Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Wedding Photographer Busted With 700 Pounds Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 19, 2010 News

Photo: WSBT

Seven hundred pounds is quite a bit of weed.

A Massachusetts photographer has been arrested after allegedly trying to retrieve more than $1 million worth of marijuana from a shipping facility.

Tommy Colbert, 52, of Brockton, Mass., one of the area’s top wedding photographers, is a suspect in connection with the big pot bust in Abington, where about 700 pounds of cannabis was seized on Monday.

A relative of the photographer stunned court officials on Tuesday when she walked into the clerk’s office at Brockton District Court and paid Colbert’s bail with $40,000 cash, reports Allan Stein of The Brockton Enterprise.

“I’ve been here 21 years. I’ve never seen that before,” said Assistant Clerk Kevin Leach. “Most times it would be done with a bank draft, or something like that.”

Court Won’t Rule On Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bans

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 19, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: HighDef Forum

A California appeals court declined Wednesday to decide whether the state’s medical marijuana laws prevent cities and counties from outlawing dispensaries, sending a highly anticipated, closely watched dispute over Anaheim’s three-year-old ban back to a lower court for more hearings.

The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal did not provide much-needed clarity regarding the argument on pot dispensaries in the state. According to California’s medical marijuana law, passed by the voters in 1996, marijuana can be used if a person has a recommendation from a physician.

Cities and dispensaries had been anticipating a major decision because the court had asked both sides for more information and took an unusually long time to reach a decision — a full year, rather than the typical three months, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.

Interview: Federally Charged Medical Pot Grower Chris Bartkowicz

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 19, 2010 Growing, Medical

Photo: AP

Chris Bartkowicz faces up to life in prison on federal charges for growing medical marijuana.

A Colorado medical marijuana grower facing federal drug charges after he bragged about his cannabis business to a TV station may not be allowed to use the state’s medical marijuana law in his defense.

U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer on Thursday morning was asked by federal prosecutors to block the medical marijuana defense in their case against Chris Bartkowicz of Denver, reports The Associated Press.

“The provisions of state law cited in the Government’s brief demonstrate the quagmire of Colorado state law and its medical marijuana provisions, and further demonstrates that none of those provisions have relevance to the federal prosecution of the Defendant,” said a motion filed Tuesday by prosecutors, reports Felisa Cardona at The Denver Post.

Prosecutors contended that Bartkowicz should not be allowed to use Colorado’s medical marijuana laws as a defense, or try to argue that he was singled out or didn’t know he would be subject to prosecution.

Germany Ready To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2010 Global, Medical

Photo: The Local

Medical marijuana will soon be available in Germany, with the center-right coalition preparing to make major changes to the country’s drug laws, a government health spokeswoman said this week.

Doctors could write prescriptions for cannabis and pharmacies would be authorized to sell the plant once the law had been changed, a member of the junior coalition party, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) said Monday, reports The Local.

Why Does Your Pot Dealer Hate You? Let Her Count The Ways

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Photo: Brunch At Barneys

”Of course your dealer knows the risks he or she faces from the police and federal authorities, but that isn’t your dealer’s main fear,” Lauren Rothman tells us at our sister Village Voice Media blog LA Weekly.

“Your dealer’s main fear is wondering what kind of shit you’re going to pull on a daily basis…

“Having been a bud-slinger myself, I’m going to tell you about issues that arise when it comes to procuring drugs that make us contemplate — gulp — attaining a socially acceptable job with a real water cooler and all the fixings.

“I haven’t been in the saddle for a while, but I’ll never forget some of you, no matter how much I wish I could. Your dealer will thank for me for this.”

For the complete list, which I’ll just say sounds quite familiar, visit that glittering jewel of the VVM empire, the LA Weekly:

8 Reasons Why Your Drug Dealer Hates You

Obama Sticks With DEA Nominee Despite Criticism Of Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: daylife

Michele Leonhart, deputy administrator of the DEA, is a Bush-era drug warrior who has overseen raids of legal medical marijuana dispensaries — yet Obama wants to keep her on.

It often seems as if cannabis activists can’t agree on a lot of things. But one thing they all seem to agree upon is that President Obama should rescind the nomination of Bush holdover Michele Leonhart to head the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A number of progressive groups released a letter last month accusing Leonhart, a deputy administrator appointed by President George W. Bush and the acting administrator since Karen P. Tandy’s resignation in 2007, of ignoring a Justice Department directive that raiding dispensaries and growers operating legally in medical marijuana states is a “poor use of resources.”

Man Busted In Alabama For Bringing Medical Pot From California

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Michael Lapihuska

In happier days: Michael Lapihuska was arrested for taking his doctor-recommended medical marijuana on a trip back home to Alabama

A former Alabama resident is facing a jail sentence for bringing his doctor-recommended medical marijuana with him from California to Alabama when he came home for the holidays last December.

Michael Lapihuska, a former resident of Anniston, Ala., was arrested December 15, 2009, when a police officer stopped him for hitchhiking, reports Laura Camper at The Anniston Star. The cop searched him, found a prescription bottle of marijuana in his pocket, and asked Lapihuska to take it out.

When the man complied, he was arrested for marijuana possession despite the doctor’s recommendation he presented to the officer.

Canadian Marijuana Growing Operation Guarded By Bears

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2010 Global, Growing

Graphic: Freaking News

Looks like Smokey has a kushy new gig. Police in southeastern British Columbia, Canada have raided a marijuana grow operation that was reportedly guarded by black bears.

Officers raiding the operation two weeks ago at Christina Lake, B.C., about 160 miles east of Vancouver, found two residential buildings and a fenced-off growing operation. Police said Tuesday they found about 1,000 cannabis plants, reports CBC News.

They also found about 10 bears that the homeowner appeared to be using to discourage people from stealing any pot plants, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Fred Mansveld.

”[Officers] soon noticed the bears were docile and tame,” Mansveld said. “One of them jumped on our unmarked car for awhile. But it soon became apparent they were habituated to the grow operation.” I’ll bet they were!

Pro-Legalization ‘Manhattan Madam’ Runs For N.Y. Governor

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Penthouse

Kristin Davis, a.k.a. The Manhattan Madam, is running for Governor of New York on a pro-marijuana legalization platform.

Kristin Davis, the infamous “Manhattan Madam” who supplied top-of-the-line call girls to Eliot Spitzer during his tenures as Attorney General and Governor of New York, filed a voter petition to run on the ballot as the Anti-Prohibition Party candidate for Governor.

“I am running on a platform of personal and economic freedom,” said Davis, 35, a former hedge fund vice president. “I want to end the prohibition on marijuana, gay marriage and casino gambling to generate new revenues instead of raising taxes on already over-taxed New Yorkers.”

”Californians have figured out what New Yorkers need to figure out,” Davis said in April. “Marijuana is a $10 billion a year industry in New York state. Its legalization and taxation would help New York’s current financial crises.”

Family Of Lady Killed In Botched Drug Raid Getting $4.9 Million

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2010 News

Photo: WXIA

Kathryn Johnston, 92, was shot five times by six officers after they busted down her door in a botched drug raid.

The city of Atlanta will pay $4.9 million to the family of a 92-year-old woman killed in a botched November 2006 drug raid, Mayor Kasim Reed’s office announced on Monday.

Kathryn Johnston, 92, was shot to death by narcotics officers serving a so-called “no-knock” warrant. Investigators later determined the raid was based on falsified paperwork saying that illegal drugs were present in the home. Three former police officers were sentenced to prison terms for the cover-up that resulted, reports CNN.

The Atlanta Police Department’s drug unit underwent a major, though probably largely cosmetic, housecleaning as a result of the incident.

Johnston’s family will receive $2.9 million sometime in fiscal 2011, according to the mayor’s office, with the other $2 million to be paid in fiscal 2012, on or before August 15, 2011.

Previous 1 … 274 275 276 277 278 … 377 Next