabis was just 9% in 2000; in 2018,...

Biden Slams 'Failed Approach' to Pot, Clears Path for Pardons

President makes thousands more people eligible to receive pardons for marijuana-related crimes

(Newser) - President Biden is making thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia eligible for pardons, the White House said Friday, in his latest round of executive clemencies meant to rectify racial disparities in the justice system....

Pot May Raise Risk of Heart Issues
Pot Smokers
May Be Doing
Damage to
Their Tickers
NEW STUDIES
Nov 6, 2023 12:32 PM CST

Pot Smokers May Be Doing Damage to Their Tickers

Researchers find daily users have a 34% greater risk of heart failure; heart attack, stroke risk also up

(Newser) - If you think you're avoiding serious health issues by switching from smoking tobacco to smoking pot, you might want to reassess. Two new still-to-be-published studies, set to be presented Nov. 13 at an American Heart Association meeting in Philadelphia, show that people who use marijuana on a daily basis...

Mastercard Brings Hammer Down on Pot Purchases

Company says it's banning cannabis transactions on its debit cards, as cannabis isn't legal federally

(Newser) - Looking to pick up some pot at the dispensary? Don't pull out your Mastercard. On Wednesday, the payment processing company announced it had informed financial institutions that it would not be allowing marijuana purchases on its debit cards, in what Reuters describes as "a blow to an industry...

They Grow Pot Illegally, Leave Behind an 'Eyesore'

Oregon Legislature passes bill to make landowners responsible for messy aftermath of illicit grows

(Newser) - Oregon has long been known as a mecca for high-quality marijuana, but that reputation has come with a downside: illegal growers who offer huge amounts of cash to lease or buy land, then leave behind pollution, garbage, and a drained water table. Now, a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature...

'AK-47' That Prompted Panic Was Something Very Different

Police in New South Wales, Australia, say 'weapon' they found in car was actually just a bong

(Newser) - There was a bit of panic in Australia this week, after Sydney locals reported the sighting of a man carrying a frightening-looking assault rifle—but all was not what it seemed. The BBC reports that 911 calls started pouring in late Wednesday afternoon from the northwest side of the city,...

Wedding Guest Sues Over 'Severe' Marijuana Injury

Caterer Joycelyn Bryant is accused of conspiring with bride Danya Svoboda to drug the meal

(Newser) - A wedding guest is seeking more than $30,000 from the event's caterer, accused of secretly drugging the food . Authorities arrested Joycelyn Bryant of Joycelyn's Southern Kitchen, along with the bride who'd hired her, following the Feb. 19 wedding reception in Longwood, Florida, where guests had complained...

'Diddy' Just Struck a 'Historic' Cannabis Deal

Rapper Sean Combs' acquisitions will create the biggest Black-owned pot company in the US

(Newser) - Sean Combs already has branched out from his rapper and producer career with business ventures in the fashion, alcohol, and media worlds. Now "Diddy" is dipping his toe into marijuana, with a deal worth up to $185 million that, if approved by federal and state regulators, may result in...

Thailand Handing Out 1M Free Cannabis Plants

Yes, seriously

(Newser) - Not so unusual: a country legalizing medicinal marijuana . Very unusual: the country giving its citizens cannabis plants so they can grow pot at home. That's what's happening now in Thailand, which in 2018 legalized marijuana for medical research and use. In January, Reuters reported the country decided to...

Entrepreneur's Murder Shows 'Absurd' Side of Legal Pot

Tushar Atre was murdered for his cash, but his case is riddled with warning signs

(Newser) - In Santa Cruz, known for its surf culture and "blissed-out natural settings," Tushar Atre was not a rare breed, Scott Eden writes for Inc. The entrepreneur brought a track record of tech-industry success, a hard-edged management style, rich connections, and a pioneering vision for industrial-scale THC extraction. In...

Malawi Has an Unusual Offer for Mike Tyson

The country wants him as its new cannabis ambassador, but his rape conviction hovers

(Newser) - In "something we weren't expecting" news this week, Mike Tyson has been asked to be an ambassador. Specifically, the cannabis ambassador for the African nation of Malawi, which hopes that the former world heavyweight champ's brand will help bring investors to its nascent medicinal pot industry. "...

Pilot in Deadly Balloon Crash Had Cocaine, Pot in System

5 died after balloon hit power lines in New Mexico

(Newser) - Update: The hot air balloon pilot killed along with his four passengers in a crash in Albuquerque, NM, in June had drugs in his system, the Federal Aviation Administration says. A toxicology report released Wednesday says blood and urine samples taken from 62-year-old Nicholas Meleski show he had marijuana and...

After Olympic Letdown, WADA to Review Controversial Ban

Sha'Carri Richardson lost spot in Tokyo Games due to pot use

(Newser) - Sha'Carri Richardson missed her chance to compete in Tokyo's Summer Olympics due to pot use, but a move by the World Anti-Doping Agency could keep future athletes from meeting the same fate. On Tuesday, WADA announced it will set up an advisory committee to review whether cannabis should...

A Warning for Cannabis Users Under 45
A Warning for
Cannabis Users
Under 45
NEW STUDY
Sep 7, 2021 10:25 AM CDT

A Warning for Cannabis Users Under 45

They're almost twice as likely as nonusers to suffer a heart attack, study finds

(Newser) - Heart attacks are significantly more prevalent in US adults under 45 who use cannabis than those who don't, according to researchers, who dispute the idea that cannabis is safe. Their study, published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal , looks at the health data of more than 33,000...

Clarence Thomas: We May Not Need Federal Marijuana Laws

Because of the government's 'piecemeal approach'

(Newser) - One of the Supreme Court's most conservative justices thinks we may be able to do away with federal weed laws. Clarence Thomas released a statement Monday in connection with the high court declining to hear an appeal from a Colorado pot dispensary looking to block the IRS from getting...

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