Deadwood gaming dead wood, ready for 4:20

Update: 4:20 EST. Traffic is down in Deadwood. The puny snow cover means the numbers of skiers skiing and Canucks driving crewcab duallies pulling trailers laden with motor sleds are depressingly depressed making the glittering gilded gambling gulch grumpily glum.

What does Deadwood want to be now? That's the question a consultant Roger Brooks is asking the community. In a presentation Friday morning, Brooks challenged the audience to think about the future of Deadwood. He said in the past, the city was a gold rush town. Then, it become a gaming town. Now, it needs to be something else. Brooks said gaming is available in 48 out the 50 states. So, it's not the thing that separates Deadwood from the rest of country anymore. [Alexandra Montgomery, KOTA teevee]

Washington and Colorado have sent strong messages. California, led by Governor Moonbeam with a Democratic super-majority, Alaska, Oregon, Vermont and Rhode Island are likely next to legalize cannabis.Montana has already trained a generation of growers. The state enjoys numerous brewery pubs and wine tasting venues for local product.

I've proposed that Deadwood get out ahead and draft legislation to make it a cannabis friendly zone in its quest to become an adult destination. Hey Deadwood, pass a resolution then see if you can get the constitution changed. President Obama has been elected to his second term so expect Health and Humans Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius to announce that cannabis has been removed from Schedule 1:

The HHS Secretary can even unilaterally legalize cannabis: "[I]f the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled, the Attorney General shall not control the drug or other substance."

Surprise: a study funded in part by the federal government has concluded that cannabis is a safe alternative to Big Pharma!

#nmleg Senate Judiciary Votes to Remove #Marijuana as a Schedule 1 Drug http://t.co/MXkGLOQsY6 via @steveterrell #nmpol #cannabis
— interested party (@larry_kurtz) February 16, 2014

Stephen C. Webster of Raw Story brings news that the Feds are learning that cannabis is safely indicated for the relief of pain and anxiety. Webster writes:

“The classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug as well as the continuing controversy as to whether or not cannabis is of medical value are obstacles to medical progress in this area,” they wrote. “Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking."

From the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and The Open Neurology Journal:

Recent advances in understanding of the mode of action of tetrahydrocannabinol and related cannabinoid in-gredients of marijuana, plus the accumulating anecdotal reports on potential medical benefits have spurred increasing re-search into possible medicinal uses of cannabis. Recent clinical trials with smoked and vaporized marijuana, as well as other botanical extracts indicate the likelihood that the cannabinoids can be useful in the management of neuropathic pain, spasticity due to multiple sclerosis, and possibly other indications. As with all medications, benefits and risks need to be weighed in recommending cannabis to patients.

James P. Gray in the LA Times reprinted in Cannabis News:

After Holland decriminalized marijuana back in the 1970s, its minister of health stated that they had only half the marijuana usage per capita in their country as we do in ours – for both adults and for teenagers! And he went on to explain why by saying that “we have succeeded in making pot boring.” A system in which marijuana is no longer sold illegally and also is not advertised commercially will achieve the same results.

Assuming that home growing law looks like home brewing and wine making, what would state law need to include about liability insurance requirements for commercial resale and how would law enforcement be guided by probable cause?