Is Cannabis the Best Weapon in the Opioid Epidemic?
Medical marijuana could be be an effective way to counter the opioid epidemic, and to help make the case, a Chicago lawmaker has come out publicly as a marijuana user.
A Cook County commissioner, John Fritchey, said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar that he got his [medical marijuana card](https://cheddar.com/videos/cook-county-commissioner-john-fritchey-on-his-medical-marijuana-usage) six months ago. Though he didn't say what health issue he was being treated for, he said he wanted to be open about his use of the drug to help fight the stigma that might be associated with medical pot.
“Why would we continue, in light of the crisis that we have, to prescribe opioids for pain relief when we have something that’s so much more effective?” he said.
Fritchey has been on a years-long mission to gain legal acceptance for marijuana. In 2004, when Fritchey was a state lawmaker, he backed a bill legalizing medical marijuana. It eventually passed in 2013. He also supported decriminalizing pot in Chicago in 2011.
“Given that I got a card, I figured that I had a pulpit,” said Fritchey. “It would be hypocritical on my part to be the vocal advocate that I am but not be willing to admit that I’m a cardholder myself.”
In January, the state’s Department of Health rejected intractable pain as a qualifying condition for a marijuana card until a Cook County judge ordered the agency to accept the condition. The health department has said it will challenge the order in court.
Fritchey is also pushing for a referendum in Cook County, the second most populous county in the U.S., on whether the state should legalize recreational marijuana.
The vote is non-binding, but Fritchey told the [Chicago Tribune](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-cook-county-recreational-marijuana-20171212-story.html) the referendum would let the state legislature know where people stand on the issue.
For full article, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/barriers-facing-cannabis-legalization-in-illinois).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
