St. Pete Man Passed Out Marijuana to Random People "Because It's Christmas"

Study: Almost half of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine, 42% of new cancer patients lose all of their life savings in two years because of treatment. The average amount a cancer patient lost was $92,098.

After tracking 9.5 million cancer patients from 2000 to 2012, researchers also learned that 62% of all cancer patients are in debt because of their treatment, and 55% of them owe at least $10,000.

In addition, 40% to 85% of all cancer patients have to quit working while undergoing treatment, which creates a financial burden that can last for six months or longer.

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(18)30509-6/fulltext

This is unacceptable!

House committee approves landmark bill legalizing marijuana at the federal level

Source: CNBC

The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday that legalizes marijuana on the federal level, removing it from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.

The legislation, which passed 24 to 10, has a high chance of approval in the full House where Democrats control the chamber with 234 seats. It’s likely to face a tougher battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposes marijuana legalization.

The legislation allows states to enact their own policies and gives them incentives to clear criminal records of people with low-level marijuana offenses. It also includes a 5% tax on cannabis products that would provide job training and legal assistance to those hit hardest by the war on drugs.

A majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, according to the Pew Research Center. The bill has more than 50 co-sponsors, according to Congress.gov. Backers of a Senate version of the legislation include, presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris.



Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/20/house-committee-approves-bill-decriminalizing-marijuana-on-the-federal-level.html

The U.S. has the highest child incarceration rate in the world...

The U.S. has the highest child incarceration rate in the world, followed by Bolivia, Botswana and Sri Lanka, says a human rights lawyer who authored a new U.N. study on the treatment of children.

U.N. Expert Faults U.S. For 'Inhuman Treatment' And High Incarceration Of Children

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/780539163/u-n-expert-faults-u-s-for-inhuman-treatment-and-high-incarceration-of-children?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr&fbclid=IwAR3aeW6haSQPi2HeE43kpetwHc5zuR3YmUtflmSKP8ghzuf-Zjh3mspjZhI&fbclid=IwAR0fpdz_SfHY7drcI4aOSckN81-z26fWPypqcSbsPkRLdiDACV5fs8kCTYw

Upstate New York proposal allows annoyance to lead to arrest

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — People who annoy an officer in one upstate New York county could find themselves facing jail time under a measure recently approved by a county legislature.

Under the Monroe County proposal, a person who annoys, alarms or threatens the personal safety of an officer could be punished with up to a year behind bars and up to a $5,000 fine.

Jamie Anthony, chief of staff for the Monroe County Legislature majority office, said county lawmakers passed the measure on Tuesday in a 17-10 vote. The county executive will hold a public hearing on the legislation and decide whether to approve it, she said.

“Members of the community have every right to challenge police officers, particularly those that engage in unnecessary behavior,” she said in a statement. “At a time when more accountability of police departments is needed, this law takes us incredibly backward.”

https://apnews.com/8ce6d424a11b4684a223293228b0b5d1?fbclid=IwAR2hg6JViZGlDxxz9z0BJhZlsbogetgB-xgF5psqjjq3wjGNYwLSBLtR1I0

Directly on the heels of voters passing a referendum on a Police Accountability Board by a margin of 75/25 last week...

"I Voted"

-Mount Hope Cemetery -Rochester, NY 11/5/16

As Rich Hire Private Firefighters, Housekeepers Go to Work in Fire Zone & Prisoners Fight CA Blazes

As a growing number of wealthy homeowners hire private firefighters to protect their properties for up to $3,000 per day, domestic workers and gardeners who tend to some of the most opulent homes in Los Angeles attended work despite the Getty Fire evacuation order earlier this week. Many of their employers failed to even tell them not to come in. Meanwhile, of the more than 4,000 firefighters currently working across the state, at least 700 are California prisoners. They earn as little as $1 per hour.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/10/31/california_fires_domestic_workers_prisoner_firefighters

Armed conspiracy group will defend Republicans at Minneapolis Trump rally

Republicans will be escorted to and from their cars. That duty will fall to Oath Keepers, a “patriot” group whose members fancy themselves as “guardians of the republic.” Or as the Southern Poverty Law Center calls them, “one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the U.S. today.”

They are not the kind of people you want entering your city. Especially since they tend to be heavily armed.

The group was launched in 2009 after—not coincidentally—we elected a black president. Its beliefs roughly mirrored the conspiracy theories of the day: that the black guy was preparing to invoke martial law. That he would take away your guns. That he would relegate patriots to detention camps.

The group has shown up heavily armed at the Ferguson, Missouri protests and Cliven Bundy’s Nevada standoff with the federal government. So bringing them to Minneapolis is a bit like dumping lighter fluid on a national forest.

http://www.citypages.com/news/armed-conspiracy-group-will-defend-republicans-at-minneapolis-trump-rally/562562061

All-female hurricane hunter flight crew makes history as Dorian strengthens

This group of pilots made history as Hurricane Dorian strengthens and takes aim at Florida.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center tweeted a photo Thursday of its first all-female flight crew on a reconnaissance mission ahead of Dorian's expected landfall in the U.S.

The photo showed Capt. Kristie Twining, Cmdr. Rebecca Waddington and Lt. Lindsey Norman aboard NOAA 49.

The three ladies flew around Hurricane Dorian to collect data over nearly seven hours, covering more than 3,600 miles.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/female-hurricane-hunter-flight-crew-makes-history-dorian/story?id=65289625

Denver first in U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms

Source: Denver Post

Psilocybin possession would remain illegal but would become police’s “lowest law-enforcement priority”

Denver is poised to become the first city in the nation to effectively decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.

After trailing in results postings Tuesday night and early Wednesday, final unofficial results just posted showed a reversal of fortune — with Initiative 301 set to pass narrowly with 50.6 percent of the vote. The total stands at 89,320 votes in favor and 87,341 against, a margin of 1,979.

While efforts are afoot to get psilocybin-related measures on the ballot in Oregon and California in 2020, Denver hosted the first-ever U.S. popular vote on the matter, according to organizers. An earlier effort in California last year failed to qualify for the ballot.


Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/08/denver-psychedelic-magic-mushroom/