Youth convicted of murder pleads early stages of schizophrenia due to pot smoking.

Boys, 16 and 14, stabbed in explosion of anger
Concern over mental health risk of cannabis Jeevan Vasagar Wednesday March 21, 2007
The Guardian

A youth who murdered two school friends with a hunting knife was jailed for life yesterday in a case which has raised questions about the mental health risks of cannabis. Thomas Palmer, a habitual cannabis user, was 18 when he killed the two boys in an "explosion of anger" which left one of them with his head almost severed.

He cut 16-year-old Steven Bayliss's throat and stabbed Nuttawut Nadauld, 14, on a footpath near their home in Finchampstead, Berkshire, in September 2005. Palmer admitted killing the boys but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming he was in the early stages of schizophrenia. A jury at Reading crown court yesterday rejected this and found him guilty of murder.

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Republicans to counter gay-rights initiatives
Star Tribune
Conrad Defiebre
April 12, 2007 – 8:49 PM

Culture wars are back at the Capitol as Republicans reload a constitutional amendment to counter DFL gay-rights initiatives.

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