The report, timed to be released during Mental Health Awareness Month, cited a study that marijuana use increases the risk of developing mental disorders later in life by 40%.

"In short, marijuana makes a bad situation worse," said John P. Walters, director of the drug control policy office.

Critics said the administration was trying to scare teenagers by exaggerating the dangers.

"When you start convincing young people and their parents that marijuana is the cause of problems rather than the symptom of them, you can get into real problems," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates decriminalization of the drug. "It may cause people, parents, teens and counselors to overlook the real cause of the problem."

"I've had prospective jurors get lost before, but it never occurred to me that they might be getting ready for a marijuana trial by, allegedly, smoking marijuana," Judge Sherman Ross says.

Just a reminder to those of you who don't know, the World Wide Marijuana March is tomorrow. Get out of bed before noon and be a part of something big! 238 Cities have signed up to participate in the event, click on the URL above for more information about an event in your area. Check out the wiki entry as well.

Global Marijuana March (GMM) is an annual rally held at different locations across the planet. It refers to cannabis-related events that occur on the first Saturday in May, or that weekend, or thereabouts. Marches, meetings, rallies, raves, concerts, festivals, info-tables, etc.. The home page is at GlobalMarijuanaMarch.org

The Global Marijuana March also goes by the name of the Million Marijuana March (MMM). It began in 1999. Over 450 different cities worldwide have participated since 1999. There are local names for the event too. Such as: World Cannabis Day, Cannabis Liberation Day, Global Space Odyssey, Ganja Day, J Day, etc..

The Global Marijuana March is a celebration embracing cannabis culture as a personal lifestyle choice. Participants unite to discuss, promote, entertain and educate both consumers and non-consumers alike.

One of the main organizers since 1999 is Dana Beal and his Cures-Not-Wars.org website. Another of the main organizers is CannabisCulture.com and its publication, Cannabis Culture Magazine. Both Dana Beal and CannabisCulture.com people have mailed thousands of GMM-MMM posters worldwide over the years.

Thank you Wikipedia for the quote, I'll try to make either my local event, or the one in San Francisco, but this damn cold is keeping me couped up at home. Update: Thanks to Steve for sending me this link to some footage of the Seattle Marijuana March.

Canada.com brings us the news that two men have been convicted of running a church where marijuana was sold as a sacriment. One was sentenced to two years in jail, while the other was sentenced to one year for selling marijuana at the "Church of the Universe".

"In handing down his ruling, the judge called the operation "a marijuana convenience store that operates for profit like a prohibition-era speakeasy, but disguised as a church.""

"Baldasaro and Tucker maintain that God tells them to smoke marijuana and pass joints to their Church of the Universe parishioners."

After watching "Super High Me" I was considering worshiping at a marijuana church. I don't believe this was the same church that was in the movie as both of the defendants have already been tried, convicted and sentenced.

I found this post on WashingtonWatch via reddit and thought our readers would be interested in this tidbit of information.

H.R. 5843 is described as an "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults". The bill has been introduced by US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and co-sponsored by US Presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX). If passed, this legislation would legalize the possession, use and non-for-profit of up to 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of Marijuana. Under this legislation, adults who consume Marijuana would no longer face arrest, prison or civil fines.

This bill will not affect federal laws prohibiting the sale of Marijuana for profit, nor the import, export and cultivation of Marijuana. It will also not alter the legal status of Marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug according to the Controlled Substances Act.

It seems that on 4/17/08 the act was referred to House committee as well as the Committee on Energy and Commerce, we will keep a close watch on this one. We'd have a kinder, gentler America with legalized Marijuana, as well as a cash surplus from taxing it.

"Not only should it be legalized, it should be mandatory." -Bill Hicks

CelebStoner has some coverage of a 4-20 party in Boulder, Colorado that puffed its way up to 10,000 people. They have a picture and some video of the event, here's a little snippet:

Stoners celebrated the 4/20 holiday yesterday with smoke-outs all over the U.S. and Canada. But no event was bigger than Boulder's, which boasted a crowd of 10,000 at Colorado University.

Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz, thousands converged at the UC campus on Porter Meadow, defying university officials who had hoped to restirct access and reduce the crowd. "This is an event that's unsanctioned and unwelcomed by the university," says UCSC spokesperson Jim Burns. "It's based on an illegal activity that has become large in recent years. and we're attempting to send a signal that it's not welcome."

Check out their live footage from Santa Cruz as well.

I wasn’t even aware that the Australian government had banned the sale of paraphernalia but this article deals with why that was such a dumb move. The article talks about how users can easily make their own homemade bongs but why that might not be a good idea.

“The Rann Government's ban on bongs will not stop drug use and could have dangerous flow-on effects on the health of pot smokers, according to users and experts.

The State Government last night passed tough new laws so anyone selling cannabis bongs or drug implements will face fines of up to $50,000 or two years in jail.”

I’ve made quite a few homemade bongs in my time and never experienced any downsides. As long as you don't light the plastic (if using a plastic bottle) and use common sense, you should be fine. Am I wrong?

The article is clearly anti-marijuana from the first sentence, but John Arnold got off lightly after having his house raided. Arnold claims that he smoked marijauana in order to kick his heroin addiction.

John Arnold, 42, walked free from court, despite being nabbed with 41 plants and sophisticated growing equipment after a raid on his home.

Just a few months before, another cannabis grower got six months behind bars when he was caught growing a farm which contained just seven more plants.

I think this is interesting as it shows judges are fairly lenient towards pot. If this had happened to say, a ketamine dealer (also a Class C drug in the U.K.) I doubt he would have gotten off so lightly.

Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister of the U.K. (still trying to figure out how that happened, is set to ignore advisers and is currently setting in motion to reclassify marijuana in the U.K. to a class B drug.

"Gordon Brown is set to ignore advisers and reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug.

The dramatic U-turn comes just four years after the drug was downgraded to Class C.

It means some of Britain's three million cannabis users would be jailed for FIVE YEARS and suppliers locked up for 14 years.

The change could be brought in from as early as July. "

For those who don’t know, this new classification would put marijuana in the same category as amphetamines. Way to go, Brown!

Pittsburgh Tribune Review writes that police officers are reporting feeling ill after seizing plants from indoor growing operations blaming mold spores which can apparently give off toxins. This is due to growing operations with poor ventilation.

"Indoor marijuana is normally grown in a solution of nutrients and other chemicals. The chemicals and mold can be dangerous to breathe, said state police Sgt. Tracy Futcher, who directs the state police's Claudestine Lab Response Team for the Alle-Kiski Valley and other western counties.

"I only got all stuffed up but a couple of the officers were sickened. They were really nauseated, but they were OK in a couple of hours," Cannon said.”

Is this true? I’ve been witness to several grow rooms that didn’t seem particularly well ventilated but never experienced any ill effects due to it. This is also the first time I’ve heard of the toxins caused by mold associated with marijuana growing. Any budding botanists out there keen on nipping this in the bud?

Seems like BS propaganda to me. -Phusion