By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in
News
Thursday, Sep. 2 2010 @ 1:02PM
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| Photo: Eric Hasert/TCPalm |
| Ingrid Peters helps recover debris from the 33-foot boat that came ashore carrying 1,100 pounds of marijuana on Tuesday morning. "You never know what's going to wash ashore," Peters said. |
A Hutchinson Island resident called the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday morning, thinking the drifting 33-foot boat might be experiencing some sort of trouble, reports Will Greenlee at TCPalm. But as the vessel came close to shore, she said a man with no shirt or shoes jumped out and ran away.
St. Lucie County deputies and federal agents searched the boat, which came ashore about 6:40 a.m., and found about 1,100 pounds of neatly packaged marijuana they claimed was worth an estimated $1 million.
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| Photo: NORML Stash Blog |
| Your tax dollars were used to pay for this dumb-ass billboard just outside of Portland, Oregon. |
Whether teenagers who smoked pot will use other illegal drugs as young adults has a lot more to do with factors such as employment status and stress, according to the new research, reports Science News. In fact, the strongest predictor of whether someone will use hard drugs is their race/ethnicity, not whether they ever used marijuana.
"In light of these findings, we urge U.S. drug control policymakers to consider stress and life-course approaches in their pursuit of solutions to the 'drug problem,' " wrote UNH associate professors of sociology Karen Van Gundy and Cesar Rebellon.
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| Graphic: Showtime |
| Mary-Louise Parker may star in Weeds, but she doesn't smoke 'em. |
But at least Parker, 46, who plays the role of pot-peddling housewife Nancy on the hit cable series, doesn't judge you for toking up, reports Gerrick D. Kennedy at the Boston Herald.
It's not that Parker has anything against cannabis, you see. It's just that it doesn't seem that exciting.
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| Photo: Binside TV |
| T.I. and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle face felony drug charges after a traffic stop Wednesday night. |
Police arrested rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle for alleged possession of a controlled substance Wednesday night after Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies smelled a strong odor of marijuana emitting from vehicle.
The newlyweds -- they just got married on July 30 in Miami -- were booked at the West Hollywood sheriff's station, reports Jolene Michael at Gather. Both were held on charges of felony possession of a controlled substance, and bail was set at $10,000 apiece. Both had posted bail as of 4 a.m. Thursday, and are due back in court on September 3.
By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in
Legislation, News
Wednesday, Sep. 1 2010 @ 1:43PM
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| Photo: The November Coalition |
| Near-record numbers arrested for marijuana again in 2009... Hey, California! It's time to STOP! Kandice Hawes of Orange County NORML protests the madness. |
In 2009, there were 17,008 felony and 61,164 misdemeanor marijuana arrests in California, for a total of 78,172.
In 2008, there were 17,126 marijuana felonies and 61,388 misdemeanors, for a total of 78,514. This was the highest number of marijuana arrests since pot was decriminalized in California in 1976, according to Dale Gieringer of California NORML.
"The record is clear that the war on marijuana has failed," Gieringer told Toke of the Town Wednesday afternoon.
By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in
Legislation, Medical
Wednesday, Sep. 1 2010 @ 1:28PM
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| Photo: billymax85 |
| Rock Island County Assistant State's Attorney Norma Kauzlarich: "Medical marijuana is a misnomer. No such thing exists." |
"Medical marijuana is a misnomer. No such thing exists," said Norma Kauzlarich, who prosecutes drug cases as an assistant state's attorney in Rock Island County, Ill.
"It's marijuana -- simply, plain -- just marijuana," Kauzlarich helpfully informs us, reports John David of WQAD, who could really use some brushing up on his "both sides of the story" skills.
It seems that no matter how dumb a statement reporter David's interview subjects utter, it isn't sufficient to kick in his repertorial instincts to ask the obvious follow-up question or to make a challenge that practically begs to be made.
Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group Director Chris Endress warned about the "problems generated in states like Colorado and California."
"These pot clubs bring crime and violence," said Endress. "We just don't need it. It's just not worth it."
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| Photo: David Grubbs/Billings Gazette |
| Dr. Harry Boye, of Kingston, Tennessee, talks with Yellowstone Valley Herbs caregiver Amanda Skewis about why he travels to Montana to authorize medical marijuana for patients. |
But Dr. Boye didn't spend just a few minutes each with hundreds of patients, a common practice for some doctors at medical marijuana clinics. On his two trips, he saw fewer than a dozen patients. And he conducted examinations of all of them, averaging from 22 to 30 minutes, reports Linda Halstead-Acharya of the Billings Gazette.
By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in
Legislation, Medical
Wednesday, Sep. 1 2010 @ 11:17AM
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| Photo: Susan Montoya Bryan |
| Sarah Palin, right, greets Susana Martinez, her pick for New Mexico governor. Martinez wants to end N.M.'s medical marijuana program and take away safe access for patients. |
"I do not support distributing marijuana for any purposes, which is in violation of federal law," Martinez told The Daily Lobo, the University of New Mexico's student paper, last week.
"There are many other treatments for patients in need that do not break federal law," Martinez said. Yeah, too bad those don't work, eh, Susana?
But the Palin endorsee may not get her way. Undoing the state's three-year-old medicinal cannabis law would not be easy, either through the Legislature or through voter referendum.
Collecting enough votes among state lawmakers to overturn the state's medical marijuana law is a long shot, reports Trip Jennings at the New Mexico Independent.
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| Photo: Ross Township Police Department |
| Motorcycle cop Richard White served for 30 years -- then was canned for watering a two-foot-tall marijuana plant. |
Richard D. White, 58, of Shaler, Pa., said he had no idea how fellow police found out about his little buddy, and said he was told to resign after a meeting with Ross, Pa., Police Chief Ralph C. Freedman on August 23, reports Bill Vidonic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"I do regret it," White said outside his home. "I should have just kicked it over right away."
White, a motorcycle patrol traffic cop, said he found the plant while on duty about a month ago as he was urinating in a wooded area off Cemetery Lane.
White said he watered the plant once (not by urinating on it), again while on duty, but claimed he "didn't have any plans" for the illegal little plant.
Tuesday, Aug. 31 2010 @ 2:48PM
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| Photo: Tim Thompson/The Oakland Press |
| Candi and Bill Teichman, owners of Everybody's Café in Waterford Township, Mich., have lost their children, their bank accounts, and their dispensary. |
The 13 patients faced hearings following last week's raids of a medical marijuana dispensary and a patients' compassion club in Waterford, Michigan, reports Bill Laitner of the Detroit Free Press.
Waterford District Court Judge Richard Kuhn Jr. postponed the defendants' pre-trial conferences, originally scheduled for Tuesday, until October.
Another four people arrested in the raid have not yet been arraigned, and therefore weren't present Tuesday in court, according to officials.
About 60 people, including defendants, their lawyers, and medical marijuana supporters, gathered in front of the courthouse before Tuesday's hearings to protest that their arrests were politically motivated by county law enforcement officials who are hostile to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.
Shirts reading "This is Michigan, not a Cheech and Chong movie!" were worn by about two dozen people in the crowd. The shirts were referring to a quote last week from Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who uttered those unfortunate words while criticizing medical marijuana establishments raided by his officers in Waterford and Ferndale.
