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Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas about the coronavirus and other timely topics for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Stat explores the big debate over whether CBD, marijuana and other such plant-derived products have any potential to protect against COVID-19. It might sound outlandish, but it is a real area of research and there are no definitive answers. That is not preventing believers from making such claims, however. The first, most basic research raised hopes. But even that researcher warned everyone…

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ANTHONY GILCHRIST, 32, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 37 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin and fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs, including the “Greene Homes Boyz” (“GHB/Hotz”), a gang based in the Charles F. Greene Homes Housing Complex in Bridgeport’s North End, whose members and associates distributed heroin, crack…

EAST HADDAM – Marijuana may be legal in Connecticut, but elected officials here are moving on two fronts that could potentially prevent it from ever being sold commercially in town. Tuesday, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously denied an application from a local developer to open what would be the town’s first retail marijuana store at one of its busiest intersections – citing concerns that the shop would bring even more traffic to the area.  At the same time, the new First Selectman is pushing for a public vote that could not only prohibit retail sale of marijuana, but ban…

Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SHAKALE BRANTLEY, also known as “Charlie Wilson,” “Kellz,” and “Man Man,” 22, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 292 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for racketeering and witness tampering offenses. According to court documents and statements made in court, the FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Bridgeport Police have been investigating multiple Bridgeport-based gangs whose members are involved in narcotics trafficking, murder and other acts of violence.  Brantley was a member of…

More than 14 months after voters in Mississippi passed an initiative to legalize medical marijuana—a law the state Supreme Court later overturned—Republican-led lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor on Wednesday that would establish a more limited cannabis program for patients, the result of months of negotiations and last-minute changes to a nearly 450-page bill. Following a conference committee meeting during which lawmakers from the House and Senate approved a change in how certain marijuana businesses would be zoned, both chambers passed the final legislation with veto-proof majorities. The Senate’s tally was 46-4, with one member voting present, and…

More than 14 months after voters in Mississippi passed an initiative to legalize medical marijuana—a law the state Supreme Court later overturned—Republican-led lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor on Wednesday that would establish a more limited cannabis program for patients, the result of months of negotiations and last-minute changes to a nearly 450-page bill. Following a conference committee meeting during which lawmakers from the House and Senate approved a change in how certain marijuana businesses would be zoned, both chambers passed the final legislation with veto-proof majorities. The Senate’s tally was 46-4, with one member voting present, and…