Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

First Medical Marijuana Dispensary On The East Coast Opens

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2011 Dispensaries

Photo: WLBZ

The first medical marijuana dispensary on the U.S. East Coast is an unassuming looking home in Frenchville, Maine.

It’s a historic day. The first medical marijuana dispensary on the East Coast of the U.S. has opened in Frenchville, Maine.

Safe Alternatives looks like a typical house, reports Jackie Ward at WLBZ. But there are video cameras and floodlights as required by state law; town officials said the security equipment operates 24/7.

The dispensary is less than a mile from an elementary school, but state law only requires it to be at least 500 feet away.

Predictably, some narrow-minded local residents seemed to be just looking for something to complain about.

“When I stopped by to take the picture there was nobody there, just a note on the door that said ‘Leave packages on the porch,’ whatever that means,” said Frenchville resident Cameron Price. (My highly educated guess it that “Leave packages on the porch” is secret code for “Leave packages on the porch.”)

Idaho House Starts Informational Hearings On Medical Marijuana

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

Photo: WN.com

Committee Chair Rep. Janice McGeachin: “It’s probably much less toxic than a lot of the pharmaceutical drugs that are produced that people take now”

The first hearing to review a bill that would permit the use of marijuana by seriously ill Idaho residents was held on Wednesday, marking the first time such legislation has ever been granted a public hearing in the Idaho House of Representatives.

The Health & Welfare Committee heard testimony in support of HB 19, which would allow seriously and chronically ill Idahoans to use marijuana to treat certain conditions with doctors’ recommendations.

This bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), contains very specific criteria to qualify for the program and for the production of medical marijuana. If passed, it would be the strictest and most tightly regulated medical marijuana law in the nation — which, unfortunately, also means it would be the least patient-friendly.

Worth Repeating: You Can’t Censor Cannabis Cancer Treatment

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

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog

“NCI apparently got a talking to from someone” ~ Radical Russ Belville, NORML

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

You are witnessing cannabis history in the making.

You can clearly see what happened, in the illustration above. The government has changed the verbiage regarding cannabis on the National Cancer Institute’s cancer.gov website, only 11 days after it was added.

We demand that the original statement be re-posted as it was, and for the National Cancer Institute to stand by its original research statement.

This was a naked political move. Please call the NCI public inquiry phone line at 301-435-3848 or email them at http://www.cancer.gov/global/contact/email-us.

Nike To Release Cheech & Chong Shoe On 4-20

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

Photo: Sole Collector

Dude, it had to happen: Cheech & Chong-inspired footwear.

A new shoe from sports footwear manufacturer Nike salutes the world’s two most famous stoners — comedy duo Cheech & Chong. The legendary pair have released albums and movies since the 1970s based on the marijuana culture.

The Cheech and Chong Dunk Hi has heels designed as a tribute to the signature red bandanna headwear worn in the movie Up In Smoke by Thomas Chong, reports Brandon Richard at Sole Collector.

Accompanying each pair of shoes will be two sets of interchangeable black and — you guessed it — green laces.

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

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

Photo: Angela J. Cesere/AnnArbor.com

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.”

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