Yearly Archives: 2011

Series Two Of Medical Cannabis Collector Cards Released

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 1, 2011 Culture, Products

Graphic: PCC

Collect ’em all!

Following the success of the first 10 Medical Cannabis Collector Cards, the Patients Care Collective (PCC), a Berkeley, California medical marijuana dispensary, has introduced “Series Two.”

“Our patients loved the first set so much, we felt compelled to bring them Series Two sooner than we originally planned,” said David Bowers, PCC manager and creator of the cards.

“We are excited by the response we’ve received so far, and love hearing that patients are being inspired to learn more about their medicine,” Bowers said.

The new cards are numbered 11 through 20 and feature beautiful bud photos taken at PCC, along with genetic, flavor, effect, and medicinal use information for each of the strains showcased.

For Series Two, the featured strains are MK Ultra, Purple Kush, Morning Star, Durban Poison, Peak 19, Ogre, Purple God, Sage & Sour, Blue Moonshine, and Blackberry Kush.

Charges Dropped; Sleazy Deputy Stole Medical Marijuana Card

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 1, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Calaveras County Sheriff

Deputy Steve Avila admitted he stole a medical marijuana patient’s I.D., falsified the birthdate, then bought pot with it — and arrested the man who sold it to him!

Prosecutors have dropped drug dealing, cultivation and possession charges against a medical marijuana dispensary owner in which a Calaveras County sheriff’s deputy used a legitimate — but stolen — medical marijuana card to induce the man to sell him cannabis.

Jay R. Smith, 37, pleaded no contest Friday to a single charge of aiding and abetting another person to commit a felony, according to court records, reports Dana M. Nichols at the Stockton Record.

Smith was sentenced to pay a $160 fine and serve 90 days in jail, but will not be subject to probation. The plea deal means he will be able to continue work as a medical marijuana patient advocate, Smith said.

His arrest on January 4, 2010, prompted protests by medical marijuana patients and providers. At the time, Smith was operating K Care Collective, a medicinal cannabis dispensary.

Calaveras County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Avila, also known as “that sleazy piece of shit,” posed as a legitimate medical marijuana patient named Robert Shaffer of Ione, California, and contacted Smith seeking to buy cannabis.

Deputy Avila had “gained possession” (I guess that’s what they call stealing when a deputy does it?) of Shaffer’s medical marijuana card in late 2009 during an earlier drug case against Shaffer. Deputy Avila then proceeded to falsify the birthdate on the card to persuade Smith to sell him marijuana.

California Green Rush: Real Housewives Or Weeds Wanna-Be’s?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 31, 2011 Culture, Growing

Photo: Qwickstep.com

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

“Angela” blames most of her problems on the economy. “I had a total of three houses, the one I lived in and two others I bought as investments in early ’04. After my real estate business stalled in ’08, I was basically sitting on three empty houses that I couldn’t move or even rent. That when I decided that maybe there was another way: I would grow marijuana.”

And that’s where all of Angela’s troubles started.

Worth Repeating: Marijuana Halves Lung Cancer Tumor Growth

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 31, 2011 Medical

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog

By Ron Marczyk

A 2007 study, performed at Harvard University (yes, that Harvard) by Anju Preet, PhD and the Division of Experimental Medicine, is further evidence that supports the study performed by Donald Tashkin, M.D. (reported in Toke January 27) originally published in 2005, indicating that THC appears not to start or promote lung cancer, and if anything, appears to slow or stop lung cancer.

In other words, THC, marijuana’s main active ingredient, appears to have anti-tumor effects!

Dr. Preet’s conclusion is that the THC is the main player in stopping cancer. Tetrahyrocannabinol appears to stop epidermal growth factor (EGF) released by lung tumors. EGF is used for angiogenesis (it’s a growth factor released by a tumor to encourage new blood vessel growth to feed it; this also allows the growth of the tumor and allows it to spread).

When mice (whose biological functions are identical to humans’ in many ways) were implanted surgically with human lung cancer cells which were allowed to start growing and then treated with THC for three weeks, the cancer tumors shrunk by 50 percent in weight, and there was a 60 percent reduction in the number of tumors in their lungs.

Enforcement Of Colorado Marijuana Rules Begins March 1

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 31, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Cannabis Therapy Institute

The MMED’s new badge and logo. Whoever thought they’d see a law enforcement badge with the words “medical marijuana” on it? Just in case we forget how they look at medical marijuana patients and providers, it has ‘CRIMINAL’ right up at the top and center.

The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division (MMED) of the Colorado Department of Revenue said on Friday that “serious enforcement” of its 99 pages of new rules will begin on March 1. Public comment on the rules will be accepted until February 11.

The rule-making was necessary to implement HB 10-1284, a bill passed by the Colorado Legislature in 2010 which created Medical Marijuana Centers (MMCs), which is what legislators there call dispensaries.

The MMED concluded two days of rule-making hearings on January 28, taking testimony on the new dispensary rules. Even though the new rules will affect hundreds of dispensary applicants, fewer than 10 MMC applicants testified at the hearings.

Medical Marijuana Employment Rights Intro’d In CA Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 31, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Rose Law Group

California employers would be prevented from discriminating against medical marijuana patients under a bill introduced to the California Legislature on Thursday.

Senate Bill 129, introduced by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would not change the current law which prohibits employees from using medical marijuana at the workplace. “This bill is not about being under the influence while at work,” Sen. Leno said. “That’s against the law, and will remain so.”

According to Sen. Leno, his bill “simply establishes a medical cannabis patient’s right to work.”

Alabama Court Drug Testing Parents Of Juveniles In Trouble

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 28, 2011 Legislation

Photo: Jody Parker/Alabamians for Compassionate Care

Alabama activist Loretta Nall: “I wonder how that judge would feel if he were made to piss in a cup because one of his kids got in trouble?”

A court in Shelby County, Alabama is drug testing the parents of juvenile children on probation, according to activist Loretta Nall.

“I got an email from a parent in Shelby County last night who has a juvenile child enrolled in drug court,” Nall writes on her blog. “This parent informed me that the judge (Kramer) forced a drug test on the spouse under threat of arrest ‘to prove the parents are good role models’ and that this is a standard procedure in Shelby County drug court.”

According to Nall, she had trouble believing her eyes.

“The parents of the juvenile haven’t violated any laws, they are not under the rule of any courts, no custody battles, no DHR or anything like that,” Nall said. “One of the the parents is a teacher. So how can they be forced to submit to court-ordered drug testing?”

“I wonder how that judge would feel if he were made to piss in a cup because one of his kids got in trouble?” Nall commented on her Facebook wall. “You’d see an uproar if that were the case.”

Marijuana Soft Drinks: The Next Big Buzz?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 28, 2011 Products

Photo: The Pitch

I’ll have one of each, please.

While cannabis-infused soft drinks have been around for awhile, a new brand, Canna Cola, seems to have hit a marketing sweet spot, because its February debut in Colorado is getting a ton of media buzz.

Canna Cola is positioning itself as the “light beer” of marijuana drinks, since it has a lower THC content (35 to 65 mg) than other brands currently on the market, according to Scott Riddell of marketers Diavolo Brands, reports Wallace Baine of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

“It’s got a mild marijuana taste,” Riddell told the Sentinel. “But the taste factor is really negligible compared to some competitors with three times the THC. When you get to that level, you really have a heavy aftertaste.”

Colorado Medical Grower Bartkowicz Gets 5 Years In Prison

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 28, 2011 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: Chris Bartkowicz

Happier Times: In 2009 when he uploaded this photo to Facebook, Chris Bartkowicz wrote in the caption: “it’s legal so I started growing it outta my ears. Love this LAW!! LEGAL WEED!!!” He was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Friday.

Chris Bartkowicz, a Colorado man who ran a medical marijuana growing operation from the basement of his home, was sentenced Friday morning to five years in federal prison.

Bartkowicz pleaded guilty in October to federal drug charges, which vengeful Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided within hours after Chris showed the grow operation to a TV news team.

Under his plea agreement, Bartkowicz and federal prosecutors settled on a prison term of five years, and federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer chose to accept that deal, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. His release will be followed by eight years of supervised probation. Under federal sentencing rules, Chris must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, which means, like the case of Marc Emery, a minimum of 51 months in prison.

“Five years is a long time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney M.J. Menendez said during the hearing. “It’s going to allow him time to get treatment and it’s going to give him time to reflect on what brought him here today.”

1970s Marijuana Smuggler Arrested In Florida Senior Community

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 28, 2011 News

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.

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