Tag Archives: Convenience store

Just Because It’s Legal Doesn’t Mean It Is Safe

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On March 12th, CBN News posted an article about the dangers of marijuana and Delta-8, a substance containing THC.

The article reports:

Laura Stack told CBN News marijuana stole the life of her son Johnny.  She recalled he was a happy, intelligent child who grew up in a Christian home.  However, he began using marijuana at age 14 when his home state of Colorado legalized its recreational use.   It was a move that changed his life forever, leading to ultimate tragedy. 

“He took his own life when he was 19 years old five years later, after he became psychotic, very delusional, and paranoid, and suspicious, from using the marijuana,” she said. 

Laura didn’t realize that most of today’s marijuana contains at least 10 times the psychoactive compound THC than it did 20 years ago. 

“In my head, I said, ‘It’s just weed. I used it when I was a girl. I’m fine. It’s no big deal,’ and I was so wrong,” she said. 

Laura and her husband John founded Johnny’s Ambassadors as a way to honor their son and help prevent other people from suffering the same fate.

Former marijuana addict Zach Plant told CBN News the drug almost took his life.

“I had thoughts of other people wanting to hurt me, thoughts of the only way of being safe was to end my own life,” he said.

Zach was admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with Cannabis-Induced Psychosis.  Symptoms include losing touch with reality, hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.  Zach recalled the stark warning doctors gave him.

“‘If you smoke marijuana again, there’s a chance you don’t come out of psychosis. You go back into it and your brain may never recover,'” Zach said.

Nora Volkow, M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told CBN News these types of episodes are becoming more common as the drugs get stronger.

“The higher the dose of THC for example, the higher the likelihood that you will end up with a psychotic episode,” she said. “And that will lead you to the emergency room department.”

I understand that there are people who do not seem to be affected by smoking pot. However, is the risk of psychosis one that you or your children are willing to take.

The article also notes:

Aside from marijuana, there’s growing concern about another substance containing THC called Delta-8.  It doesn’t come from the cannabis plant.  Instead, it’s synthesized from a similar plant called hemp.  It can contain as much THC or more than marijuana.  

Delta-8 products like vape pens can be purchased at gas stations, convenience stores, and online even in states where the commercial sale of marijuana is illegal.  That’s because of a legal loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp nationwide. 

Julie Killian, co-founder of RyeACT, Rye Action for Children and Teens, to educate families on youth substance abuse, told CBN News she was surprised to encounter the widespread sale of Delta-8 while she was visiting a state where commercial, recreational marijuana sales were outlawed. 

“I was at a truck, one of those food trucks, and they were selling coffee in the morning, and you could get a shot of Delta-8 THC in your coffee,” she said. 

Be careful out there.

 

When You Turn On The Light, The Cockroaches Scatter

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On May 8th I posted an article about Lyndon McLellan, who owns and operates a local convenience store in Fairmont, North Carolina. Mr. McLellan was the victim of an IRS tactic called civil asset forfeiture, a tactic that allows the IRS to take the assets of a small business owner without charging them with anything. The procedure is unconstitutional, but that hasn’t stopped the IRS. I have posted a few articles on this practice. If you use the search engine on this site, you can find them. Basically, if a business consistently is making bank deposits of less than $10,000, the IRS accuses them of ‘structuring’ to avoid scrutiny (and paperwork) and seizes their assets.

The IRS seized slightly over $100,000 from Mr. McLellan. Mr. McLellan was told that if he went public, the IRS would make things worse for him (how much worse can it get after they have taken all of your money for no reason?). The IRS offered to give him half of his money back. Mr. McLellan went to the press.

The Daily Caller posted a follow-up on this story yesterday.

The Daily Caller reports:

McLellan went to the press anyway. The IRS quickly changed its tune and gave Lyndon McLellan back all $107,702 of his money.

“The government cannot turn Lyndon’s life upside down and then walk away as if nothing happened,” Robert Everett Johnson, a lawyer at the Institute for Justice who represents Lyndon, said in a statement. “Lyndon should not have to pay for the government’s lapse in judgment. And the government certainly should not profit from its misbehavior by keeping the interest that it earned while holding Lyndon’s money. We’ll continue to litigate this case until the government makes Lyndon whole.”

When you turn on the light, the cockroaches scatter.

In Another Time This Would Have Been A Different Story

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Today’s Daily Caller posted a story about a store employee who foiled a robbery. He has been suspended from his job for his heroism.

The article reports:

Don Pitaniello, a 58 year-old Vietnam veteran from Rutland, was closing up shop at Mac’s Convenience Store on Sunday when a man wearing a hoodie and a bandana over his face stormed in wielding a 5-inch knife, the Rutland Herald reports.

“He walked up to the counter, laid the knife on it and said ‘Empty the register,’” Pitaniello told the paper.

“I knew his intentions as soon as he came in,” Pitaniello said. “When he told me to empty the register, I cocked my head and said ‘Really?’”

But Pitaniello had something ready for the man – a .380-caliber handgun hidden behind his back.

The man picked the knife up and waved it in Pitaniello’s face.

Pitaniello replied with words and a pointed gun.

“I told him he better get the (expletive) out of there,” he said.

The would-be robber listened and left.

Though Pitaniello may have saved his own life, he may have lost his job. The Rutland Herald reported that Pitaniello was suspended on Monday.

The store has a policy that employees are not allowed to bring firearms to work.

There was a time in American culture that Mr. Pitaniello would have been hailed as a hero for thwarting a robbery. It seems to me that the owner of the store should be grateful for the fact that the robber was unsuccessful. Have we become so anti-gun that we have forgotten that honest people can use guns to defend themselves and avoid becoming victims?