Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Team President Fined For Remarks On NBA Star’s Pot Habit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 26, 2010 Culture, News

The Minnesota Timbewolves’ team president was fined $50,000 for talking about how much marijuana Michael Beasley smokes.

The National Basketball Association on Friday fined Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn $50,000 for his recent remarks about the marijuana habit of forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The big-mouthed Kahn spoke in a radio interview Thursday about Beasley’s marijuana use in Miami, claiming that it hampered his play with the Heat, reports Hardcourt Mayhem at the Bleacher Report.

He added that he spoke to Beasley about discontinuing his marijuana use with the Timberwolves, which would supposedly help him become a better player.

Kahn called Beasley “a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana” during his disappointing tenure with the Miami Heat NBA team.

V.A. Says Veterans Can Now Use Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 23, 2010 Medical, News

Graphic: Veterans Today

In a historic decision, the V.A. has announced veterans will no longer be endangering their pain prescriptions by using medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

In a historic decision, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will now formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

It’s a day to remember, according to Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We now have a branch of the federal government accepting marijuana as a legal medicine,” Fox said.

The policy clarification has been sought by veterans and advocates for years, reports Dan Frosch at The New York Times.

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in V.A. hospitals between federal law, which outlaws marijuana for any purpose, and medical marijuana laws in the 14 states that allow medicinal use of cannabis.

Like the decision by Obama’s Justice Department to back off on marijuana dispensary raids in states that have legalized medical pot, the new V.A. policy essentially means the federal government is deferring to state medical marijuana laws.

Here’s What Pot Freedom Feels Like: Report From Spain

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 23, 2010 Culture, Global

Photo: Bubbleman’s Hideout

Very strong privacy laws prevent Spanish police from entering your house — even if they can see weed. How cool is that?

British citizen Andy was looking for weed freedom — and he believes he’s found it in Europe. But he’s not in Holland. Andy’s chosen abode is not yet known as a stoner mecca, but judging by his account, it may soon be.

For a fascinating look at the Spanish cannabis scene, let’s travel to Andalusia now with our host, who writes on the excellent website “Dope Smoker.”

~ Steve Elliott

…….

Freedom To Act Without Fear

By Andy

Dope Smoker

I am smoking a joint whilst sitting by my front window.

Actually, that’s right where I rolled it too, and people were walking by the house. Sometimes, I pass the joint out the window to a neighbor on the street.

Marijuana Church Founder Called ‘Too Dangerous’ For Bail

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 23, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry

Roger Christie of THC Ministry is “a danger to the community.” That is, if you believe federal prosecutors.

A Hawaii-based marijuana minister who has for years been preaching the good news about ganja is now under federal indictment, and agents on Friday managed to persuade a federal judge that he is somehow “too dangerous” to be allowed out on bail.

Roger Christie, the founder of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry (THC Ministry), has been ordered held without bail after the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested him, along with 13 current or former employees and growers, on July 8.

Christie and the others are charged with marijuana trafficking offenses related to their alleged distribution of marijuana as a sacrament at the ministry, reports Stop The Drug War.

Christie had already been raided by the DEA in March, with agents “seizing” cash and marijuana, but not arresting him at that time.

Federal agents claim that after that raid, Christie continued his marijuana distribution at the ministry. He and the others were secretly indicted last month.

Need Discreet Storage? Hide It In Plain Sight With ToiBocks

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 23, 2010 Products

Photo: ToiBocks

While the locking system to access to hidden storage space is simple to operate, it is almost impossible to figure out unless you have the instructions.

Looking right at home on a night stand or coffee table, the ToiBocks has quickly won an appreciative audience with its secret compartment for valuables such as adult novelties and DVDs, passports, credit cards, cash — and smoking materials.

“ToiBocks solved a real problem for me in my life, which was keeping my personal items easily accessible to me and inaccessible to everyone else,” Dawn Tulman, president of ToiBocks, Inc., told Toke of the Town.

Dawn came up with a unique solution, which involved hiding the items in plain sight in a stylish, attractive ToiBocks, which includes a simple locking system to keep private things private in an ample storage space.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Gets Reefer Madness!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 23, 2010 Culture, Products

Graphic: Fathom Events

You really don’t wanna miss this, man.

It’s going to be the best Thursday in the history of the world.

The stars of many a stoner’s favorite hit TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, will take on the legendary 1936 cult classic Reefer Madness on August 19 for an evening of live, hilarious riffing and ridicule!

RiffTrax’s own Michael J. Nelson, Kevin “Tom Servo” Murphy and Bill “Crow T. Robot” Corbett — will be reunited on the big screen for the live broadcast, sharing an evening of poking fun at the cult classic feature that warned against the horrors of smoking marijuana.

No Smoking In This California Town — Unless It’s Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: MacYapper

Finally, someplace gets it right when it comes to smoking.

Medical marijuana will not be subject to the smoking ban adopted by the Sebastopol City Council on Tuesday — at least for the time being.

The council unanimously(!) voted to remove medical marijuana from the proposed ordinance and focus only on the use of tobacco after a series of speakers, several of whom said they used cannabis for medical purposes, expressed fears that the ordinance would interfere with their legal use of pot.

Colorado Springs Cops Face Lawsuit Over Seized Pot Money

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: MusicbizFormation

“$14,000? What $14,000? Oh yeah, THAT $14,000. OK, just say he was money laundering, threaten him with the DEA, and we’ll keep the cash.”

Here’s a scenario which, unfortunately, could become all too familiar in the near future. A pot-phobic local police department, still angry and in denial over the legalization of medical marijuana, steals — I mean, “seizes” — cash from a dispensary owner, accuses him of “money laundering,” and threatens to call in federal agents if the owner squawks.

Sound unlikely? Guess again. And welcome to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

A medical marijuana dispensary owner said he intends to sue the Colorado Springs Police Department over what he said was the illegal seizure of $14,000.

Marijuana Advocates Protest DEA Raids In Michigan & California

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: NBC 25

Michigan protesters say Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel is targeting medical marijuana patients who speak out

Coordinated and lively protests were carried out Wednesday by medical marijuana patient advocates in both Saginaw, Michigan, and San Diego, California, against the Drug Enforcement Administration for raids it conducted earlier this month.

The raids were made despite an official Justice Department policy issued in October 2009 discouraging such enforcement.

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Association organized the Saginaw protest march, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) organized a rally at the federal courthouse in San Diego.

Feds Kick Pro-Legalization Cops Out Of Drug Conference

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 22, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: LEAP

Either you support the failed Drug War party line, or your opinion isn’t welcome. That seems to be the policy at a U.S. government-sponsored substance treatment conference in Chicago next week. Innovative solutions like legalization aren’t even allowed at the table.

A group of police officers, judges and prosecutors who support legalizing and regulating drugs is crying foul after a federal agency reneged on a contract that gave the law enforcers a booth to share their anti-prohibition views at the Chicago conference.

After accepting registration payment from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at first told the police group that its booth was being cancelled at the National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery “because of overbooking and space concerns.”

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