Kentucky Budget Bill On Governor’s Desk Would Restrict Medical Marijuana Funding Ahead Of Program Launch

Kentucky’s legislature has delivered a budget bill to the governor that includes a provision restricting funding for a medical marijuana regulatory body overseeing the state’s forthcoming program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.

The language represents a watered down version of what was included in the Senate budget proposal, which would have set a much stricter threshold for the availability of funding for the Office of Medical Cannabis.

A last-minute amendment that was adopted prior to passage on Thursday removed Senate-approved language that would have broadly required a “propensity of federal and international peer reviewed, published research with conclusive evidence as to the efficacy of medical cannabis” in order to fund the regulatory division.

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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones to Get Tough on VICTIMS – Wants to Hold Business Owners Responsible for Crimes Near Their Stores

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones wants to get tough on crime – VICTIMS.

The far left mayor wants to hold businesses responsible for crime committed near their stores.

St. Louis previously had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Repeat offenders are let out of confinement and back on the street.

The Missouri House voted on Thursday to approve “state control” of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police as leaders like Jones have failed to fight the crime epidemic in the city. According to local KTVI, a force of nearly 1,400 officers has shrunk by more than a third, with officers unable to address the lawlessness, including rampant public gunfire

ABC 13 News reported:

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones plans to hold local businesses accountable for violent crime outside their establishments, she told Action News 5.

Her comments came while attending a meeting of the Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime. The group, launched this week by Memphis, Tennessee Mayor Paul Young, aims to “harness the collective power of black mayors across the nation to fight crime” and includes 21 leaders of cities across the country.

We have a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations,” Jones said of St. Louis. “So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things we’re already doing, we’re finding that other mayors are doing as well.”

Her statement comes as the area is currently embroiled in controversy following the brutal attack of a 15-year-old girl. Kaylee Gain could be seen on video convulsing on the ground after being battered and having her head slammed against the pavement by another girl. Family lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer told TND Gain suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeding and brain swelling as a result of the attack.

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Bodycam of mistaken identity police raid that terrorized innocent family will not be made public

A judge in North Carolina said Raleigh police don’t have to release body camera video to the general public of a raid with guns drawn at a wrong house that left a husband, his then-pregnant wife and 11-month-old son traumatized.

In his decision, Wake County Superior Court Judge Matthew Houston noted the delay between the 2021 raid at Amir Abboud’s home and the hearing this week. The judge said that even though the plaintiffs allege something noteworthy about the underlying circumstance of the warrant, the execution of the warrant itself was not noteworthy. Abboud and his lawyers received the video but sought its release to the general public “for purposes of emotional recovery, accountability, transparency, and policy advocacy.”

Abboud’s lawyers said they were shocked.

“We think it’s clear that there is a compelling public interest in this matter,” the lawyers from Emancipate North Carolina, an advocacy group that opposes mass incarceration, said in a statement. “At least 10 personnel from media outlets were present during the hearing, and numerous outlets have been reporting on the issue. We believe this to be a blow to transparency and accountability to the public.”

Media representatives for Raleigh declined to comment.

Court documents spell out how it all happened on April 7, 2021, when Abboud returned home from work to his then-pregnant wife and their 11-month-old son.

Abboud was making coffee when Raleigh Police Department officers in military-style gear executing a “Quick Knock” warrant busted open the front door with a battering ram, pointing their AR-style rifles at the couple and their screaming 11-month-old son, the lawsuit alleges. The couple was not suspected of criminal activity — the raid was based on “erroneous police work” and a case of mistaken identity, court documents said.

Officers handcuffed Abboud and separated him from his family, taking him outside for questioning, the lawsuit alleges.

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Hawaii Lawmakers Advance Bill To Expand State’s Marijuana Decriminalization Law As Broader Legalization Hangs In The Balance

As a bill to legalize marijuana in Hawaii hangs in the balance in the state legislature, a House committee has amended and advanced separate legislation on Thursday that would expand the state’s current decriminalization of cannabis by increasing amounts of the substance for which people would not face the threat of jail time and reducing certain financial penalties.

After adopting a handful amendments to the underlying measure, SB 2487, members of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs (JHA) Committee voted 7–2 to recommend that the proposal be passed.

In its current form, the bill, sponsored by Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D), would specify that possession of an ounce of marijuana or less would be subject to a $25 civil fine. Under existing law in Hawaii, possession of up to three grams carries a $130 fine.

In some cases, individuals could perform community service instead of paying a financial penalty under the new legislation.

Between one and two ounces of cannabis, meanwhile, would be punishable as a petty misdemeanor—up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Currently that range is between three grams and an ounce, with anything between one ounce and one pound carrying a misdemeanor penalty of up to a year of incarceration and a $2,000 fine.

The bill would also create a new violation for smoking marijuana in a public area, which would carry a $130 fee with the possibility of community service.

“This is important,” Rep. David Tarnas (D), the JHA Committee chair, said of the public consumption change before the panel’s vote. “This is a significant step to deal with an issue that we heard coming up in the bill considered about legalizing cannabis use.”

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FBI Agent Says He Hassles People ‘Every Day, All Day Long’ Over Facebook Posts

The FBI spends “every day, all day long” interrogating people over their Facebook posts. At least, that’s what agents told Stillwater, Oklahoma, resident Rolla Abdeljawad when they showed up at her house to ask her about her social media activity. 

Three FBI agents came to Abdeljawad’s house and said that they had been given “screenshots” of her posts by Facebook. Her lawyer Hassan Shibly posted a video of the incident online on Wednesday.

Abdeljawad told agents that she didn’t want to talk and asked them to show their badges on camera, which the agents refused to do. She wrote on Facebook that she later confirmed with local police that the FBI agents really were FBI agents.

“Facebook gave us a couple of screenshots of your account,” one agent in a gray shirt said in the video.

“So we no longer live in a free country and we can’t say what we want?” replied Abdeljawad.

“No, we totally do. That’s why we’re not here to arrest you or anything,” a second agent in a red shirt added. “We do this every day, all day long. It’s just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will.”

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RFK Jr. warns Americans ‘will be slaves’ if central bank digital currency is established

Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared in no uncertain terms recently that establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency in the country will be “the end of freedom; we will be slaves if we allow that to happen.”

In a wide-ranging discussion at the University of Austin about freedom of speech and civil discourse, Kennedy said he didn’t “get” the connection between CBDCs and the loss of freedom of expression and other freedoms until he witnessed the Canadian trucker protest.

“The truckers in Canada were protesting the COVID mandates, the lockdowns, masking mandates, vaccination mandates, and others,” Kennedy began. “They started in Alberta. They picked up thousands of trucks as they drove across Canada to Ottawa.”

When they got to Ottawa — they were trying to petition Prime Minister Trudeau — and they were exercising a right that we all take for granted in this country: the right to assemble, the right to protest, the right to petition their government, and the government instead condemned them as right-wing fascists and racists, which if you look at the videos, they’re the opposite. Looks like Woodstock. They were delivering bottled water, they were cooking food for the poor, they were picking up garbage. There were musicians on every block.

It was really a beautiful thing.

However, the Trudeau government perceived the protesters to be an existential threat.

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Eight States Officially Agree to Ban the Sale of Gas-Powered Vehicles

President Joe Biden made headlines last week by unveiling the most radical environmental regulations in U.S. history, aimed at phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles and mandating the adoption of electric cars. Now, a recent report shows that the push to eliminate gas-powered automobiles is gaining momentum in eight states.

According to a report from The Daily Mail on Tuesday, the regulations being implemented in these states outline that only zero-emission vehicles, such as electric cars and specific plug-in hybrids, will be permitted for sale starting from the 2035 model year. This directive is known as the Advanced Clean Cars II rule.

Eight states, including California, Rhode Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington, have committed to mandating the use of “environmentally friendly” electric vehicles among their residents. Additionally, the District of Columbia has endorsed this initiative.

Predictably, California was the frontrunner in implementing the regulation. They aim to ensure that 35% of new vehicle sales produce zero emissions within two years, with plans to raise this target to an impressive 68% by 2030.

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Virginia GOP Governor Vetoes Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill

After sending messages for months that he had no interest in moving forward with Democratic-led plans to legalize retail marijuana sales in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has now formally vetoed legal sales legislation sent to him by lawmakers about a month ago.

In a veto message issued on Thursday, the governor wrote that “the proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”

“States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue,” he claimed. “It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety. Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering Virginians’ health and safety.”

Even before the legislative session kicked off this year, some supporters predicted Youngkin would veto any legal sales measure that arrived on his desk on principle, regardless of what provisions it contained. Others believed it was possible to craft a broadly appealing bill that could either win the governor’s approval or secure enough bipartisan support to overcome a potential veto.

Ultimately, however, votes for the legislation fell mostly along party lines, suggesting that Youngkin’s veto will likely stand because there isn’t enough support to override him in the Senate or House of Delegates.

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Kansas Senators Kill Bill To Create Medical Marijuana Pilot Program

Kansas lawmakers have voted to table a bill to create a medical marijuana pilot program in the state that has drawn early criticism from advocates who view it as excessively restrictive.

The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee took testimony on the legislation in a hearing on Thursday, a little over a week after it was first introduced. But after members heard from supporters, opponents and neutral parties, they accepted a motion to table it until January 13, 2025 in a voice vote—effectively killing the measure for the current session.

After several unsuccessful attempts to legalize medical cannabis in a more conventional manner in recent sessions, lawmakers were exploring whether there would be enough support to enact the more limited reform through a pilot program that would have launched later this year. The committee put an abrupt halt to that conversation.

“Our goal is to provide relief for patients, while also balancing the concerns of legislators and conservative Kansans,” Sam Jones, COO of Kansas Natural Remedies, which helped draft the legislation, said during the hearing.

“By being one of the last states to implement this, I think we’ve learned from other states,” he said. “We’ve tailored this bill to address the things that other states have gotten wrong and to address the things that they may have gotten right. This is a limited bill. This is supposed to be a pilot program. This is a proof of concept for medical cannabis to give proof that medical cannabis isn’t going to cause the end of society.”

Under the measure, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be responsible for overseeing the program, and regulators could only approve licenses for four vertically integrated cannabis operators across the state. Pharmacies could also be permitted to sell medical marijuana.

To participate in the program, patients with one of 16 qualifying conditions—including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain—would need to obtain a certification from a physicians.

There are a number of restrictions built into the legislation, including a ban on smoking marijuana products. While the bill also says that vaporizing cannabis would be prohibited, there’s separate language stating that flower could be inhaled through non-combustable vaporization.

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COP CORRUPTION: San Antonio police found to be protecting HUMAN SMUGGLING as side gigs for extra cash

Corrupt police officers in Texas are engaged in human smuggling operations for which they are being paid on the side and apparently off-duty – but while still wearing their official police uniforms, mind you – to run cover for the treasonous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) helping illegal migrants invade America.

TENET Media conducted an investigation into the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), whose officers were seen guarding a migrant camp and working inside the tents on behalf of NGOs. Note: The officers you will see in the following video footage are being paid on the side to support human smuggling.

“NGOs are facilitating human smuggling of migrants into America,” TENET Media reports. “You actually have a San Antonio Police Department car watching as a lookout, basically guarding this area.”

“They’re taking side contracts in relation to these NGOs and are actually being paid a significant amount to guard this area – and they’re in their official San Antonio PD uniforms, to top it off, with their San Antonio PD cars as well.”

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