Acceptance of campus pot smoking altering NFL’s drug compass
Apr 23, 2012 Online Issue
There is a growing sentiment among some NFL team executives that marijuana use in college football has grown so exponentially over the past five years 
that it has caused a shift in how NFL teams think of players who use the drug.
Marijuana use was never an NFL career killer but it was viewed as a possible omen of potential problems to come. A positive pot test meant possible injured draft stock. That was then. Now, pot use in college has grown so much, scouts and others say, NFL teams are scrambling to re-evaluate players who fail those tests, and in some cases, significantly downplaying its importance.
Some executives maintain the number of college football players that use marijuana has doubled in recent years alone, and some team officials estimate maybe as high as four in 10 draft-eligible players from this draft have failed at least one school administered drug test, and two in 10 multiple drug tests.
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Tags: marijuana use, nfl
Vallejo marijuana dispensary raided for second time
Apr 1, 2012 Online Issue
For the second time in 30 days, a local marijuana dispensary was raided Friday afternoon.
At about 4:25 p.m., Vallejo police officers served search and arrest warrants at Better Health Group, 3611 Sonoma Blvd., police said.
During the raid, owner Jorge Espinoza, 25, and three other workers at the dispensary were arrested on suspicion of selling marijuana, police said.
They were identified as Jeffrey Hughson, 38, of Novato; Aaron Castillo 21, of Daly City; and Jonathan Linares, 22, of Vallejo.
It was not immediately disclosed if any marijuana or other products were seized Friday, which marks the fourth marijuana dispensary raid since Feb. 21. There may be as many as 20 other dispensaries operating in Vallejo.
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Tags: legalization, marijuana, marijuana use, Medical Marijuana, pot, vallejo
Nick Diaz challenging suspension
Mar 13, 2012 Online Issue
LAS VEGAS — Per a response filed to the Nevada State Athletic Commission on March 7, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz is challenging the commission’s 
complaint for disciplinary action that he tested positive for a prohibited substance following a Feb. 4 contest in Las Vegas.
Following a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, the NSAC reported Diaz submitted a urine test that tested positive for “marijuana metabolites.” The commission voted later that month to temporarily suspend Diaz’s fighters license.
That suspension is unwarranted, according to Diaz’s attorney, Ross Goodman, who states that “marijuana metabolites” are not a prohibited substance according to the list used by the NSAC, which is adopted from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“Marijuana is the only substance that is prohibited; not marijuana metabolites,” Goodman told ESPN.com.
“The basis to discipline Mr. Diaz is that he tested positive for a prohibited substance. We know he didn’t test positive for marijuana. So, you look to see at WADA whether marijuana metabolites are prohibited. They do not prohibit it in any category.”
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Tags: marijuana, marijuana use, Nick Diaz, suspension
Colorado revisits marijuana DUI standard
Feb 27, 2012 Classifieds
DENVER | A divisive driving-while-high bill is back before the Colorado Legislature as senators revisit a measure to say how much marijuana can legally 
be in a driver’s system.
A marijuana DUI bill was defeated last year amid heated opposition from pot activists and members of both parties. The bill being heard Monday would say drivers are too impaired to drive if they test positive for 5 nanograms or more of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Current Colorado law says drivers can’t be impaired by drugs but does not set a THC limit. Pot activists say impairment and THC levels aren’t directly related. The Republican sponsor of this year’s bill says law enforcement needs a standard to measure impairment.
SOURCE: AURORASENTINEL
Tags: Colorado, DUI Standard, marijuana use
Marijuana, mushrooms, gun found in La Crosse couple’s house
Feb 27, 2012 Online Issue
Felony drug charges are pending against a La Crosse couple after investigators Friday found about 2 pounds of marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and a 
handgun at the South Side house their share with their three young children.
Police searched Jeremy and Jennifer Jenkins’ house at 5414 Quail Drive about 6 p.m. after a Crime Stoppers tip reported the couple smoked marijuana in front of their children and kept a filthy home, according to reports.
Jennifer Jenkins initially would not let officers inside after they smelled marijuana coming from the house.
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Tags: illegal marijuana, La Crosse, marijuana arrest, marijuana use
How Marijuana May Drive the Brain into Psychosis
Jan 3, 2012 Online Issue
Two ingredients in marijuana have opposite effects on certain regions of the brain, according to a new study.
One chemical, called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), increases the brain processes that can lead to symptoms of psychosis, while another compound, called cannabidiol, may negate such symptoms, according to the study.
Moreover, the findings are the first to use images of the brain to demonstrate that the reason symptoms of psychosis arise in marijuana users may be because THC interferes with the brain’s ability to distinguish between stimuli that are important, and those that aren’t, according to the study.
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North state pot ads lucrative; but feds say such business is not legal
Oct 17, 2011 Online Issue
While other businesses may be hesitant to disclose whether they make money off the north state medical marijuana trade, local media outlets that sell medical-marijuana related advertising are among the most visible 
beneficiaries in what largely remains an underground economy, estimated by some to be close to $14 billion statewide.
That visibility might come back to bite them.
Last week, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy, whose district includes San Diego, told California Watch and KQED not only are medical-marijuana advertisements in radio, television and newspapers inappropriate because of the message they send to children, “it’s against the law.” The federal government classifies marijuana a Schedule 1 narcotic similar to heroin even though 16 states including California have legalized it for medicinal use.
Federal law prohibits ads for illegal drugs in “any newspaper, magazine, handbill or other publication.” The law may apply online as well. Google recently paid a $500 million federal settlement to the U.S. Department of Justice for selling ads to Canadian pharmaceutical companies, the news outlets reported.
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Tags: marijuana use, Redding
