Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Thief Busts In Head Shop, Grabs $300 Worth Of Fake Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: www.seekcodes.com

Dude… This story’s probably gonna make you feel better about yourself, because you are so much more together than the idiot in Flagstaff, Arizona, who busted into a head shop and stole $300 worth of fake weed Monday night.

In the police blotter of Wednesday’s Arizona Daily Sun is a report of a burglary at the Kind Connection Tattoo and Smoke Shop (I’ve never been there and I already love the place), where the burglar only stole two items: a $200 incense vaporizer and $300 worth of fake pot.

The burglar bashed in the front window with a baseball bat — setting off, of course, the store’s alarm system — went in, selected the two items, and left, reports James King at Phoenix New Times.

Encycloweedia: Pot Smoking For Dummies, iPhone Style

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2010 Culture, Products

encycloweedia4iphone.com

Encycloweedia works with all iPhones and iPod Touches running version 2.0 software or later.

A Dallas architecture company found business to be a little too slow for their liking. Unlike many others, they did something creative — and lucrative — about it. They created “Encycloweedia,” an iPhone app that serves as a one-stop resource for potheads.

Since Hub City Productions released the application in November, it’s been one of the top 20 reference apps on Apple’s site, reports Patrick Williams at the Dallas Observer.

The $1.99 app is being downloaded about 200 times a day, according to Hub City’s Robert Romano. “It’s blowing our minds,” Romano said. “It’s crazy.”

Romano said there’s a serious side to Encycloweedia: Countless seriously ill people — not necessarily recreational smokers — who don’t know much about marijuana and its effects need an easy-to-find source of good information.

“The head shops and dispensaries are just full of attitude,” Romano said. The app, according to Romano, “is like Pot Smoking For Dummies.”

Among example of useful information provided by Encycloweedia are marijuana recipes. Pot-naive patients might be too ill to smoke, but might have no idea how to cook with the herb.

WA Supremes: No Matter If You’re A Marijuana Patient, Cops Can Search And Arrest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: thefreshscent.com

If you’re a legal medical marijuana patient in Washington and you thought your doctor’s recommendation protected you from search or arrest, you’re wrong. According to a new court ruling, you can be arrested and hauled into court every time an officer smells pot at your home — even if you are complying with the law.

In a sharply divided decision, the Washington Supreme Court Thursday ruled against a patient arrested for possessing marijuana — despite the fact that the patient had a doctor’s recommendation for medicinal pot.

Incredibly, the court found that police had probable cause to search the patient’s home, even after he presented what both he and the police believed to be a valid medical marijuana authorization form under Washington’s medical marijuana law.

California Supreme Court Strikes Down Medical Marijuana Limits

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: puffpuffere, forum.grasscity.com

Imagine the concept: You and your doctor, rather than the Legislature, deciding how much medicine you need.

The California Supreme Court has struck down limits on how much medical marijuana patients can possess and cultivate.

Patients and caregivers with a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana can now possess as much as is “reasonably related to the patient’s current medical needs,” a standard that the court established in a 1997 decision.

The court concluded that the restrictions imposed by the Legislature are an unconstitutional amendment of a 1996 voter-approved initiative.

Washington Legislature Says No To Pot, Yes To ‘Continued Chaos’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: The Seattle Times

The Legislature in Washington state displayed a trait Wednesday for which they are becoming well known: spinelessness, especially when it comes to marijuana law reform.

Despite the fact that a majority of state voters favor legalizing pot, cowardly politicians in the State House voted down a pair of bills aimed at changing Washington’s failed marijuana laws.

House Bill 2401 would have legalized and regulated the adult production, use and distribution of marijuana, in a manner similar to the regulation of alcohol.

The roll call vote on HB 2401, to legalize marijuana, went like this:

Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana: Is Third Time The Charm For WAMM?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: WAMM

WAMM grows medical marijuana for terminally ill patients.

A case which could have far reaching implications in patient access to medical marijuana is coming back to court for a settlement hearing on Friday.

On January 22, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a collective which provides medical cannabis to the terminally and critically ill at no cost, will be in federal court in San Jose, California, for the hearing in WAMM’s joint lawsuit against the federal government.

Details of the settlement will be released following the court hearing.

Seattle’s New City Attorney Drops Marijuana Charges

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2010 Culture, Legislation, News

Photo: alapoet

Seattleites protest marijuana laws in the annual Marijuana March, May 2008.

As promised, Seattle’s new city attorney is dismissing marijuana possession cases.

By the end of January, more than 25 people charged with possession could be off the hook, reports Linda Brill at KING 5 News.

Even if you are arrested for marijuana in Seattle, it’s more than likely you won’t be prosecuted.

During his campaign for city attorney, Pete Holmes promised he would dismiss marijuana possession cases brought by his predecessor, former City Attorney Pete Carr. Despite an initiative passed by Seattle voters a few years ago, Carr’s office had continued to vigorously prosecute many cannabis cases.

San Diego Patient Gets Her Bongs Back From The Cops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Safe Access San Diego

Tiffani Kjeldergaard got her bongs and pipes back from the cops. Now her lawyer is filing a motion to get the pot back, too.

On January 19, a San Diego medical marijuana patient got her bongs back from the police, winning a seven-month battle after the bongs were seized in June 2009.

Tiffani Kjeldergaard was sentenced in January of 2009 to probation on a non-drug related offense. She continued to use her legal medication and tested positive for THC on drug tests conducted by the probation department until June, when her probation officer decided to stop by her house for a “safety check,” reports Safe Access San Diego.

Guy Gets Pulled Over, Tries To Eat Pot, Goes To Jail

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Alachua County Jail

Robert Michael Grady, Jr. tried to eat his marijuana; now he’s charged with felony tampering instead of misdemeanor possession

A Florida man who was pulled over for not using his turn signal ended up in jail for allegedly trying to eat a handful of marijuana.

Gainesville Police said the man would only have been charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, but is now charged with a felony for tampering with evidence, reports Karen Voyles of The Gainesville Sun.

An officer said he saw Robert Michael Grady, 27, put the marijuana in his mouth and start chewing.

Grady was arrested at 2:36 a.m. Monday and was also charged with habitually driving with a suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officer Byron Carroll said when he pulled Grady over, he saw him in the driver’s seat holding “a large handful” of a green, leafy substance that was later identified as marijuana. Grady then put the substance in his mouth, the officer said.