Yearly Archives: 2011

40 Years Of Hash Bash: Ann Arbor’s Pot Festival Started In ’72

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 31, 2011 Culture

Thousands of partiers filled the University of Michigan Diag last year for the 39th Annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor. The 40th celebration is at high noon on Saturday.

On April 1, 1972, stoners gathered on the University of Michigan Diag in Ann Arbor for the first ever Hash Bash, a countercultural cannabis celebration now in its 40th year. The reason for the original Bash was Michigan’s new marijuana law wasn’t going to take effect until after the weekend, so for a brief time there was no cannabis law on the books.

“We kind of wanted to have the Hash Bash to defy this law,” recalled activist John Sinclair, reports Ryan J. Stanton at AnnArbor.com.

According to Sinclair, activists were marking the occasion when the state lowered the penalties for pot possession from 10 years to one year, and for sales from 20-to-life to four years. “We didn’t think that was far enough,” Sinclair said.

Federal Agents Raid San Fernando Valley Marijuana Grow Ops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 31, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: LA Weekly

More than 5,000 plants were reportedly seized from hydroponic grow operations in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday.

Federal agents reportedly raided several medical marijuana operations in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday. Agents from multiple federal agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by the Los Angeles Police Department, uncovered pot growing warehouses, according to spokesperson Laura Eimiller.

“Multiple search warrants were executed,” Eimiller said. “It involved multiple agencies including the FBI, DEA, LAPD and the ATF and ICE.”

One law enforcement source told Dennis Romero at LA Weekly that more than 5,000 plants were seized, along with “luxury cars” and at least $200,000 in cash. The raided locations were said to all be indoor hydroponic growing operations.

Harris Poll: Most Americans Want To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 31, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Telling It Like It Is!

The marijuana legalization debate has caught fire. When asked if they would support legalizing cannabis in their state, three out of four Americans — 74 percent — say they support legalization of medical marijuana, with almost half (48 percent) saying they strongly support it, according to a new Harris Poll. Fewer than one in five Americans (18 percent) say they oppose legalizing medical marijuana in their state.

Americans are less supportive of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Two in five (42 percent) support legalizing recreational use in in their state, and half (49 percent) oppose it.

Surprisingly to some, adults in the East are most supportive of legalizing marijuana for medical use (80 percent) and recreational use (50 percent). The West is the next most supportive region, with 76 percent supporting medical marijuana and 50 percent favoring the legalizing of recreational marijuana.

50th Anniversary Of Treaty Outlawing Cannabis Worldwide

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 30, 2011 Global, Legislation

Photo: The Vaults of Erowid

Harry J. Anslinger is responsible for both the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, effectively outlawing cannabis in the U.S., and the 1961 Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs, which outlawed weed worldwide and is still in effect.

Today, March 30, 2011, marks an unhappy birthday. Fifty years ago, marijuana became illegal worldwide.

The Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs, which started the international policy of cannabis prohibition, was signed on this day in 1961. In accordance with the treaty, marijuana is still illegal in every country on Earth — including the Netherlands, where laws remain on the books despite official policy “tolerating” its use.

The Single Convention Treaty was the handiwork of the powerful ex-director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, architect of the first federal cannabis prohibition law, the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.

“Anslinger had pushed for a treaty against cannabis in order to shore up the act’s dubious constitutionality under U.S. law,” said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML. (The act was later declared unconstitutional for other reasons, only to be supplanted by the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which kicked off Nixon’s War On Drugs.)

“Today, the international treaty stands as the principal cause of prohibition-related crime and violence worldwide with drug wars from Mexico to Afghanistan plus the criminalization of millions of users,” Gieringer said.

Cannabis Industry, Congressman Promote $1.7 Billion Business

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 30, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: NCIA

The National Cannabis Industry Association, the first national trade organization advancing the interests of marijuana-related businesses, on Wednesday discussed the federal legislative needs of the industry at an event at the National Press Club.

Leaders of the industry joined Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colorado), as well as the manager of See Change Strategy, an independent firm that last week released the first-ever financial analysis of the legal medical marijuana industry in the United States.

The See Change report, based on interviews with more than 300 people in the industry, estimated the total legal medical cannabis market at $1.7 billion in 2011.

Medical Cannabis Pioneers Mark 10 Years On Telegraph Avenue

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 30, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Patients Care Collective

Berkeley’s Patients Care Collective will mark 10 years in business on Monday, April 4.

The Patients Care Collective (PCC) first opened its doors in Berkeley, California on April 4, 2001. There were only a handful of dispensaries in Northern California back in the dark days of the second Bush Administration, and none in the rest of the United States. At the time, public perception and the political climate weren’t nearly as compassionate as they are today, and each month brought new reports of DEA harassment. Still, the PCC persevered, and helped to found Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002.

“I want to congratulate the PCC on their 10-year anniversary,” said Steph Sherer, executive director of ASA in Washington, D.C. “Not only have they spent a decade providing safe and affordable access to medical cannabis, but they are true pioneers.”

Drug Warrior-In-Chief Obama Named Nanny of the Month

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 30, 2011 Culture, News

Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for March is Drug Warrior-In-Chief Barack Obama, whose Drug Enforcement Administration banned faked pot, thwarted a scientist’s decade-long attempt to study marijuana, and raided dispensaries in Montana and California — all in one month!
“Seems like only yesterday when Obama promised he wouldn’t waste Justice Department resources raiding medical marijuana dispensaries,” Reason.tv‘s Katie Hooks said.

Feds Remove Anti-Tumor Cannabis Info After Just Days Online

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 29, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: Garden State Alternative

Just 11 days after adding a section on medical marijuana to its treatment database, the National Cancer Institute has altered the new page, removing any mention of the evidence that marijuana can diminish and even reverse tumor growth.

In an edit appearing Monday afternoon, NCI replaced a sentence about marijuana’s direct anti-tumor effect with one saying that it is prescribed mainly to control nausea, pain and insomnia for cancer patients, reports Kyle Daly at The Colorado Independent.

The original language, published to the Web on March 17, had read:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.

After being changed Monday, it now reads:

The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.

San Diego Passes Restrictive New Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 29, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Nug Magazine

The San Diego City Council on Monday approved restrictive new medical marijuana regulations that will force more than 165 dispensaries in the city to close in the near future and apply for permits to operate.

San Diego becomes the 43rd city in California to pass sweeping limitations on medical marijuana collectives, which have multiplied at a speed that has alarmed city officials, reports Christopher Cadelago at Sign On San Diego. At least 214 California cities have permanent bans on the facilities, according to the Coalition for a Drug Free California.

Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Rules Include Cultivation Protocol

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 29, 2011 Growing, Medical

Photo: The Huffington Post

Medical marijuana application forms went online Monday in Arizona. State law requires that qualified applicants receive their cards within 10 days.

First Patients Should Be Getting Cards In 10 Days

Arizona patients who act quickly can be among the first to qualify to buy, possess, and use marijuana, which state voters last November legalized for medical use.

Medical marijuana application forms went online Monday in Arizona. State law requires that qualified patients receive their cards within 10 days of applying. All patients are authorized to grow until dispensaries start up later this year.

Department of Health Services officials on Monday made forms available on the agency’s website that a doctor must fill out to get a patient authorized to use cannabis, reports Howard Fischer at Capitol Media Services. DHS Director Will Humble said that while applications won’t be accepted until April 14, those who think they qualify can jump-start the process right now.

And if everything is in order, state law requires the medical marijuana cards to be sent out within 10 days, if patients pay the $150 application fee by credit card.

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