Marijuana Blog

On the Latin American street, the Organization of American States has always borne a reputation, often undeserved, as Washington’s lackey. But the OAS, based in Washington, just tossed the White House a message it would rather not hear: It’s time to seriously discuss legalizing marijuana as one means of reducing the western hemisphere’s harrowing drug violence. That conclusion, from a study presented last Friday in Bogotá, Colombia, by OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza, is one that a growing number of Latin American governments — including Uruguay, which legalized marijuana last year — are urging the Obama Administration to accept. Having the motion seconded by Washington’s “lackey” makes it harder to ignore.

 

But even as Insulza and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos were hailing the OAS report last week, something else was brewing in Bogotá that could further undermine resistance to pot legalization. The Colombian capital is about to start a program that uses marijuana to wean junkies off bazuco, a cheap but fiercely addictive cocaine paste. It will mark one of the largest experiments to determine if marijuana — which legalization opponents still insist is a “gateway” to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin — is in reality an “exit” drug. If so, it will only serve to reinforce the argument, mentioned by the OAS study, that marijuana is a relatively benign drug, far more comparable to alcohol than it is, say, to crystal meth.

 

Read more: http://world.time.com

(Reuters) - Voters strongly supported a ballot measure to sharply curtail the number of medical marijuana dispensaries permitted to operate in Los Angeles while boosting taxes on the sale of pot for health reasons, election returns early on Wednesday showed.

 

The proposal appeared headed for passage. Returns showed 63 percent of voters supporting it compared with 37 percent opposed, after tabulation of more than 40 percent of ballots cast at polling stations on Tuesday, and all of the mail-in ballots received as of last Friday.

 

Two rival measures seemed likely to be defeated, with "no" votes far surpassing "yes" votes for each.

 

At least 800 storefront medical cannabis shops are estimated to be operating in Los Angeles, more than in any other U.S. city, and some residents have complained that the dispensaries are a blight on their neighborhoods.

 

Proposition D, placed on Tuesday's ballot by the City Council, would cap the number of dispensaries allowed to remain open at 135, said Rigo Valdez, director of organizing for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, a union that supports the measure.

 

Read more: http://www.reuters.com

Lil Scrappy believes he's addicted to weed ... and after failing a court-ordered drug test, the rapper will enter a rehab facility for treatment, TMZ has learned. 

 

Scrappy appeared in a Georgia courtroom moments ago, where officials revealed a urine test Scrappy took last week came back positive for marijuana. 

 

TMZ spoke with Scrappy's lawyer, Mawuli Mel Davis, who tells us ... the rapper will check into a rehab facility before the next court hearing in June. 

 

Davis also tells us ... Scrappy acknowledges he's addicted to smoking marijuana. 

 

Read more: http://www.tmz.com