Yearly Archives: 2011

Colorado Alliance Files Initiative To Tax And Regulate Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 8, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol

Denver-based activists have filed a ballot initiative with the Secretary of State that they say would regulate marijuana in Colorado in a manner similar to alcohol.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol must now gather 86,105 signatures before August 6, 2012 to qualify for the November 2012 general election ballot.

The proposal requires the Department of Revenue to tax and regulate marijuana and directs this new revenue source to the public school capital construction assistance fund.

It would allow people 21 and older to buy and possess up to an ounce of marijuana. They would also be allowed to grow up to six plants and to possess all the marijuana produced by those plants, reports Scot Kersgaard at the Colorado Independent.

Crackdown: Kent, Washington Raids Cannabis Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KING 5

Kent Police raid Suzie Q’s, one of the four medical marijuana dispensaries in town, on Wednesday. All four dispensaries in Kent were raided and shut down.

The repercussions of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire’s failure of leadership — when she vetoed most of a bill that would have legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in the state — continue to reverberate. Police in Kent, Washington served search warrants at all four dispensaries in town on Wednesday afternoon.

The businesses, all located in the Kent valley, have been the subjects of an “ongoing investigation” for selling medical marijuana to authorized patients, supposedly “in violation of state law,” a city spokesman said, reports KIRO TV.

Drug Policy Alliance’s Nadelmann To Appear With Bill Maher

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Notes from the Psychedelic Salon

Ethan Nadelmann, DPA: “The War On Drugs is a cancer in our society”

Ethan Nadelmann, the articulate and engaging executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, will be a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, July 8 at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

Nadelmann will be interviewed one-on-one by Maher at the top of the show, and will discuss the War On Drugs and the movement to end marijuana prohibition, according to the DPA.

The topic is quite timely, as there was an avalanche of media coverage in June about the failed War On Drugs:

• The Global Commission on Drug Policy (Kofi Annan, the former presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, Richard Branson of Virgin, etc.) made worldwide news by calling for an end to the War on Drugs.

Oh No! California Drug Task Forces May Get The Ax. LOL

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: Stop The Drug War

The Humboldt County Drug Task Force, straight from the pot-cultivation center of California’s famed Emerald Triangle, may fall prey to the state budget ax, resulting from cuts enacted by the Legislature late last month to balance the state’s 2011-2012 budget.

Oh, whatever shall we do without them? It’d be a shame for all those cops to have to get real jobs which don’t involve stealing people’s pot crops.

One of those cuts slashed $36 million from the budget of the California Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement, and will likely lead to the elimination of 55 state-led task forces, reports Thadeus Greenson at the Eureka Times-Standard. The list includes the Humboldt County Drug Task Force.

Under the budget deal, the cut almost doubles to $71 million in the next fiscal year, which could trigger the loss of $40 million in matching federal funds — at least we can hope.

R.I. Marijuana Advocates See Loopholes In DOJ Memo

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: RIPAC

The head of Rhode Island’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group said she is still optimistic that cannabis dispensaries will be open in the state in the not-too-distant future.

JoAnne Lepannen, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC), said on Tuesday that she has carefully reviewed “Seeking to Authorize Marijuana for Medical Use,” the two-page memo issued last week by the Justice Department, reports W. Zachary Malinowski at The Providence Journal.

Lepannen said she sees a silver lining in the document because there is no specific threat by federal authorities to prosecute state employees who are associated with the licensing or oversight of marijuana dispensaries.

“I think there is a ray of hope here,” Lepannen said. “We have to read into this letter what [the federal government]didn’t say. That speaks volumes.”

The memo does warn that those who “facilitate” large-scale medical marijuana production (presumably, that wording was used to intimidate landlords, as well as actual cultivators) are violating the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Police Confiscate HIV Sufferer’s Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2011 Global, Medical, News

Photo: The Telegram

Richard Oakley of St. John’s, Newfoundland, holds some of the medications he uses to treat HIV. A package of marijuana sent to him from British Columbia was confiscated by the RCMP.

A Canadian man had $1,500 worth of medical marijuana confiscated when he went to pick up a package at Purolator and was instead met by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Richard Oakley, who tested positive for HIV 25 years ago, moved back to St. John’s, Newfoundland, from British Columbia three months ago to be near his family, reports Barb Sweet at The Telegram.

Oakley said since moving, he already got the first package of marijuana from his designated grower in B.C., with no problem.

But last week, when he kept trying to claim his second delivery of cannabis and medicated chocolate edibles, Purolator told him to come back on Monday. That’s when he was met by at RCMP officer.

Pot Dogs: It’s Time To Treat Them Like Man’s Best Friends

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 6, 2011 Culture, Growing

Photo: The Tizona Group

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Anyone’s who has spent any time behind the Redwood Curtain knows that dogs are a grower’s best friend. Most farmers I know have at least one dog, if not more.

Whe
n you live in an isolated community cultivating the number one cash crop in the world, it pays to have a security system that you can rely on and for the most part, that can scare away any unwanted guest without firing off…a mean word. Dogs are an invaluable source of protection in lieu of setting up a .50-caliber foxhole.

Medical Marijuana Program Goes Forward In D.C.; Feds Watching

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 6, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Medicinal DC

The District of Columbia passed its first milestone in selecting who gets the much-coveted licenses for the city’s medical marijuana program, even as the federal government is taking a second look at its hands-off approach to those who legally grow and sell cannabis under laws allowing its medicinal use.

More than 80 individuals or businesses applied to cultivate or sell medical marijuana through letters of intent submitted to the Department of Health, reports Tom Howell Jr. at The Washington Times. The applicants range from entrepreneurial lawyers and gardeners in D.C., to medical marijuana professionals based in states like Colorado and Montana.

Poll: Washington Voters Support Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 6, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Reason

According to a new Elway Poll, 54 percent of Washingtonians support legalizing cannabis.

A majority of voters in Washington state support the legalization of marijuana, but many say they “need to know more,” according to a newly released Elway Poll.

“There were equivalent numbers of ‘definite supporters’ and ‘definite opponents’ among the 408 voters interviewed by The Elway Poll last week,” the poll reported, according to Joel Connelly at the Seattle P.I. “However, there were twice as many who were ‘inclined to support’ legalization as ‘inclined to oppose,’ ” the poll reported.

Of those surveyed, 54 percent overall definitely support marijuana legalization or are “inclined to support it but I need to know more,” while 43 percent are definitely opposed or inclined to oppose. Only 3 percent of Evergreen State voters are undecided on the issue.

Indiana Lawmakers Studying Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 5, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Medical Marijuana States

The idea of legalizing marijuana is going to be studied by lawmakers in Indiana.

The General Assembly’s criminal law and sentencing policy study committee plans to examine all the different angles of the marijuana issue, including legalization, reports WHAS 11.

The Hoosier legislators will also take a look at decriminalizing pot, or creating a medical marijuana program in the state.

Among the lawmakers who support the study is Republican Rep. Tom Knollman, who is battling multiple sclerosis. Knollman told lawmakers during this legislatige session that he wished he could legally try cannabis to help relieve his pain.

Knollman said at the time that although he’s among the most conservative of state legislators, he hopes he can be a law-abiding citizen and “use one of God’s plants.”

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