Early this morning, Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl was arrested in Plano, Texas for the misdemeanor charge of possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. He had a single joint in his car.

A single joint? Don’t the cops have something better to do than pick on the MTV ‘celebrity’? Isn’t there some redneck driving with an open beer in the next car over? Come on now…

I’ve never heard of him before this, honestly, but I must say… He’s got a pretty mugshot.

It looks like Michael Jackson isn’t only the King of Pop, but also the King of Pot and several other drugs that should have landed him on Celebrity Rehab. First reported by Pop on the Pop, police discovered two bags of marijuana, a bottle of Restoril, a medication used to treat insomnia, and empty bottles of the sedatives Ativan and Valium.

According to unsealed search warrants, several empty, unlabeled drug bottles were also found in the home shortly after his death. A search warrant served four days after Jackson’s death also states that “family members of the decedent notified Los Angeles County Coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter that they had located a quantity of tar heroin in Jackson’s bedroom on the second floor of the residence. Winter notified LAPD detectives of the found evidence.”

It later turned out that the substance was not heroin, but he still had enough drugs in his house to have a pretty rockin’ party.

So, I suck at life during the winter months. I won’t apologize or make excuses – I’ll just recap some of the things I’ve failed to mention in my absence and move along like it never happened. Okay? Okay. In no particular order…

Obama’s in The House! On January 20th, Barack Obama was inaugurated into the White House as the first African-American President in history. With this inauguration comes a lot of hope on the Marijuana Law Reform front – President Obama has admitted to using marijuana, and has said several times that he believes the War on Drugs has been “an utter failure” and that we need to rethink the laws concerning marijuana use. He has also been supportive of the medical marijuana initiative, and has promised to stop the raids of medical marijuana patients and dispensaries where they are legal.

Is Change Coming to the Drug Czar’s Office? Former Seattle Police Chief, Gil Kerlikowske, has been appointed as our nation’s next Drug Czar. Although Kerlikowske is a cop, he is from Washington, a state that has allowed the use of medical marijuana under doctors’ orders, and made marijuana-related ‘crimes’ their cops’ lowest priority. According to Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, “Whereas Kerlikowske’s White House predecessor (John Walters) refused to even acknowledge that cannabis possessed even the slightest hint of therapeutic value, Seattle’s exiting police chief accepted the law and has made few, if any, efforts to undermine it.” Let’s be optimistic that some good might come of this…

Obama’s (Half)Brother Arrested for Marijuana Possession. On January 31st, George Obama, the half-brother of President Barack Obama, was arrested in Kenya for the possession of Marijuana. Although this happened a world away, I would hope this hits close to home and reminds our new President just how ridiculous marijuana prohibition really is.

Michael Phelps is the Gold Medal Winner of Bong Hits. On January 2nd, News of the World reported that Michael Phelps was pictured taking a bong rip at a South Carolina house party in November. Phelps later apologized for his “regrettable behavior” blaming bad judgment for his “youthful and inappropriate” act. Even after the apology, the Kellogg’s Company chose not to renew Phelps’ sponsorship contract because his behavior is “not consistent with the image of the company.” As a result, NORML has asked the Cannabis Community to boycott Kellogg’s.

Marijuana Law Reform is America’s Top Political Priority. In November, I made a post urging everyone to get Marijuana Law Reform on the agenda at Change.org. I am now happy to report that legalizing the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana was voted number one out of the top ten ideas to change America, with 20,158 supporters!