The Desert Dispatch, 18 Jan 2013 – About 10 Percent Of Pregnant Women Are Drug Abusers BARSTOW Barstow Community Hospital staff are trained to detect drug abuse among pregnant women, which is important since between 10 and 12 percent of mothers admitted have a drug addiction, with the most prevalent drug being methamphetamine, according to Obstetrics Nurse Lauren Stapp.

DrugSense

Sacramento News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – Re "Kids and pot" by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, January 3): The problem with filling the air with pot smoke is twofold: One, not everyone wants to smoke it and be high. The second and more important factor is that you are imposing secondhand smoke on people with health issues. My girlfriend has asthma, and smoke triggers breathing problems for her within a very short period of time. For someone to go around thinking it’s their "God-given right" to smoke wherever they please is insensitive and rude at the least. There’s nothing stopping people from getting high at home and then going to a movie or dinner. We certainly should have an "open pot burner" law in order to protect others from inconsiderate smokers who think the world only belongs to them. I used to smoke weed on occasion, but I don’t miss the smoke-filled concert halls one bit. In fact, it’s pretty damn nice being able to go out later and not smell like a pot farm.

Record Searchlight, 18 Jan 2013 – If out-of-control marijuana growing is wrecking the quality of life in rural Shasta County neighborhoods, as many residents complain, another wheel-spinning committee will certainly not solve the problem. Yet after hours of discussion among county officials and the public – both for and against marijuana – a committee is exactly what the Board of Supervisors decided to form this week.

The Chico News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – There is confusion about the Second Amendment. A "well regulated militia" is in reference to the states’ right to protect themselves from the federal government. We should be upholding our laws, democratically passed, with our state militias. Every time the feds threaten to close a marijuana dispensary our state militia should be guarding the doors to protect us from a tyrannical federal government. R. Sterling Ogden

The Chico News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – Why Do We Continue Spending Billions on a Losing War on Drugs? Our cover story this week, "Taking the high road," is about Washington and Colorado voters’ decision to allow residents to use marijuana recreationally, and what that might mean for California. But there are other important matters at stake on the marijuana front, including the future of the "war on drugs."

The Chico News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – Zeroing in on the Economic Impact of Marijuana Legalization Enough with the doctors’ prescriptions and medicated gummy worms-how much money can California and its cities rake in if marijuana is legalized?

Sacramento News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – I read with great interest the letter in the January 3, issue ("Kids and pot," SN&R The 420) about smoking pot in public. I don’t smoke anything. We have a neighbor that smokes pot from time to time. When I arrive home from work at 11 p.m. and can smell pot out front, I know I am in trouble. The smell makes me sick. I have to close all the windows in my house and turn on the fan to remove the smell. This makes me a prisoner in my own home. Pot smoking in public (as the letter writer does) is rude and insensitive. If he wants to smoke in his house, apartment or wherever with the windows closed and stink up his space, I have no problem with that. If a business wants to allow pot smoking inside its space, go for it. Just make sure there is a sign out front indicating that pot smoking occurs inside, so I can avoid going in. If we want to establish outdoor spaces for pot smoking, go for it. Just make sure there is a sign some distance away to let people like me avoid the area. After all, if cigarette smoking can only occur in certain places, why not pot smoking?

The Chico News & Review, 17 Jan 2013 – in November Colorado and Washington Became the First States to Legalize Marijuana. Is California Next? When news broke on election night that Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana, patrons at the trendy Casselman’s Bar & Venue in Denver erupted in cheers, then hugged each other and cried. Organizers and friends of the state’s Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol thanked everyone-elderly black women, young hipsters, business execs-and there were far more people in suits than in tie-dye that night. And nary a hint of ganja smoke inside the hip establishment.

Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan 2013 – Two of the Items Are Backed by Marijuana Activists, and the Council Will Decide This Week If the Third Should Go on Ballot. Even in the complicated world of pot politics, it’s a confusing prospect: In the May municipal election, Los Angeles voters could face not one but three ballot measures geared toward regulating medical marijuana dispensaries.