Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Photo: WHYY

​State Senator Daylin Leach has announced the introduction of legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Under the bill, Pennsylvania would join 14 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing doctor-supervised medical marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions, reports Main Line Media News. Neighboring New Jersey passed its own medical marijuana law earlier this year.
“It’s long past time we move beyond the misinformation and ancient wives’ tales and allow people to have the medicine that will make them feel better,” Leach said. “Medical marijuana has been proven repeatedly to help people who are desperately ill. It is nothing more than gratuitous cruelty to deny it to them.”

Photo: Lou Lang News Weblog
Rep. Lou Lang: “I’m not done; I’m gonna keep trying”

​A vast majority of people in Illinois say they support medical marijuana. The most recent poll shows 68 percent of state residents want to make cannabis legal for medical purposes, reports Anna Davlantes of FOX Chicago News.

So why won’t Illinois lawmakers make it happen?
Predictably, most law enforcement agencies claim giving anyone legal access to marijuana increases the supply for potheads.
Opponents also point to the fact that cannabis hasn’t been approved by the FDA — conveniently forgetting to mention that the reason this is so is the lack of research mandated by its federal classification as a tightly-controlled Schedule I narcotic, with no accepted medical uses.

Photo: Colorado Connection
Rep. Jared Polis: “I would certainly encourage that the question of whether or not it’s consistent with state law certainly be left to state enforcement actions”

​Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado on Thursday quizzed Attorney General Eric Holder about federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states like Colorado which have legalized it for medical use and are now seeing a growing number of dispensaries.

In his very first appearance as a new member of the House Judiciary Committee, Polis, a Democrat from Boulder, quizzed Holder about comments from a federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent suggesting the Justice Department planned to raid Colorado dispensaries, reports Michael Riley of The Denver Post.
Holder denied any such plans are in place, saying there were “higher enforcement priorities” and citing a directive by the deputy attorney general giving specific criteria under which federal agents would shut down dispensaries operating legally under state law.
“There are a variety of factors that are contained within the memo… that United States attorneys and assistant United States attorneys are supposed to apply, supposed to consider, when trying to make the determination about whether or not federal resources are going to be used to go after somebody who is dealing in marijuana,” Holder equivocated.

Drew Perine/The Tacoma News Tribune
Before the bust: North End Club 420’s Guy Casey tends to marijuana plants

​Two men who operate a Tacoma, Washington medical marijuana dispensary pleaded not guilty Thursday to drug charges stemming from an undercover police operation.

Michael Jonathan Schaef, Guy Lewis Casey and their supporters say authorities unfairly targeted them. Medical marijuana was legalized by Washington state voters in 1998.
The dispensary, North End Club 420, was open again Thursday morning, two days after it was raided, report Adam Lynn and Rob Carson with the The Tacoma News-Tribune.
“Helping sick people get their medical marijuana is not illegal,” said Kristine Casey, who works at North End Club 20 and is married to Guy Casey.
Both men were allowed to remain free Thursday after posting bail following their Tuesday arrests.
Police claim the two sold marijuana to people who were not authorized patients, kept a larger supply on hand than allowed, and charged exorbitant prices to enrich themselves.
Schaef and Casey said statements from police and prosecutors “grossly misrepresent” their motives, their operation, and their legality.
“They said we were in this because of greed and that we’re making thousands of dollars,” Schaef said. “That is crazy.”

Photo: Cornerstone Recording Arts Society
Slightly Stoopid began in 1996, influenced by SoCal skatepunk, thrash and copious amounts of weed. They now mix a California-centric sound of loopy sampledelic pop, hip-hop, sunny marijuana affirmations, dub and reggae influences.

​As the debate over ending marijuana prohibition heats up across the country, the Marijuana Policy Project is partnering with renowned San Diego-based band Slightly Stoopid for their upcoming United States tour, “Cauzin Vapors … Legalize It,” on which they will be accompanied by hip-hop superstars Cypress Hill, The Expendables, Collie Buddz, and reggae legends Steel Pulse on select dates.

Starting in mid-July, the tour will wind across the country, from California to New York, with stops at this year’s acclaimed Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and, appropriately enough, the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado.
MPP will be tabling at performances and have representatives at each show to answer questions and provide information about the ongoing campaigns to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S.
“We are delighted to be included in this opportunity to expand awareness about the need to change our country’s marijuana policies,” said Mary Patton, director of VIP relations at the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill and all the acts on this tour are vocal, well-known supporters of ending marijuana prohibition, and we look forward to joining them in this effort to change attitudes and inspire activism on marijuana-related issues across the U.S.”

Graphic: Media Junkie

​A Honolulu, Hawaii police officer was convicted Wednesday in Las Vegas of misdemeanor driving under the influence and marijuana charges, resulting from his arrest last August while taking part in a softball tournament.

A felony driving under the influence charge was dropped for 38-year-old Kevin Fujioka because it conflicted with the misdemeanor DUI charge, according to prosecutor Bruce Nelson, reports Fox 5 News.
Fujioka was found guilty Tuesday of the two misdemeanor charges by a Las Vegas justice of the peace, who fined the police officer $580.
A misdemeanor marijuana possession charge against another Honolulu police officer, 47-year-old Shayne Souza, was dropped last month after he pleaded guilty to “obstructing a police officer.”
Souza and Fujioka were arrested August 15 as they smoked pot in a van near a park several miles west of the Last Vegas Strip.
Clark County Police said they spotted the stoned officers in a van at Desert Breeze Park.

Graphic: Arizona Dream

​Don’t pass the peace pipe, partner — Flathead definitely does not equal pothead. Medical marijuana providers on the Flathead Indian Reservation who sell to American Indians can be charged with felony distribution, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSTK) of Montana announced Wednesday.

After consulting with elders from the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille peoples, the Tribal Council decided to keep their policy, which makes the possession or sale of marijuana for any reason a criminal offense, according to CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald, reports Vince Devlin of The Missoulian.

Photo: Oregon Medical Marijuana Program

​The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA) campaign to tax and regulate marijuana, which is circulating petitions to get the measure on the ballot for November’s election, has collected fewer than 5,000 signatures, with 100,000 signatures needed by July.

OCTA would effectively legalize the cultivation, possession and personal use or marijuana in Oregon, and would be the first law of its kind in the nation, reports Ian Geronimo at the Oregon Daily Emerald, the independent student newspaper at the University of Oregon.


Graphic: DispensaryFinder.com

​A California Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a ruling allowing the city of Lake Forest to shut down all medical marijuana dispensaries. An attorney representing the city said the ruling could eventually shut down every dispensary in California.

Jeffrey Dunn, an attorney who is representing Lake Forest, wasted no time in issuing an over-arching, hubristic crow of victory, saying that he believes Chaffee’s ruling could eventually force the closure of all marijuana dispensaries in the state.
The ruling only applies to Lake Forest for now, because it is only a trial court decision. Dispensaries located in the city limits will have to close down immediately unless they get a temporary stay.

Graphic: Last Blog On Earth
Downtown Kush Lounge was one of two San Diego dispensaries operated by Joseph Nunes

​San Diego medical marijuana dispensary operator Joseph Nunes was sentenced to one year in federal prison on Monday, May 10.

“They took him right to jail,” said a medical marijuana activist who was in the downtown courtroom to support Nunes, reports Shane Finneran at the San Diego Reader.
“Joe, we wont forget you,” said an emotional Donna Lambert after U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns announced Nunes’s sentence.
Police raided two dispensaries operated by Nunes as part of a sweep of pot shops across San Diego in September 2009.
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