Toke of the Town

Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

U.K.: 20 Cannabis Farms Found A Day — 6,800 Last Year

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By on Global, Growing

Photo: Lewis Whyld/PA
PC Chloe Snell examines what the Brits like calling a “cannabis factory” in a house in East London, 2008

​More than 6,800 cannabis farms — or “factories,” as the sensationalist British press puts it — were discovered by police in the United Kingdom last year.

Almost 20 commercial cannabis growing operations were found by police every day in the past year by authorities, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), making the total for 2009/2010 6,886 — more than double the 3,032 discovered two years ago, and more than eight times the annual average of 800 between 2004 and 2007, reports the U.K. Press Association.

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Rapper Juvenile Pleads Guilty On Pot Possession; Gets Probation

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By on Uncategorized

Photo: St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office
Rapper Juvenile is led out of an Arabi, La., house after his arrest in February.

​New Orleans rapper Juvenile pleaded guilty last week to a marijuana possession charge in Louisiana, but managed to avoid jail time.

The 34-year-old rapper, whose real name is Terius Gray, entered his plea on Thursday, August 10 to misdemeanor possession of marijuana, stemming from an arrest in February, reports Allen Starbury at Baller Status.
Juvenile was sentenced by the judge to three months in jail, suspended; six months probation; and a $250 fine and court costs.
The rapper was arrested in February when police were called to a friend’s home in Arabi, La., where Juvenile said he was recording (police claimed there was no recording equipment in the house), when neighbors reported an “overwhelming smell of marijuana” coming from the house.
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Senate Candidate Forced To Backtrack After Tasteless Pot Jokes

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By on Culture, News

Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP
In which Dino Rossi learns that making fun of medical marijuana patients is bad politics

​The political atmosphere around marijuana has changed. It used to be a slam dunk to make fun of marijuana users — even medical marijuana patients — but a recent drama which played out in Washington state showed how much that has changed. A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate has been forced to “clarify” a series of tasteless jokes he made at the expense of medical marijuana research and patients.

“Last week, Republican Dino Rossi issued an extremely immature and thoughtless press release criticizing federally funded research being conducted at Washington State University into marijuana’s effect on pain medication,” said Mike Meno of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
The two-year study, by psychology professor Michael Morgan, involves injecting rats with synthetic cannabinoids and opiates in order to research their combined actions in order to find ways to improve treatment for people suffering from chronic pain.
“Rather than emphasize the great need for this type of research, as well as the proven efficacy of marijuana in helping to manage pain, Rossi decided to revert to hackneyed and unoriginal middle-school level humor,” Meno said.
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DA Moves To Deny Medical Marijuana Defense In Second Trial

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By on Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: San Diego City Beat
San Diego County D.A. Bonnie Dumanis: Despite a pledge to respect California’s medical marijuana laws, she has waged an urelenting war against cannabis patients and providers

​Despite being acquitted by a jury late last year of marijuana charges stemming from a 2008 arrest for possession and distribution, medical cannabis patient and provider Jovan Jackson is being tried by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis for a second time in less than a year.

However, for the second trial Dumanis is trying to deny Jackson, former operator of the Answerdam Alternative Care Collective (AACC), a medical marijuana defense based on the claim that “sales” are illegal under California law.
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana patient advocacy group, filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in support of Jackson’s defense, refuting the D.A.’s allegations.
“To deny a medical marijuana provider the ability to defend himself in court based on an argument that what he did was illegal, not only ignores relevant medical marijuana law, but also smacks of circular logic,” said Joe Elford, ASA chief counsel and author of the amicus brief filed on Monday.
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Scientists: Risky Behavior Gene Predicts Marijuana Use

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By on News

Photo: Stephen Keable/Book of Odds

​A group of sociologists and geneticists trying to unravel the roots of human behavior heard from colleagues Saturday about research which indicates teenage boys who have two copies of a particular gene variant engage in fewer “risky behaviors” — including marijuana use — than their peers who carry at least one copy of another version of the same gene.

Interestingly, the “no-risk” gene appears to be greatly influenced by laws. Genetic protection against risky behaviors appeared only at ages when such acts were illegal, such as prior to age 21 for drinking alcohol, according to researcher Dr. Guang Guo of the University of North Carolina.
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Islands Lawmakers Killing Legalization Bill; Will Be Put To Vote

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By on Global, Legislation

Photo: Saipan Realty
Can you say marijuana tourism? As soon as Saipan’s voters get around to legalizing marijuana — which they’ll soon have a chance to do — the stoner dollars will start pouring in, mine included.

​Imagine this: a tropical Pacific island paradise where weed is legal — and no passport is required to visit from the United States. While that dream may have just suffered a setback, it lives on and may soon be put up for a popular vote.

A House committee on Monday recommended killing a bill which would have legalized marijuana for all uses in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which includes Saipan, Tinian, Ascuncion and Rota islands in the Pacific. But the bill will be reintroduced as a legislative initiative to allow the people to vote on it, according to its sponsor.

Rep. Stanley Torres (I-Saipan), author of CNMI House Bill 17-47, said Monday he is “disappointed” that the committee decided to recommend killing his bill, reports Haidee V. Eugenio of the Saipan Tribune.
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Louisiana Makes What May Be First ‘Synthetic Marijuana’ Arrest

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By on Uncategorized

Photo: Dan Gill/The New York Times
Julie Meyers, 20, smokes “synthetic marijuana” at Petra Cafe and Hookah Bar in St. Louis days before Missouri’s ban was signed into law.

​It was bound to happen, sooner or later, and this is the first time Toke of the Town has heard of it: Laralee Herron, 20, entered the annals of hemp history (though probably not how she wanted) when she was arrested Sunday night in West Monroe, Louisiana, for possession of “synthetic marijuana.”

A search revealed “synthetic marijuana” in Herron’s purse, according to an affidavit. She was charged with “possession of synthetic marijuana” and bond was set at $750.
Eager officers didn’t waste any time getting started on enforcing their shiny new law. Young Herron got busted on the very day that Louisiana’s ban on “synthetic marijuana” went into effect — August 15.
Back on June 29, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law House Bill 173, making it a crime to possess, sell or manufacture the synthetic drug, and the law took effect Sunday.
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Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem Busted For Pot; Could Lose Car

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By on Culture, News

Photo: Hip-Hop Postal
Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat is not only facing felony marijuana charges — he could also lose his Mercedes.

​NBA star Udonis Haslem is looking at felony marijuana possession charges after a traffic stop in Florida Sunday afternoon during which the Miami Heat forward and a friend were arrested.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Haslem, 30, was busted for felony possession of marijuana in excess of 20 grams, reports Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
A passenger in the vehicle, Antwain Fleming, was also charged with misdemeanor possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis. Fleming acknowledged in the police report that luggage found in the car and containing the marijuana was his.
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85-Year-Old Grandpa Arrested For Bringing Marijuana To Prison

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By on News

Photo: WKRC-TV
Richard Heritz, 85, is accused of taking marijuana to his grandson in the Warren County Correctional Institute on Ohio.

​An 85-year-old grandfather faces seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine for allegedly bringing marijuana into the Warren County Correctional Institute in Ohio.

Richard J. Heritz of West Chester, Ohio, faces a felony charge for trying to bring drugs onto the grounds of the facility and possessing “criminal tools,” reports WKRC Cincinnati.
Officers claimed they got a tip that Heritz would be trying to bring cannabis to his grandson, an inmate at Warren Correctional Institute, during a scheduled visit on Friday.
When Heritz arrived for his visit, troopers confronted him. He voluntarily surrendered one “large package” containing about 22 grams of suspected marijuana, reports WHIOTV.com.
Marijuana is estimated to be worth about $23 a gram in Ohio’s correctional institutions, according to WKRC.
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