Monthly Archives: April, 2012

Billings Gazette
Richard Flor, 68, was sentenced to five years in prison for growing medical marijuana in Montana

A former medical marijuana provider in Montana is appealing his five-year federal prison sentence on charges of maintaining “drug-involved premises.”

Richard Flor, 68, of Miles City, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on April 19. He had asked for leniency because he suffers from numerous physical and mental ailments, reports the Associated Press.
Flor will be evaluated to determine the federal facility “best suited for him” to serve the sentence, at least if U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell’s recommendations are followed.

Cydney Moore
Cydney Moore: “[W]e cannot in good conscience support something that will further criminalize our citizens”

By Cydney Moore
Cannabis Activist, Washington State
Dear Mr. Emery,
I would like to say I hold you in the highest regard, and have the utmost respect for you.
I was at your trial, I was at your sentencing, and I held signs on a freeway overpass, next to your wife, Mrs. Emery, on Free Marc Emery Day. She is still, to this day, one of the nicest people I have ever met, and much like yourself, an ideal representative for our movement.
You two are one of the many reasons I have dedicated the last few years of my life to cannabis activism, and plan to continue until we affirm change. This is why I am shocked, confused and saddened by your remarks on activists here in Washington, and the proposed Initiative 502.

The Marijuana Advocate
Marc Emery: “How ironic that I have far more respect for my former prosecutor and his proposed legislation than I have for those activists who would foolishly and dangerously oppose this great step forward over trivialities”

Self-styled “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery has called the opposition of Washington state activists to the DUI provisions in a legalization initiative “foolish,” “dangerous” and suggested that those who oppose I-502 are just “jealous.”

Emery, writing from a federal prison cell 2,000 miles away in Mississippi, said the opposition of Washington state medical marijuana patient activists to being subject to DUI arrest was “disturbing” and “absurd.”
Rather than just accepting Emery’s marching orders, I decided to check with some actual Washington medical marijuana activists on the ground to get their take on things. You know — those “foolish,” “dangerous,” “jealous” folks who look out for the patients.
Even among Emery’s staunchest backers, some were taken aback by the shrill, strident tone of his message. Several of those who read the statement said it seemed as if Emery had never even read the actual language of the measure he was endorsing.
“How ironic that I currently have far more respect for my former prosecutor and his proposed legislation that I have for those activists who would foolishly and dangerously oppose this great step forward over trivialities, much the same way as done by many so-called members of the movement who killed Prop. 19 in California in 2010,” Emery wrote. “Much of the Washington state opposition to I-502 is rooted in adversarial jealousy, because after three attempts, some activists just can’t get an initiative of their own on the ballot, so resent [former U.S. Attorney John]McKay, the ACLU and their backers who did manage to get I-502 on the ballot.”

Reason
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, left, has selected Judge Jim Gray as his running mate.

Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has selected retired California Judge Jim Gray, a prominent marijuana legalization advocate, to be his running mate.

Judge Gray’s selection “puts pot front-and-center in the campaign,” a Johnson campaign staffer told Will Rahn of The Daily Caller, before adding that the campaign’s defining issue will likely remain Johnson’s opposition to the war in Afghanistan.

Yahoo! News
“What is with the marijuana crackdown?” Kimmel asked, looking directly at President Obama.
 

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel addressed the issue of marijuana legalization while delivering his remarks at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.

“What is with the marijuana crackdown?” Kimmel asked, looking directly at President Obama, reports Paige Lavender at the Huffington Post“Seriously, what is the concern? We will deplete the nation’s Funyon supply?” A slightly uncomfortable-looking Obama smiled broadly at this.
“Pot smokers vote, too,” Kimmel continued. “Sometimes a week after the election, but they vote.”

Moms United to End the War On Drugs

Mothers Groups, Who Played Key Role in Ending Alcohol Prohibition, Aspiring to Repeat Success 80 Years Later
 
Moms, Cops and Students From Around Country to Share Personal Experiences of Tragic Drug War and Unveil “Mom’s Bill of Rights”
 
Mothers from around the country will join with law enforcement and students at the National Press Club on May 2nd in honor of Mother’s Day. The press conference will launch a new campaign comprised of national organizations representing mothers, police and students that seek to finally end the disastrous Drug War.
Moms, cops and students will share powerful stories of losing loved ones to drug prohibition-related violence, incarceration, overdose and addiction, unveil the “Mom’s Bill of Rights,” and highlight a series of activities around the country timed to Mother’s Day.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide
The “Wietpas” (Weed Pass) will exclude foreigners from the Dutch coffee shops where cannabis is sold

A Dutch court on Friday upheld a new law banning foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops in the Netherlands, possibly ending decades of “weed tourism” for which Amsterdam and other cities have become world-famous.

A Dutch judge in the Hague ruled that the new law is legal. The move to ban foreigners from buying cannabis is being fought in the city of Amsterdam, where the coffee shops are a major tourist draw and where many shops owners have vowed to ignore the law once it comes into effect.
The conservative government of the Netherlands seems hellbent on turning back the clock to a darker time in Dutch history — a time when the cannabis trade was underground and people had to depend on the black market for marijuana. According to expert observers, the ripples could reverberate internationally.

Salem-News.com

The San Francisco Democratic Party has given a blistering rebuke to President Obama’s assault on the medical marijuana community.
A resolution was adopted Wednesday by the party’s Central Committee (DCCC) demanding that President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag “cease all Federal actions in San Francisco immediately, respect State and local laws, and stop the closure of City-permitted medical cannabis facilities.”
The resolution was co-sponsored by 21 DCCC members including: its author Gabriel Haaland, Assembly member Tom Ammiano, State Senator Leland Yee, Supervisor David Campos, Supervisor David Chiu, former State Senator Carole Migden, and former Supervisor Aaron Peskin.
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