Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Coalition Sues Feds, Seeks Halt To Medical Cannabis Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 6, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

San Francisco attorney Matt Kumin: “This is a multi pronged, organized effort to get into court and to send a message to the federal government that we need to stop the aggression and sit down and talk reasonably about these issues”

Lawyers for a growing coalition of Californians including patients, property owners and medical cannabis cooperatives — who suddenly find themselves under attack by the state’s four U.S. Attorneys — will file suit against the federal government, seeking an immediate halt to a statewide crackdown.

The lawsuit will be brought simultaneously in each of the four federal districts in California – San Francisco (Northern), Sacramento (Eastern), Los Angeles (Central) and San Diego (Southern) – where U.S. Attorneys have threatened criminal prosecution of both tenants and landlords where medical cannabis dispensaries exist.

The four U.S. Attorneys have also threatened the landlords with forfeiture of their properties.

A press conference will be held in San Francisco Monday morning to announce the lawsuit.

The lawsuit will seek an immediate order from a federal judge to stop the crackdown on cooperatives, property owners and businesses that support them. (Americans for Safe Access also filed suit last month against the federal government, but did not seek an immediate restraining order.)

“This is multipronged, organized effort to get into court and to send a message to the federal government that we need to stop the aggression and sit down and talk reasonably about these issues,” said San Francisco attorney Matt Kumin, one of the lawyers bringing the federal suit forward.

Tell Me I’m Wrong And Our Government Doesn’t Hate Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2011 Culture, Dispensaries

Missoula Independent

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Many activists are trying to make sense concerning the government’s latest crackdown on medical marijuana. Every other day a 420-friendly bank that does commerce with anyone in the cannabis industry is told to expect heavy audits and loss of deeds unless they join the economic stranglehold on this business the Feds do not approve of. Dispensaries that have operated flawlessly and with the support of the community are being closed by bogus, yet written-in-the-books, zoning laws.

People are losing money trying to stay afloat and to see if it is possible to weather the Fed
s’ stormtrooper tactics. Many are pulling up roots and moving on because the Feds seem to have endless cash when it comes to harassment and bullying tactics.

Stoner Cinema: Welcome To Dopeland Hits The Spot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2011 Culture, Products

Welcome To Dopeland

Talk about timely. Welcome To Dopeland, a small, weird, dark, quirky independent comedy containing some great big ideas, examines the theme of how corporate greed, control and denial continue even in the face of an apocalypse.

The movie, which came out last year with its original title, Everything Must Go, is like a Cheech and Chong road movie crossed with Dr. Strangelove. Two slackers, Mac (Jake Lyall) and Bobby (Ross Turner) are headed for trouble on a quest for drugs after Mac has a really bad day, getting fired from his job and losing his girlfriend.

When Mac asks Bobby to help him find some OxyContin, a string of comic screw-ups ensues, but the comedy turns scary as the biggest screw-up of all — the end of the world — threatens everyone’s capacity for denial.

It’s a buddy movie of sorts, and the interaction between Mac and Bobby is consistently entertaining; both Lyall and Turner are gifted actors, with Turner’s very funny and touching performance, especially, deserving a lot more recognition than it’s gotten.

Eating Disorders Tied To Absence Of Cannabinoids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2011 Medical, News

Wiki Noticia

New research suggests that deficits in endocannabinoids — the body’s own substances like those found in marijuana — may contribute to anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Endocannabinoids are made by the brain, and they affect brain function and chemistry in ways that resemble the effects of cannabis. Marijuana, when used both medicinally and recreationally, is well known to influence appetite, i.e., causing hunger or the “munchies.”

Therefore, deficits in the endocannabinoid system would logically be associated with reduced appetite, reports Rick Nauert, Ph.D., at PsychCentral.

In the new study, reported in Biological Psychiatry, scientists measured the status of the endocannabinoid system indirectly by finding whether there was an increase or decrease in the density of endocannabinoid receptors called the CB1 receptor.

Maine Slaps Higher Tax On Pot Brownies Than On Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 4, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Legal Medical Marijuana States

The tax rate on that marijuana goes from 5 percent to 7 percent as soon as it’s poured in the brownie mix.

How patients use their medical marijuana affects their tax rate, according to a recent opinion from Maine Revenue Services — and choosing the healthy option of smokeless edibles will result in higher taxes.

After Maine residents approved medical marijuana, lawmakers decided pot sold for medicinal purposes would be subject to the five percent sales tax. But now MRS has issued an opinion that prepared foods such as brownies that include cannabis will be taxed at a higher, seven percent rate, reports Mal Leary of Capitol News Service.

Many patients, advocates and others question the logic — and the legality — of the odd ruling.

Granny’s Little Helper: Medibles Take Stigma From Medical Cannabis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2011 Medical

LA Weekly

Edible cannabis medicine is highly effective and can be engineered to fight specific and highly targeted ailments and symptoms

Treatment Trends

By Ben Reagan

Co-Founder, The C.P.C

Grandma may not smoke a joint to relieve chronic arthritis pain, but she sure does enjoy her pumpkin pie pastry pop that not only tastes great but also provides her with hours of daily, pain-free relief for her hands and fingers. On other days she eats her bacon and cheddar cheese pastry pop.

That does sound yummy, but hold on: a pastry pop?

Alcohol Is More Than Twice As Harmful As Marijuana: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2011 Medical, News

Kush Clothing

Alcohol causes far more damage to users and to society than does the use of marijuana, according to a new study published online in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the journal of the British Association of Psychopharmacology.

Researchers at the Imperial College of London looked at “the relative physical, psychological, and social harms of cannabis and alcohol,” reports Paul Armentano at AlterNet. They determined that marijuana smoking, particularly longterm, does some harm to the lungs and circulatory system, and increases certain mental-health risks (which is debatable).

Toke of the Town’s Mobile Version Goes Live

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2011 News, Products

The mobile version of Toke of the Town has gone live, so visitors coming in from smartphones and mobile devices will now see the mobile layout pictured here.

Just because you’re away from your computer is no reason to go without your Toke!

Toke of the Town had already been available on smartphones, of course, but until now it was the regular website, and not the mobile version optimized for smaller screens.

Florida Medical Marijuana Petition Needs Shitload Of Signatures

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Joshua Giesegh/PUFMM

If you live in Florida and you want to vote on whether to legalize medical marijuana on the 2012 ballot, you’d better hope that either House Joint Resolution 353 makes it through the Legislature, or that 646,889 more Floridians sign the People United for Medical Marijuana petition.

PUFMM has gotten 29,922 of the 676,811 valid signatures needed by February 1 to qualify for the ballot, which means they’re only 4.4 percent of the way there, reports Matthew Hendley at Broward Palm Beach New Times.

Hemp Fest Returns To Gainesville Saturday After 11 Years

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2011 Culture, News, Products

Florida Hempfest

Gainesville Hemp Fest, which was made famous when doobie tossers encouraged civil disobedience in 1993 and 1994, is returning this Saturday.

You’ve got to admire the temerity of people who insist upon their rights, even in an unfriendly environment. After 11 long years, Hemp Fest is coming back to Gainesville, Florida at high noon on Saturday.

What used to be an annual celebration of marijuana and a protest for its legalization is being brought back by activist Dennis “Murli” Watkins, who served four months in jail for organizing a “doobie toss” at the event in 1994, reports Chad Smith at The Gainesville Sun.

“Hemp has been cultivated for thousands of years,” Watkins said. “Here it is almost 2012, and we’re still fighting this same stupid battle.”

Watkins would not say whether the “doobie toss” — where someone throws a bunch of joints in the air so that they rain down onto the excited crowd — would also be held.

Police, of course, are curious about that, too.

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