Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Mexico Nervous As California Votes On Legalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 10, 2010 Global, News

Photo: AP

Mexican soldier caqrries marijuana plants seized near Aguililla,

To embattled government officials in Mexico, where armed soldiers patrol the streets and more than 500 people have died in cartel-related violence just this year, marijuana seems inextricably linked to the enrichment of death-dealing drug bosses who earn huge profits smuggling the illicit weed north.

“Marijuana arrives in the United States soaked with the blood of Tijuana residents,” said Mayor Jorge Ramos, whose police department lost 45 officers to “drug violence” in recent years, report Nick Miroff and William Booth of the Washington Post.

But across the border in California, cannabis has a very different reputation — that of a healing herb. After the Obama Administration said it would not prioritize the prosecution of patients and providers who were abiding by state medical marijuana laws, about 100 dispensaries opened in San Diego alone in the past year.

Marijuana Trading Cards Celebrate High Achievements

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 10, 2010 Culture, Products

Photo: East Bay Express

A Berkeley medical marijuana dispensary has released a spiffy set of cards that allows cannabis enthusiasts to compare high-scoring strains such as Afghani Goo and Grand Daddy Purple.

“It was really just like an evolution of the labeling system,” said David Bowers, manager at the Berkeley Patient’s Care Collective, a 10-year-old pot shop on Telegraph Avenue. Introduced in March, the cards feature glossy photos of beautiful buds along with details about their defining traits and medical usefulness, reports Josh Harkinson at Mother Jones.

“Consumers want to get rid of physical pain, restore appetite, or find mental relaxation, and different strains help,” Bowers told David Downs at East Bay Express.

Health Minister Open To Medical Cannabis In Ireland

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 10, 2010 Global, Medical

Graphic: Help End Marijuana Prohibition

Ireland’s Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has said she is open to legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Harney has sought legal advice on the effectiveness of marijuana for the treatment of such conditions as multiple sclerosis and certain forms of cancer, reports Ronan McGreevy at the Irish Times.

The Department of Health and Children, in a statement, said it would contact relevant experts in the field with a view to making a recommendation to the Minister by the end of the year.

Harney said in a parliamentary question last year that she did not propose a change in the law that would allow cannabis to be used for medicinal purposes.

The department stressed there was “no question” of the Minister completely legalizing cannabis itself.

Medicinal cannabis campaigner Gordon McArdle met with Minister for Community Affairs Pat Carey on Thursday evening to discuss the issue.

Marijuana Activists Call On Obama To Pardon Canadian Prisoner

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

Marc Emery, with wife Jody backing him up, speaks to reporters outside the B.C. Supreme Court in May 2010. He is scheduled to be sentenced to 5 years in U.S. federal prison on Friday, September 10.

Marijuana activists from Washington state and around North America will gather outside the Federal Courthouse at 700 Stewart Street in Seattle on Friday, September 10, to protest the sentencing of Marc Emery, the “Prince of Pot,” who faces five years in prison for selling mail-order cannabis seeds to Americans.

Cannabis advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to pardon Emery, who faced federal charges after Drug Enforcement Administration agents entered Canada and arrested him in 2005. He is expected to be sentenced to five years in federal prison under a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.

U. of Miami Baseball Player Busted For Selling Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Richard C. Lewis

Miami’s Frankie Ratcliff, left, wipes out Fordham University infielder Brian Kownacki as he slides on March 16 in Coral Gables.

While the University of Miami’s football team has cleaned up its media image, from time to time another of the school’s athletes keeps that good old “Thug U” outlaw image alive. A freshman on the university’s baseball team was arrested Wednesday night for trying to sell marijuana to undercover cops on campus.

Freshman Frankie Ratcliff, 19, was busted around 9 p.m. after offering to sell 21 grams to narcs for $220. He then foolishly signed a consent form allowing police to search his apartment, where they found more pot, totaling 101 grams, and 19 vials of “athletic enhancer” steroids.

Famous Pot Critic Talks About His First Year On The Job

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries

Photo: WBAL

Marijuana critic William Breathes at work

It’s been a year now since Denver Westword rolled up, I mean rolled out its Mile Highs and Lows dispensary reviews. The process of a newspaper looking for and hiring a marijuana critic attracted lots of attention from the press last year, and rightly so, as it is yet another sign of the generational shift in attitudes toward the weed that seem to be all around us these days.

Pot critic William Breathes came to national prominence in the flurry of coverage, including reports on CNN and BBC, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Cannabis connoisseurship has of course existed as long as marijuana consumers have known the difference between schwag and dank. But actually getting paid to be a pot critic is a relatively new development.

Barbara Boxer’s Aide Busted For Pot At Senate Building

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 News

Photo: Theodore’s World

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s office: “He submitted his resignation, and Sen. Boxer accepted it because his actions yesterday were wrong and unacceptable”

A senior aide for Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was arrested Tuesday for trying to bring marijuana into the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., according to U.S. Capitol Police reports.

Marcus Stanley, who served as senior economic adviser and at one time worked on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Boxer, was stopped by a police officer when he allegedly tried to “remove and conceal” a “leafy green substance” from his pocket during a security screening at the Constitution Avenue door of the Hart Building around noon on Tuesday, according to Capitol Police.

Officers confiscated the substance, which later tested positive for marijuana, and Stanley quickly resigned, reports Erika Lovley at Politico.

Judge Calls Earlier Order ‘Joke,’ Won’t Return Pot To Collective

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Grinning Planet

Claiming that an earlier proposed court order had been a “joke,” a judge on Wednesday formally denied a defense motion seeking the return of large amounts of seized medical marijuana to a Concow, California collective.

Assigned Judge William Lamb pointed out that none of the collective’s members had petitioned the court for the pot’s return, and that in any event, he “felt” the amount confiscated by sheriff’s offices exceeded what he thought was “medically necessary” for the group and was thus “not subject to return,” reports Terry Vau Dell of the Chico Enterprise Record.

And here we were, thinking that doctors were supposed to make medical decisions!

A jury earlier this year acquitted both Michael Kelly and his father, Sean Kelly, of identical felony charges of illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale.

Feds Raid At Least Five Vegas Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Salem-News.com

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted raids early Wednesday on at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada, and reportedly seized patient and financial records, but made no arrests.

The federal search warrants and supporting affidavits stemming from what she called ‘an ongoing law enforcement operation’ were sealed by federal court order, said Natalie Collins, spokesperson for the local U.S. Attorney’s office, according to the Associated Press.

The dispensaries raided Wednesday by federal agents and local police included Happiness Consultant, Salvation Haven, Nature’s Way, Organic Releaf, & Holistic Solutions.

National Guard Soldier Faces Court-Martial For Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 8, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

Spc. Richelle Golden got a doctor’s authorization to legally use medical marijuana — and her caregiver was her former Guard commander. But, apparently in a cynical attempt to deny her retirement benefits, she faces a court-martial anyway.

Spc. Richelle Golden of the Oregon Army National Guard suffers from two incredibly painful autoimmune diseases. When she got to Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state back in February, she arrived in a wheelchair, expecting to stay a few weeks and be medically retired from service. She immediately reported that she legally used cannabis to combat pain and nausea, and produced her Oregon medical marijuana card.

Now it’s five months later, and Golden is still at Joint Base Lewis-McChord facing court-martial, caught between the laws of her home state, which allow medicinal marijuana use with a doctor’s authorization, and the U.S. Army, which forbids it under any circumstances, reports Julie Sullivan at The Oregonian.

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