Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Huge Victory For Canada’s Medical Marijuana Patients: Edibles, Topicals, Cannabis Tea Now Allowed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 13, 2012 Global, Medical, News

Darren Stone/The Victoria Times Colonist

Owen Smith (center) was the head baker for the Cannabis Buyers’ Club of Canada. He will still have to stand trial on charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and unlawful possession of marijuana.

In a huge victory for Canada’s medical marijuana patients, people authorized to use medicinal cannabis can use it in infused edibles and drink it in tea — not just smoke the dried flowers — the B.C. Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

Justice Robert Johnston said the restriction to dried cannabis only in Health Canada’s Medical Access Regulations is unconstitutional, violating Section 7 of the Charter of Rights, reports Louise Dickinson at The Victoria Times Colonist.

“The remedy for this breach is to remove the word ‘dried’ where it appears in the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations and I so order,” Justice Johnston said.

BREAKING: Grumbine & Byron Granted New Marijuana Trial

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 13, 2012 News

Catrina Coleman/West Coast Leaf

Joe Grumbine outside the Long Beach Courthouse with his grandchild Jojo

Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron, whose recent trial for operating a medical cannabis dispensary in Southern California attracted worldwide attention — make that horror and disbelief — for judicial and jury misconduct and prejudice, has been granted a new trial.

“This was a terrible, terrible trial,” said Long Beach Superior Court Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani, who granted the motion for a new trial.

“I read the transcript [of the previous trial]and I am appalled,” Judge Comparet-Cassani said on Friday, reports Cheri Sicard of The Human Solution, who attended the hearing along with Grumbine and other members of the group.

Felony Hash: Are Texas Laws Unconstitutionally Vague?

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

DFW NORML

In most states, simple possession of small amounts of hash is treated exactly the same as possession of marijuana — punishable as a misdemeanor. But not in Texas.

By David B. Sloane, Attorney

DFW NORML Public Information Officer

In Texas, possession of so-called “hash” is classified as a felony of varying degrees of severity depending on how much is possessed by aggregate weight.

In the overwhelming majority of states, simple possession for small amounts of hash derived naturally from the marijuana plant is treated exactly the same as possession of marijuana — punishable as a misdemeanor. Even states known for their draconian drug laws treat hash the same way as they treat marijuana.

Lowest Priority Cannabis Enforcement: Signature Gathering Begins In WA

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

Sensible Washington

Recently the cannabis advocacy group Sensible Washington announced it was filing initiatives making marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority in six cities throughout Washington State. Now signature gathering drive has begun in three of those cities: Olympia, Everett and Bremerton.

“It is our goal to get these quickly on the ballot, as to effectively run a successful campaign to pass these initiatives into law,” said Anthony Martinelli of Sensible Washington.

If put on the ballot and passed, these initiatives, all titled the Marijuana Reform Act of 2012, will make cannabis the lowest law-enforcement priority, and also prohibit city and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities over the implementation of federal cannabis policies.

Police Say Dealer Had 89 Bags Of Hard Drugs Tied To His Penis

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 12, 2012 News

Philadelphia Inquirer

Ray Woods had 89 bags of heroin and cocaine tied to his penis. He urinated on the police officer who removed them.

Suspect Urinated On Police Officer As The Drugs Were Removed

When police officers noticed an “large bulge” in 23-year-old Ray Woods’ groin area after they stopped him last weekend for a traffic violation, the man had the balls to insist “it was nothing.”

But the officers found some marijuana in the vehicle, and Woods, of Philadelphia, was placed under arrest for possession. He caught an additional charge of possessing drugs with intent to distribute after officers claimed they later found 89 individual bags of suspected heroin and cocaine tied to his penis following a search at the Folcroft, Pennsylvania police station, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It was, in fact, hard drugs the police officers found tied to Woods’ penis, and not marijuana as was erroneously reported by The Raw Story.

“He stopped him for the traffic violation and one thing led to another,” said Police Corporal Christopher Eiserman, a 14-year veteran of the force who allowed he’d never seen anything like it.

Free Marijuana Prisoner Rev. Eddy Lepp: The Lepp-A-Thon

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 12, 2012 Culture, News

California 420 Cannabis Network

Rev. Eddy Lepp, left, with hemp legend Jack Herer

By Mickey Martin

Cannabis Warrior

Some great activists are working on fundraising for Reverend Eddy Lepp and have organized a silent auction to help raise funds for his defense efforts. The auction contains a lot of great items to bid on, including vacations, glass pieces, tickets, and a whole lot more.

To see these great items and to place a bid to help out Eddy visit the auction site HERE. Our brothers and sisters sit in jail today because of a safe, enjoyable, and helpful plant. Please do your part to help free the old man from the clutches of tyranny.

S.F. Mayor: Medical Marijuana A ‘Nuisance’ Like Strip Clubs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 12, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Garry Sun

Roughly equivalent to a medical marijuana dispensary? The Mayor’s Office in San Francisco seems to think so.

Nobody in the office of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee seems willing to take responsibility for a city document which refers to medical marijuana dispensaries as “nuisance retail” and likens them to strip clubs and liquor stores.

That’s the terminology used in a document released last year by the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and that document is now being used by the Planning Department as a reason to deny a permit to a medicinal cannabis collective proposed for a vacant building in an alley off Sixth Street, reports Chris Roberts at SF Weekly.

Jury Acquits Man Who Says He Was Selling Marijuana During Robbery

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 12, 2012 News

MySpace

Kadeem Wilkerson: “When I pulled out the firearm, their attitude just changed up. I got my weed back…”

Hey man — I didn’t rob these people. They tried to rob me when I sold them marijuana. That’s a line of defense you don’t see very often, especially in Georgia. But it worked.

A Georgia jury on Wednesday found a 20-year-old man not guilty of armed robbery after he testified he went to Liberty Garden Townhomes in Columbus in 2010 to sell marijuana to customers who then tried to rob him, rather than the other way around, report Alan Riquelmy and Tim Chitwood of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Defense attorney Stacey Jackson said he thought jurors were swayed by Kadeem Wilkerson’s “brutally honest” testimony about having sold pot, and his testimony was backed up by a marijuana conviction in Chattahoochee County. Imagine that — a pot conviction that helps you!

Cheeba Chews Invading Mass.! West v. East – The First Salvo

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 11, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, Products

Ganja Gourmet

By Bob Starrett

This is scary. “Wrapped in ‘Tootsie Roll’ style wrappers, these powerful chewables consist of the most active ingredient in marijuana — THC — and their taffystyle packaging is conspicuously attractive to kids.”

That’s Heidi Heilman, guest columnist, writing in the Milford Daily News this week. Ms. Heilman is speaking of a January incident in which a car of teenagers was pulled over for speeding. The Cheeba Chews were found inside.

Powerful chewables with THC. From California and Colorado, no less, and under “the guise of medicine.” I think that the packaging is rather conservative. But who knows what those out-of- staters are cooking up for Massachusetts? This is probably the first wave of the assault, apparently by “deep pocket outsiders to target Massachusetts to become the next ‘medical’ marijuana haven.” 

I get it about invading Massachusetts, maybe they should be left alone. Several invasions are already underway or coming up including Gamers, the Undead and Asian Longhorn Beetles.

Dutch Group: Cannabis Coffeeshops Deserve Heritage Protection

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 11, 2012 Dispensaries, Global, News

Floris Leeuwenberg

Cannabis coffeeshops are an integral part of Dutch culture, and have been for decades. A Dutch cannabis consumers group, WeSmoke, says the shops are worthy of preservation as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Netherlands, for reasons known only to the conservative government, seems intent on barring foreigners from its world-famous “coffeeshops” where cannabis is sold. That’s wholly nonsensical, since the shops are a major source of tourist dollars for Amsterdam and most of the other cities where they operate.

But curtailment of the shops — or even complete closure, which could be one of the repercussions of the new rules — would be more than an economic loss to the Netherlands, according to one Dutch pro-cannabis group. It would be a tragic loss of cultural heritage, as well.

Because of that, the Dutch cannabis consumer association WeSmoke has asked that the coffeeshops of the Netherlands be included on UNESCO World Heritage Site list, giving them protection as the unique cultural icons they are.

“World Heritage Sites are commonly understood to be culturally and/or natural important heritage that can be considered irreplaceable, unique and property of the entire world,” said Dimitri Breeuwer of WeSmoke. “This is why we can only conclude the unique Dutch coffeeshop, the very center of the cannabis legalization policies belongs on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.”

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