Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Arizona Sets The Stage For Medical Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 29, 2010 Legislation, Medical

It’s about five weeks until Election Day, and the Arizona Department of Health Services is brainstorming ways to implement a medical marijuana policy in case voters approve Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.

The department has spoken out against Prop 203, reports Michelle Ye Hee Lee of The Arizona Republic. But if the measure passes, the department will need to draft an administrative code for implementation and set up an electronic verification system to keep track of records, including doctor authorizations, dispensary applications and cardholder registrations.

Schwarzenegger Must Decide Marijuana Measure This Week

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 29, 2010 News

Photo: Hawai’i News Daily

Outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until Thursday, September 30, to decide the fate of Senate Bill 1449, which would reduce adult marijuana possession charges from a criminal misdemeanor to a criminal infraction.

If you have not yet contacted the Governor in support of this historic legislation, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Toke of the Town encourage you to please do so today.

Senate Bill 1449 amends the California Health and Safety Code so that the adult possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana is classified as an infraction, punishable by no more than a $100 fine — no court appearance, no court costs, and no criminal record.

Marijuana Dispensary Operator Convicted Of Possession, Sales

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 29, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: K.C. Alfred/Sign On San Diego

Jovan Jackson, manager of a now-defunct medical marijuana dispensary in Kearny Mesa, was accused of illegally selling cannabis.

San Diego medical marijuana dispensary operator Jovan Jackson was convicted by a jury Tuesday on all three counts of possession and sales of cannabis with which he was charged. However, the conviction came after San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore refused to allow Jackson a medical marijuana defense at trial.

The trial began last week, with the jury taking less than 24 hours to reach a verdict. Jackson is likely to appeal the conviction and his inability to use a medical defense.

Medical marijuana patients’ rights group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) had previously submitted a brief in Jackson’s case supporting his right to a medical defense and is considering assisting with an appeal.

N.Z. Police Send Smoke Cloud Over School While Burning Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Cannabis Culture

Police in New Zealand who were burning seized cannabis were left red-faced when the wind sent a thick cloud of heady marijuana smoke billowing over a primary school, it was reported Tuesday.

Officers in the South Island town of Picton, New Zealand were destroying cannabis and shredded paper and an incinerator at the local police station when the incident occurred, the Marlborough Express newspaper reported, according to The Raw Story.

St. Joseph’s School principal Peter Knowles noticed the smoke on Friday morning and complained to police, who immediate put out the fire, according to the paper.

Pot For Tots? Three-Year-Old Caught With Marijuana At School

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Child Injury Lawyer Blog

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said a three-year-old took marijuana to a Lake City, Florida school on Monday.

The sheriff told a local TV news team that the three-year-old showed the marijuana to a classmate in side a classroom, according to News4Georgia.

The Sheriff’s Office said the classmate then told their teacher about the marijuana, and the three-year-old was searched.

After finding less than 20 grams of marijuana on the child, school authorities contacted the child’s mother, who denied knowing where the cannabis came from.

Suit Against T-Mobile For Blocking Weed Texts Heads To Court

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 Culture, Products

Graphic: Reality Catcher

A federal court will hear arguments this week on EZ Texting’s suit against T-Mobile for blocking cellphone text messages. The case has ignited a debate over the government’s role as a regulator of text messaging communications on cellphones.

The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York will conduct a hearing Thursday on allegations that T-Mobile stopped sending texts for EZ Texting’s customer WeedMaps.com, a medical marijuana distribution website, because of the content of the site, reports Cecelia Kang at The Washington Post.

EZ Texting said that T-Mobile’s action stifled free speech, and that rules to protect phone users from blocking should also be applied to text messages.

San Diego Jury Deliberating In Medical Marijuana Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: ASA San Diego

The jury is deliberating in the second trial of San Diego medical marijuana provider Jovan Jackson.

A Superior Court jury has heard the evidence in the trial of Jovan Jackson, accused of illegally selling marijuana at a now-defunct medical cannabis dispensary in Kearny Mesa, California, and is expected to begin its first full day of deliberations Tuesday.

Jackson, 32, faces charges of possession and sale of marijuana at Answerdam Collective Care on Convoy Court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than six years in prison, reports Dana Littlefield at Sign On San Diego.

Jackson owned Answerdam, described as a “marijuana store,” according to Deputy Attorney Chris Lindberg. The prosecutor claimed that Jackson misused California’s medical marijuana law, which he said was intended to help the sick and suffering, to “line his own pockets.”

S.D. Tea Party Leader: Medical Pot Leads To Widespread Laziness

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 Medical, News

Tea Party of South Dakota

Allen Unruh: “They would not want to work”

”One of the side effects is, they would not want to work.” ~ Allen Unruh, organizer for a local South Dakota Tea Party group

Supporters of a measure to legalize small amounts of marijuana for medicinal use in South Dakota on Monday sought to assure the public that it would not create pot dispensaries or open the door to full legalization.

“This is about ill people,” said Tony Ryan, a retired police officer whose wife suffers from multiple sclerosis. “It’s only about ill people. It’s not a free-for all.”

The rally also came on the same day that conservative firebrand Allen Unruh, an organizer for a local Tea Party group, denounced the medical marijuana measure as a back-door effort to legalize cannabis, which Unruh complained would lead to “widespread laziness” among users.

“One of the side effects is, they would not want to work,” Unruh said. “Unemployment is already through the roof.”

(Damn, I don’t really feel like doing the rest of this story, man. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Just kidding!)

Thousands Eligible For ‘Crack Tax’ Refunds In Tennessee

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 28, 2010 News

Photo: CBS News

Tennessee collected $10.3 million from drug suspects before the “crack tax” was declared illegal.

When Williamson County Sheriff Ricky Headley was busted for illegal possession of prescription pills, the state of Tennessee taxed him $13,000 on the value of those drugs.

Sheriff Headley paid the tax, resigned from office, pleaded guilty to four drug charges and one count of official misconduct, and got just under five years’ probation, reports Brian Haas of The Tennessean.

Then, the disgraced sheriff got all his money back. Plus interest.

“I got every penny back,” said Headley’s Nashville lawyer, David Raybin.

Tennesseans in a slow but growing trickle have requested and gotten refunds from the state since the Tennessee Supreme Court struck down the so-called “crack tax” law in 2009.

The state Department of Revenue has refunded $3.7 million to 161 people, but 2,772 people who paid the tax have not gotten any money back.

The decision doesn’t apply beyond Tennessee, but 22 other states have passed similar drug tax collection laws, which may be vulnerable to similar legal challenges.

Officer Shoots Pregnant Unarmed Woman During Drug Raid

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 27, 2010 News

Photo: PicsDigger

A pregnant, unarmed woman was shot during a drug raid in Spokane, Washington on Friday morning, and she remained hospitalized as investigators pieced together exactly what happened in the county’s third officer-involved shooting within a month.

A Washington State Patrol detective sergeant shot the woman, who is 39 weeks pregnant, while “serving a search warrant” at the Victoria Apartments on Lincoln Street, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, reports Meghann M. Cuniff of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

The shooting is being investigated by the Sheriff’s office, along with members of the Spokane Police Department and the Washington State Patrol.

Officers found no weapons in the home, confirmed Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan. He claimed they did, however, find drugs — crack cocaine, marijuana, and controlled prescription medications — during execution of the search warrant.

But a woman who identified herself as the victim’s mother, but who wouldn’t give her name, said there were no drugs or weapons in the home.

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