Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Cannabis In Israel: A Million Users Want To Change The Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2012 Culture, Global

By Amos Silver

Cannabis.org.il

In Israel there is a group of about 15 percent of the population that is legally defined as offenders (the data is not accurate due to possible self-incrimination respondents), some even serving prison sentences. The group is an almost perfect cross section of the population in all other aspects.

Some serve in the army, pay taxes and are political activists, some of them belong to more vulnerable populations, some didn’t serve in the army and some own a cat. The rest are divided between the other layers of society. The only common thing among them is the reason they’re defined as criminals, besides that they are generally law-abiding as the rest of the population.

Why Does The Government Want To Shut Up Bryan Epis?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2012 Growing, Medical, News

NORML

Bryan Epis has been silenced by the federal government as a condition of his sentencing agreement

Editor’s note: Recently, a remarkable resolution was reached on a federal medical marijuana case involving Bryan Epis, a California cannabis club operator, under which Epis had to agree not to be involved in marijuana activism. Epis’s attorney, John Balazs, has contributed his thoughts about the case below in a guest post which is reprinted here with his permission.

By John Balazs

Attorney

Bryan James Epis is a well-known medical marijuana activist who is believed to be the first person to be tried in federal court for cultivating marijuana for medical purposes after the 1996 ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in California. Although only 458 plants were found at his residence, the government extrapolated from a disputed spreadsheet to project that his “conspiracy” to grow marijuana was for at least 1,000 plants, the threshold to trigger a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence.

Here’s Why We Fight For Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2012 Medical

Barb Brisson

Barb Brisson is fully present in her grandson’s life, thanks to cannabis.

Here is what medical cannabis is all about: People reclaiming their lives. People making the conscious choice to once again be fully present with their families.

Every day I hear from chronic pain patients and those challenged by debilitating illness. Every day they tell me that when they had to depend totally on chemical pharms for relief, it was wrecking not only their bodies and minds but their relationships with people they care about.

“When we go out on adventures, I tell my grandson that some things, we can’t change … like the sun, moon, rain or snow,” medical marijuana patient Barb Brisson of Chatham, Michigan, told me this afternoon. “I teach him to be good to the Earth because it’s for everyone to enjoy.

Gore Vidal Advocated Marijuana Legalization 42 Years Ago

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2012 Culture

BBC

Gore Vidal, pictured here in about 1970, died on July 31, 2012 at the age of 86. He was famous for his biting political critiques and acerbic take on American society.

Author, playwright and activist Gore Vidal’s death on Tuesday brought a worldwide expression of gratitude for a life well lived; millions are remembering the liberal author’s contributions to culture and politics.

What’s not as well known is that, decades ago, Vidal took a brave stand in favor of marijuana legalization, as pointed out on the Huffington Post by Tony Newman of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Marijuana Doesn’t Belong On Schedule I [Infographic]

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2012 Culture, News

Via: Rehab International

The federal classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug doesn’t just defy all scientific evidence; it isn’t just another way logic and reason are sacrificed on the altar of the War On Drugs.

Two More SF Marijuana Dispensaries Fold In Federal Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Chris Roberts/S.F. Examiner

Catherine and Steve Smith founded HopeNet 14 years ago and have diligently gone by state and city laws

The ranks are thinning. Two more of San Francisco’s most well-known medical marijuana dispensaries closed their doors permanently on Tuesday, both due to the federal government’s crackdown in states which have legalized the medicinal use of cannabis.

HopeNet and the Vapor Room both announced they would shut down due to threatening letters sent to their landlords by the federal government, reports Joe Rosato Jr., of NBCBayArea.com.

“The Justice Department sent out landlord one of those nasty letters,” HopeNet cofounder Catherine Smith said. “So this is our D-Day; we have to leave.”

HopeNet was founded 14 years ago by Smith and her husband on Ninth Street in San Francisco’s South of Market. The business has long been regarded as an excellent example of a working, legitimate medical marijuana dispensary which carefully abides by state and city laws. Smith worked alongside city officials, serving on the Medical Marijuana Task Force and helping craft S.F.’s groundbreaking city ordinance on medicinal cannabis.

California Pharmacy Shutdown Hoax Revealed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 31, 2012 News

AAHA Trends Today

It was a hoax — but it was hoax to make a point.

The San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nationwide cannabis advocacy group, working with LGBT activism group Canvass for a Cause and as part of the The Yes Men’s “Yes Labs” project, released a series of satirical press releases on Tuesday which indicated that U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy would begin targeting pharmacies for closure using asset forfeiture proceedings.

The purpose of the action was to draw attention to the U.S. Attorney’s harmful efforts to deny patients access to doctor-recommended medical cannabis.

“Just as the closure of retail pharmacies, like CVS or Walgreens, is poor public health policy, so is the federal government’s crackdown on medical cannabis dispensaries,” said Eugene Davidovich of San Diego ASA. “Pharmacies, like medical cannabis dispensaries, play an essential role in our communities as they help the sick and dying treat and manage various medical conditions.”

Shutdown Of Pharmacies A Hoax; Group Takes Responsibility

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 31, 2012 News

FAC

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy has made it her personal mission to shut down safe access to medical marijuana in Southern California

The “Cease and Desist” orders and “official” press release announcing the federal closure of pharmacies in San Diego — purportedly originating from the office of U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy — are indeed fake.

“This hoax was conducted in retaliation against U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy for her insubordination against the Obama Administration and Government of the United States of America,” said Dexter Haight of the Federal Accountability Coalition (FAC), which took responsibility for the hoax.

According to the FAC, Duffy’s superiors, President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, have both pledged that Federal resources would not be used to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries operating in compliance with state law. Despite this pledge to the American public, U.S. Attorney Duffy has used Federal power to target medical marijuana dispensaries with asset forfeiture.

Billboard Takes MT Legislators To Task Over Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 31, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

MTCIA

“Through their repeal efforts, the legislature ignored the will of the people and claimed to be abiding by it all at the same time,” said Chris Lindsey, president of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association

A billboard reading “Welcome to Yellowstone County, Where the Will of the People Doesn’t Count” now appears on Montana Avenue in Billings, Montana. The billboard encourages Montanans to vote against IR-124, a voter initiative appearing on this year’s ballot that allows voters keep or reject the current medical marijuana law.

The billboard was placed by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association (MTCIA), best known for its legal challenge to the current medical marijuana law. The new law repealed the popular and controversial voter initiative which put medical marijuana on the books in 2004.

“Through their repeal efforts, the legislature ignored the will of the people and claimed to be abiding by it all at the same time,” says Chris Lindsey, president of the MTCIA. “First, they rushed to repeal the original law and leave patients with nothing.

U.S. Attorney Pharmacy Shutdown: Real Or Hoax?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 31, 2012 News

420 Studios
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy’s pharmacy crackdown? Dueling press releases Friday morning

It was apparently an entirely new tactic representing an interesting change of pace from her usual war on medical marijuana dispensaries. United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy on Tuesday announced — or seemed to announce — enforcement actions against pharmacies in Southern California. The stores were targeted, Duffy said in a press release, because of “distribution of drugs for illegal purposes.”

According to the press release, which says it is from “Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Shiner” at (619) 302-5235, “immediate enforcement” will target pharmacies in the Coastal areas of La Jolla, Carmel Valley, and Pacific Beach; chosen for both the high rates of pharmaceutical drug abuse and high property values of targeted pharmacies. Affected pharmacies will have 45 days to shutdown in order to avoid harsher penalties.

“The Pharmaceutical shutdown initiative is aimed at curtailing drug abuse and its associated societal problems in the Southern District of California,” Duffy’s office seemed to announce Tuesday morning.

But another, conflicting release sent just an hour later from Press Secretary Steven T. Frederickson at (619) 306-2854, claims that “unknown individuals have forged documents claiming that this office has initiated a shut down pharmacies [sic]in the coastal areas of San Diego County.

“Many in the community have expressed outrage over the perceived imposition of our department in the rights of San Diego patients to receive their medication,” the second release reads, in what — if it’s real — must be one of the most richly ironic statements in history.

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