One bus driver took going green to a whole new level this week, filling his gas tank with a thousand pounds of pot.

Customs and Border Protection officers near San Diego discovered the stash hidden inside a commercial bus in line to cross at the San Ysidro port of entry.

A 56-year-old Mexican citizen was waiting with the bus, according to border officials. An officer sensed something was off, and a detection dog confirmed the suspicion. An imaging system revealed oddities with the bus's gas tank.

Read the original story on NBCSanDiego.com

CBP officers searched the bus and found 110 packages of marijuana inside the tank, according to officials. They weighed 1,071 pounds and have an estimated street value of $482,000.

Officers took the driver into custody.

The Evans Firm

Attorney Michael D. Evans and client Brandon Coats, who was fired from his job at Dish Network in 2010 for smoking medical marijuana off the clock.

Coloradans may be able to legally smoke pot now — but lighting up a joint, even off the clock, can still get you fired.

Although Centennial State voters approved a measure last fall to legalize marijuana use, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that employees can still be fired for testing positive for the drug -- even if they never show up to work impaired.

A divided panel of judges decided that because marijuana use is illegal under federal law, employees are not protected from being terminated for using it.

The case centered on Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical-marijuana patient who was fired in 2010 from his job as a telephone operator for Dish Network after testing positive for the drug. Lawyers for Coats argued he was protected under a Colorado law that states it is illegal for workers to be terminated for participating in lawful activities off the clock.

But a trial court dismissed the claim in 2011, siding with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by the termination law.

Now, even though the law has changed, the outcome for Coats has not. In its ruling, the Colorado Court of Appeals sought to define the word "lawful," ultimately concluding that for something to be lawful it "must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law."

Coats' attorney Michael Evans said the ruling is a major blow to Coloradans who use marijuana for medicinal purposes. 
"This case not only impacts Mr. Coats, but also some 127,816 medical-marijuana patient-employees in Colorado who could be summarily terminated even if they are in legal compliance with Colorado state law," he said in a statement.

Evans plans to appeal the ruling and said he believes the three-judge panel ultimately reached its decision out of a reluctance to issue a groundbreaking reversal that could have a far-reaching impact as Colorado establishes how to govern its new drug laws.
"What they did was the conservative thing, the safe thing to do," Evans said of the ruling.

The court acknowledged that Dish Network never accused Coats of being impaired while on the job. Lawyers for the former employee said he received satisfactory performance reviews all three years he worked at the company. 

But Dish Network ultimately has the right to fire marijuana smokers regardless of whether they were good employees, the court ruled. "While we agree that the general purpose of (the Lawful Off-Duty Activities Statute) is to keep an employer's proverbial nose out of an employee's off-site off-hours business ... we can find no legislative intent to extend employment protection to those engaged in activities that violate federal law," Court of Appeals Chief Judge Janice Davidson wrote in the opinion.

Judge John Webb dissented in the 2-1 vote, disagreeing with the majority's conclusion on the definition of lawful. 

If the federal government had issue with various states' versions of lawful off-duty activities statutes, it could have passed a federal law by now, Webb argued.

"[Congress] could have resolved that problem with legislation empowering employers to discharge employees who have engaged in conduct that violated any federal law. To date, Congress has not done so. Recognition that protecting employees from discharge based on their off-duty conduct is primarily a matter of state concern favors measuring 'lawful' based on state law," he wrote in his dissent.

A majority of Americans are in favor of legalizing the use of marijuana, a national survey finds, a shift in attitude after more than four decades of polling on the issue. 

Fifty-two percent of Americans say the use of marijuana should be made legal, while 45 percent say it should not, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March among 1,501 adults. People aged 18 to 32 are the most supportive group, but half of baby boomers now favor legalizing marijuana, too. 

The survey shows the acceptance rate has risen 11 points since 2010. The shift is even more dramatic when taking into account a 1969 Gallup survey showing that only 12 percent of Americans favored legalization.

The survey finds that almost half of Americans -- 48 percent -- say they have tried marijuana, up from 38 percent a decade ago. About 12 percent say they have used marijuana in the past year. 

Fewer Americans now perceive marijuana as a gateway drug, and fewer say that smoking marijuana is morally wrong. The survey also shows about 72 percent believe government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth. In November, Colorado and Washington state voted to approve the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana.

But while more and more Americans are in favor of legalization and fewer perceive marijuana as a dangerous drug, the survey shows about half say they would still feel uncomfortable if people around them were using marijuana.

New Jersey state troopers have arrested four men for allegedly smoking marijuana in the back of a police station parking lot Tuesday. 

A state trooper was preparing for a night on patrol at the Totowa station when he noticed a strong marijuana scent, state police said.

He walked toward a 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue and found three men with small bags of marijuana allegedly in the open. They were waiting for a fourth friend who was visiting the station to pick up paperwork for an impounded car, according to police. 

Police said they found 15 plastic bags of marijuana and more than a dozen suspected ecstasy pills inside the car.

State troopers at the station immediately arrested the suspects. The fourth man later emerged from the station and was arrested as well.

The men, who are in their early 20s and from Paterson and West Paterson, were arrested and charged with drug possession, police said.

By NBCNewYork.com

Alan Diaz / AP file

Miami-Dade narcotics detector canine Franky, who came out of retirement to give a demonstration, sniffs for marijuana in Miami on Dec. 6, 2011.

The use of a drug-sniffing dog by police outside of a home where they suspected drugs were being grown constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court said in a decision handed down Tuesday.

The case, Florida v. Jardines, dealt with whether police could use trained canines to investigate the immediate surroundings of a home for drugs they suspected were being grown inside, but could not see.

Officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department approached Joelis Jardines’ home with a drug dog in 2006 after receiving a tip that marijuana was being grown in the house. The animal alerted officers to the presence of marijuana in the house, after which officers obtained a search warrant and discovered the plants.

The justices affirmed the Supreme Court of Florida’s decision to suppress the evidence by a 5-4 vote. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the court’s opinion.

“To find a visitor knocking on the door is routine (even if sometimes unwelcome); to spot that same visitor exploring the front path with a metal detector, or marching his bloodhound into the garden before saying hello and asking permission, would inspire most of us to – well, call the police,” Scalia wrote.

This is the second of two police dog cases the court has delivered opinions on this term, both originating in Florida. In a February decision in the other case, Florida v. Harris, the court ruled that an alert by a trained police dog gave police officers probable cause to further search a vehicle.

Related:

• Will police dogs pass Supreme Court sniff test?

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department

Authorities say the marijuana on Arroyo Camada Beach had a street value of $4 million.

About 2,000 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $4 million was scattered in bales on a beach near Santa Barbara, Calif., on Sunday after a drug smuggling boat washed ashore.

The bales were found on Arroyo Camada Beach, near Refugio State Beach. The 30-foot panga boat — an open, outboard powered boat — was found on the shore, equipped with about 20 fuel containers.

The 50 bales of marijuana have an estimated street value of about $4 million, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The drugs were found partially hidden in bushes near a road leading from the beach.

About 20 panga-style boats have landed on the Santa Barbara County coastline during the past two years. The boats are commonly used to transport drugs and other contraband.

Deputies in northern California have discovered a massive cache of drugs, cars, and weapons, including a belt-fed machine gun and more than 100 pounds of marijuana, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s department announced on Wednesday.

A deputy uncovered the firearms on the 55-acre property of Ryan Floyd. They said 111 of them were stashed in a cave that had been camouflaged with rocks and brush; at least 20 of the weapons have been confirmed stolen, according to the sheriff’s office.

Among the weapons, many of which were loaded, was a fully automatic, World War II-era MG 42 caliber machine gun, along with a full belt of ammunition. Also in the cave were several assault-style rifles including Colt AR-15s, as well as sawed-off shotguns and Tech Nine and SKS assault weapons.

A number of the weapons are thought to be fully automatic, according to the sheriff’s office, and were fully loaded when found by a deputy.

“It was like enough for a small militia out there,” said Lt. Steve Knight of the Humboldt County Sheriff's office. “As far as why he was holding onto this large quantity of weapons, that’s the one million dollar question.”

Humboldt County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff's deputies recover weapons from a cave in northern California.

Floyd is a longtime resident of the Humboldt County area, Knight said.

The man may have amassed the weapons with plans of selling them on the black market, said Sheriff Michael Downey. “Based on what I saw, these were probably weapons obtained ... over the years either by theft or other means, and probably being sold on the black market somewhere along the way,” Downey said.

Also on the property in Garberville, Calif., deputies said they found jewelry that an area resident had reported stolen, according to the sheriff’s office, as well as stolen construction equipment including a tractor, a concrete cutter, an air compressor, and numerous chainsaws. Many of the items discovered had been reported stolen in the area, the sheriff’s office said.

A woman, Deanna McDonald, 33, and two small children were on the property at the time of the search, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies issued McDonald, who is not supposed to own a gun, a notice for possession of a loaded weapon.

In previous searches of the property over the past week, police made numerous other discoveries of contraband. Law enforcement first became interested in Floyd, 30, on Feb. 2, when a deputy tried to pull over a black Chevy pickup that was driving erratically. The truck, later found to have been reported stolen from a burglarized home, was discovered empty by police after plunging down a hillside and crashing into a tree. Deputies began to look for Floyd and Oregon resident Honey Walsh, 29, as persons of interest.

Deputies and county Drug Task Force agents searched Floyd’s residence on Flint Rock Road in Garberville five days later, and arrested the man on an outstanding no-bail felony warrant for narcotics possession. He is being held without bail, Downey said. A preliminary probation search yielded 45 pounds of dried marijuana, more than $10,000 in cash, and heroin, along with scales and drug paraphernalia. Also found was a handgun, body armor, and numerous high-capacity magazines full of ammunition.

Humboldt County Sheriff's Office

Some of the weapons recovered in Garberville, Calif.

Police also reported finding evidence of numerous vehicles, including one that was confirmed stolen, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

A second man, 48-year-old Gregory Benson, was also arrested on the property during the Feb. 7 search for illegal possession of ammunition and a firearm by a prohibited person.

As police continued to scour the property, they found a stolen trailer, more bulletproof vests, methamphetamine, and more high-capacity magazines along with thousands of rounds of ammunition. They also found numerous empty gun holsters and rifle cases, leading them to suspect there might be more weapons on the property, and the discovery of the cave stash.

Downey said he encountered Floyd’s father Wally, now deceased, multiple times on the sprawling property about a decade ago on drug and theft charges.

“This is a piece of property I had been to numerous times surrounding the same type of criminal activity,” Downey said.

A total of 117 pounds of marijuana have been seized on the property. The investigation is ongoing, and the California Highway Patrol is assisting the sheriff’s office in determining whether any of the other vehicles discovered on the property had been stolen.

“There’s so much property out there, it’s hard trying to figure out what’s stolen and what’s not stolen,” Knight said.