Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Group: Oregon Cops Treat Marijuana Patients Like Criminals

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 9, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: KEZI

Christine McGarvin, Protect Your Rights 420: “It’s the specter of reefer madness”

Many Oregon law enforcement officers do not distinguish between medical marijuana patients and illegal pot users, according to the group Protect Your Rights 420. Members said that is why it is important that people who use cannabis medicinally know their rights.

“I’ve heard it all,” said Lorri Duckworth, a Protect Your Rights 420 member, reports Jeff Skryzpek of KEZI 9 News.

“If we do it the right way, the legal way, then maybe law enforcement would open their eyes to the fact that we’re not all the typical couch potato stoners,” Duckworth said.

A lack of understanding among law enforcement and the general public is giving them a bad name, group members said, and it creates all sorts of hassles and unnecessary encounters with law enforcement.

MI Supreme Court: Legal To Drive With THC Metabolites In Body

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 9, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: HempNews.tv

Michigan drivers can no longer be convicted for the simple presence of THC byproducts in their bodies after smoking marijuana. The Michigan Supreme Court’s liberal majority ruled Tuesday that it is not illegal to drive while having marijuana byproducts internally.

Until Tuesday’s ruling, if you smoked a joint over the weekend and then got drug tested on Monday morning — or even a month later — you could be convicted of “Driving Under the Influence of Drugs” (DUID), even if you are no longer high, just because inactive chemical traces of THC remain in your bloodstream.

According to the court, 11-carboxy-THC, a metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, one of the main active ingredients in marijuana, cannot be considered a controlled substance under Michigan law, according to The Associated Press.

The justices ruled that 11-carboxy-THC is a byproduct created when the body breaks down (metabolizes) THC.

L.A. Councilman Wants To Ban Marijuana Delivery

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

Graphic: Cheech and Chong Tickets

After extensive press coverage of the burgeoning medical marijuana delivery scene, a Los Angeles city councilman is asking his peers to ban mobile pot shops as part of its strict dispensary law that took effect Monday.

Councilman Jose Juizar introduced the amendment, calling mobile dispensaries a “ruse” to get around the city’s law, which effectively put 80 percent of L.A.’s dispensaries out of business this week, reports Dennis Romero at the L.A. Weekly.

Any marijuana delivery service would be explicitly prohibited under the new amendment, unless it involves a dispensary currently compliant with city regulations and is carried out by a patient’s “primary caregiver” — which would effectively end legal pot delivery in Los Angeles, according to the Weekly.

‘Sleazy’ Deputy Bought Marijuana With Stolen Patient I.D.

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

Photo: Calaveras County Sheriff

Deputy Steve Avila admitted he stole a medical marijuana patient’s I.D. and authorization, then bought pot with it

A California deputy has admitted using a doctor’s recommendation and stolen identity from a legal medical marijuana patient in order to buy pot in a drug sting.

Deputy Steve Avila of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department said during questioning that he had used the patient’s recommendation, with a falsified birthdate, to persuade a dispensary owner to sell marijuana to an officer.

Avila claimed he obtained the medical marijuana recommendation “from an investigation we conducted,” but also claimed he “did not recall” which officer obtained it, or how it was obtained.

Jay Smith of K Care Collective, the dispensary owner who was tricked into selling marijuana to an officer, said Calaveras County is waging a war against medical marijuana, and is doing so using unethical means, reports Dana M. Nichols of the San Joaquin County Record.

Robert Shaffer, the medical marijuana patient whose identity was stolen, tells the same story.

According to Shaffer, Deputy Avila violated his privacy by using his identity and documents in the sting operation.

Philadelphia Chills Out (A Little) About Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Ron Tarver

Hundreds marched in Philadelphia on the afternoon of May 1, 2010 to support the legalization of marijuana.

Philadelphia is finally starting to chill out about pot. Starting Tuesday, June 8, folks caught in the City of Brotherly Love with 30 grams or less of marijuana will probably see their charges downgraded to a summary offense.

What that means is that after you take a class and pay a $200 fine, any record of the arrest would be expunged.

That’s quite an improvement in a city that until now has been chiefly known for arresting blacks at a far higher rate than whites for marijuana offenses.

The new procedure will likely be followed in several thousand marijuana cases a year, according to Deputy District Attorney Ed McCann, reports Peter Mucha at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Washington: Pot Legalization Has Poll Numbers, But No Money

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Emerald Sun

The people of Washington state want to legalize marijuana — and they would vote to do exactly that — if it were only on the ballot, according to the latest polls. But they may not get that chance.

Even though poll numbers show a majority of residents support it, an attempt to legalize marijuana in Washington state for adults may not make the ballot in November, as the signature gathering phase enters its final three weeks.

Initiative 1068 would remove all state penalties for the possession, cultivation, use and sale of marijuana. Statewide polls have suggested it would pass, reports Gene Johnson of The Associated Press.

According to campaign chairman Douglas Hiatt on Monday, more than 100,000 people have signed a petition to get the initiative on the ballot. The group’s goal is to gather 320,000 signatures. It needs 241,153 valid signatures by July 2 to qualify for the ballot.

The cash-strapped I-1068 campaign can’t afford to pay signature gatherers, so it has depended entirely on the efforts of volunteers.

Maine Still Struggling With New Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Bangor Metro

Maine’s efforts to provide approved patients with safe, legal access to medical marijuana continued Monday in the State House, where health officials are trying to fine-tune the rules and procedures. Two months ago, Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill into law that creates eight licensed medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, along with a state registry of patients authorized to use and possess cannabis.

Some patients, however, say the registration fees required to enroll in the system are too expensive and the amounts allowed are too low, reports A.J. Higgins at The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

Sheriff Wants Station To Stop Broadcasting Pot Raid Warnings

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2010 Culture, Growing

Photo: Michael Montgomery

Garberville’s KMUD is a bastion of free speech

Marijuana growers in Northern California’s Emerald Triangle have for decades received reports of pending police raids from a local radio station. Now the police, citing a boom in pot production and “armed illegal drug traffickers,” want the broadcasts to stop.

As pot growers in Humboldt and Mendocino counties launch another growing season, local, state and federal law enforcement agents are preparing for their part of the annual ritual — deploying helicopters, trucks and armed agents to seize marijuana plants, reports Michael Montgomery at NPR.

”According to a citizen’s observation, at 8:45 a.m., three helicopters were seen heading from Laytonville to Bell Spring Road,” Garberville radio station KMUD recently broadcast.

Australia: Two-Thirds Of Drug Arrests Are For Cannabis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 8, 2010 Culture, Global

Photo: ABC News

An Australian police officer shows cannabis and cash seized in Perth, March 2010.

Cannabis remains the most popular illegal drug in Australia, according to the Australian Crime Commission’s report on illicit drug use.

Two out of every three drug arrests in Australia in 2008 and 2009 were marijuana-related, but the number of people using cannabis has fallen by 50 percent over the past decade, according to the report.

Amphetamine-type stimulants were the second most popular illicit drug, according to Yahoo!7 News. Twenty percent of drug arrests were for amphetamines.

According to Home Affairs Director Brendan O’Connor, Australian police are discovering more secret “drug laboratories.”

New Pot Dispensary Law Could Have ‘Disastrous’ Impact On L.A.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 7, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Robyn Beck

The City of Los Angeles is expected to begin enforcing Monday an ordinance that could shut down more than 400 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Approved by the City Council, the ordinance gives collectives that opened prior to November 13, 2007 (about 130 of which remain) six months to comply with new regulations.

Many of the 130 pre-moratorium dispensaries will be forced into new locations by strict zoning restrictions in the ordinance.

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