Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Montana Marijuana Advocates Release Ad Against IR-124

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 19, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Ballot Issue Radio Ad Features Sen. Larry Jent Acknowledging that SB 423 Was Intended as “Defacto Repeal” of Voter Intent for Medical Marijuana Patients

A radio ad airing statewide beginning Tuesday uses the voice of state Senator Larry Jent (D-Bozeman) to urge voters to reject Senate Bill 423, the new “repeal and destroy” medical marijuana law passed by the 2011 Montana Legislature, it was announced today.

In the ad, Jent admits that the Legislature’s final vote in the 2011 session was actually intended to functionally repeal (rather than fix) the state medical marijuana law adopted by voters. “And it worked,” Jent concludes.

“We’re urging voters to vote ‘no’ on IR-124, because it is a slap in the face to voters as well as cruel and harmful to the seriously sick patients Montanans sought to help,” says Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform – Not Repeal.

Filmmakers Preparing Documentary On I-502 Legalization Push

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 18, 2012 Culture, Products

Seattle filmmaker Josef Wilke is doing a documentary on Washington state Initiative 502, Local Voices: I-502, a voter initiative regulating the sale of marijuana which will be on November’s general election ballot.

“We are attempting to show the entire story of I-502,” Wilke told Toke of the Town in an exclusive interview. “We want to balance the media coverage which has ignored the DUI legislation and other concerns, specifically medical marijuana patients’ concerns.”

“Our documentary is not going to make a difference in the November 6 election,” Wilke said. “In fact, it is going to be more about what happens after the election.”

“I-502 seems to be marching to a victory,” Wilke said. “We intend to release our film in April of 2013. We want to document the promises that are being made b y the campaign to address legitimate concerns and hold them to account as we gauge the reactions and of actions by both our state and federal governments.”

Wilke is working through local Seattle video production company Confluent VideoMedia, owned by Tim Sheehan. Tim is producer for the film.

Toke of the Town got a chance to ask Wilke and Sheehan a few questions about the 502 documentary.

Bone Thugs Release ‘For Smokers Only’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 17, 2012 Culture, Products

Robotic Empire Records

Cleveland’s own Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have announced their new For Smokers Only weed tribute collection album.

Hot on the heels of all five original Bone Thugs members reuniting for the first time in years, the group is unleashing an homage to Mother Nature’s finest green gift. Unavailable for years due to record company red tape, the collection has finally been released by indie outfit Robotic Empire Records.

For Smokers Only has never been available before on CD or LP; it was released earlier this year solely as a digital download. Some of the material featured will be made available in the physical format (CD and vinyl LP) for the very first time.

OR House Ways & Means Co-Chair Backs Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 17, 2012 Legislation, News

Vote80.org

Continuing the momentum of local and national support for common-sense cannabis policy in Oregon, Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) has officially endorsed Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. Buckley joins an expanding list of political and community leaders around Oregon and the nation calling for an end to America’s catastrophic war on drugs.

“It makes absolutely no sense to me that we continue to waste millions of dollars every year to prohibit adults from making the choice of whether to consume marijuana, especially when we could be regulating and taxing that market and funding the programs we’ve been cutting session after session,” said Rep. Buckley, co-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. “Oregon is a pioneer state, and I for one want us to make history this November by ending prohibition and regulating marijuana just like we regulate liquor.”

Topical Cannabis: Little Pots of Infused Goodness

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2012 Products

All photos by Sharon Letts

The Bud Sister’s Pain Relief Salve, infused with lemongrass

Lotions, Salves & Oils… Oh, my!

By Sharon Letts

“Why would you put something in your mouth, you can’t swallow?” my friend asked, showing me the label of a trusted tube of toothpaste.

It was 1975. I was 16, she was 17, and the “Clean Air & Water Acts” were in effect, opening up a whole new topic of conversation at home…. How would we make our own difference? Shortly after that conversation I bought my first tube of “Tom’s of Maine” (Fennel) toothpaste, and have not looked back.

Around that same time my mom gave me my first bottle of fancy face lotion – “Oil of Olay.” The glass bottle of thin, pink cream with its black cap seemed elegant and French to my young, impressionable mind. It smelled good, was soft on my face, and I had seen it in magazines. It must have been alright, right?

Humboldt Stories: Marijuana Trimming Is The New Social Circle

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2012 Culture, Growing

All photos by Sharon Letts

Trimming Sour Diesel

“It’s not Weeds, it’s Real”

By Sharon Letts

Nick drove down Samoa Boulevard from Arcata onto the South Spit, and into the town of Manila, where Greg lived. Tonight Greg was paying $200 a pound, plus a bag of popcorn, for the most tedious, boring work in the industry.

Getting onto someone’s list for trimming is all about relationships, trust, and if the group wants you there. For the hours are long and often run into the wee hours of the morning.

There was also the issue of vehicles in front of the house to finesse. Too many, too many days in a row, and red flags would be raised. Greg was a musician, so if you had an instrument you carried it inside, and, if anyone wanted to jam on a break, so much the better.

Marijuana Bricks Wash Up On Florida Beach

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2012 News

Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Bricks of marijuana washed up on a south Florida beach Friday morning.

Shades of the 1970s! It’s Square Grouper time again in Florida, as bricks of soggy marijuana are once again washing up on the shore of Miami suburb Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Friday morning.

Witnesses saw one man, later identified as Reginaldo Azevedo, pick up one of the bricks of cannabis near Commercial Boulevard and start walking quickly north on Ocean Boulevard, reports Anna Edgerton at The Miami Herald.

A cop who was nearby yelled at Azevedo to stop, but he took off running north up Ocean Boulevard. He made it about five blocks before he threw the marijuana in the sand dunes and “started doing exercises.” Yeah, that’s what the police report says.

Do Drugged Driving Laws Hurt Medical Marijuana Patients?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2012 Legislation, Medical

Law Offices of Daniel Rosen

This map shows drugged driving laws by state, as well as which states allow medical marijuana.

By Judy Pokras

The White House has issued a call for every state to make strict drugged driving legislation a priority. What makes this complicated, however, is that for most illicit drugs, including marijuana, there’s no agreed-upon limit that reliably determines impairment.

There are currently 16 states that allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and over a million medical marijuana patients across the country. With three different types of drugged driving laws across the U.S. — and varying state limits for determining impairment from marijuana — depending on which type of law a state uses, a person who is legally allowed to use medical marijuana can be convicted of driving while impaired, even if he or she did not use medical pot on the same day.

This is because THC — the main psychoactive element of marijuana (that causes a person to get high) — can be present in the blood of a heavy pot user for several hours or even days, long after any impairing effects of the drug have gone away. And THC-COOH — a secondary metabolite in marijuana that is formed after a person gets high, and that has no psychoactive effect — is detectable in urine for weeks or even months after past use.

Montana’s Restrictive Med Marijuana Law Polls Under 50%

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Montana Cowgirl Blog

A billboard that reads “Welcome to Yellowstone County, Where the Will of the People Doesn’t Count” on Montana Avenue in Billings. The billboard encourages Montanans to vote “NO” on IR-124.

A new poll shows that IR-124, the November 6 referendum on the 2011 Legislature’s unworkable medical marijuana law, faces steep odds, with support at only 46 percent.

Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform, Not Repeal, said, “Historically, ballot measures that don’t start near 60 percent support are in danger of failing. IR-124 doesn’t even hit 50 percent. That’s a bad sign for the Legislature’s proposal, especially if we do our job and explain to voters why they should vote against this ‘godawful’ law.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey was released Thursday afternoon in which the full ballot summary for IR-124 was read aloud to 656 registered and likely Montana voters. The summary describes Senate Bill 423, which was forced to the ballot by opponents and appears as IR-124.

Portland City Councilman Backs Measure 80 Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2012 Legislation, News

Measure 80 – The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act

Adding to the chorus of political and community leaders around Oregon and the nation that is calling for an end to America’s catastrophic War On Drugs, Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard has officially endorsed Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act.

Portland Community College

Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard: “Regulating and taxing marijuana for adults is just common sense”

“As a career Portland firefighter, a State Legislator and a Portland City Council member, I have always fought for funding for our first responders and resources for our social safety net,” Leonard said. “Regulating and taxing marijuana for adults is just common sense, because it allows us to get pot out of kids’ hands, focus our public-safety resources on dangerous drugs, creates jobs and provide a new revenue stream to fund much-needed social services.”

According to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, Oregon has spent more than $60 million a year on marijuana-related offenses, from local police enforcement costs to court-room costs to the millions spent on incarceration.

Measure 80 would replace a failed system of prohibition with an effective taxation-and-regulation model. While adults 21 and older would be able to purchase cannabis products only at state-licensed stores, Measure 80 introduces tough new criminal penalties, such as felony charges for selling cannabis to a minor, and criminal misdemeanor charges for providing cannabis to a minor.

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