Yearly Archives: 2011

ACLU Joins Drive To Legalize Marijuana In Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2011 Legislation, News

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has joined the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, a coalition supporting a 2012 ballot initiative to end cannabis prohibition in Colorado.

The initiative would make marijuana legal for adults, take it out of the black market, and establish a system in which it is regulated, taxed and sold similar to alcohol.

“In Colorado we believe our laws should be practical and they should be fair,” the group said in a statement. “Yet we are wasting scarce public resources in our criminal justice system by having police, prosecutors and the courts treat marijuana users like violent criminals.

Website Compares Medical Marijuana Dispensaries For You

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, Products

Free Tobacco

Running out of cannabis while you’re traveling isn’t just a discomfort, if you’re a medical marijuana patient — it can be a threat to your health. Now there’s a way to not only find cannabis dispensaries while you’re on the road — you can also compare them based on hours, popular strains, promotions and many more categories, if you live in one of the seven medical marijuana states where the service is available.

FindTheBest.com recently added a Medical Marijuana Dispensary Comparison that allows patients in seven states (California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Rhode Island) to find and compare dispensaries.

Police Harass Federal Medical Marijuana Patient Elvy Musikka

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Paul Wellman

Federal medical marijuana patient Elvy Musikka holds a tin of joints send to her each month by the U.S. federal government

Elvy Musikka, one of four surviving patients in the federal medical marijuana program, was detained by Oregon State Police early Thursday morning following a town hall meeting on medical marijuana.

Musikka was detained along with other registered Oregon medical marijuana patients after a state trooper staked out the co-op 45th Parallel and harassed cardholders as they left the building, reports Russ Belville in the Examiner.

Several members of the patient cooperative were detained by the trooper, who issued citations including a $1,000 ticket to a grower for “residue” left behind on an empty pipe by a patient.

Musikka was in town for the 45th Parallel’s Town Hall Meeting, which had occurred earlier Wednesday at the Clarion Hotel. At the hotel, an Oregon State Trooper parked just down the street from the public entrance to the parking lot.

Marijuana Grower Wins Restraining Order Against County

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 15, 2011 Growing, News

KFSN

Richard Daleman, 63, has gone up against Tulare County twice and come out on top both times. Back in 2009, he got a court order forcing sheriff’s deputies to return more than 12 pounds of marijuana to him. Now he got a restraining order preventing the county from seizing more than 4,000 marijuana plants on his property.

A Tulare County, California medical marijuana collective won a big, but possibly temporary victory in court Wednesday.

A judge granted Richard Daleman, 63, a temporary restraining order against the county. It prevents county officials from seizing 4,000 medicinal cannabis plants on his property, reports KFSN.

Under California law, Daleman is allowed to have the plants on his five-acre property, but a Tulare County ordinance prohibits it. About 40 medical marijuana cardholders rent space on Daleman’s farm to grow their own medicine.

Highly Hilarious: Top 10 Cannabis Comedians

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 15, 2011 Culture

Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town columnist and former stand-up comic Jack Rikess with a friend

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

This Sunday, September 18, the amazing Debi Durst and the City of San Francisco present Comedy Day. It was founded in 1981 as a way for Bay Area comics to say thank you to comedy fans for their support and to The City that has nurtured so many comedians. Starting at noon and always ending with a “surprise guest”, this is a feast for the comedy fans of all ages. And it’s Free!

In honor of this glorious day, I hereby present my list of comics that have advance the cause of marijuana to audiences everywhere and, in the process, made us laugh.

I’m sorry to my friends and colleagues I’ve omitted. There’s only so much stage time. Maybe next year…

Botched Pot Raid: Feds Hit CBS Correspondent’s House

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2011 News

Saja Forum

The home of new parents Priya David and Alex Clemens was raided by FBI agents looking for marijuana Wednesday morning.

A team of heavily armed Federal Bureau of Investigation agents looking for marijuana on Wednesday morning wrongly raided the home of new parents Alex Clemens and Priya David in Alameda, California.

David, a CBS News correspondent, and her husband Clemens were at home with their newborn child when they heard a banging on the door just after 7 a.m., reports KCBS.

“Our first thought was the neighborhood is on fire,” Clemens said. “I see what turns out to be eight uniformed, armored, armed officers — four of which are pointing guns through the window at my face.”

Finally, A Backpack Specifically For Marijuana Fans

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2011 Culture, Products

Sprayground

If there is a cooler backpack, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it.

Sprayground has launched an all-new line of cool backpacks, including one in which I’m sure a lot of Toke readers will be interested: the “Pipe Dreams” design.

Yeah, finally there’s a backpack as cool as you are. And it’s that back-to-school time of year, too, so why aren’t you rockin’ one of these around that university campus yet?

Sure, Sprayground creates hot bags with iconic imagery, but the design of the backpacks is thoughtful, too. Each one features a plush velour-lined notebook compartment that will accommodate up to a 17-inch laptop, as well as an inside slip pocket for an iPad or tablet PC.

The main compartment includes inner slip pockets and zippers for organization and other devices like MP3 players/iPods and mobile phone holders.

Sprayground backpacks, including the “Pipe Dreams” design, are available for $48 (plus about $5 for FedEx shipping) directly from www.sprayground.net and across the U.S. at boutique stores like Kiston and major retailers such as Nordstrom.

Teen Kills His Parents After They Threw Away Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2011 News

Cook County Sheriff’s Department

John Granat, 17, is accused of killing his parents

One challenge with being a cannabis consumer in a society that has for decades been trained to be pot-phobic — to the point of irrational, superstitious fear — is that you constantly run into the same tired negative stereotypes, the same ignorant assumptions, and the same shared blame game.

“Shared blame,” you ask? Yeah. I mean the kind that seems to make it a law of nature that when some psycho loser, somewhere, does something horrific or stupid, then it turns out he tokes? Suddenly the entire marijuana community is suspect, at least according to the corporate tools who are responsible for most of the news you read.

Today’s exercise in shared blame comes courtesy of loser Illinois teen John Granat, 17, who allegedly bludgeoned his mom and dad to death in their bed Sunday morning. According to press reports, this fucked-up shitbag of an excuse for a human being killed John and Maria Granat, 44 and 42 respectively, allegedly because they had caught him growing marijuana at home, and had then thrown his plants away.

Now, killers are killers, and potheads are potheads; there’s usually very little overlap between the two groups, except the occasional self-medicating psychotic like little John here, whose demons finally overpowered him and made him do something deeply cruel and stupid.

YouTube Censors Powerful Scene In Cannabis Docu ‘High’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2011 Culture, Products

High: The True Tale of American Marijuana

High: The True Tale of American Marijuana, featured on Toke of the Town last year, has received lots of support and kudos from film-watchers, documentary lovers, and the drug policy reform community. So the film’s director, John Holowach, was understandably surprised on Tuesday when he logged into his YouTube account and discovered a notice from YouTube that one of his videos — a clip of one of the most powerful scenes in the documentary — had been censored.

“Yes, YouTube informed me that they have censored what is perhaps the most important and powerful scene in the documentary,” Holowach said. “Displaying a vicious abuse of power of prison guards, prisoners are made to crawl on the ground, strip naked, bend over, and all of this in front of other prisoners and caught on camera.”

Hemp Rally Coming To Boise Sept. 25: Idaho HOPE Fest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2011 Culture, Products

Idaho HOPE Fest

The Idaho H.O.P.E. Fest, Boise’s first-ever hemp rally, is coming up on Sunday, September 25. The gathering, to educate the public on the many uses of hemp, is designed to promote awareness on the reform of marijuana laws in a positive and polite atmosphere, according to organizers.

Brought to you by Idaho NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and Idaho Moms For Marijuana, the festival will feature speakers including “Radical” Russ Belville and Cannabis Karri of the NORML Show Live podcast.

“We are THRILLED to have Radical Russ Belville of the NORML Show Live and the NORML Stash blog, a native Boisean himself, speaking at a very significant time,” Theresa Knox of Idaho Moms For Marijuana told Toke of the Town.

More than half-a-dozen bands including Voice of Reason, Actual Depiction and Malachi, will provide musical entertainment.

“This is a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind event for the Treasure Valley,” Isaias Valdez of Idaho NORML told Toke of the Town. “We are featuring many prominent, powerful speakers from the legalization movement, as well as from the industrial hemp aspect. After 40 years of fighting a war on cannabis consumers, it has failed to stop the supply and demand.

“It’s been counterproductive, and is turning a lot of otherwise good, law-abiding citizens into criminals,” Valdez told us. “Our farmers are struggling during these hard economic times. As an agricultural state, we can reap the economic profits from domestic hemp production that our farmers and the environment can prosper from.

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