Yearly Archives: 2011

1,500 Rally At Michigan Capitol In Favor Of Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Official media estimates of the crowd ran as high as 1,500, but according to activist Missy Griggs of Clinton Township, who attended the rally, it may have been closer to 3,000 or even 4,000 people there.

Greg Deruiter/Lansing State Journal

Protesters converged on the Michigan state Capitol on Wednesday because of a recent court decision banning the sale of medical marijuana in dispensaries

About 1,500 supporters filled the Capitol lawn Wednesday afternoon at the state capitol in Lansing, carrying signs reading “Patients Are Not Criminals” and “Weed Deserve Better” in what is being called the largest pro-medical marijuana rally in Michigan.

What Marisa Schultz of The Detroit News called a “spirited gathering” came after an Appeals Court ruling last month that resulted in the closing of many of the state’s estimated 400 to 500 medical marijuana dispensaries.

The ruling banned patient-to-patient marijuana sales for the nearly 100,000 carriers of Michigan medical marijuana cards, effectively limiting the ways in which patients can get medical marijuana and leaving them with few safe options to get their doctor-recommended cannabis, according to supporters.

Boise’s First Hemp Rally: Idaho HOPE Fest Coming Sept. 25

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Culture, Products

Idaho HOPE Fest

Boise, Idaho’s first hemp festival is coming to Julia Davis Park on September 25. According to organizers, the Idaho HOPE Fest is the first annual event being held in Boise to advocate for the end of the federal government’s war on cannabis consumers, and to promote the re-legalization of industrial hemp.

“We will feature live entertainment, guest speakers, vendors, and educational exhibits on cannabis and the politics, culture science and controversy surrounding it,” event organizers say on the HOPE Fest website.

Organizers said they have a number of goals for this year’s inaugural event:

• To collect signatures for the Idaho Medical Choice Act, a citizen’s initiative to legalize medical marijuana for Idaho’s seriously ill patients

• To promote the re-legalization of industrial hemp

• To educate the public on the growing cannabis industry, a legitimate market providing jobs and economic growth to states that have legalized its medical use

• To push for public discussions on the legalization of marijuana.

Vietnamese Drug Centers: Forced Labor, Human Rights Violations

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Global, News

Julian Abram Wainwright/Vinaland

Recovering drug users share buckets of water for a communal bath at a drug rehabilitation center in Vietnam

Vietnam subjects patients at so-called “drug rehabilitation centers” to abuse and forced labor, according to an international human rights group which called for the facilities to be shut down.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, on Wednesday called on international donors to check the programs they fund inside the drug rehab centers for possible human rights violations, reports Mike Ives at Forbes.com.

The United States and Australian governments, the United Nations, the World Bank and other international donors may “indirectly facilitate human rights abuses” by paying for drug dependency and HIV treatments for addicts inside the centers, according to the group.

ACLU Challenging Florida Drug Test Law For Welfare Recipients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Legislation, News

Sentimental Journeys

Florida Governor Rick Scott: “We don’t want to waste tax dollars.” The new welfare drug testing program costs about $5 for every $1 it saves.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says it is filing a lawsuit challenging a Florida law that requires new welfare recipients to pass a drug test.

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Orlando man, Luis Lebron, an ACLU spokesman told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The group said that Florida’s drug testing law is unconstitutional, violating the Fourth Amendment’s constitutional protections against search and seizure.

No further details of the ACLU lawsuit were immediately available.

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the welfare drug testing bill into law in July, saying it is “unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction.”

MMB&J Offers Medical Marijuana Bottles For Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 6, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

MMB&J

MMB&J (Medical Marijuana Bottles & Jars) was created in 2009 by a small group of registered Michigan medical marijuana caregivers and patients. “Our ultimate goal is to offer the highest possible quality of containers for your medicine,” says the company, which markets recycled plastic medical marijuana bottles to dispensaries.

All MMB&J medical marijuana bottles are made of 100 percent recycled plastic, and are odor-free, UV-resistant, waterproof and childproof. In other words, short of investing in glass, these are some of the best medical marijuana storage solutions available.

Marijuana Users Have Lower Risk Of Obesity: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 6, 2011 Medical, News

Red Bubble

Never mind the munchies. Marijuana users may have a lower risk of obesity than those who don’t smoke pot, according to a new study.

The results show that prevalence of obesity is lower among people who frequently smoke cannabis compared to those who never use, reports Rachael Rettner at My Health News Daily.

“We found that cannabis users are less likely to be obese than non-users,” said Dr. Yann Le Strat, a French psychiatrist and co-author of the new study, reports Philip Caulfield of the New York Daily News. “We were so surprised, we thought we had [made]a mistake.”

“Cannabis is supposed to increase appetite,” Le Strat said, reports The Week. “So we hypothesized that cannabis users would be more likely to have higher weight than non-users and be more likely to be obese.”

Nebraska Drug Tax Stamps Not Big Sellers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 6, 2011 News

Lincoln Journal Star

This $50 drug tax stamp is required by law for anyone selling half an ounce of marijuana in Nebraska.

Lots of folks might tell you that taxation is the first step towards legalization, but it ain’t necessarily so. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of legislatures passed laws establishing state taxes on illegal drugs — though very few people know about the taxes, and even fewer pay them. Nebraska, in 1990, was one of the states which decided to tax illicit drugs, and like most of the other state drug taxes, that law is still in effect.

People hauling drugs through Nebraska are required by law to buy stamps to affix on the packages, even though the drugs are illegal in the first place, reports Cory Matteson of the Lincoln Journal Star. The stamp doesn’t legalize the transport, yet it’s illegal not to have it.

Nebraska’s drug tax stamps are actually pretty cool looking, for kitsch value alone. In what lawmakers must have imagined was a bold and thought-provoking design, the somber background is a tombstone marked “RIP” with the foreground featuring a skull and… not crossbones, but crossdrugs: a syringe and a fat joint.

“The 1990 Nebraska Unicameral passed and Governor Kay Orr signed LB260 establishing a state tax on illegal drugs,” said Deepa Buss, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Revenue. “The intent of the law was to give law enforcement an alternative tool against drug dealers.

“If a prosecutor couldn’t win a conviction for selling drugs, he might be able to send the suspect to prison for failing to pay the drug tax,” Buss said. “Or the prosecution could win a conviction on both charges, increasing the potential penalties.”

Pot-Smoking Judge Fired In Georgia

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 6, 2011 News

Rome News-Tribune

Catoosa County Magistrate Judge Anthony Peters has been permanently dismissed for smoking marijuana and acting crazy

A judge in Georgia has been fired for smoking marijuana and for kicking down the doors at a relative’s house. The state Supreme Court unanimously, immediately and permanently removed Judge Anthony Peters of Catoosa County from the bench.

Peters, 49, “has not sought treatment for his admitted drug problems and has done nothing to show that he has any ability to live up to the high standard of conduct expected of members of the judiciary in Georgia,” reports Jim Galloway at the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The court cited Judge Peters’ weekly use of marijuana during a two-month period from March to May of 2010, during which he said he used cannabis to wean himself off prescription narcotics, reports Steve Visser at the AJC. The judge said he had become addicted to prescription opiates after being seriously injured in a 2005 ATV accident.

The court also cited an incident in which Peters kicked in the doors of the home of his sister-in-law’s estranged husband, reports Andra Varin at Newsmax.

In another bizarre incident, the judge pointed a gun at himself and told another judge he was “not afraid to die.”

Psycho Killer Still On The Loose In Marijuana Country

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 5, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: James Boylan.Info

Suspected killer Aaron Bassler, 35, is still on the loose in Northern California.

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” ~ Joseph Goebbels

Is the L.A. Times anti-marijuana? Since the tragic shooting of Ft. Bragg city councilman Jere Melo a week ago last Saturday, the L.A. Times and other wire services have still been running erroneous information surrounding the incident.

Violence stalks the mountains above a quiet coastal town

“The slaying of Fort Bragg Councilman Jere Melo is the latest event in an area populated by marijuana growers drawn to the isolation, good weather and laissez-faire culture. ~ Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2011

Yet the local slant is going in another, totally different direction: That there is a killer loose, and it has nothing to do with marijuana.

While the Times beats the propaganda drum, suspected killer Aaron Bassler is still out there.

Bear-ly Legal: When Marijuana Growers Learn The Bear Facts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 2, 2011 Culture, Growing

Graphic: Marijuana Muscle

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Argos called me last week to see if his writer friend wanted to learn how to make Humm Tea. The first time I heard of Humm Tea, I thought it was Humboldt’s version of an Arnie Palmer. A local beverage that was probably infused with something medicinal that you’d take with natural sugar.

Imagine my surprise when I learn that Humm Tea, or Compost Tea, was a natural concoction made from guano or some other form of doodie that is blended and stirred while adding some other naturally elements like banana skins for potassium for around thirty-six hours. This living growing breathing shake is then sprayed on plants for a variety of reasons and applications.

Previous 1 … 35 36 37 38 39 … 121 Next