Yearly Archives: 2011

Ed Rosenthal’s Big Book of Buds Is Sticky Sweet

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2011 Products

I know this much: It beats the Sears Wish Book all to hell.

For those of you into nug porn — and I know I am! — The Big Book of Buds, Volume 4 from Ed Rosenthal gives you 236 pages of sticky sweet fun. Both an eye-catcher of a coffee table book and a valuable resource, this will quickly become one of your favorite volumes.

You can learn about the latest connoisseur varieties as Rosenthal hosts you on a visual journey with more than two dozen cannabis breeders from Holland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. With spectacular photos and thorough, knowledgeable information, you can have a state-of-the-art guide to marijuana breeding to peruse as you smoke (or vape, or eat).

Eighty-six glorious varieties are shown in the luscious photos, which look so real you can practically smell the buds. Everything is described in vivid detail, with practical tips as only “Ask Ed” can give them, including growth characteristics and methods, and insights into the effects of various strains.

Drive Ignites To Make California Medical Marijuana For-Profit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Mission Local

San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano wants to propose an “omnibus cannabis bill” to better oversee California’s booming medical marijuana industry, which the attorney general’s guidelines so far have dictated must be nonprofit.

According to Ammiano, the radically different approaches to dispensaries — which are welcomed in some cities, but raided in others — shows the need for clear, statewide regulations to create a more “cohesive response.”

“Don’t worry, L.A. pot-shop owners,” writes Dennis Romero at LA Weekly. “It sounds like what he wants to do is regulate it as-is — codify its status as a business and forget this nonprofit b.s. Maybe.”

Medical Marijuana Repeal Would Hurt Montana’s Economy

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: KTVQ

House Bill 161, Montana’s medical marijuana repeal bill, has only been approved by the House of Representatives. It hasn’t cleared the Senate, nor has it been signed by the governor. But dispensaries in Missoula are concerned about possible negative economic effects if the law is repealed.

Thousands of jobs could be lost, cities would lose revenue from business taxes, and many more people would be relying on food stamps if repeal passes, according to Dave Stephens, owner of Better Life Montana in Missoula.

“It’s a bad idea all the way around,” Stephens told Paige Huntoon of the Montana Kaimin, the student daily at the University of Montana at Missoula.

Flagstaff, AZ Removes Size Limits On Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: CannabisCenters.com

The Flagstaff City Council on Tuesday night removed a proposed zoning restriction on medical marijuana dispensaries inside the city limits that had capped the size at 3,000 square feet. With the size of dispensaries now unlimited, it is expected that most of the marijuana sold at the shops will be grown on site, rather than at remote locations.

Council member Art Babbott said he agreed with a recommendation by the Flagstaff Police Department to have the retail side of a dispensary co-locate with growing operations, reports Joe Ferguson at the Arizona Daily Sun.

Police officials said they believe co-location will make the local medical marijuana industry safer by reducing the number of locations and removing the need for large cannabis deliveries to replenish stock at dispensaries.

David Grandon, a former local art gallery owner, said earlier this week he wanted the city to increase the maximum size for dispensaries to accommodate other therapeutic services, such as chiropractors and massage therapists.

Council: Marijuana Dispensary Licenses First-Come, First-Served

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: World News

The city of Ypsilanti, Michigan will consider medical marijuana dispensary licenses on a first-come, first-served basis, despite concerns from some members that it will result in applicants camping out at City Hall to be the first in line.

The Ypsilanti City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved the ordinance establishing the licensing process, reports Tom Perkins at AnnArbor.com. The procedure through which the city would handle receiving dispensary applications had been the last major sticking point in the ordinance.

The council approved the ordinance as a resolution, which waives the 30-day posting period and means the ordinance takes effect on Tuesday, February 22. That cuts the time new dispensaries will have to wait to submit an application by 30 days.

Mr Keifbox Can Custom Make One Just For You

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 16, 2011 Products

Photo: Steve Elliott

This box incorporates the roach art of Cliff Maynard, featured on Toke of the Town in 2009.

Kief boxes — small, wooden boxes divided with a silk or metal screen used to separate kief (trichomes) from dried marijuana buds — are not only functional; they’re also works of art. This becomes immediately obvious when you look at the creations of Myron Connery, “Mr Keifbox” to his many fans, friends and customers.

Mr Keifbox is a true woodworker who does it the old fashioned way at his shop in Spanaway, Washington. He constructs handcrafted, custom made boxes with art of your choosing on the lid.

“Our goal is to become someone you come to for designing your dreams,” Mr Keifbox says, “that you would never get anywhere else.”

Kief (also spelled kif or keif) collects on the bottom, glass layer of the box, ready to be put in a pollen press, or collected for smoking, vaporization, hash making or cooking.

The three-tier pollenboxes come in various sizes from 4″x4″ and 3.5 inches high ($40 in white pine or maple) all the way up to big honking 24″x24″ boxes ($275 in white pine or maple), which are six inches high. Customers can add a hand-burned image to the top at no additional charge.

Worth Repeating: Approved Drugs, 10,008 Deaths; Marijuana 0

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 16, 2011 News

Photo: As It Stands

Over a 10-year period, more than 10,000 people died from taking FDA-approved drugs, while zero died from marijuana, which is considered by the federal government a highly dangerous Schedule I drug with no medical uses.

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

There has never been a single documented primary human fatality from overdosing on cannabis in its natural form in any amount.

When a new drug is being developed, phase two of studying it determines how safe the drug is, what would be a possible therapeutic dose vs. a fatal dose. Remember, the difference between a medicine and a poison is only the dose.

The LD 50 of a drug stands for how much of the substance being tested will kill 50 percent of a population of test subjects by overdose compared to their body mass (rats are used), and the amount of the drug that killed 50 percent is averaged according to animal body weight, and then that information is extrapolated for an average human’s weight.

Commissioner Objects To Donation From Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 16, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Cannabicare

Cannabicare owners Jeffrey and Julie Sveinsson donated $1,000 to the El Paso County, Colorado Sheriff’s Department this week.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office this week accepted a $1,000 donation from a Colorado Springs medical marijuana dispensary, but one county commissioner claims the donation is improper.

“I didn’t want to be part of a perceived conflict of interest, since the sheriff oversees those businesses,” said Peggy Littleton on Tuesday after voting against the donation at a commission meeting, reports Debbie Kelley at The Colorado Springs Gazette.

But Commissioners Amy Lathen, Sallie Clark and Darryl Glenn didn’t have a problem with the donation, and on a 3-1 vote, Sheriff Terry Maketa’s office got the money. The funds will help offset the cost of an annual employee recognition banquet he held recently, according to the sheriff.

Washington Drug Reformer Goodman To Run For Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 16, 2011 News

Photo: The Stranger

Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman supports the legalization of marijuana. He is now running for U.S. Congress.

Washington state Rep. Roger Goodman has announced he is seeking the Democratic Party nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R), a two-term Congressman who represents Washington’s 8th Congressional District. Goodman supports the legalization of marijuana, and has an excellent track record as a drug policy reformer.

Goodman served as the executive director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission in the late 1990s and was elected to the National Association of Sentencing Commissions, reports Phillip Smith at Stop The Drug War. While with the state commission, he published reports on prison capacity and sentencing policy, helped increase the availability of drug treatment in prisons, and guided 14 other sentencing-related bills through the Washington Legislature.

MI: 2 Years Later, Medical Marijuana Still Has Huge Support

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 15, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog

A huge majority of Michigan voters still approves the medical marijuana law they passed (by, you guessed it, a huge majority) in 2008.

Two years after legalizing it statewide, Michigan voters still support the state’s medical marijuana law by almost the same margin by which it was adopted in the 2008 election, according to a new poll.

The poll found that 61 percent of voters said they would vote yes again or would be likely to vote yes. Support for 2008’s Proposal 1, legalizing the possession and use of marijuana for medical reasons, was 62.6 percent statewide, reports Dawson Bell at the Detroit Free Press.

Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed said they would vote no or lean no if the medical marijuana issue was before voters again, also about the same as in 2008.

Only one percent said they were undecided about medical marijuana.

The poll “proves that a strong majority of Michigan voters stand firmly behind the compassionate medical marijuana law they enacted two years ago,” according to a spokeswoman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which helped organize and finance the successful ballot proposal in 2008.

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