Yearly Archives: 2011

Florida State Senator Files Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Medical marijuana patients in Florida may be one step closer to lighting up legally thanks to a state senator.

State Senator Larcenia Bullard (D-Miami), recently filed Senate Joint Resolution 1028, a Senate bill to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes in the Sunshine State, in an effort to get it on the 2012 ballot, according to a Central Florida 13 news report by Troy Kinsey and Margaret Kavanagh.

Representative Jeff Clements of Lake Worth also introduced companion legislation, HJR 353, reports Kristal Roberts at ABC Action News.

Bullard’s bill creates an amendment that allows people with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana as treatment on the recommendation of a doctor. The bill legislation would also allow medical marijuana farms and dispensaries to operate in Florida.

Presidential Hopeful Gingrich Calls Medical Marijuana A ‘Joke’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Medical, News

The Chronicle

Newt Gingrich: “See, when I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral. Now it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality … That’s why you get to go to jail and I don’t.”

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich does not support the legalization of medical marijuana, and in fact, would like to see the United States adopt a tougher policy against the use of cannabis and other substances, including the death penalty for some dealers.

Gingrich on Saturday told Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody that California showed medical marijuana was a “joke.” He introduced legislation to legalize the use of medicinal cannabis in 1981, but has since changed his mind about it, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.

“What has changed was the number of parents I met with who said they did not want their children to get the signal from the government that it was acceptable behavior and that they were prepared to say as a matter of value that it was better to send a clear signal on no drug use at the risk of inconveniencing some people, than it was to be compassionate toward a small group at the risk of telling a much larger group that it was OK to use the drug,” Gingrich claimed.

Banking Problems Could Kill Medical Marijuana In Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

CreditCards.com

Colorado medical marijuana business owners are desperately writing letters to every bank in the country asking if they can please, oh please, just have a bank account.

About 150 dispensary owners across the state are looking for banks that will take their accounts, said Tanya Garduno, president of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council and owner of Medical Cannabis Center, reports Monica Mendoza at InsuranceNewsNet.

The medical marijuana industry has already survived regulations, licensing, security and thick stacks of almost impenetrable rules and legalese.

Canada Prime Minister: Govt. Will Never Decriminalize Cannabis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Global, Legislation

Let Freedom Rain

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “No, it will not happen under our government”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday that his government will never agree to the decriminalization of marijuana.

Harper’s comments came in Vancouver in response to a question at a brief news conference following an event at a downtown science center, reports CBC News.

“No, it will not happen under our government,” Harper said. “We’re very concerned about the spread of drugs in the country and the damage it’s doing and as you know we have legislation before the House to crack down.”

Harper didn’t bother to detail exactly what kind of “damage” marijuana is doing to Canada, which has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world.

Occupy Movement Gets Its Own Medical Marijuana Strain

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, Products

Dave Maass/San Diego City Beat

Occupy OG, found at one of the only dispensaries still open in San Diego County

The Occupy Wall Street movement now has a strain of medical marijuana named after it: Occupy OG.

Occupy OG is a sativa-indica hybrid, and is offered by only one dispensary in San Diego County, according to Weedmaps.com, reports San Diego City Beat‘s Dave Maass.

Occupy OG, available at Thirty Health Center, across from Von’s at 4152 30th Street, San Diego, costs $15 a gram, $50 an eighth, $100 a quarter, $175 a half and $325 an ounce.

Sexy Pizza Creates Pie To Benefit Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Culture, Legislation, Products

SodaHead

The love affair between pizza and marijuana is no secret, so Denver-based Sexy Pizza thought it would use this culinary romance to raise funds for a group of law enforcement officials dedicated to reforming failed drug policies in America.

Sexy Pizza has created the “LEAP Pizza,” a Hawaiian-style pie with Canadian bacon, pineapple and mozzarella cheese, which will benefit Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). In tribute to these brave cops who stand dedicated to the marijuana reform movement, Sexy Pizza said it will donate $1 from the purchase of each “LEAP Pizza” to their organization.

Tell City Council: Don’t Ban Medical Marijuana In Los Angeles

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 26, 2011 Dispensaries, News

AIDSOVERSIXTY

This numbskull, Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, wants to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the nation’s second-largest city

Some members of the Los Angeles City Council want to ban medical marijuana patients’ cooperatives and collectives outright.

Patients and other community members have been working with the council to promote, develop, and implement sensible regulations for the city since 2005, according to Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Banning patients’ associations now — as suggested by Councilman Jose Huizar — means the City Council would turn its back on the large majority of local patients who rely on cooperatives and collectives for safe access to medicine.

“If they do a complete ban, where are the patients going to get their medicine?” said Yamileth Bolanos, president of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times. “Medical marijuana is going to stay in the city no matter what. [Huizar is] choosing to have the gangs and cartels running it rather than having the very best operators that they can.”

New Database Can Identify Marijuana Strains Through DNA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Growing, News

University of New Haven

The simplify the process for cops (who, as we know, need for things to be as simple as possible), Coyle and her team developed a “collection card” Officers can rub a bud onto a card, then mail it to UNH’s lab.

A new marijuana DNA database can tell if a particular batch of cannabis is one of more than 25 types that have been genetically mapped by a forensic botanist in Connecticut.

DNA analysis has almost unlimited potential in helping patients and breeders — once it’s used for that purpose, instead of to bust us.

But before you get too pumped about this exciting new service, I should point out that word “forensic” in botanist Heather Coyle’s job description. That’s right, this DNA analysis is meant to benefit cops and federal agents, not cannabis patients or breeders.

Petition Circulating To Legalize Marijuana In Missouri

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Legislation, News

peter.a photography

A petition now circulating in Missouri would place a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot to legalize marijuana for people 21 and older.

The “Show-Me Cannabis Initiative” calls for a repeal of marijuana prohibition in the state, reports Kevin Murphy at the South County Times.

The measure would regulate cannabis similarly to the way Missouri currently regulates alcohol. Marijuana would be legal and sold by licensed stores, or could be grown at home for personal use. Medical marijuana would be available to those with a physician’s recommendation, including those under 21 with parental consent and a doctor’s supervision.

Dutch To Find Illegal Cannabis Plots From Space Via Satellite

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Global, Growing, News

RCMP

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police used satellites to gather intelligence about this marijuana grow operation hidden deep in the heart of Mount Seymour, on Vancouver’s North Shore. Dutch police say they’ll begin using satellite images to find cannabis crops early next year.

With the coming to power of a right-wing government, the Netherlands is less and less cool about cannabis. Dutch police and local governments in the southern Netherlands plan to work with the European Space Agency to find illegal marijuana plots hidden in fields of corn and asparagus by using satellite data.

The experiment will begin early in 2012, using images taken from orbit to identity cannabis plants, according to Max Timp, a spokesman for the municipality of Venlo, which is leading the misguided project, reports Rudy Ruitenberg at Bloomberg.

While growing marijuana is illegal in the Netherlands, authorities “tolerate” up to five cannabis plants for personal use. The country’s southernmost province, Limburg, has set up a program called “Green Gold” to stamp out the illegal rural growing of marijuana, this year removing 4,140 plants with a claimed street value of three million euros ($4 million).

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