2011 June

Monthly Archives: June, 2011

U.S. Conference of Mayors: War On Drugs Is A Failed Policy

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2011 Legislation, News

United States Conference of Mayors Unanimously Passes Resolution Calling the War On Drugs a Failed Policy Driving Over-Incarceration and Racial Disparities

“The war on drugs — declared 40 years ago this weekend — has been the principal driver of mass incarceration in America,” said U.S. mayors in a resolution adopted on Monday at the United States Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting in Baltimore.

The mayors pointed out that the U.S. has by far the highest incarceration rate in the the world, with 2.4 million of its residents in prison or jail, including about 500,000 Americans behind bars for drug law violations — an increase of 1,200 percent since 1980.

In their resolution, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) officially endorsed pending bipartisan federal legislation, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2011, sponsored by Virginia Senator Jim Webb and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Legislation To End U.S. Marijuana Prohibition Coming Thursday

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Drug Policy Alliance

The first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition is coming on Thursday, June 23. Historic, bipartisan legislation which would end the United States’ war on marijuana — and allow states to legalize, tax regulate and control cannabis commerce without federal interference — will be introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or interstate smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal.

4:20 Time? Shipment Of Pot-Stuffed Clocks Busted In Illinois

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2011 News

Photo: NBC Chicago

All four sides of the 36 clocks had marijuana concealed in them — about a half pound on each side, and a pound at top and bottom.

Police have recovered 132 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of wooden clocks in Illinois.

Roberto Carlin, 38, of Cicero, was charged with marijuana possession and possession with intent to deliver, according to Cicero Police spokesman Ray Hanania, reports NBC Chicago.

The bust came down on Monday, when Cicero Gang and Narcotics Officers were notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that a shipment of three packages containing clocks with cannabis hidden inside had been sent from Kentucky and was addressed to a Cicero address, according to officials.

Former U.S. Attorney Sponsors Marijuana Legalization Drive

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Mike Siegel/Seattle Times

Former U.S. Attorney John McKay is sponsoring a drive to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state.

Marc Emery’s Prosecutor Switches Sides; Joins ACLU, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, and TV Host Rick Steves in Backing Inititiave

The former U.S. Attorney for Seattle who prosecuted “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery said Tuesday that he is sponsoring an initiative to legalize and tax marijuana in Washington state. John McKay, who spent five years enforcing federal drug laws, said he hoped the measure would help “shame Congress” into ending cannabis prohibition nationwide.

McKay, who was fired by the Bush Administration in early 2007, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the laws criminalizing marijuana are destructive because they create a black market fueling international drug cartels and crime rings, reports Gene Johnson.

“That’s what drives my concern: The black market fuels the cartels, and that’s what allows them to buy the guns they use to kill people,” McKay told the AP. “A lot of Americans smoke pot and they’re willing to pay for it. I think prohibition is a dumb policy, and there are a lot of line federal prosecutors who share the view that the policy is suspect.”

Montana Cops Want Caregivers To Turn In Marijuana By July 1

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Wikiality

Montana caregivers are supposed to turn over their plants to the cops by July 1.

Montana’s medical marijuana caregivers officially have less than two weeks to turn in their cannabis plants to the police to be destroyed, but one advocate says that’s not likely to happen.

On July 1, medical marijuana providers are out of business in the state, thanks to the new law, SB 423, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, reports Matt Leach at NBC Montana. The law supposed “takes the profit out of the industry” (actually, it only drives it underground — and removes the tax benefits to local governments) and forces caregivers to turn over any marijuana they might have on hand.

It’s not gonna go down like that, according to Tayln Lang of the Montana Medical Growers Association.

Study Claims Marijuana Users Don’t Care If They Lose Money

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Culture, News

Graphic: NowPublic

Yikes! We can’t have people caring less about MONEY! This is a capitalistic society, after all!

Smoking marijuana makes you care less about money, at least if you believe the conclusions of a recent “scientific” study from an obviously anti-pot bunch of capitalistic Bible-thumpers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

“Smoking marijuana affects peoples’ impulsivity, attention, memory, cognition and decision-making abilities,” the authors of the study claim in a June 21 news release. “That’s been scientifically proven.” Well, yeah, man, at least if the stuff’s any good.

Reps. Frank, Polis To DOJ: Leave Medical Marijuana To States

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Just Out

According to Reps. Jared Polis (left) and Barney Frank, the Obama Administration should lay off medical marijuana patients and providers in states where medicinal cannabis is legal.

Two Democratic Congressmen want to know exactly where the federal government stands on medical cannabis. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) are urging the Obama Administration this week to repeat earlier vows to leave the enforcement of medical marijuana laws up to the states.

The Congressmen want Attorney General Eric Holder to renew his commitment to a 2009 Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum — known as the Ogden Memo — which said the agency wouldn’t target medical marijuana patients and providers who are in compliance with their state laws, reports Mike Lillis at The Hill.

“Recent actions by United States Attorneys across the country have prompted states to deny patients safe and reliable access to their medicine,” Frank and Polis wrote in a June 20 letter to Holder.

The letter was a result of the lawmakers’ concerns that recent communications from the DOJ and from state and local attorneys indicate the agency is backtracking on the Ogden Memo in the face of conservative criticism that the Obama Administration has somehow been “too lenient” in the “War On Drugs” by allowing sick people to use the medicine recommended by their doctors.

Nova Scotia Ordered To Fund Woman’s Marijuana Grow

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Global, Growing, News

Photo: Ian Lindsey/Postmedia News

Grow lights and supplies courtesy of the Canadian government.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has been ordered to pay for the medical marijuana growing equipment of a woman who said she can’t afford it herself.

The Income Assistance Appeals Board ordered the Department of Community Services to pay a one-time setup cost of $2,500 and a fee of $100 every three months for additional supplies to an Amherst woman identified only as Tanya and her husband, Sam. The couple’s last name wasn’t used due to fears that thieves would target their marijuana grow operation, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Retired Cops, Marijuana Advocates To Rally In Sacramento

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: LPP

An organization of retired and disabled members of the law enforcement community — which provides support to medical marijuana patients and caregivers — is joining with members of the Sacramento County Patients and Collectives (SCPC) to rally outside the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 21.

With numerous medical cannabis collectives currently serving thousands of people in the unincorporated areas of Sacramento County, California, the Board of Supervisors will consider a new ordinance that will effectively close down every collective operating in the unincorporated area of Sacramento County.

Former Staffers: Drugs Rampant At Police Telemarketing Center

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 20, 2011 News

Photo: Listverse

Fraternal Order of Police telemarketers are on drugs.

Two former employees say that illegal drug use was rife at the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police call center when they worked there recently.

“People would go smoke weed on their 10-minute break and come back smelling rank,” claimed Cameron Duncan, a psychology major at Ball State University who quit his job at the call center in April, reports Seth Slabaugh at the Muncie Star Press.

Another former employee, Gareth Bowlin, said when he worked at the Fraternal Order of Police call center last year, “everybody did drugs in the parking lot, smoking weed and dealing pills; it was nothing but a big drug area. One girl they fired, she was so messed up on pills she fell asleep during a phone call.”

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