Poll: 51% Of Californians Oppose Marijuana Legalization

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

Dude, say it ain’t so. A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that 51 percent of Golden State voters oppose legalizing marijuana, while just 46 percent favor it.

According to PPIC, the finding is similar to results from a poll a year ago, when 47 percent favored legalization and 49 percent opposed it.

Among “likely voters,” it’s an even split: 48 percent favor legalization, and 48 percent oppose, with 4 percent “unsure.”

Voters rejected Prop 19’s version of marijuana legalization last year, with 53.5 percent voting against it. There has since been talk of another ballot measure.

Governor Vetoes Bill Keeping Pot Shops Away From Homes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Americans for Safe Access

California Governor Jerry Brown wants to leave medical marijuana dispensary regulation up to cities and counties

California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday handed a defeat to anti-medical marijuana forces, vetoing a bill barring dispensaries from within 600 feet of homes in the state. Gov. Brown said the bill infringed on the powers of cities and counties that already have the authority to regulate the pot shops.

Brown noted he had already signed AB 1300, which gives cities and counties clearer authority to regulate the location and operation of marijuana dispensaries, reports Patrick McGreevey at the Los Angeles Times.

“This bill goes in the opposite direction by preempting local control and prescribing the precise locations where dispensaries may not be located,” the governor wrote in his veto message. “Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the state Capitol.”

US Drug Czar & Manhattan DA Try To Spin Drug War As Success

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 News

TopNews

Gil Kerlikowske would love for you to believe the War On Drugs is a huge success. Can’t you just do that for Gil today? Come on now, can’t you?

Message from NYers: No More Drug War

Drug War = Mass Incarceration, Racial Disparities and Overdose Epidemic

White House Drug Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske and New York County DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr. will visit Washington Heights in New York City on Thursday, September 22, to discuss their supposed “progress” in fighting the War On Drugs.

A group of New Yorkers will be greeting the Drug Czar and DA with the message: No More Drug War. When Kerlikowske came into office, he announced that he was ending the War On Drugs. This turned out to be little more than a rhetorical sleight-of-hand, however – astronomical rates of drug arrests and incarceration have not changed.

Stashable Storage Tubes Ideal For Hiding Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Products

ToysFromMyAttic.com

Each Stashable Storage Tube comes with an adhesive strip of velcro to secure it in a hidden spot.

The technology of hiding weed has come a long way since the days of the hollowed-out book or the decoy soda can.

The Stashable Storage Tube, a storage device designed for easy portability (it fits in your pocket or purse) protects its contents from being crushed or damaged by liquids, although, as the company responsible coyly notes, “its primary function as a security device is delivered through concealed use.”

The idea is simple, according to ToysFromMyAttic.com, based in Royal Oak, Michigan, which manufactures the tubes: An item that cannot be found, cannot be taken.

Ohio Medical Marijuana Ballot Issue Rejected For Content Flaws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

CFCA America

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine: “I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment”

The summary of a second proposed medical marijuana ballot issue in Ohio has been rejected by Attorney General Mike DeWine, who claimed it was rejected for a half-dozen “content flaws.”

In a letter Friday to the Ohio Coalition for Medical Compassion, DeWine admitted that 1,344 signatures were valid of 2,365 submitted with the proposal on September 7, reports Alan Johnson at The Columbus Dispatch. Only 1,000 valid signatures are needed.

But DeWine claimed a litany of problems, including numerous provisions that were left out of the proposed ballot summary, one section that was misstated, and one item included that was not part of the full amendment (a $2 million loan for the proposed Division of Medical Cannabis Control to hire personnel, lease office space and purchase equipment).

Marijuana Could Prevent PTSD Symptoms: Medical Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Medical, News

Four Twenty Studios

The administration of marijuana cannabinoids after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms in rats, according to a new study published in the medical journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

“We found that there is a ‘window of opportunity’ during which administering synthetic marijuana helps deal with symptoms simulating PTSD in rats,” said Dr. Irit Akirav of the University of Haifa‘s Department of Psychology, which led the study.

In the study, conducted by Dr. Akirav with research student Eti Ganon-Elazar, the researchers set out to investigate how cannabinoids affect the development of PTSD-like symptoms jun rats, whose physiological reactions to traumatic and stressful events is similar to human reactions.

Medical Marijuana Intern Wanted By Denver Paper

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Culture, Medical, News

Pot Party Photos

No bong-cleaning required.

My friend and colleague William Breathes, the nation’s first marijuana/dispensary reviewer employed by a major newspaper chain (me being the second), is a busy man. Breathes is so busy with marijuana news, in fact, Denver Westword is looking to hire a college student to fill what is likely the first medical marijuana dispensary critic internship in history.

Now, before you get all hyperventilated, I should tell you that you don’t have to be a medical marijuana patient to get the nonpaying gig; “there’s plenty of stuff to cover about medical marijuana that doesn’t require you to smoke legal herb,” Breathes said in Wednesday’s announcement.

“In fact, you’ll mostly be updating dispensary listings and reviews, covering a pot meeting or two and generally helping out with our Colorado cannabis coverage,” Breathes said. “Previous blog experience helps, but isn’t required — we’ve all got to start somewhere.

NYC Mayor, Leader In Pot Busts, Now Wants To ‘Help’ Young Men

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

NORML

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been busily arresting record numbers of young men — especially young men of color — for the past decade. Now, with the so-called “Young Men’s Initiative,” Bloomberg claims he suddenly wants to “help” them instead of throwing them in jail.

Mayor Bloomberg was asked, shortly before he first ran for office, if he had ever smoked marijuana. “You bet I did. And I enjoyed it,” he answered.

While that quote became the basis of a NORML ad campaign, it certainly didn’t make any difference on the future Mayor’s practice of aggressively going after marijuana users in the Big Apple. Mayor Bloomberg made New York City the marijuana arrest capital of the world.

Marijuana Dispensaries Make Neighborhoods Safer: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Whiteside Manor Blog

A report published by one of the world’s most respected research organizations, the nonpartisan RAND Corporation, shows that local crime rates generally increased in areas after the closure of nearby medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles.

The study, conducted in June 2010 — just after many L.A. collectives were forced by the city to close — found that crime reports increased by about 60 percent within three blocks of a closed dispensary relative to the same distance around nearby open dispensaries.

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Not Linked To Crime: RAND Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2011 Dispensaries, News

The Law Blogger

A new RAND study finds no connection between L.A.’s dispensaries and crime.

The RAND Corporation on Tuesday issued a report dispelling the myth that there are inherent links between medical marijuana distribution centers and crime. The study upon which the RAND report is based claims that crime was as much as 60 percent greater around medical marijuana dispensaries that had been shut down by the City of Los Angeles compared to those areas with open dispensaries.

“[W]e found no evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries in general cause crime to rise,” said Mireille Jacobson, the study’s lead author and a senior economist at RAND.

RAND’s study, which challenges the common claim that medical marijuana dispensaries promote criminal activity, affirms the findings of patient advocates.

Yearly Archives: 2011