Search Results: santiago (9)


Over the past several years, we’ve told you about alleged marijuana profiling — drivers of cars with Colorado plates being pulled over by troopers in other states for what are often extremely minor infractions as an excuse to search for cannabis.
A lot of these stops come to nothing — but every once in a while, cops hit the jackpot, as it were. Take this week’s arrest of Aurora’s Santiago Adame-Melchor and Anahit Conejo-Galicoa, who were allegedly caught with 99-plus pounds of weed. Westword has the full story.

CBD oil.

Despite laws against growing cannabis, a group of about 100 parents in Chile have banded together to begin growing cannabis to help their children, many of whom suffer from severe epileptic conditions.
The group, Mama Cultiva, or “Mama Grows”, has formed to help parents learn more about how to grow cannabis, extract the beneficial cannabinoids and how to dose their children appropriately.

Jay Kumar Koulampet/Commons.
Wisconsin state Capitol.


A bill that would allow children suffering from severe seizure disorders to access cannabidiol (CBD) oil for treatment was unanimously approved by the Wisconsin state Senate yesterday — though just where that oil would come from is unclear.
The bill has already been given the green light by the state House, and now heads to Gov. Scott Walker for approval. Walker has not indicated which way he plans to go with the bill.

Mary Jane’s Garden

A proposed bill in Chile would legalize the consumption, possession and cultivation of marijuana in this South American nation. The proposed reform was introduced in July by liberal senators Fulvio Rossi and Ricard Lagos Weber.

If the bill is passed, it would legalize cannabis for both personal and medical use, reports Tom Murphy at the Santiago Times. The logic behind the bill, the Times reports, is that by creating a legal way for users to consume marijuana, drug cartels will be robbed of business by those who choose to take advantage of the legal channel.

The Weed Blog

​Conference Will Spotlight Devastating Impact of Drug War on Mexico, Latin America and U.S. Latino Communities
 
More than a thousand activists, experts, health professionals, elected officials, students and law enforcement will gather in Los Angeles November 2-5 for the 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference.
 
Among a broad range of topics, part of the conference program will focus on the destructive impact of the drug war on Latin American and Latino communities, and the urgent need for a new and more effective approach. Several panels and roundtable discussions – featuring prominent scholars, activists, journalists, human rights defenders, peace movement leaders and current and former officials – will address the failure of current drug policies for Latin Americans and Latinos, and the possibilities for critical reforms in the future.

Photos: U.S. Marshals Service
Mark Steven Phillips, 62, was arrested in his senior community apartment 31 years after his original arrest in 1979, left.

​After being on the run for more than 30 years, a member of the legendary Miami-based “Black Tuna Gang,” a marijuana smuggling operation, was arrested by U.S. Marshals Thursday morning in a senior community in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Mark Steven Phillips, 62, had been a wanted man for more than 30 years after he skipped out on his trial for being a member of an operation accused of smuggling some 500 tons of Colombian cannabis into the United States over a period of 16 months in the 1970s.
However, according to Black Tuna Gang leader Robert Platshorn — who is the longest serving pot prisoner in American history, having himself served almost 30 years in federal prison for smuggling marijuana — Phillips was definitely not the “Marijuana Kingpin” prosecutors and their obedient headline writers are trying to make him out to be.

Graphic: PORMAL

​Pointing to its medicinal value, a group in the Philippines is pushing for the legalization of marijuana use in that country.

In an article posted on its website, the Philippine Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (PORMAL) said marijuana, also known as hemp and cannabis, has shown “established” effects in the treatment of nausea, vomiting, premenstrual syndrome, unintentional weight loss, and lack of appetite, reports Kimberly Jane Tan at GMANews.tv.
Other “relatively well-confirmed” medicinal effects include the treatment of spasticity, painful conditions (especially neurogenic pain), movement disorders, asthma, glaucoma, inflammatory bowel disease, migraines, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, and hepatitis C, according to PORMAL.

Photo: Trends Updates
The entire state of Chiahuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located, is out of control. Juarez itself is a virtual ghost town with no tourism, almost completely under the control of violent drug cartels.

​A Mexican newspaper in the midst of the country’s Drug War has asked cartels for guidance on whether, and how, it should publish stories on the conflict.

El Diario de Juarez has become known for its excellent reporting from the blood-soaked streets of border town Ciudad Juarez, a haven for the violent drug-smuggling cartels, reports the BBC.
But the murder of their 21-year-old photographer last week prompted the newspaper to run a front-page editorial asking: “What do you want from us?”



Photo: FrontPageMag.com
The Drug War has resulted in about 16,000 deaths in Mexico over the past three years.

​When substance abuse treatment professionals start calling for the legalization of marijuana, we can be sure that we are mainstreaming our message of cannabis liberation.

That’s why Toke of the Town is running this guest editorial by Steven Lo, who is affiliated with AllTreatment.com, an online resource which offers help in finding drug rehab centers.

Let me quickly add that Toke of the Town does not endorse or support any form of “marijuana rehab,” whatever that’s supposed to entail, and that we believe the entire concept of “marijuana addiction” is so deeply flawed as to be useless.