Yearly Archives: 2011

Judge Rules Medical Marijuana Not An Agricultural Crop

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 15, 2011 Growing, Legislation, News

Sure looks “agricultural” to me.

Yes, marijuana is a plant you grow from the ground. No, it’s not an agricultural crop. Confused yet?

In what is believed to be the first ruling of its kind in the state, a judge in California has ruled that a marijuana collective can’t operate on land zoned for agriculture, reports Lewis Griswold of the Fresno Bee.

In his ruling last week, Tulare County Superior Court Judge Paul Vortmann dismissed a property owner’s argument that a medical marijuana collective’s cultivation of marijuana is legal because it is in an agricultural zone.

“In this state, marijuana has never been classified as a crop or horticultural product,” Judge Vortmann wrote in his ruling. Marijuana is a controlled substance, the judge said.

5 Tips For Choosing A Medical Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

Photo: Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

The “medicine wheel” at Ben Reagan’s dispensary, The C.P.C., is used to demonstrate for patients the continuum between sativa and indica varieties of medicinal cannabis.

By Ben Reagan

Co-Founder, The C.P.C.

Choosing alternative medicine such as medical cannabis is a big decision, and one you probably took a long time to make. Now that you’re here, and whether or not you were previously a cannabis user, there are a few things you should know about dispensaries (also known as collectives) to ensure that you get the quality of life improvement and medical benefits you’re looking for.

Here are five tips to help get you started on your new journey.

‘Marijuana Is Sexy’: Talking Pot with Mendo Sheriff Tom Allman

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 Culture, Growing

Photo: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman: “We are, of course, supportive of legitimate medical marijuana here.”

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

The Coming of the New Prophet

Rikess: Last time we spoke in August of last year… (See Toke of the Town’s 2010 interview with Sheriff Allman here.)

Sheriff: Seems like yesterday…

Rikess: (laughs) I know and still…you don’t write and you don’t call…

Sheriff: (laughs) Okay…

Rikess: So last time I was here, you said something that was incredibly right on. You said that there was going to be very little difference between George Bush’s administration and Obama’s, when it came to medical marijuana. You said that someone big in the attorney general’s office sat in the chair I’m sitting in and said, and I’m paraphrasing, “He guaranteed me that it was going to be the same under Obama as it was with George Bush. In the end, Eric Holder will handle medical marijuana the same way [the]George Bush [Administration] did.”

Sheriff: It wasn’t Eric Holder. It was a U.S. attorney. The chronological order was, the U.S. attorney came up here and said, (this is definitely under George W.), saying, “ummm, the U.S. government will not get involved with any marijuana cultivation, distribution, what-ever-you-want-to-call-it, that falls within the boundaries of California’s medical marijuana.”

Okay, thank you very much. And, you know, he took his dog and pony show and went somewhere else.

Then the presidential election happened, okay. Then in the primary or maybe it was before the general election, Obama just mentioned something about medical marijuana.

Poll: 51% of Coloradans Favor Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Cannabis Fantastic

A narrow majority of Colorado’s registered voters believe marijuana should be legalized, according to a new PPP poll. Voters of the state may have a chance to make that a reality next year.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is gathering signatures to put a cannabis legalization measure on the ballot in 2012.

When asked, “Do you think marijuana usage should be legal or illegal?” 51 percent of voters said “legal,” 38 percent said “illegal,” and 11 percent were not sure, reports Jon Walker at Just Say Now.

The breakdown of support in Colorado is almost identical to national patterns of support.

Troopers Seize 188 Pounds Of Marijuana In Moving Boxes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 News

Photo: Wyoming Highway Patrol

State troopers said this is one of the boxes of marijuana found in a moving truck after it was stopped in Wyoming on Sunday.

Wyoming state troopers arrested a suspected marijuana smuggler after they said he ran into another car in an Interstate 80 construction zone on Sunday.

Troopers were alerted that a rental truck had hit another vehicle without stopping on the interstate west of Cheyenne, reports Wayne Harrison of The Denver Channel.

A rental truck matching the description was pulled over about 15 miles west of Cheyenne and a Wyoming Highway Patrol drug detection dog was called in after the driver “appeared very nervous.”

Driver James Richburg, 56, was so nervous, in fact, that he forgot to put his truck in park and started rolling as he was being questioned, reports Rylee DeGood at CBS 5.

Busted: Florida Woman Calls Deputy, Tries To Sell Him Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 News

Photo: Monroe County Sheriff’s Office

Jennifer Knopp tried to expand her customer base on Thursday.

A Florida Keys woman was arrested on Thursday for trying to sell marijuana to a sheriff’s deputy after she called him on the phone.

On Thursday evening at 9:15, Jennifer Knopp, 39, called the SWAT-issued cellphone of Deputy Chris Galls; she told the deputy she “had the stuff he was looking for,” reports Matthew Handley at the Broward Palm Beach New Times.

The woman then offered to sell Deputy Galls “crippie” marijuana, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Department press release, and the two agreed to meet behind a local movie theater.

She asked much he wanted, and Deputy Galls said a quarter-ounce.

Galls brought along narcotics officer Deputy Paul Bean for the meeting at Marathon Movie Theater, about a mile from the sheriff’s office, reports KeysNet.com.

‘Kids For Cash’ Judge Gets 28 Years In Prison

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 News

Photo: Real News Reporter

An angry mother confronts scumbag Judge Mark Ciavarella. The corrupt former judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison this week for taking almost $1 million in bribes to fill up a private, for-profit juvenile detention center with children.

Former Judge Took $1 Million In Bribes From Builder Of Private, For-Profit Juvenile Detention Centers

Should anyone really be surprised when a private, for-profit correctional system results in abuses like this?

A long-serving judge in Pennsylvania has been ordered to spend 28 years in prison for his role in a bribery scandal that resulted in thousands of juvenile convictions — many of them for marijuana — being overturned by the state supreme court.

Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., 61, was sentenced on Thursday for taking $1 million in bribes from the builder of two juvenile detention centers in a case that became known as “kids for cash,” reports the Associated Press.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned about 4,000 convictions issued by Judge Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, ruling that he violated the rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

County Tax Official Caught Growing Marijuana In North Carolina

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: Asheville Citizen-Times

Chris Maney, 46, was charged with possession and felony “manufacturing” of marijuana after officers claimed they found eight plants during a raid

A tax administrator in Madison County, North Carolina was arrested after police raided his property and accused him of growing marijuana.

Chris Maney, 46, was charged with felony possession and manufacturing of marijuana after the raid by State Bureau of Investigation agents and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, reports Melissa Dean at the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Law enforcement had gotten a tip that Maney was growing pot next to his home, according to Sheriff Buddy Harwood. Detectives claimed they seized about 5.5 pounds of marijuana.

Eight marijuana plants in separate buckets were found in a field near the home, according to State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) spokeswoman Noelle Talley, reports North Carolina News Network. Cannabis seeds and “drug paraphernalia, including a scale,” were found inside the home, according to the cops.

Thieves Create Fake Marijuana Dispensary; Rob Pot Courier

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KTLA-TV

Image from the surveillance video

A courier delivering medical marijuana to what he thought was a dispensary was mugged for $20,000 worth of cannabis by three men, according to police in Fullerton, California.

Police said the trio set up a fake medical marijuana dispensary in a commercial building in Fullerton, even painting a green cross on the outside wall of the building, reports Dennis Romero at LA Weekly.

“These suspects had spent some time putting this ruse together, putting the order in and finding a building that worked for what they were trying to do,” said Sgt. Andrew Goodrich of the Fullerton Police Department, reports Eileen Frere at ABC 7.

YEP or NAW? Two Pot Legalization Drives Active In Washington

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Courtesy Don Skakie

Don Skakie, Yes End Penalties WA: “Removing marijuana penalties will not conflict with federal law”

When it comes to cannabis law reform, what’ll it be, Washington? Your choices are YEP and NAW. (The respective acronyms stand for Yes End Penalties and New Approach Washington.)

The new kid on the block, Washington state cannabis reform group Yes End Penalties Washington (YEP WA), will announce a new marijuana legalization drive at 11 a.m. Thursday on the North Steps of the Legislative Building at the State Capitol in Olympia.

Initiative sponsor and Lacey City Councilman Ron Lawson will announce “Initiative to the Legislature 505,” which would remove cannabis-related civil and criminal penalties for adults in Washington state. Supporters of I-505 will speak at the event.

Yes End Penalties WA is inviting news media and interested members of the public to attend and compare YEP to NAW.

“Removing marijuana penalties will not conflict with federal law, avoiding preemption and empowering the people of Washington state to step away from the fear of speaking for cannabis reform and directing their legislators to create fair and evenhanded regulation that benefits the public, rather than special interest groups and based on fact and science, not misinformation or ‘reefer madness’ propaganda,” said YEP’s Don Skakie.

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