Marijuana and Cannabis News
Despite the fact that Arizona has a medical-marijuana law, that law does not turn a neighborhood weed dealer into a bona fide medical-marijuana salesman.
This apparently comes as news to several Phoenix residents, as a New Times review of superior court filings shows that police have busted several dealers over the last few weeks, and were discovered by police because they offered "medical marijuana" for sale on Craigslist. Phoenix New Times has the rest.
Dennis Bohlke is determined to get a lot of autographs. The 59-year-old computer programmer is heading up the campaign for a bill that would legalize the possession, cultivation and sales of limited amounts of cannabis in a plan nearly identical to one passed in Colorado.
But all that can'' come without signatures. More than a quarter million of them.
A United States District Court judge officially upheld Colorado's ban on pot-related magazines unconstitutional Tuesday, putting the matter to the grave once and for all with a permanent injunction.
The ruling came after several parties suing the state reached an agreement with the court that kept the whole issue from going through a lengthy hearing.
Nevada medical marijuana patients in need of cannabis will soon have legal storefronts to go to for safe access to their meds, though the tradeoff means the elimination of home growing.
Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 374 into law last night, creating a state-regulated system of growers, processers and dispensaries. The move also allows home growing only until 2016, when the dispensary program is expected to be fully functional.
Though the city of St. Louis officially adopted a marijuana reform law this month, one local police sergeant has not been able to publicly lobby for the cause.
Sgt. Gary Wiegert.
Sgt. Gary Wiegert supports policy changes just like the new city ordinance, which moves cops to treat minor offenses like low-level traffic tickets in an effort to save law enforcement resources. But, as we've covered here, he has been stuck in a legal fight with his bosses at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for months after he alleged in a suit that SLMPD violated his free-speech rights by refusing to let him work on the side as a paid pot lobbyist. Riverfront Times has the local angle.
To help all of us non-glass artists better understand the industry, evolution and art and science behind how our pipes, bubblers and bongs are made we've asked one of Colorado's most prominent and best-known artists -- Scott "Trikky" Saed -- to take on a quasi-regular column we like to call: Glass Class.
Scott "Trikky" Saed.
This week, Trikky spins us right round with his tale of coming to work on a lathe.
Charlotte Figi has been through more hardships in her six short years than most people do in a lifetime. About a year and a half ago, seizures caused by a rare genetic disorder would rip through her tiny body up to sixty times in a day.
A plant of "Charlotte's Web".
Things had become so bad, that her parents had signed "do not resuscitate" forms for their daughter - deciding that if it was her time to go, then it would at least be the end of her suffering. At the end of their rope, her parents tried one last thing to prolong their daughter's life: medical cannabis. Not only did it work, it's drastically improved the quality of life for little Charlotte and other children around Colorado. Unfortunately, the treatment isn't legal for most U.S. children affected by this condition.
Last week we gave you several headlines about a recent ACLU survey which showed that statistics covering marijuana arrests across the nation were falling along strict, and disturbing, racial lines. 
According to the report, on the national level blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for a weed-related crime, despite the fact that blacks and whites use marijuana at relatively equal rates. That disparity in arrest rates jumps as high as 18 to 1 in cities like St. Louis where local Metro Police Chief Sam Dotson dismisses accusations of racial profiling with blockhead quotes like, "Law enforcement is not...black and white."
Leaders and representatives of the 34 nations that make up the Organization of American States (OAS) held its annual general assembly meeting last Thursday in Guatemala to discuss a range of issues, with a debate about marijuana legalization expected to take center stage.With many of the OAS member-nations being wracked by drug war related violence, a debate over immediate solutions to curb illegal narcotics trafficking was considered to be a top priority by many attending and observing the 3-day meeting. Instead, the conference concluded with no specific judgment being given regarding the decriminalization or legalization of drugs like cannabis in the Western Hemisphere. 
Organization of American States logo.
Federal authorities yesterday moved to shut down marijuana dispensaries in Echo Park, Westlake, south L.A., the harbor area, Long Beach, Lancaster and Pearblossom. The action so far involves mainly warning letters to most of the 103 storefronts targeted, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.TokeoftheTown.com
While weed retailing might still be legal in the city of L.A. and other California communities, the federal government still sees cannabis as a top outlaw drug. The targeted 71 dispensaries in the city of L.A. involved all remaining known shops in the LAPD's Rampart, Newton and Harbor divisions, feds said. LA Weekly has the full story.
