Yearly Archives: 2011

WA Supreme Court Hears Case: Woman Fired For Med Pot Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Can medical marijuana patients be fired from their jobs for legally using cannabis with a doctor’s authorization? That’s the question before the Washington Supreme Court, which heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys in the case of a medical marijuana patient fired by a telemarketing firm for failing a drug test in 2006.

Voters in 1998 would be “flabbergasted” to hear someone could be fired for legally using medical marijuana away from work, in this case to alleviate migraine headaches, argued Michael Subit, attorney for the woman called “Jane Roe” in court proceedings to protect her identity, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

“The Legislature understood (voters) were giving broad permission” to use marijuana medicinally, argued Subit, “…and that’s why they [legal medical marijuana patients]can’t be fired.”

But James Shore, attorney representing Teletech, claimed the law passed by voters provides only a defense in court to patients who have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana. Shore said Washington’s medical cannabis law does not offer employment protection.

“An employer could permit it in the workplace if they want to,” Shore said of medical marijuana. “But they don’t have to.”

Former Sheriff Gets Life In Prison For Marijuana, Murder Plot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 News

Photo: WSIL

Former Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin was sentenced to two life prison terms today.

Calling a disgraced Illinois sheriff “the worst of humanity,” a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced him to life in prison for trafficking marijuana on the job and a foiled plot to have a potential witness killed.

Former Sheriff Raymond Martin should be harshly punished, U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert said, calling the longtime sheriff of southern Illinois’ Gallatin County “nothing but a common thief and thug who disregarded the very laws that you swore to uphold, defend, protect and honor, reports Jim Suhr of The Associated Press.

“You could have likely been sheriff until you decided to retire,” the judge scolded Martin, who was kicked out of office within days of his conviction last September of all 15 felony counts with which he was charged. “But no, you couldn’t stand prosperity, and your arrogance, greed and power got the best of you.”

Marijuana Smugglers Call Cops After Their Car Is Hijacked

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 News

Photo: Wyoming Highway Patrol

This 170 pounds of marijuana had three different owners in one night — first the smugglers, then the carjackers, then the cops.

What would you do if you were smuggling 170 pounds of marijuana across the United States and you were carjacked? Two accused would-be pot smugglers came up with the wrong answer Friday night.

Smack dab in the middle of Wyoming, on I-80 near Sinclair, the erstwhile pot smugglers had their car hijacked, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, reports Howard Pankratz at The Denver Post. And the victims decided to call the cops.

The man and woman accused of hauling the weed are in the jailhouse now, along with one of the two male carjackers, according to Sgt. Stephen Townsend, spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Troopers were told of the alleged carjacking at about 9 p.m. on Friday. The victims said a couple of guys in a red SUV had taken their car by force and left them sadly standing by the interstate, unharmed but weedless.

Attorney: Michigan Task Force ‘Overly Aggressive’ On Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Pennington County Sheriff

The defense attorney in a dismissed medical marijuana case in Michigan said drug enforcement task force officers raiding medical marijuana patients are being “overly aggressive.”

“The way police are doing investigations needs to change,” said Michael Komorn of Southfield, Mich., attorney for Gregory Pointer of Clarkston, reports Carol Hopkins of The Oakland Press.

Pointer was charged with “unlawful manufacture of marijuana” contrary to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, but his case was dismissed last week in Genesee Circuit Court.

Stoner Photo of the Day: Got Milk?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Growing

Photo: Hapee Farmer

Got milk? Or how about something even safer and better for you?

Israel Says Wait 6 Hours After Smoking Marijuana To Drive

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Global, Medical

Photo: Limor Edrey

Bags and joints of Israeli medical cannabis

Patients who use marijuana for medical purposes must wait six hours after smoking it to drive a car, the Israeli Health Ministry is set to announce soon.

Until now, the issue of driving and medical marijuana had not been clarified formally in Israel, causing several police-related incidents, reports Dan Even at Haaretz.com.

In one incident in November 2010, scriptwriter Ran Sarig, a medical marijuana patient, was investigated after he was seen on a TV program driving with a joint in his mouth.

Drivers of public or commercial vehicles will be completely barred from using medical marijuana under the new regulations.

Did NFL Legend Marino Play Football High On Pot?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Hollywood Collectibles

Dan Marijuano? “All those pictures of him and his old hair, I wouldn’t pass it by him.” ~ Kyle Turley

If you’re inclined to believe locker room rumors, one of them has it that legendary National Football League quarterback Dan Marino was known to smoke marijuana before games.

Former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Turley claimed this week on the Dan LeBatard Show that while he doesn’t know for sure, stories of Miami Dolphins legend Marino sparking up before games is the stuff of common locker room lore, reports Michael J. Mooney at our sister Village Voice Media blog, Broward Palm Beach New Times.

Turley, ostensibly on LeBatard’s show to promote a Super Bowl party he’s hosting, started bragging about how he drinks whiskey straight out of the bottle and smokes medical marijuana. The former New Orleans Saint, Los Angeles Ram and Kansas City Chief claimed he smoked pot during his 1998-2007 NFL career, but never before games — which he heard was Marino’s practice.

Idaho Senate Attacks The Menace Of Blunt Wraps. WTF?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Idaho Secretary of State

Dude won’t be winning any high-IQ tests anytime soon: Clueless Idaho Sen. Denton “Dense” Darrington believes blunt wraps are a threat to civilization in Idaho.

Let’s be “blunt” about this: With all the real issues facing the Potato State, the Idaho Legislature has some mighty strange priorities.

A bill introduced Monday in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee would make it unlawful to sell, manufacture or distribute roll-your-own cigar blunt wraps in the state. This is because blunt wraps, made from tobacco leaves, are widely used by marijuana smokers to consume weed.

The incredibly pinheaded proposal, sponsored by Republican Senator Denton “Dense” Darrington, would give blunt wraps the same status as other supposed “drug paraphernalia,” opening sellers, manufacturers and owners of the products to potential criminal charges, reports Ben Botkin at the Magic Valley Times-News.

The bill comes — you guessed it! — at the urging of Big Tobacco, who would really hate to see Americans switch from smoking their cancer-causing product — which causes 440,000 deaths every year in the U.S. alone — to marijuana, for which nobody seems to be able to find a single substantiated fatality.

The Cigar Association of America claims the wraps “have no legitimate use” and are primarily used to make “marijuana cigarettes.” The horror…. The horror!

Medical Marijuana Legalization Reintroduced In IL Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: MikeCann.net

This man — the great Lou Lang — is your best friend in the Illinois Legislature.

Legislation that would legalize the physician-approved use of medical marijuana has been reintroduced in the Illinois Legislature.

House Bill 30, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, would allow qualified patients to possess and grow marijuana for medical reasons.

Similar legislation was approved by the Senate, but narrowly defeated by the House in the previous session (it lost by only four votes).

“What we have to do now is wait for the new session to start, introduce a new piece of legislation and start over,” bill sponsor Rep. Lou Lang had said after the previous bill was defeated.

MT Could Outlaw Driving Up To 25 Days After Smoking Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Montana Medical Grower’s Association

The Montana House Judiciary Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss DUI legislation, House Bill 33, sponsored by Republican Ken Peterson, which provides that any amount of a “dangerous drug” in a driver’s body results in the conclusion that the person is impaired.

While the bill stipulates that if the drug has been prescribed by a licensed physician and taken as prescribed, the driver is not guilty of violating the law, it fails to include physician recommendations for medical marijuana.

The bill thus fails to provide appropriate protection for patients, according to Jim Gingery, executive director of the Montana Medical Grower’s Association.

“To exclude those drivers who are taking prescribed pharmaceuticals while omitting patients who are using a recommended alternative treatment is not in the best interest of the public nor is the assumption of impairment without proper testing,” Gingery said.

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