Alaska's marijuana industry finally pays more than a million dollars in monthly tax revenue.

Courtesy of ADN: 

In January, for the first time since legal sales began, Alaska's commercial cannabis growers paid more than $1 million in state taxes, according to officials. 

Eighty-one marijuana cultivators paid $1,040,512 in taxes during the first month of 2018, said Kelly Mazzei, excise tax supervisor at the Alaska Department of Revenue. 

Alaska marijuana growers pay the state tax of $50 per ounce of cannabis bud, and $15 an ounce for other parts of the plant, like the trimmings of leaves and stems. 

A total of 1,061 pounds of marijuana, and 797 of trim, were sold wholesale in January.

This may only be of interest to those of us living up here in the Last Frontier, but I have been predicting for awhile that the pot industry would start to be a real source of revenue for the state and I am glad to see that is finally happening.

It of course will never replace the oil tax revenue, but it is at least one tax source that will not be undermined by the switch to renewable resources.

Which by the way could be yet another profitable source of tax revenue if lawmakers would pull their lips of the asses of oil barons long enough to notice.

We are way behind in finding revenue sources outside of the oil industry, and it is going to get ugly up here if we do not become more proactive.

The Girl Scouts are brilliant.

Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4pm! 🍃🍪 Have a friend that wants to #tagalong? Bring them with - shopping is more fun with friends anyways. 👭👬👫

A post shared by Urbn Leaf (@urbnleafca) on Feb 2, 2018 at 1:43pm PST

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

One enterprising Girl Scout saw that Girl Scout cookie season started around the same time as California legalized recreational marijuana and had an idea. 

She set up shop outside the Urbn Leaf marijuana dispensary in San Diego and sold her treats to customers who were about to have the munchies anyway, with the blessing of the store, KGTV-10 reported.

The store cleverly encouraged people to buy Girl Scout cookies from the girl after they bought GSC (a weed strain named after Girl Scout cookies) from the store. The scheme was a success, as the scout sold more than 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to Urbn Leaf customers who wanted something to snack on after they lit up later. 

Officially, the Girl Scouts are not huge fans of this practice, which has happened a few times since marijuana legalization has become more and more popular around the United States. The Colorado chapter forbids its scouts from selling outside of dispensaries, but the organization told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that the rules vary by region.

Yeah, "officially" they are not for the practice, but you know they loved getting all of that sweet, sweet, stoner money. 

Some day this young lady will be running a Fortune 500 company, you wait and see.

San Fransisco to expunge marijuana convictions going back as far as 1975.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

San Francisco will retroactively apply California's new marijuana legalization laws to prior convictions, expunging or reducing misdemeanors and felonies dating to 1975, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday. 

Nearly 5,000 felony marijuana convictions will be reviewed, recalled and resentenced, and more than 3,000 misdemeanors that were sentenced prior to Proposition 64's passage will be dismissed and sealed, Dist. Atty. George Gascón said. The move will clear people's records of crimes that can be barriers to employment and housing. 

San Francisco's move could be the beginning of a larger movement to address old pot convictions, though it's still far from clear how many other counties will follow the famously liberal city's lead. 

Proposition 64 legalizes, among other things, the possession and purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana and allows individuals to grow up to six plants for personal use. The measure also allows people convicted of marijuana possession crimes eliminated by Proposition 64 to petition the courts to have those convictions expunged from their records as long as the person does not pose a risk to public safety. 

They also can petition to have some crimes reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, including possession of more than an ounce of marijuana by a person who is 18 or older.

You know what they say, where California goes the country is sure to follow.

But that certainly will not happen with Jeff Sessions leading the Justice Department.

I believe his response to marijuana use is some version of "shoot on sight." 

Don Young helps launch the "House Cannabis Caucus" that is focused on keeping the federal government from interfering in state pro-marijuana laws.

Courtesy of ADN: 

Alaska's sole congressman, Don Young, on Thursday co-launched the House Cannabis Caucus with three other lawmakers, vowing to pursue changes to banking and other federal laws that stand between states and autonomy over the marijuana industry. 

Young joined with Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., to say they formed the coalition to focus on advancing legislation to put managing marijuana squarely in the hands of states. 

Alaska, Oregon, Colorado and California are among the eight states and the District of Columbia that have legalized marijuana for adult recreational use. Forty-four states have legalized varying forms of medicinal marijuana. 

Young said he helped launch the caucus as a conservative Republican who believes deeply in states' rights. 

"Alaska voted to legalize it — pretty large margin — and I believe in states' rights and the federal government should stay out of it, period," he said Thursday.

Gee, just when you think you know a guy.

I have to admit that I would have pegged Don Young as the LAST guy to defend Alaska's pot legalization laws.

However that seems to be because I was not paying attention to his pro-marijuana bills from the past.

Damn it finally happened. I am actually in agreement with Don Young.

I may have to go lie down.

But don't worry, I still think he's a crook.

Alaska's tax revenues for Marijuana growers in December reaches $145,000. Up from $81,000 in November.

Courtesy of ADN: 

The second full month of marijuana tax revenue has entered the state treasury. 

In December, 13 marijuana cultivators paid $145,800 to the Alaska Department of Revenue's Tax Division, revenue audit supervisor Kelly Mazzei wrote Tuesday. 

Under Alaska law, growers pay the state's tax. Bud is taxed at $50 per ounce, and other parts of the plant, like the stems and leaves, are taxed at $15 per ounce. 

A total of 167 pounds of marijuana bud and 46 pounds of other parts were sold in December, Mazzei wrote.

You may remember that back in November I reported that Alaska had collected $81,100 in tax revenue from the growers.

So this is a significant increase and a real indication that the marijuana industry is likely to inject some serious money into the rapidly emptying Alaska state coffers.

As I have explained before there is no way it will replace the dwindling oil tax revenue, but at least it is something. 

Alaska collects its first pot tax.

Courtesy of ADN: 

The state of Alaska has received its batch of cannabis tax revenue from the first full month of retail marijuana sales. 

In November, seven marijuana cultivators paid $81,100 to the Alaska Department of Revenue's Tax Division, division director Ken Alper wrote in an email. 

About 98 pounds of marijuana bud and 10 pounds of trim — the leaves and stems — were sold wholesale, Alper wrote. Under Alaska law, cultivators pay the state's tax. Bud is taxed at $50 per ounce, and other parts of the plant, like the stems and leaves, are taxed at $15 per ounce. 

Most of the taxes were paid in cash, and a few were paid with check, Alper wrote.

$81,100 may seem like a fairly paltry sum at this point, but remember that is ONLY with five stores operating in the entire state, and not all of them were open the entire month of November.

There are now three more stores open, with one of them in Anchorage, so I would be willing to bet that the next time the state collects taxes it will be substantially larger. (Colorado brought in 70 million in one year alone.)

I of course don't think that marijuana will ever bring in the tax revenues provided by the oil companies, but at least it is a steady source of tax income that does not require ripping the shit out of the wilderness.

So there's that.

First legal marijuana store opens in Anchorage.

Courtesy of ADN: 

Arctic Herbery's opening Thursday afternoon marked the beginning of marijuana retail sales in Alaska's largest city, about six weeks after the state's first store opened in Valdez. 

Last week, Arctic Herbery opened with only "clones" — immature marijuana plants — in stock.

By 11:40 a.m., about 50 people waited in a line that curved around the perimeter of the property. 

Bryant Thorp, owner of Arctic Herbery, had set up a shuttle service, as he has only a handful of parking spots at the store, and the shuttle brought a steady flow of customers to the shop.

I actually think that this might be a future source of cash for Alaska now that the oil is no longer as reliable a source of revenue as it was once upon time.

It certainly has been a boon to the economy in Colorado.

I don't see how it would be any different here.

Personally I am still not terribly interested in firing up a doobie (As the young kids say today.), but I am a little curious about the edibles.

Alaska Marijuana Control Board votes to create nation's first "cannabis cafes."

Courtesy of the Juneau Empire:  

The Alaska Marijuana Control Board is giving tourists a place to light up (or chow down) once cannabis sales begin next year. 

On Friday, the board voted 3-2 to allow marijuana buyers to consume marijuana products in the business that sells them. Combined with other measures approved Friday, the board’s action effectively makes Alaska the first state in the nation to legalize Amsterdam-style marijuana cafes. 

Friday’s vote answers the complaints of Alaskans who contended that the state’s ban on marijuana consumption “in public” leaves visitors (and Alaskans whose rental contracts prohibit smoking) no place to consume marijuana.

Looks like Alaska is moving back to its progressive roots.

Well, at least somewhat.

Now all we have to do is wait for the federal government to catch up and declassify pot as a Schedule 1 narcotic.

Bernie Sanders introduces bill to end federal prohibition of marijuana.

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:  

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced a bill that would end federal prohibition of marijuana, marking the latest move the Democratic presidential candidate has made toward ending the war on drugs. 

The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, introduced Wednesday, is modeled after a bill first proposed by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) in 2013, which was reintroduced this year as the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. The Senate bill would remove marijuana from the Drug Enforcement Administration's list of the "most dangerous" drugs and strike marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, allowing states to decide whether they want to legalize pot for recreational or medical use without federal intervention. 

The bill comes a week after Sanders first proposed reclassifying marijuana as a less-dangerous substance, arguing that doing so is an essential component of reforming America's criminal justice system. 

 "In the United States we have 2.2 million people in jail today, more than any other country. And we’re spending about $80 billion a year to lock people up. We need major changes in our criminal justice system – including changes in drug laws,” Sanders said at George Mason University on Oct. 28. “Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That’s wrong. That has got to change."

Well this is certainly not going to hurt Bernie's standing among liberals, that's for sure. 

And of course he's right, however I don;t really give this bill much chance of passing.

Still it is a strong position on a controversial topic and if Bernie Sanders is known for anything, he is known for that.

Alaska legislators essentially reverse the will of the voters with changes to Marijuana bill.

Courtesy of the Alaska Dispatch: 

Legislators on Wednesday heard public testimony about the newest version of a bill that deals with the criminal aspects of marijuana law in Alaska. 

Introduced Monday in the Senate Finance Committee, the new version of SB 30 reinstates marijuana as a controlled substance. Among other changes to the bill, some crimes could be prosecuted as felonies, and an open container is broadly defined. 

The bill had passed from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which drafted a bill that removed marijuana from the list of controlled substances. 

Judiciary committee member Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, expressed frustration Wednesday regarding the bill’s changes in the finance committee. 
 ....

Wielechowski called placing marijuana back on the controlled substances list a “slippery slope of philosophy," saying that if marijuana is viewed as a controlled substance, and thus a dangerous substance, then legislation is crafted with a different mindset. That’s why felonies have shown up in the bill, Wielechowski said. 

“People can say it’s just a philosophical debate … but you’re seeing real policy ramifications,” Wielechowski said. 

I can tell you right now that the public response to this is going to be deafening.

Voters were quite clear that they wanted the recreational use of pot to be legal, and that it should be sold just like alcohol is currently being sold.

This reversal could cause some serious political problems for the lawmakers who get blamed for it.

Trust me.

Wasilla responds to marijuana legalization by introducing stringent new laws, including banning pot brownies.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch: 

Monday, on the eve of marijuana legalization in Alaska, the Wasilla City Council banned making pot brownies at home. 

Fewer than three hours before recreational marijuana use became legal across the state, the city known for a freewheeling attitude about everything from big box stores to ATVs passed what may at least for now be the strictest local laws governing recreational pot use in Alaska. 

The council with a 4-2 vote essentially limited marijuana use within city limits to smoking -- or consuming edibles made outside the city -- on private property. Even smoking at home is illegal -- if it bothers the neighbors. 

 The new regulations include a ban on making edibles, concentrates or extracts at home. And at least within Wasilla city limits, it’s now illegal to transport more than 2 ounces of marijuana inside one vehicle. State law allows up to 1 ounce per adult but doesn’t limit totals. The regulations prohibit marijuana clubs and require that the use of marijuana "cease immediately" if other residents or neighbors are disturbed.

Okay first off how could smoking pot in your own home "bother" your neighbors? What are you suddenly too mellow and laid back for the neighborhood?

And second I don't think the people of Wasilla even know how to make brownies without pot in them.

Look Wasilla is known for only a couple of things; Stupid politicians, high levels of sexual assault,  gun fatalities, meth, and the best marijuana in the state. (I'm relatively sure those are not all related.)

Telling Wasilla residents to stop smoking pot in their homes is like asking the Palin family to saying stupid things and starting fights at parties, it just isn't going to work.

Not only that but when the state laws are finally all ironed out they will supersede these laws making this whole thing relatively moot.

Which makes you wonder, are these people high? 

"Colorado raked in $60 million in marijuana taxes and licensing fees in the past year." A little fact that Politifact ranked as totally, totally true.

Courtesy of Politifact:

In a recent commentary in The Providence Journal, James Aubin, the founder of pro-legalization group Common Sense Citizen, argued for the legalization of marijuana in Rhode Island, saying it could boost the state’s sagging economy. He included an impressive statistic about the revenue Colorado was bringing in from marijuana sales. "Colorado raked in $60 million in marijuana taxes and licensing fees in the past year, plus saved most if not all of the $145 million the Harvard report estimated it spent each year fighting marijuana," Aubin wrote in the Jan. 5, 2015, piece. 

We pulled Colorado’s tax records ourselves. We added up the monthly figures, from Jan. 1, 2014, when the first recreational marijuana stores opened, through Oct. 31, the most recent report. 

We determined that the state’s total marijuana tax revenue was about $60 million. 

The revenue comes from a 2.9-percent retail and medical marijuana sales tax; a 10-percent retail marijuana special sales tax; and a 15-percent marijuana excise tax, plus application and license fees for retail and medical marijuana. 

In other words, Aubin got his number right.

Well there's some awesome news for the 23 states (and District of Columbia) that passed a bill legalizing marijuana. Gee I wonder when all of the other states are going to get a clue?

Personally since we just passed our own bill to legalize pot, I am looking forward to this state making money off of something besides drilling holes in the ground, cutting down forests, and killing our sea life. 

Bill to ban marijuana sales in Anchorage fails. As well it should.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

An ordinance that would have banned commercial marijuana in Anchorage failed after four hours of public testimony and debate in Assembly chambers Tuesday night. 

The Assembly voted 9-2 just after 10 p.m. to kill the measure. Only members Amy Demboski and Paul Honeman supported the measure. 

Demboski introduced the proposal last month, hoping the city would take a “wait and see approach" as state lawmakers craft marijuana regulations. 

Yeah this lady just made the shit list of a whole lot of pot smokers in this town.

Fortunately for her they are all way too mellowed out to do anything aggressive, but they are totally thinking mean thoughts at her.

Keeping legal marijuana sales out of Anchorage, while they were taking place in other parts of the state, would have left us out of the potential windfall that the legalization will likely bring.

And THAT will definitely get people more than a little riled up. 

Instead of wasting time trying to put on the brakes the Assembly and other legislative bodies should be focused on implementing policies that will see this new opportunity implemented as seamlessly as possible.

Besides I want to try one of these new cannabis suckers.

I haven't ingested marijuana since the 70's and I hear these are the way to go.

Grandmas smoking weed for the first time may be the cutest thing you will see all day.

I cannot tell you how big the smile is that this puts on my face.

I would love to hang out with these ladies. They seem a like a real kick in the ass.

You know towards the end of my grandmother's life she was in a great deal of pain.

In order to help her alleviate that pain my uncle, her son, brought pot over to my mom's house (That's where Grandma lived.) so that she she could smoke it and ease her suffering.

For some reason Grandma was really concerned that I would be angry as I am the non-drug user in the family.

So I came over to talk to her, and I essentially said "Grandma you are in your late seventies, and I know you are in a lot of pain. Hell as far as I'm concerned you can be mainlining heroin and I would have no right to judge you. Whatever you have to do to make yourself feel comfortable, that is fine with me."

And I have to say that, much like these ladies, my grandmother stoned was a hell of a lot of fun to hang out with.

Just for fun, SNL's hilarious take on New York's new marijuana laws.

Okay that's damn pretty funny.

I have a feeling a whole lot of people, in a whole lot of states, are going to be trying to figure just what is, and what is not, legal when it comes to pot in the next several years. 

Last night's New Rules referenced not only the Alaska reporter who quit to fight for the legalization of pot, but also our very own quitter-in-chief.

I was happy to see that Maher covered Charlo Greene's dramatic exit, and therefore Alaska's efforts to legalize marijuana, but somewhat less than happy to see him use Palin to suggest that we are all just a bunch of quitters.

The hell we are! We are a dogged and determined bunch as will be more than obvious in the weeks to come.

By the way I could not find the entire New Rules segement on one YouTube video, so here is part two. It doesn't take a shot at Palin, but it is still pretty good.

An explanation of marijuana laws in Alaska that even I find confusing.

When I first heard about Ballot Measure 2, my first thought was "Wait, isn't pot already legal up here?"

And the answer to that question is "Yes, kinda."

In fact in 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that residents have the right to grow and consume small amounts of marijuana in their homes. That was 39 years ago, when I was only fifteen.

However that is where things get a little complicated.

Here let the Washington Post clear things up a little for you:

As you might imagine, that ruling has faced some opposition over the years, and has been placed into legal limbo from time to time due to various ballot and legislative challenges. But Alaska courts have repeatedly and consistently upheld the notion that Constitutional privacy protections cover the personal possession, cultivation and use of marijuana in Alaska. 

"Alaskans can currently lawfully possess up to four ounces of marijuana in their homes for personal use [and cultivate up to 25 plants], but still risk prosecution under existing state and federal statutes," concludes University of Alaska law professor Jason Brandeis in an exhaustive history of Alaska marijuana law (which makes for a pretty interesting read if you're into such things). You could still technically be charged with marijuana possession if caught with less than four ounces in your home, but a court would essentially have to throw the charge out. 

This puts Alaska in a unique position: in some respects its marijuana laws are more liberal than those in the Netherlands, which outlaw personal cultivation completely. While all eyes are on Colorado and Washington to see how those experiments with legal marijuana turn out, Alaska, with 39 years of (admittedly complicated) legalization history is largely overlooked: you'd think that forces on both sides of the national marijuana debate would be looking to Alaska for answers and arguments. Why aren't they? 

Part of it is that Alaska is just weird. Extrapolating lessons from one state to the rest of the country is a fraught exercise in the best circumstances, and all the more so when the state in question is geographically remote and sparsely populated.

The article goes on to say that even Alaskans are often not sure of the laws up here. And I would certainly agree as I am one of those that was not up to speed.

So what the ballot measure does is essentially kind of make the whole thing much simpler to understand in the following ways: 

Includes a statement saying the initiative is not intended to diminish the rights established by the Alaska Supreme Court in the Ravin case, which allow citizens to possess a limited amount of marijuana in their homes. It also includes a statement saying the initiative will not diminish the rights of patients or caregivers under Alaska’s medical marijuana law. 

Makes possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and up to six plants (three flowering) legal for adults 21 years of age or older. It also allows adults to possess the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants are grown. 

Makes manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana accessories legal. 

Grants regulatory oversight to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, but gives the legislature the authority to create a new Marijuana Control Board at any time. The regulatory board has nine months to enact regulations, and applications shall be accepted one year after the effective date of the initiative. 

Creates the following marijuana establishments: marijuana retail stores, marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana infused-product manufacturers, and marijuana testing facilities. 

Allows localities to ban marijuana establishments, but they cannot prohibit private possession and home cultivation. 

Establishes an excise tax of $50 per ounce on sales or transfers from a marijuana cultivation facility to a retail store or infused-product manufacturer. 

Consumption of marijuana in public will remain illegal and punishable by a $100 fine. 

The initiative does NOT change existing laws related to driving under the influence. 

Allows employers to maintain restrictions on marijuana use by employees. 

As I have mentioned before I am not someone who uses marijuana so I don't really have a dog in this fight.

However I really DO think that the whole country is moving toward legalization, and since Alaska is just about there anyway it makes no sense that we would let this opportunity pass without giving it our yes vote, as we all know full well that it will certainly be passed anyway in the next five years or so.

We might as well be ahead of the wave, instead of being left high and dry on the sand (Or perhaps more accurately un-high and dry on the sand.) while other states cross the finish line ahead of us.

Today we learn more about the news reporter who said "fuck it" and quit her job to run her cannabis club.

The news outlet Vice caught up with the now infamous Charlo Greene, to ask her a few questions.

Here are a few of her answers.

When did she start her business of selling marijuana?:

Charlo Greene: We purchased a business license on 4/20/2014!

When did she first start using weed in her personal life?:

I’m Alaskan. Alaskans smoke weed. (I have to say that there is a part of me that wants to argue with this, but I really can't say that she's wrong.) It just is what it is. But I first tried it when I was in high school, and I didn’t like it at all, so I quit completely and I just drank like, a ton, which is also a really big issue here in Alaska. It got to the point when I was in college that I’d been drinking so much I ended up not even going to class, I failed out of an entire semester and I took a really heavy course load. Out of seven classes, I failed all of them, except for gym, and that’s only because he felt sorry for me. 

I knew that alcohol, as a vice, wasn’t going to allow me to become the person I was meant to be. So I needed something else to do that maybe wasn’t so harmful, and I picked up smoking weed. I went from failing an entire semester, to the next semester, and every semester after that, being on the Dean’s List. I graduated cum laude... And that’s because I was smoking weed! I sat my ass at home and did what I needed to do, and I never woke up with a hangover because of it, or got behind the wheel and ran over a family or anything because of it.

Wow, to here her tell it marijuana almost gives you super powers.

I have never seen a definitive study that suggests that smoking pot has a less deleterious effect on completing your school work than does alcohol consumption, but I will admit that I have never had to hold anybody's hair back while they vomited bong water.

Did she plan her big exit from KTVA? (Duh!):

Vice: Why did you decide to quit in such an extravagant fashion? 

[Laughs] To draw attention to the issue. You, as a journalist, know that all of us are replaceable. The people aren’t really going to miss you, or me, or any random reporter for the most part. So why not just use the position I was put in to make sure that my next chapter is just wide open for me? 

Can't argue with that logic.

What about that tweet from KTVA that she was fired?

[Laughs] Yeah. [Laughs some more] I saw that. That was stupid.

Her advice  to others thinking of quitting their jobs.

Do it big. If you’re going to quit your job, do it big. Why not? Your job probably sucks, so go ahead and get whatever you can out of it. If your job gives you access to information that might help wherever you’re going to go next, then get that! If you’re just a cog in this massive machine, and you know you’re replaceable, and you’re treated that way. Then replace them. Be brave. Be ballsy. And make sure you’re going to be okay afterwards.

There were a few naysayers yesterday suggesting that Greene had not only damaged her credibility by dropping the F bomb, but that she has also single handedly doomed the entire ordinance.

I have to say that hearing that really made me laugh.

Those people clearly know NOTHING about Alaskans.

We fucking love straight talkers who don't take any shit.

This young woman is right now just about one of the most popular people in our state, and I can guarantee that as new organizations start to cover our attempt to legalize marijuana that you will see that she will be their "go to girl" on getting the story.

Not only is she going to be famous, but once the ordinance passes and her cannabis club opens up she is going to have a line around the damn block.

Welcome to Alaska, where "fuck it" should be our state motto.

Alaskan reporter quits on air to fight for marijuana legalization.

Courtesy of Mediaite:

A KTVA reporter in Anchorage, Alaska ended a segment on marijuana legalization Sunday evening by announcing herself as the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club and quitting on-air. 

“I — the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club — will be dedicating all of my energy for fighting for freedom and fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska,” reporter Charlo Greene said. “And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but… fuck it, I quit.”

As you can see the KTVA anchor was a little caught off guard, and later KTVA issued this apology via Twitter: 

Viewers, we sincerely apologize for the inappropriate language used by a KTVA reporter on the air tonight. The employee has been terminated.
— KTVA 11 News (@ktva) September 22, 2014

Yes well nice try KTVA but I totally just heard her quit.

I never, ever, watch KTVA News so I don't know anything about this reporter, however I will say that she has now replaced my father's quitting of his job by playing Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It" on a phonograph and walking out, as my favorite resignation of all time.

Oh well, at least she has a job to fall back on.

FBI would like to hire computer experts to help fight cyber crime, if they could only find some that don't smoke pot. Good luck with that.

FBI Director James B. Comey

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:  

Monday was a big day for the nation’s cyber police. The Justice Department charged five Chinese military officials with hacking, and brought charges against the creators of powerful hacking software. 

But FBI Director James B. Comey said Monday that if the FBI hopes to continue to keep pace with cyber criminals, the organization may have to loosen up its no-tolerance policy for hiring those who like to smoke marijuana. 

Congress has authorized the FBI to add 2,000 personnel to its rolls this year, and many of those new recruits will be assigned to tackle cyber crimes, a growing priority for the agency. And that’s a problem, Mr. Comey told the White Collar Crime Institute, an annual conference held at the New York City Bar Association in Manhattan. A lot of the nation’s top computer programmers and hacking gurus are also fond of marijuana. 

“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Mr. Comey said. 

Mr. Comey said that the agency was “grappling with the question right now” of how to amend the agency’s marijuana policies, which excludes from consideration anyone who has smoked marijuana in the previous three years, according to the FBI’s Web site.

Let's face it, the new methodology for fighting crime in the 21st century, has less to do with marksmanship and kicking in front doors, and more to do with killing viruses and finding the backdoor that leads past computer security systems.

And the people who are best trained to do that are not likely to be a straight arrow, g-man type as played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in the old FBI television series and instead be more like this guy.

 In other words our ability to defend ourselves against devastating cyber attacks from Iran, China, and of course Canada, may be put at risk by the idea that marijuana is a dangerous drug like heroin instead of a socially accepted mood modifier like beer.