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It’s been a rough road for NFL players who’ve stuck to their beliefs about medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for treating pain and a number of other ailments, including concussions.

But things might be changing soon.

Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, told the other 31 NFL team owners that he wants the National Football League to “drop its prohibition on marijuana use.”

Speaking at a private meeting as part of the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix last week, Jones said he also wants the NFL to stop its “practice of investigating off-field misconduct,” according to NBC’s Pro Football Talk.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/news/cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-pushes-to-drop-prohibition/

Six months have passed since Orlando permitted police officers to issue citations instead of filing criminal charges for small amounts of marijuana, but so far the option is being used sparingly.

Officers were allowed to start writing tickets — similar to traffic citations — in October but had issued only 67 as of March 20. Penalties are $100 for first-time offenders and $200 for a second offense.

“I would have thought it had been a little more,” said Michael Barber, a criminal defense attorney at the Umansky law firm in Orlando. “I can tell you I see a lot of possession of cannabis cases coming through criminally … It seems they are not using their discretion.”

Read More:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-marijuana-decriminalization-mascotte-orlando-20170322-story.html

As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage the United States with a vicious tenacity that can only be described as the gnashing teeth of a junkie apocalypse, there is more demand for everyday people to be trained in administering life-saving medications to prevent accidental overdoses.

It might sound a bit strange for a library to make injecting overdose antidotes part of the staff’s job description, but that is exactly that kind of program the San Francisco Public Library is presently developing. The goal of the initiative, as crazy as it might sound, is to prevent any more drug addicts from being discovered dead on the property.

In February, staff members found a deceased overdose victim in the library’s bathroom—the first fatal incident in the past decade, according to a report from Hoodline.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/news/library-staff-will-be-trained-to-save-drug-overdose-victims/

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Latest on U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke announcing his 2018 U.S. Senate run (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke has begun his longshot 2018 Senate run by praising immigrants, saying America draws strength from refugees and suggesting it’s time to “end this failed war on drugs.”

The 44-year-old, third-term congressman told supporters Friday on a rooftop in his hometown of El Paso that he will support policies embracing people coming to the U.S. as immigrants or refugees.

He promised to halt the “paranoia coming out of the White House.”

O’Rourke has been a longtime critic of U.S. drug policy. On Friday he also criticized Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, saying the state needs a “senator working full-time for Texas” rather than “serving his own interests” running for president.

O’Rourke spoke about “comprehensive immigration reform” than repeated the words in fluent Spanish.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/news/texas-orourke-decries-failed-war-on-drugs/

The Trump Administration has said it will view medical marijuana leniently but is considered renewed federal enforcement to shut down recreational marijuana sales legal in eight states and the District of Columbia. Lawmakers in Colorado have proposed a simple solution.

Senate Bill 192 would allow Colorado recreational marijuana producers to reclassify as medical marijuana businesses if the Trump Administration decides to enforce federal law that still places marijuana on the list of illegal drugs.

“The bill allows the state licensing authority to authorize single-instance transfers of retail marijuana or retail marijuana products from a retail marijuana licensee to a medical marijuana licensee based on a business need due to a change in local, state, or federal law or enforcement policy,” according to a summation of the bill by the Colorado General Assembly.

Read More:https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292184

Startups, independent bookstores, popping nightlife—Atlanta is cool. Creatives and entrepreneurs and anyone else seeking decent wages and legitimate culture in a livable climate have been drawn to Atlanta for several years now, long enough for Atlanta to be so cool that it’s just about over.

When cities become meccas for transplants from around the country (or beyond), the destination city inevitably changes. The newcomers bring their habits and their mores with them. In the case of Atlanta—which has its share of homegrown musicians and artists, but is also seeing an influx of creative-types from Hollywood and other places where people expect marijuana to be treated not like it’s toxic—this includes, at last, liberalized drug policy.

As the Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting, the Atlanta City Council is considering a proposal to decriminalize marijuana possession. Like almost everywhere else in the South, under Georgia law, simply having a joint or blunt in your pocket in Atlanta is grounds for an arrest and nearly everybody arrested for the “crime” is black.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/news/atlanta-is-the-latest-southern-city-to-push-for-pot-decriminalization/