Jesse Ventura pens strong “Marijuana Manifesto.” The former professional wrestler and Minnesota governor wrote an extensive op-ed in favor of cannabis use and legalization for CNBC.com, complete with his smiling mug in quite the tie-dye T-shirt. Ventura argues that “every person on the planet should be allowed the freedom to use his or her judgment when it comes to what’s best for his or her life and well-being, as long as it doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights.” If you want to give yourself a heart attack by gorging on Big Macs, “then that’s your prerogative.” Ventura praises Colorado’s recreational system and criticizes Ohio’s new MMJ law as “by far the most pathetic I’ve seen thus far.” The op-ed is aimed at drumming up interest in his upcoming book, Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto, due out this September.
Justin Trudeau’s argument is quiet but compelling. Rather than focusing on the revenue to be gained or “creating a boutique industry,” the Canadian prime minister boiled down the argument for legalization to two major components: regulating a currently unregulated market and ensuring that cannabis stays out of the hands of kids. Agreed. Now let’s make it happen sooner, rather than later, eh?
MI Legalize lost the petition, but the fight’s not over yet. Thomas Lavigne, an attorney and member of the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee, will represent MI Legalize in the group’s forthcoming legal challenge to the state, which rejected its ballot petition earlier this week. The battle may be fought in the Michigan Court of Claims, but it could cut a path all the way up to federal court.
Meet Australia’s new Sex & Marijuana party candidate. Michael Balderstone is the Marijuana Party’s lead Senate candidate on the Australian Sex Party ticket. Sounds more like spring break shenanigans than a federal Senate election, but Balderstone is hoping to literally sow “seeds of hope” by planting thousands of cannabis seeds along the Australian coast. Way to one-up Johnny Appleseed, Aussies.
What will it take for a cannabis breathalyzer to come to life? A group of professors and researchers have spent years devising the best possible way to measure a driver’s impairment accurately through a technique known as differential mobility spectrometry (DMS), which generates two electric fields in which THC flows toward a sensor. They’ve been testing it with Washington State University students, with some odd protocols needed to get around federal rules against actually administering cannabis. No market-ready product yet, but they’re getting close.
And last but not least: When life gives you lemons, send ‘em cat photos. One woman, tired of endless exchanges over her lack of internet for weeks, began bombarding her telecommunications company with hilarious pictures of her cat. I know what I’m doing the next time a feud with Comcast comes up…
Image via Flickr user moleofproduction
