Toke of the Town

Yearly Archives: 2011

Day Laborers Tricked Into Harvesting Pot; Get Prison Time

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By on Growing, News

Photo: 10tv.com

​Federal prosecutors are wrapping up a weak case against 11 men charged with cultivating thousands of marijuana plants in Ohio. The state’s former top cop claimed it’s an example of cartel-sponsored drug production, but defense attorneys point out that many of the defendants were day laborers who were tricked into harvesting the illegal crop.

All 11 have pleaded guilty, and seven have received prison sentences ranging from a year to 18 months, reports Fox News Latino. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rose was scheduled to sentence three more of the defendants on Friday, with a final sentencing date set for August 17.
When the grow bust was ballyhooed in a self-promotional news release, Attorney General Richard Cordray claimed the seizures and arrests were more evidence of what he claimed was “cartel-sponsored mega-marijuana farms taking root in Ohio.”
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Worth Repeating: 7 Cannabis Studies That Will Change Everything

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By on Medical

Graphic: Our Daily Bleed…

​​Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

​
Worth Repeating
​By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Since the 1960s, the major milestones our country has achieved are incredible.
We elected an African-American president, women’s issues have made tremendous progress, and gays and lesbians can marry.
But cannabis is still illegal…?  Not for long! 
As the tsunami of hard empirical positive medical cannabis research builds, it meets the inevitable changing younger demographics of our country, and with the need for new cannabis- based jobs and new tax revenue.
The cannabis legalization tipping point is close at hand!
 
“Cannabis is the people’s medicine” and has overwhelming public support.
Let’s knock this last domino over!
And to that end…
I would like to highlight several 2011 research papers that discuss the most current findings regarding medical cannabis treatment and disease prevention.
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Britain’s Lib Dems Poised To Call For Decriminalizing Drugs

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By on Global, Legislation

Photo: THC Farmer
If Britain’s Liberal Democrats have their way, personal possession of marijuana and other drugs will no longer be a criminal offense. Above, some of Britain’s finest UK Cheese.

​The United Kingdom’s Liberal Democrats are reportedly ready to call for the decriminalization of all drugs, characterizing current laws as harmful and ineffective.

According to the UK edition of the Huffington Post, Lib Dem party members are “almost certain” to back a motion next month urging the British government to set up an expert panel to consider the decriminalization of personal drug use.
If it wins support at a conference in Birmingham, the motion will become party policy. According to scene-watchers, this will likely provoke tensions with the party’s Conservative coalition partners.
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DOJ: State Workers Can Legally Run Med Marijuana Programs

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: CDS
Hey, eagle dude, is that a bud you’re holding?

​The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday filed a legal brief indicating the federal government would not prosecute state employees for implementing state medical marijuana programs, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

The DOJ brief asks that a lawsuit filed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, be thrown out, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.

Brewer’s claims had no merit, according to the Department of Justice, which noted that her lawsuit failed to provide credible evidence that state employees were under threat of imminent federal prosecution.

The governors of Arizona, Rhode Island and Washington have all refused to implement medical marijuana laws because they said they feared criminal prosecution of state employees by federal U.S. attorneys.
The DOJ announcement is particularly ironic and poignant, since it completely removes the one objection Washington Governor Christine Gregoire cited when she vetoed almost all of SB 5073, which would have explicitly legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in that state.
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China Censors Little Black Book Of Marijuana; Release Delayed

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By on Culture, Global, News

Graphic: Peter Pauper Press
It’s “too controversial” for the uptight Chinese, but ready for you on September 15

​Communist Bosses Won’t Even Allow Book Inside The Country

The worldwide release of an American book on cannabis has been delayed, due to the refusal of the communist government of China to allow its binding on Chinese soil, according to the publisher.

The Little Black Book of Marijuana, by yours truly, Toke of the Town editor Steve Elliott, was scheduled for availability on August 1, but that printing schedule was thrown off after the totalitarian Chinese government decided the book was “too controversial” to even allow the printed pages inside the tightly-run dictatorship.
“Our printer is located in Hong Kong, with binderies in mainland China,” production manager Ginny Reynolds of Peter Pauper Press explained to me Friday morning. “Usually it’s no problem to move printed books from Hong Kong to China for binding.
“However, Chinese censorship is extremely tight,” Reynolds told Toke of the Town. “Any content deemed ‘sensitive’ or ‘controversial’ by their standards is banned.”
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Medical Marijuana Bill Coming To Alabama Legislature

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: AMMJC

​When my sister in Alabama suffers severe nausea due to a major stroke she had last year, she’s not allowed to use the most effective medication. In fact, if she did that, she could be put in jail.

You see, Lynda can’t use medical marijuana — even though it works better than any of the harsh pharmaceuticals her doctor prescribes — because it’s very much against the law in Alabama.
That could all be changing soon, thanks to the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC), which, just two months after its founding, on Thursday announced that the Alabama Medical Marijuana Patient’s Rights Act will be introduced in the next session of the Alabama Legislature.
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Surprise, Surprise: Oklahoma Governor Not OK With Marijuana

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By on Culture, News

Photo: Oklahoma Farm Report
OK Gov. Mary Fallin: Smoking marijuana means you’ll end up in prison. For hash, make that a life sentence.

​In a bit of non-shocking news, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said she’s firmly opposed to legalized marijuana, even for medicinal uses.

The Republican governor, who recently signed a bill establishing a life sentence for making hashish out of marijuana, made the statement Thursday during an online town hall forum, reports The Associated Press.
Fallin, one of the new breed of intellectually challenged crypto-conservative “I’d like to hit that” MILFs (think Palin and Bachmann) who seem to be the Republicans’ candidates of choice these days, claimed she analyzes hundreds of pardon and parole requests each month.
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Ohio Marijuana Petitions Rejected; Not Enough Valid Signatures

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By on Legislation, News

Graphic: The Weed Blog

​An Ohio group that wants to legalize medical marijuana has failed to submit enough petition signatures in its first effort toward putting the idea before voters.

Attorney General Mike DeWine (it would be a lot cooler if he was named DeWeed) on Wednesday rejected the initial petition for putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the  November 2012 ballot, reports The Associated Press.
The amendment would allow cannabis possession for patients with qualifying ailments, along with their caregivers. Patients would need authorization from their doctor to use medical marijuana.
At least 1,000 valid signatures were required before the group could go ahead. Only 534 of the 2,134 signatures turned in were valid, according to DeWine, reports The Weed Blog.
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Couple Held In Death Of Medical Marijuana Distributor

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By on News

Photo: Long Beach Post
Police say they’ve identified the man in this security camera footage from a Beverly Hills convenience store as Marcel Mackabee, who has been arrested for the murder of medical marijuana distributor Philip Williamson.

​A husband and wife have been arrested in the March 24 Long Beach slaying of a medical marijuana distributor.

Marcel Mackabee on Tuesday was charged with one count of murder, and his wife, Rosemary Sayegh, was charged as an accessory in the shooting death of Philip Victor Williamson, according to police, reports Greg Mellen at the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Robbery was the motive for Williamson’s murder, according to police, who said the victim may have had $500,000 and seven pounds of marijuana at the time of his death.
More arrests are expected, according to police.
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