(High Times) K2 and Spice, your days are numbered. By a landslide 96-1 vote on Thursday the U.S. Senate passed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety and Innovation Act, which includes an amendment outlawing dozens of controversial synthetic drugs such as the aforementioned cannabis substitutes K2 and Spice. The lone dissenter was Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

The new FDA Act coalesces three bills previously introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota). Besides fake pot, the Act will ban synthetic chemical compounds like the hallucinatory 2C-E as well as intoxicating ingredients used in bath salts such as mephedrone, which are marketed under brand names like “Vanilla Sky” and said to combine the effects of Ecstasy with the addictive nature of methamphetamine. 

The downside to the ban is that it threatens to eliminate potentially beneficial research that could be conducted by utilizing such synthetic drugs in a clinical setting, as Dr. John Huffman (who originally created synthetic pot compounds for research purposes) told AlterNet. 

(AP) JACKSON — Federal court records say the owner of a used car dealership in Jackson has pleaded guilty to charges related to a raid on his business that allegedly uncovered 416 pounds of marijuana.

Jeremy Lee Stambaugh, owner of Paradise Auto Sales in south Jackson, was arrested at the car lot in February along with Johnny Earl Course and David E. Jones.

(The White House) When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug’s effects.

According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world’s largest source of drug abuse research - marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health – especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20’s. Simply put, it is not a benign drug.

Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition.

(WASHINGTON DC) - The group Veterans For Medical Cannabis Access [VMCA] issued the following news release after receiving word that their long hours spent presenting scientific and medical evidence of the benefits of medical marijuana, was simply rejected yet again.

Relying on the wisdom of Gil Kerlikowske, the nation’s ‘drug czar’, veterans are reminded on Memorial Day that their sacrifices only gain them a small amount of credibility, certainly not enough to allow them to use a plant that grows naturally out of the ground that is a miracle treatment for the survivors of war and military violence for their nation, who suffer PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

(White House replies to Veterans petition: http://wh.gov/4xd)

Thousands of Veterans requested the Obama Administration to look into the reliable science now available showing exactly how cannabis works to alleviate suffering of Veterans pain and save the lives of Veterans with brain injuries such as PTSD and therefore make appropriate changes in policy.

QUITMAN COUNTY, GA  (WTVM)  - Two women are spending the night in jail instead of the beach this Memorial Day Weekend.

The Birmingham duo was on the way to Miami early Saturday morning when they were stopped for speeding on Hwy 82 in Georgetown.

“I smelled a strong odor of un-smoked marijuana emanating from inside the car,” stated Deputy Conley, the officer who pulled them over.

Deputy Conley noticed a bag of snacks that the women had made special for the trip. There were several food items and a sandwich wrapped in foil that resembled a meatball sandwich. When the deputy opened the treat he discovered that the sandwich wasn’t full of food. Instead, there were three balled-up bags of marijuana and a large marijuana cigarette. 

(WLNS) Michigan has issued medical marijuana cards covering 44 children. Most are teenagers, but three of them are under 10 years old.

The Detroit Free Press reports that 21 of those with the cards are 17 years old, 11 are 16 and five are 15. A 7-year-old and two 9-year-olds also have received the cards.

The state isn’t disclosing the medical conditions for which the children are authorized to use marijuana. They say it’s unknown how the children take the drug, whether with food, vaporizer or smoking.

(AJC) A call about a possible suicide attempt Sunday lead Doraville Police to a marijuana grow house that contained more than 400 plants worth about $2.5 million.

A man called police around 6 a.m. Sunday and said that he was concerned his girlfriend might attempt suicide, according to police.  The caller gave the address of a house in the 3400 block of Pin Oak Circle where he believed the girlfriend was staying, police said.

(NORML) Over the last five years there have been numerous media reports about the anecdotal use of cannabis to help autistic children. Two brave women, one on the east coast the other the west, have been at the forefront of this effort to help scientifically explain why cannabis appears to be so helpful. Marie Myung-Ok Lee wrote about her experience in Rhode Island, a state with medical cannabis laws, in 2009. Soon after, inspired by Marie’s writings, Mieko Perez Hester and her son had a similarly positive experience with treating his autism in California. Mieko, soon after going public about their experience, was invited onto ABC’s Good Morning America.

…

The NORML community has joined UF4A in this remarkable journey and fight, and has offered to help solicit feedback through the survey.

Target: Persons on the autism spectrum currently using or interested in using cannabis as a safe and effective medication to treat autism. 

Read more: www.uf4a.org

(Cannabis News) A forthcoming biography on President Obama is making headlines, with new details about the president smoking marijuana with his teenage friends in Hawaii.

David Maraniss’ book, Barack Obama: The Story, describes Obama as a marijuana enthusiast: “When a joint was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted ‘Intercepted!’ and took an extra hit,” Maraniss writes. Maraniss also describes Obama’s technique of “roof hits” while hot-boxing cars. “When the pot was gone, they tilted their heads back and sucked in the last bit of smoke from the ceiling,” he writes. Obama has been less than shy about his drug use in the past, writing about the topic in Dreams from My Father, “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it,” he writes in the memoir.