William Breathes

Barbados attorney general wants ganja laws reviewed

By William Breathes on March 19, 2013 Global, News

wikipedia.com

Bathsheba, Barbados.

Barbados Attorney General Adriel Brathwiate last week said that he had doubts his country was winning the war on drugs and said the country should re-examine their existing marijuana laws.
According to the Stabroek News, Brathwaite made his remarks while speaking at the opening of a national drug council meeting that was reviewing the country’s drug policies. He pointed to what he sees as an increase in the country’s marijuana use – particularly by young people – as evidence that their policies are failing.

$4 million in pot found on California beach near abandoned boat (again)

By William Breathes on March 19, 2013 News, Say what?

SBCS

$4 million in wet schwag.

Despite their taste in verdant herbal remedies, smugglers did not have the luck of the green on St. Patrick’s Day. Authorities in Santa Barbara said they found and seized their $4 million stash on Arroyo Camada Beach early Sunday morning.
The weed, found near an abandoned Panga boat, weighed 2,000 pounds. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time this month such a large haul has been found on a California beach near an empty boat. LA Weekly has the details.

Can industrial hemp make a comeback? New laws in Colorado have some activists excited.

By William Breathes on March 18, 2013 Hemp, News

Tim Gabor for Westword.com

Last week, Denver Westword writer Melanie Asmar took a closer look at what recent marijuana legalization laws have done for industrial hemp in Colorado and what that could mean for the rest of the country.
In it, she details “a merry band of hempsters, a small but dedicated group of supporters that includes a retired Yellow Pages saleswoman, a self-described mad scientist, the victorious defendant in one of Colorado’s landmark medical marijuana cases and a handful of stone-cold sober lawmakers who represent the type of places where people have dirt under their fingernails and make their living off the land. Together, this group is determined to create a hemp industry and position the state at the leading edge of an agricultural boom.”
Read Asmar’s story “Can hemp escape the role of marijuana’s sober stepsiter” in its entirety over at Westword.com

New York lawmaker who voted against medical marijuana busted with marijuana.

By William Breathes on March 18, 2013 Medical, News

Steve Katz.

New York Republican Assemblyman Steve Katz is a fucking hypocrite. Last year, the lawmaker – who is on the Assembly Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee – voted against medical marijuana in the state, saying that it would only increase illegal drug use. Fast-forward to this past weekend when Katz was cited for marijuana possession after police pulled him over for speeding.

University of Colorado to shut down campus on 4/20

By William Breathes on March 18, 2013 News

Westword.com

From the 2011 4/20 celebration at CU Boulder.

For many years, the University of Colorado was known as one of the largest 4/20 gatherings on any college campus in the United States. Thousands would descend upon Norlin Quad for a peaceful and hazy afternoon of basking in the Colorado spring sunshine (and occasional rain). But starting last year, the University decided to close down the campus to everyone but students and official visitors in an attempt to curb the gathering. Their efforts worked, and much to the dismay of ganja smokers in Boulder the campus is being shut down again this year.
Denver Westword has the rest.

Snoop Dogg Lion documentary drops in limited cities today

By William Breathes on March 15, 2013 Culture, Global

Over the last year or two, one of the greatest rap icons of all time has undergone a transformation of sorts. Snoop Dogg, one of the kings of West Coast rap, seemingly has reached a midlife point where he’s searching for something bigger, something more meaningful – and he says he’s found it reggae music and a new-found love for Jamaica.

So is it all an act, or has Snoop really ditched the Dogg and become a Rastafari lion? The movie seems to take on that question, with what appears to be an honest glimpse into the transformation of an American cultural rap icon to a mellower, irie-eyed Rastafarian.
Decide for yourself if you’re in one of the cities where the film is making an American run this month. You can catch the doc at these locations starting today:
Los Angeles: Laemmle Monica

San Francisco: Opera Plaza
Chicago: Century
Atlanta: Midtown Art Cinema
Miami: O Cinema
Austin: Violet Crown
New York City: Sunshine Cinemas

Proposed bill would stop mandatory minimum sentencing for marijuana

By William Breathes on March 15, 2013 Legislation, News

Marijuana possession would not be included in Louisiana’s draconian mandatory minimum sentencing laws if a bill introduced earlier this week manages to find approval in the state legislature.
State Rep. Austin Badon, a democrat from New Orleans, introduced House Bill 103 on Tuesday which in addition to removing marijuana possession a qualifying offense for the state’s three strikes law.

Vermont legislature considering three recreational marijuana bills and medical marijuana expansion

By William Breathes on March 15, 2013 Legislation, Medical, News

Updated Vermont state seal.

Earlier this week, a group of Vermont democrats, independents and progressives introduced House Bill 499, which would legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use and cultivation in the state, as well as allowing for recreational cannabis stores to open up in the Green Mountain State.

Bell peppers will not hide 2,000 pounds of marijuana

By William Breathes on March 15, 2013 News, Say what?

Bell peppers on top of a bunch of dirt weed.

Add fresh vegetables to your list of things that won’t deter drug dogs.
A Mexican national discovered that tip the hard way on Tuesday when police found more than a ton of marijuana stashed half-assed under a few green bell peppers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the find while the man was attempting to enter the United States through a commercial facility in Nogales with the load in a tractor-trailer. Phoenix New Times has the rest.

English soccer team uses confiscated ganja grow lights to grow grass in stadium

By William Breathes on March 14, 2013 Global, Say what?

Wikipedia commons.

Meadow Lane stadium.

The oldest soccer club in the world apparently has some problems growing grass (the legal kind) on their field during the winter.
League One Notts County F.C. was founded in 1862 and has been playing at the Meadow Lane stadium since 1910. Apparently, the technology at the stadium isn’t very new either and keeping the pitch green has been a challenge for some time.

Author William Breathes