| Graphic: Awesome DC |
Advocates Say Delays Come
At Cost To Patients
Patients in Washington, D.C., who are suffering from conditions such as cancer and HIV/AIDS will now be unnecessarily forced to wait even longer for relief, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
Agencies tasked with overseeing D.C.’s recently approved medical marijuana law will not have the authority to begin licensing providers or accepting patient applications until January 1, 2011, according to a series of proposed regulations released Friday by Mayor Adrian Fenty and the City Administrator.
The District still needs to consider and license potential applicants to manage medical marijuana dispensaries before patients can legally obtain medical marijuana to alleviate their symptoms. Under the District’s law, qualified patients will only be allowed to legally use marijuana that comes from a licensed dispensary.
| Photo: Criminal Justice Collaboratory |
The strong odor of marijuana coming from a stopped vehicle is not sufficient cause for a warrantless search, the Washington Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 majority on Thursday.
Six years of pro bono work by attorney Sharon Blackford paid off, as the court reversed rulings that had been made at the District Court, Superior Court, and Court of Appeals, all of which had upheld the search under the “exigent circumstances” exception to the search warrant requirement.
“We hold the search State v. Tibbles… was not justified by exigent circumstances and the evidence obtained as a result of the search should have been suppressed,” the court ruled. “Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals.”
| Photo: The Record |
A Denver narc claims that illegal marijuana seizures are “up 380 percent from 2009,” and believes “surplus medical marijuana” is to blame.
Commander Jerry Peters of the North Metro Task Force, who has long maintained that “drug dealers” are “taking advantage” of the medical marijuana industry, isn’t sure that tightening Colorado’s medical marijuana law would even help.
“I don’t necessarily like the law the way it is anyway,” he said. “I think this effect will be there no matter what happens.”
For some good reading from our sister blog in the Village Voice Media empire, check out the rest of the story by Michael Roberts at Westword:
| Photo: Huffington Post |
| Richard Hilfiger, left, and his famous father, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger |
Could orange jumpsuits be “in” this season?
Richard Hilfiger, the 20-year-old son of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, was arrested last weekend in Hollywood for alleged possession of marijuana with intent to sell, reports Josh Grossberg at E! Online.
The wannabe rapper, who goes by the hiphop name “Rich Hil” and has cut tracks with Kid Cudi and Swizz Beatz, was pulled over on Sunset Boulevard by patrolling sheriff’s deputies in Hollywood, according to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Sgt. Shawn Ruda.
Officers found what they claimed was a “huge stash of marijuana” in his car (no amount mentioned), which is apparently why they chose to charge young Hilfiger with a felony intent-to-distribute charge instead of simple possession.
| Graphic: sitfu.com |
If you’re a medical marijuana patient in Washington D.C., you may never be too broke to buy cannabis again, starting next year.
The District of Columbia, with one of the highest poverty levels in the country, has become the first place to pass a law discounting medical marijuana for low-income patients.
“The D.C. proposal to subsidize the cost of medical marijuana for low income patients is especially appropriate, and something that the other medical use states should consider,” said Keith Stroup, legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
“With the cost of medical marijuana anywhere from $200 to $600 per ounce (and even higher at some dispensaries in California), there are many patients who simply cannot afford their medicine,” Stroup told Toke of the Town Thursday afternoon.
| Photo: Netroots Nation |
| “Radical” Russ Belville: “Three in four cannabis users are white, but it’s blacks and Latinos that spend the brunt of the time for punishment” |
| Photo: Shroomery.org |
It’s seemingly always been of those bedrock mainstream assumptions: adolescents and adults in low-income families are more at risk for “substance use” than kids and parents from more privileged backgrounds.
The suburbs, in this fictional view of reality (did anybody ever really buy it?), were an oasis of safety from the perils of the inner city, where “nice kids” wouldn’t be exposed to “those kinds of things.”
But according to a new study, higher parental education is associated with higher rates of marijuana use, binge drinking, and cocaine use in early adulthood. Higher parental income, as opposed to education, is associated with higher rates of marijuana use and binge drinking, but interestingly, not with higher cocaine usage.
| Photo: Kathleen Rice Campaign |
| N.Y. Attorney General candidate Kathleen Rice: “It was one of those stupid things that people do in their life and you regret and you move on” |
New York attorney general hopeful Kathleen Rice revealed Tuesday that she dabbled with marijuana and cocaine in her college days.
The Nassau County district attorney, a Democrat, told the New York Daily News that she tried pot and coke “a handful” of times when she was in her early 20s, reports Rich Schapiro.
“It was one of those stupid things that people do in their life and you regret and you move on,” Rice said.
The candidate has talked about her recreational drug use before, according to campaign spokesman Eric Phillips, reports Kathleen Kerr at Newsday.
“It was a mistake and she regrets it,” Phillips said.
| Graphic: Media Junkie |
A small-town Montana police chief was arrested Tuesday for allegedly growing marijuana in a barn near his residence.
Roosevelt County deputies arrested Poplar Police Chief Chad A. Hilde at his rural home north of Culbertson, Montana, reports Travis Coleman at the Great Falls Tribune. The chief is being charged with one felony count of “criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs,” and one misdemeanor count of “criminal possession of dangerous drugs.”
Chief Hilde, who faces up to 10 years in prison on the felony charge, has been placed on “administrative leave,” according to a dispatcher Monday at the Poplar Police Department. The police chief, who says the marijuana belonged to an authorized patient, said he planned to sue the Roosevelt County Sheriff.
A juvenile female runaway told Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Wallace on July 30 that Chief Hilde had marijuana growing in his barn, and that Hilde told her it was for medical purposes, according to an affidavit filed by acting Roosevelt County Attorney Steven Howard.
| Photo: Alejandro Bringas/Reuters |
| Mexican soldiers stand guard, pretending they don’t have a buzz as bales of marijuana go up in smoke |
It seems that top Mexican officials, weary of their bloody and protracted drug war, have been been subtly pushing the U.S. for some time to seriously consider marijuana legalization. Now, with the sitting president calling for a debate, it’s not so subtle anymore.
Responding to out-of-control violence related to the illegal drug trade, Mexican President Calderon on Tuesday said he is open to a debate on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
Calderon called the increasingly widespread public discussion of legalization “a fundamental debate.”