Washington Examiner, 11 May 2013 – A student in a Fairfax County public school caught for the first time with marijuana would not be automatically expelled, under a new disciplinary policy the school board is scheduled to consider Monday. The current policy recommends expelling a student caught for the first time with marijuana or synthetic marijuana unless school leaders decide, after a hearing, that another punishment would be more appropriate.

Washington Times, 03 May 2013 – Fired Shots at White House in 2011 A man accused of trying to assassinate President Obama in 2011 was angry about the federal government’s policy on the criminalization of marijuana, according to new court documents.

Washington Times, 02 May 2013 – (AP) – An Idaho man charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama by shooting at the White House practiced with his weapon for six months and may have been upset about the country’s marijuana policy, prosecutors said in a newly filed court document. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is awaiting trial in the 2011 shooting, which didn’t injure anyone but left more than five bullet marks on the executive mansion. Prosecutors filed a 14-page court document Tuesday that adds more detail about Mr. Ortega-Hernandez, who is accused of shooting at the White House the night of Nov. 11 while the president and first lady were away.

Washington Post, 14 Apr 2013 – In the April 9 front-page article “In Md., a flurry of bills at finish,” Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George’s) was quoted as saying “bad message to the kids” when asked why the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, would not vote on a bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Coming on the same day that the Maryland House overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana, this is absurd. As a pediatrician, I have news for the delegate: Medical marijuana sends a signal to “the kids” that not only is marijuana use not harmful but it is actually beneficial. I have been asked by a young basketball player if marijuana could help with his chronic knee pain, and a young woman in my practice recently told my colleague that her daily marijuana habit wasn’t a problem and helped with her chronic headaches and “glaucoma.” Even if that were true, and there is no such evidence, the negative impact of her persistently altered mental state on her employment and educational prospects probably outweigh the benefits.

Washington Post, 14 Apr 2013 – Mexico Should Shift to Making Illegal Profits More Costly The U.S. government has spent $1.6 billion to help Mexico end a war between drug cartels that has killed 63,000 people south of our border in the past six years.

Washington Post, 12 Apr 2013 – In his April 5 Washington Forum commentary, “Republicans should just say no,” Peter Wehner advised the Republican Party to base its comeback on opposition to marijuana reform. If the GOP has any desire to regain control of the White House, it should take the opposite approach. Public support for marijuana legalization has increased dramatically in the past decade, and a Pew Research Center poll released last week showed for the first time a majority of Americans favoring legalization. In all likelihood, this trend is only going to continue, perhaps even accelerating once the public sees that the sky doesn’t fall in Colorado and Washington state.

Washington Post, 05 Apr 2013 – Some say that the Republican Party needs to find new issues to champion if it hopes to become America’s majority party. There is something to this. But being a conservative party, the GOP should also look to the past, where wisdom often resides. In that spirit, Republicans once again should take a strong stand against drug use and legalization. Virtually no lawmaker in either party is doing so.

Washington Post, 05 Apr 2013 – Same-Sex Marriage Offers a Good Template for a Second Hot-Button Social Issue The recent finding, in a Washington Post-ABC News poll, that support for same-sex marriage has reached a remarkable 58 percent of Americans should make the Obama administration think hard. Not about same-sex marriage but about marijuana.

Washington Post, 01 Apr 2013 – The decision delivered last Tuesday was one of the court’s most readable of the term: Dogs seem to bring out the wit in Supreme Court justices. The oral arguments last week on same-sex marriage showed clearly the Supreme Court’s familiar fault line between liberal justices nominated by Democratic presidents and conservatives named by Republicans.

Washington Post, 28 Mar 2013 – Security cameras have been installed, scales calibrated and signs declaring “no returns” hung on the walls at Capital City Care. There’s just one thing missing before the District’s first medical marijuana dispensary can open its doors: the marijuana itself. TOP: David Guard is general manager and co-founder of Capital City Care, which is set to open next month as the first licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the District. “It’s very high-grade, very pure, very potent marijuana,” said David Guard, cofounder and general manager. “But first, everything has to be triple-checked. We have a high level of security and an inordinate number of cameras.”