Toke of the Town

Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Medical Marijuana Trial Judge Recuses Himself For Alleged Bias

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Rory Murray/OC Weekly

​Sentencing for medical marijuana defendants Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron — convicted of cannabis sales in relation to a pair of dispensaries in Long Beach, California and another in Garden Grove — has been delayed. In an unexpected, 11th-hour move, Long Beach Superior Court Judge Charles D. Sheldon removed himself from the case Wednesday morning, citing allegations of his biased behavior in the courtroom and admitting he made a serious error in sending a complimentary letter to the prosecutor prior to sentencing.

Judge Sheldon — who throughout the trial, put on one of the most unseemly displays of anti-marijuana bias in memory — denied the allegations, reports Nick Schou of OC Weekly. “The court is not biased in favor of any party or counsel,” he claimed, responding to a recusal motion by defense attorneys Christopher Glew and Allison Margolin. The recusal motion included a laundry list of Judge Sheldon’s objectionable statements. 
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Why Snoop Dogg’s Marijuana Bust Is No Joke

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By on Culture

The News For All

​By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent

One night in another life, I and another comedian were returning from a gig in Northern Oregon. We had decided to red-eye the drive, making it to San Francisco without stopping. After crossing the state line into California, we thought we had it made. 
About a half an hour after the border, my rear-view mirror lit up with the reds, blues and yellows of a cop’s lights a-flashing. 
I pulled over. It was like three in the morning.
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Guest Editorial: Don’t Blame NORML

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By on Legislation, Medical

Natl NORML/flickr
NORML Board Member Norm Kent responds to criticism of Executive Director Allen St. Pierre’s recent statements about the medical marijuana industry

​Editor’s Note: Toke of the Town recently called to task Executive Director Allen St. Pierre of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for statements regarding the medical marijuana industry.

In the interest of presenting both sides of the controversy, here is a response from NORML Board Member Norm Kent.
Don’t Blame NORML

By Norm Kent
“Of all the tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive...” ~ C.S. Lewis
It is time to responsibly address the issues raised by Allen St. Pierre in his controversial comments about the medical marijuana programs in California.
First, that requires putting aside those personal issues that have foolishly fractured the dialogue and emotionalized the discussion on the NLC list-serve.  Let’s excise those straightaway.
In short order, we know Mr. St. Pierre has always protected the reputation and stature of NORML, governing the organization with endless energy and managing it with integrity. In his capacity as Executive Director, he has worked tirelessly, sacrificed financially, and committed himself exhaustively to keep the organization alive and afloat. Allen has been a nationally recognized and responsible voice for marijuana law reform for decades. It is an affront for anyone on the Board of Directors or within the list-serve to suggest anything else. Those who have done so do a disservice to NORML and are being disingenuous and unfair to Allen. 
Having said that, let’s start the discussion by assuming the worst; that the statements Mr. St. Pierre made about medical marijuana were inappropriate politically and hurtful personally to many in California working for reform. Were they irreparably damaging or thoughtful and provoking? I suggest the latter. I submit his comments wisely and prudently pushed the needle- moving us in a new direction that may yet prove to be smarter.
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Pot Smoking Not Linked To Breathing Problems; May Help Lungs

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By on Medical, News

Healthy Lifestyle
Not only does it not reduce lung capacity. Smoking marijuana INCREASES lung capacity, according to a new study

​20-Year Study Finds No Decline In Lung Function For Occasional Cannabis Smokers; Lung Function Of Most Marijuana Smokers Improves Over Time

Often, when people hear about the studies which have shown that smoking marijuana doesn’t cause lung cancer, they’ll say something like, “Well, inhaling any smoke, cancer or not, is bound to cause some breathing problems.” Guess what? It doesn’t do that, either.
A report to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that — over a 20-year period — marijuana smokers generally did not experience a loss in lung function, reports Derek Abma at Postmedia News. In fact, many actually had enhanced lung capacity, which one researcher speculated might come from the practice of “deep-lunging” hits to maximize their intoxicating effects.
Whatever the cause, the fact remains that the study showed the lung function of most marijuana smokers actually improved slightly over time.
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Mendocino County Suspends Medical Marijuana Permit Program

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By on Dispensaries, Growing, News

Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat
Matthew Cohen takes cuttings from marijuana plants in order to clone them at the Northstone Organics Cooperative, in Redwood Valley, in 2010

​Mendocino County, California’s unique, income-generating medical marijuana growing permit program has been suspended pending the outcome of a Southern California court case challenging the legality of issuing permits for activities that are illegal under federal law.

“We’re waiting to hear something,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, reports Glenda Anderson at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
The permits — popular in the medical marijuana community for the peace of mind they fostered — allowed medicinal cannabis collectives to grow up to 99 plants, with a fee structure including inspections and zip-tie identification markers for each plant.
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Dispensary Closure Protesters To Feds: Cannabis Is Medicine

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By on Dispensaries, Medical, News

The Petrelis Files

​By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
An estimated crowd of 50-60 loyal medical marijuana supporters made their presence known at the Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue this morning in San Francisco to show their solidarity for the dispensary, Market Street Coop that is being forced to close at 7pm today.
Market Street Coop is the last of the dispensaries in the San Francisco/Marin County area that was served by the Justice Department with the so-called infamous, ‘Five Letters.’
Toke of the Town was able to “obtain” one of those letters.
The Five Letters refer to the documents sent out by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Melinda Haag, starting in October of last year to landlords of dispensaries, threatening asset forfeiture. All five dispensaries that received those letters have had to close.
Two of the dispensaries, Divinity Tree and Medithrive. have been able to make the lateral move to a delivery service as many pot shops have had to do in order not to lose everything. The Market Street Coop doesn’t have that kind of wiggle room.
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Grading The GOP Candidates On Marijuana [Video]

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By on Legislation, News

Anyone who’s followed presidential politics has a general sense that a few Republicans are OK on the marijuana issue, and most of them are terrible.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), based in Washington, D.C., has now produced a video which shows that:

Marijuana Policy Project

​• Ron Paul is obviously the best in the GOP field when it comes to cannabis. In fact, his views toward marijuana policy and the War On Drugs are much better than President Obama’s views on the same — and if you’re a single-issue, marijuana-policy voter, he’s your guy. 
Unfortunately Congressman Paul comes with some other baggage of his own; if you’re fond of things like public highways, public education, college grants, protecting the environment, workplace safety, separation of church and state, Social Security, Medicare, and the like, you should be aware that his vision of the federal government doesn’t support any of those things. (Just be aware of what you’re getting — and not getting.)
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Snoop Dogg Busted For Weed In Texas

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By on Culture, News

Mad Hot Hip Hop
Snoop spoke up for Willie after that star’s Texas bust; now those same Texans popped Snopp, too.

​Music legend Snoop Dogg was reportedly arrested in Texas this weekend for possession of marijuana.

According to celebrity website TMZ, the rapper got busted after a drug-sniffing dog detected marijuana on his tour bus! What a shocker, eh?
Snoop’s bus was stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca. Does that sound familiar? Well, that could be because it’s the same town that busted Willie Nelson back in 2010.

What’s up with these Sierra Blanca hayseeds? Why do they hate music and America??
After Willie’s bust in 2010, Snoop had come to the country star’s defense, saying “They better leave Willie the fuck alone.” It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the Sierra Blanca outpost of the Border Patrol just waiting for the day when Snoop passed through…
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