For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]

We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.

Professional skateboarder Jereme Rogers said Wednesday he was sorry for disturbing his Redondo Beach neighbors this week when he "ate some `mushrooms' and bugged out," preaching naked on his rooftop.

Rogers, a high school dropout who attributes his skateboarding skills to God, was eventually grabbed by police officers and brought down from his precarious perch.

"It obviously was not an everyday experience," the 24-year-old athlete said. "It was a very out-of-body experience. I've never had an experience like that."

Rogers pulled off his boxer shorts about 6:40 a.m. Monday and climbed onto the roof of the two-story house he shares with roommates on Havemeyer Lane and Goodman Avenue.

"It was obviously something I shouldn't have done," Rogers said as he rolled a marijuana joint in his bedroom. "It was just something that happened."

...

Rogers did not smoke the joint in front of a reporter. He said it is well known among his fans that he is a user.

"Yeah, I'm rolling weed," he said. "I have a medical card. I'm a weed smoker."

The full article describes Rogers running around the ledge of the rooftop naked and ranting about God (sound familiar). He almost fell off the roof but skaters have amazing balance (fortunately). And what does chronic weed smoking and shrooming do to your skating skills? Check Jereme Roger's Plan B video part.

In a speech given last week to 600 bankers at the Luxembourg Financial Forum, Dutch trend watcher Adjiedj Bakas told the bankers: “Now you should end your coke habit.”

In an interview with de Volkskrant, Bakas talks about researching for his book 'Beyond the Crisis' and explains his statement.

People who worked on Wall Street spoke of a hectic lifestyle.

“More profit, and more, and more. That drove people to use cocaine. One of the biggest drawbacks of cocaine is that people suddenly take enormous risks…The traders kept on playing the pyramid game while they knew that it would crash.”

Bakas said: “It is indeed the first time that someone has told a room full of bankers to do something about their coke habit. However, people have been whispering about it for a long time.”

Oh sure, blame cocaine for the economic crash.

A student presenting an essay at Peninsula High School in Purdy on Tuesday morning took out a marijuana joint, lit it, and began smoking it, police said.

According to Pierce County sheriff's detective Ed Troyer, the student smoked the joint during his essay supporting the legalization of marijuana.

He then finished his essay, sat down, finished smoking the joint and then ate the end after it was fully smoked.

The teacher of the class contacted the school resources officer, a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, who found a small residual amount of marijuana on the student, Troyer said.

The student, a 17-year-old junior with a 3.7 grade-point average, was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana by Pierce County deputies and booked into Remann Hall in Tacoma.

Until I read the story about the man who stabbed himself in the neck broke last year I had never heard of anyone trying to cut or stab themselves while tripping; now it is like a trend. Unlike jumping from a high place, which is attributed to people thinking they can fly, stabbing yourself is a very violent method of reality testing that does not compute with the popular notion of the psychedelic experience. I would like to think behavior like this only happens in cases of overdose when the subject goes completely psychotic, but there is no way to know for sure. Although it is impossible to say where this stabbing urge comes from, it is a good activity to put on the list of "things not to try" when you are tripping. Stabbing yourself may seem like a good idea at the time, but really it isn't. Don't do it.

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy on Monday refused to recommend legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Licensed pharmacist Susan Frey chairs the seven-member board and said advocates had failed to prove the drug's medicinal benefits.

"We need science based evidence that there are acceptable uses and that those uses are within the realm of safety for the public," Frey said.

One advocate called the board's decision "blockheaded."

"Public opinion polls nationally are running 80 to 90% in favor of this and they're starting to get close to 50% on flat out legalization," Olsen said. "It's inevitable, one way or another it's happening..."

Guthrie County pharmacist DeeAnn Wedemeyer-Oleson says she's not swayed by action taken in 13 other states to legalize medical marijuana.

"I liken this a lot to when I was a junior in high school and I pleaded to my dad that the time I should be allowed to stay out at night should be extended to one o'clock in the morning," Wedemeyer-Oleson explained.

"I said, I was a junior in high school and all my other friends got to stay out until one o'clock in the morning. And he said, 'well if all of your friends jumped off the bridge, does that mean you should jump off the bridge?'"

Well played.