Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Cops Say Mom Brought Marijuana To Son At Juvenile Detention

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 16, 2012 News

The juvenile probation camp known as Camp Glenn Rockey is located in the city of San Dimas, California, and they’ve been finding more marijuana in dorm rooms lately

Hold the phone, we have a new entrant for Mother of the Year. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman trying to visit her son in a juvenile probation camp Saturday after they found marijuana and what they claimed was a fake medical marijuana card while searching her purse, according to department officials.

Rhonda J. Gonzales, 44, of Pomona, was visiting Camp Glenn Rockey, a camp for juvenile offenders in San Dimas, to visit her son who is a ward at the camp, according to the Sheriff’s Department, reports Rick Rojas at the Los Angeles Times.

Canada’s Liberal Party Votes Yes To Legalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 15, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Liberal Party members in Canada voted Sunday morning to make the legalization of marijuana official party policy.

The Liberals are attempting to find a new direction and policies that will resonate with Canadians and help pull it back from the brink, report Lee Berthiaume and Jason Fekete at the National Post.

On Saturday night, delegates at the party’s biennial convention in Ottawa voted to open the party to outsiders by creating a new, free category of membership. They are hoping to revolutionize Canadian politics and help rebuild the Liberal Party.

MPP Ranks Top 10 Marijuana Highlights From 2011

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

The Fix

So now that other organizations’ and TV networks’ various Top 10 lists are out of the way, the Marijuana Policy Project says it can safely release its annual Top 10 list without getting caught in all the clutter.

According to MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia, the following list comprises the 10 most significant, positive developments relating to marijuana policy reform in the U.S. in 2011.

To see explanations for each of the 10 items, you can read Kampia’s column in the Huffington Post today, Friday, January 13.

1. Congress de-funds the White House Drug Czar’s ad campaign.

2. MPP’s ideal bill is finally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ron Paul and Barney Frank — a bill that would let states determine their own marijuana policies without federal interference.

3. Public support for “making marijuana legal” reaches an all-time high of 50 percent.

Lawyer: Marijuana Dispensaries Should Ignore Federal Threats

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

9news.com

The first wave of threatening letters started arriving at Denver dispensaries on Friday.

The federal prosecutor’s office sent out letters to 23 Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries this week, starting a promised crackdown on the businesses by targeting those located within 1,000 feet of schools. But one Denver lawyer who represents dispensaries is advising his clients to ignore the threats.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh said dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools have until February 27 to shut down or face federal penalties, including asset seizure or forfeiture of property, reports Meagan Fitzgerald of 9 News.

DEA Agents Raid San Diego Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Dispensaries, News

NBC San Diego

Medical marijuana patient advocates protest outside Golden West Collective on Thursday as it is raided by DEA agents and San Diego Police.

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided three medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego at exactly 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, acting on a “landlord law” that was put into action after a crackdown announced by the U.S. Attorney’s office last October.

Landlords who rent to dispensaries were warned to evict their tenants are face prosecution and forfeiture of their property, reports Tony Shin at NBC San Diego.

Dozens of heavily armed agents with battering rams raided Golden West Collective on University Avenue in North Park on Wednesday, with the dastardly assistance of the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, acting contrary to the wishes of voters and in violation of California state law. Masked gunmen swarmed into the medical facilities, forcing ailing patients to the floor and breaking down doors and smashing windows.

AZ Governor Directs State To License Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

THC Finder

Giving up her idea of suing the federal government over Arizona’s medical marijuana law, Governor Jan Brewer said Friday she is directing the state health department to start accepting applications for cannabis dispensaries.

A suit filed by Brewer and her attorney general was dismissed by a federal judge on January 4. The complaint, filed back in May, sought “clarification” on whether state employees who license medical marijuana dispensaries could themselves face federal prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that state officials faced no such threat, and threw the suit out. The governors of Washington and Rhode Island have cited similar reasons — claiming they feared state employees would be federally prosecuted — for vetoing or delaying dispensaries in their states.

Feds Announce Colorado Medical Marijuana Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Releaf

Some on Colorado’s medical marijuana scene have speculated that the fact that the Rocky Mountain State’s medicinal cannabis law is part of their state constitution — or maybe the state’s vigorous regulatory scheme — protected them from the ongoing federal crackdown. Looks like it’s time for a new theory.

The U.S. Attorney’s office today announced a crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, the most aggressive federal law enforcement action yet against the cannabis-centered businesses in that state, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh sent letters to 23 dispensaries which his office claimed are located with 1,000 feet of schools. The dispensaries were told they had 45 days to close or face criminal prosecution and property forfeiture.

“When the voters of Colorado passed the limited medical marijuana amendment in 2000, they could not have anticipated that their vote would be used to justify large marijuana stores located within blocks of our schools,” Walsh lied in a statement announcing the crackdown. (I get really weary and annoyed with this threadbare “the poor ignorant voters didn’t know what they were voting for” argument.)

Vermont Marijuana Dispensaries Expected By Summer

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

The Weed Blog

Vermont’s first medical marijuana dispensaries could be slightly delayed by Tropical Storm Irene, but are expected to begin to open this summer.

A law passed last year authorized up to four privately run cannabis dispensaries, and gave the state Public Safety Department the authority to create rules for them, reports Terri Hallenbeck at the Burlington Free Press.

Those rules should be ready in the next couple of weeks, according to testimony from Francis Aumand, director of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, to the Senate Government Operations Committee on Wednesday.

Aumand said he wasn’t sure he could make a June 2 deadline for issuing certificates to applicants interested in running the dispensaries, because of Vermont’s procedures for vetting those rules. However, he said it shouldn’t take “much longer” than that.

Supreme Court: Oregon Marijuana Patients Can Keep Their Guns

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2012 Legislation, News

The Weed Blog

Concealed handgun owners with Oregon medical marijuana authorizations will be allowed to keep their gun licenses after a U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear a sheriff’s legal challenge which claimed U.S. federal law trumps Oregon state law.

Putting the case behind her is a victory for the rights of medical marijuana patients throughout Oregon, according to Gold Hill resident Cynthia Willis, 54, reports Damian Mann of the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune.

“Just because we’re patients doesn’t mean we don’t have real lifestyles and rights like everyone else,” Willis said.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters had denied Willis a concealed handgun license back in 2008 because she uses medical marijuana, which is considered a Schedule I controlled substance, along with heroin and LSD, by the federal government.

Arkansas Court: Marijuana Is Cause To Deny Workers’ Comp

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 11, 2012 Legislation, News

KATV

Two workers who tested positive for marijuana after being injured in an explosion after they tried to use a blow torch to open a 55-gallon drum that had contained flammable liquid were rightly denied workers’ compensation, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.

In a split decision, the court upheld a state Workers’ Compensation Commission ruling against Matthew Edmisten and Greg Prock in a case resulting from a November 2007 accident, reports John Lyon at the Arkansas News Bureau.

Three dissenting judges said there was no evidence that the accident occurred because of marijuana use.

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