Idaho Man Loses Appeal To Smoke Pot For Religious Reasons

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 15, 2011 Culture, Legislation, News

Cary White, shown here backpacking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, has argued in court — unsuccessfully so far — that he has a religious right to use cannabis.

When Cary William White got stopped by Boise, Idaho police in 2007 for a bad headlight, the cops noticed a pill bottle with a green leafy substance between the driver’s seat and the console. White admitted to smoking marijuana earlier that day from a pipe which was found under his seat.

White fought back, making motions to dismiss the misdemeanor marijuana possession and paraphernalia charges on the grounds that his “sacred” use of cannabis is protected by Idaho’s religious freedom law.

But the Idaho Court of Appeals, in a unanimous Wednesday ruling, agreed with two lower courts, finding that “White’s marijuana use is not substantially motivated by a religious belief.” How convenient that they were able to read his mind and assess his heart. (Oh yeah — they weren’t.)

Seattle’s Smoking This Sunday At MEDFEST

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

Will Washington state medical marijuana patients lose the right to drive? Will they lose the right to grow their own medicine? Will state stores start selling pot instead of, or in addition to, hard liquor?

You can inform yourself on all those questions — and also have a blast — this Sunday, December 18, from 2 to 10 p.m. at the political pot party MEDFEST, which will be hosted at SODO Pop, 2424 1st Avenue South in Seattle, just north of Lander Street.

Medical Marijuana Crackdown Coming In Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 14, 2011 Dispensaries, News

CBS Denver

Med Stop, which was approved by the City of Denver, is 161 feet diagonally across the street from a school.

Colorado has been mercifully spared — so far — from the federal crackdown on medical marijuana. Some have speculated its highly regulated system of handling distribution through state-licensed dispensaries has protected the state. That theory may now need some adjustment. Federal authorities plan to crack down on the medicinal cannabis business in Colorado on a large scale for the first time.

The action — which also flies in the face of theories postulating that since Colorado’s medical marijuana law is a constitutional amendment, it has protected the state from the feds — will begin with warning letters which will go to dispensaries and grow facilities near schools, reports Rick Sallinger at CBS4.

So far, it’s not clear when the crackdown will begin in earnest.

Toke of the Town’s Cannabis Song of the Day: Get Lifted (Taylor)

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

Taylor, who performs “Get Lifted,” is a 19-year-old hip hop artist out of New Jersey.
“I’m a huge supporter of marijuana, and I’m not just some kid who smokes it — I do plenty of reading and research on the good it could do for so many people,” Taylor told Toke of the Town Wednesday morning.
“I actually didn’t start getting very good at rapping until I started smoking weed,” Taylor told us. “I’ve always rapped and wrote lyrics, but I didn’t become really good until I started experimenting with the herb. I’ve always heard pot and musicians go together, now I see why.
“As far as what I think should happen to marijuana, it should be completely decriminalized,” Taylor said. “No reason why there’s laws on what we choose to do with a plant.”

Teen Marijuana Use Continues To Rise Despite High Arrest Rates

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 14, 2011 Legislation, News

Tobacco News

Government Study, Comparing Rates of Marijuana and Alcohol Use, Suggests That Regulation Is More Effective Means of Reducing Teen Use

Cannabis use continues to rise among youth despite the continued policy of arresting nearly a million people a every year for marijuana violations.

Marijuana use by 8th, 10th and 12th grade students increased again in 2011, with more American teenagers now using marijuana for the fourth year in a row, according to numbers released today by tyne National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the University of Michigan as part of the annual Monitoring the Future survey.

Mad Scientist Takes Top Spot At Oregon Cannabis Awards

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 13, 2011 Culture, Growing, Medical

Joe Winn

The 2011 Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards (OMCA) First Place trophy

By Charlie Bott

Toke of the Town

Oregon Correspondent

The marijuana strain Mad Scientist, grown by first-time entrant Ray Bowser, captured top honors at the 10th Annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards on Saturday, December 10, at the World Famous Cannabis Cafe in Portland.

The highest THC content flowers overall measured an impressive 23.9 percent. Better keep this stuff out of New Jersey (where the limit is 10 percent) and the Netherlands (limit 15 percent)!

Overall Winner: Mad Scientist — grown by first-time entrant Ray Bowser

2nd place: Medicine Woman — grown by David Verstoppen

3rd place : Blueberry — grown by last year’s winner, Jessi James

The ceremony also included the presentation of the Freedom Fighter of the Year awards to Lori Duckworth of Southern Oregon NORML, and presentation of the Dr. Ric Bayer Award to Paul Loney, legal counsel for Oregon NORML, for his years of service to the medical cannabis community.

Govt.: Nearly Half Of Drug Courts Do Not Reduce Recidivism

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 13, 2011 Legislation, News

The Daily Record

Only 18 Of 32 Drug Courts Showed Statistically Significant Reduction In Re-Arrest Rates Of Participants

Drug courts, hailed just a few years ago as the salvation of our criminal justice system — they were supposed to rescue the courts from being swamped with low-level possession cases — have problems of their own.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week released a report in which it finds that only 18 of 32 drug courts — or just more than 50 percent — showed statistically significant reductions in recidivism among participants.

Spanish Basque Country Legalizing Marijuana In 2012

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 13, 2011 Global, Legislation, News

Flashpoints

The Basque Country in Spain (yellow area on the map) is legalizing marijuana in 2012.

As the U.S. federal government torques up its war on marijuana, parts of Europe are going in the other direction. The Socialist government of the Basque Country in Spain will approve a law in early 2012 which legalizes the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis, according to health authorities in the province.

The Basque government, led by Patxi Lopez, has decided it is better to regulate clubs where consumers will be able to use marijuana which will be produced and distributed by members of the club themselves, reports Typically Spanish.

Spanish drug laws currently distinguish between possession for personal use, and production or sale. Possession carries administrative fines, but production and sale currently can result in jail time.

Government officials said the new law would better explain the consequences of consumption to the public, and would create “a certain space for personal autonomy,” adding that prohibition only leads to “clandestine action, delinquency and the black market.”

CA Supreme Court Urged To Review Medical Marijuana Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 13, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Cheryl Shuman

Medical marijuana advocates hold a rally outside Long Beach City Hall

A coalition of advocates and public officials filed an amicus “friend of the court” brief on Monday, asking the California Supreme Court to take the appeal of Pack v. City of Long Beach, a controversial medical marijuana decision from early October.

The coalition, which includes Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), as well as the County of Santa Cruz, is also seeking outright depublication of the Second District ruling.

The Long Beach City Council decided in November to appeal the Pack decision to the California Supreme Court.

FILM THE POLICE: Toke of the Town’s Video of the Day

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 12, 2011 Culture, Products

B. Dolan’s “FILM THE POLICE” pays tribute to N.W.A.’s infamous “Fuck the Police,” serving as a call to action for the digitized media movement while responding to the recent explosion of police brutality all across the world.
This free MP3, courtesy of Strange Famous Records, features a reconstruction of Dr. Dre’s original beat, brilliantly reanimated by UK producer Buddy Peace. Label CEO, Sage Francis, opens the song by picking up the gavel where Dr. Dre left it 23 years ago, introducing a blistering, true-to-style flip of Ice Cube’s original verse by SFR cornerstone, B. Dolan.

Yearly Archives: 2011