William Breathes

St. Louis radio station owner running pro-marijuana ads

By William Breathes on July 31, 2014 Culture, News

Toke of the Town edit of image by Theredmonkey/Commons.

It’s a dream of every radio station owner, but a dream that has probably never been realized until now.
“They’re actually thanking me for the ads,” says Elmo Donze, owner of classic-rock station KBDZ (93.1 FM) in Perryville. “This has never happened before.”
But it’s not the ads for car insurance or ambulance chasers that people are praising. Rather, people are grateful for the $10,000 worth of advertisements endorsing medical marijuana legislation that Donze donated to Show-Me Cannabis earlier this year. Such a move might be considered politically risky for the more corporate radio behemoths, but if Donze’s effort is any indication, listeners love it. More at the Riverfront Times.

High-CBD Charlotte’s Web strain more hype than help?

By William Breathes on July 31, 2014 Medical, Opinion

theroc.us

Charlotte’s Web in flower.

Over the last year one marijuana strain has gained more attention than any other. Charlotte’s Web, a high-CBD strain bred out by, Realm of Caring, a group of dispensary owners in Colorado has quickly become a buzz-word among lawmakers across the U.S. The effect is that many people seem to think that Charlotte’s Web is the only high-CBD strain out there, and that children suffering from seizures must have access to Charlotte’s Web specifically.
While the strain has definitely been shown to help children, it isn’t the only one despite what the PR machine behind Realm of Caring would have everyone believe. Eleven states passed high-CBD laws this past session, and many of them use Charlotte’s Web specifically in their names. Included in that is a bill submitted this week dubbed the Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp act of 2014 which would legalize the proprietary strain federally.

Three New York guards indicted for smuggling cocaine and oxys into prison

By William Breathes on July 31, 2014 News

Matt Green/Flickr.

The correctional officer-jail inmate relationship is often a fraught one, rife with resentment, misunderstandings and violence. But sometimes, just sometimes, the two groups can put aside their differences and work together. That’s the silver lining we can take from the news that two current Rikers COs, Steven Dominguez and Divine Rahming, have been charged with smuggling cocaine and oxycodone into the prison with the help of an inmate and his girlfriend. Another former Rikers guard, Deleon Gifth, who resigned earlier this year, was arrested Monday on charges that he was paid $500 to deliver what he thought was oxycodone to an inmate back in February.
The Village Voice has more on these three stooges.

WeedMaps tells New York Times to stop testing employees for pot

By William Breathes on July 30, 2014 Culture, Media

The New York Times made huge headlines over the weekend when its editorial board called for the “national legalization” of marijuana. Pro-pot groups were crawling over each other so they could be among the first to offer the deepest, we-are-not-worthy bows to the newspaper of record in the United States. After all, who among them would disagree with the Times’ assertion that ” … the federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana.”
But one Southern California-based medical-weed information service said, Hold on just a second: It turns out the paper, which said in its editorial that cannabis is “far less dangerous than alcohol,” still tests new employees for marijuana.
LA Weekly has the rest.

Colorado man gets three years’ probation for feeding teenage minors pot cookies

By William Breathes on July 30, 2014 News

Since recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado, much has been made of children accidentally ingesting edible marijuana — but what about when people intentionally feed it to kids? Last week Davirak Ky pleaded guilty to distributing a controlled substance and child abuse for feeding two minors cannabis-infused cookies. In exchange, Ky received three years of probation, must undergo drug and alcohol treatment, and has to take a class on the effects of drugs on children — but he will avoid prison time if he stays out of trouble

Hunter finds 100,000+ plants north of Houston, prisoners called in by cops to destroy cannabis

By William Breathes on July 29, 2014 Say what?

Texas prisoners help clean up an illegal pot grow.

A deer hunter north of Houston, Texas stumbled upon a pot grow with as many as 100,000 plants and narc’d it out to authorities. Now, police are celebrating what is being touted as the largest grow operation busted in state history.
A hunter near the town of Goodrich, Texas says he was out rummaging around and scouting the area when he found the grow site, a campground and plenty of hidden equipment. Cops now say they growers have likely been out there for months.

Albuquerque activists submit signatures to reduce pot penalties

By William Breathes on July 29, 2014 Legalize It, News

Ron Reiring/Flickr.

ABQNM.

Backers of a proposal that would make the maximum penalty for an ounce of marijuana a $25 fine in Albuquerque, New Mexico submitted signatures Monday hoping to get their proposal on the November ballot.
But even they admit it could be a long shot. Supporters turned in 16,000 signatures, hoping that 11,203 are actually valid. That seems like it would be a given, but verification of the first set of signatures showed that only 57 percent were valid.

New York health department reminds you that “synthetic marijuana” isn’t marijuana is stupid and dangerous

By William Breathes on July 29, 2014 Medical, News

New York City emergency rooms are seeing an outbreak of synthetic smokable drug-related illnesses, according to the city’s health department.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued a warning on Sunday urging people not to buy or use “synthetic cannabinoids,” which are often sold at head shops under names like K2, Spice, and Green Giant. The agency says it’s gotten reports of 15 fake weed-related emergency room visits over the past two days, concentrated in East Harlem, Central Harlem and Chelsea.

Florida really, really wants legal medical marijuana access

By William Breathes on July 29, 2014 Follow that story, Medical, News

As we reported yesterday, 88 percent of Florida voters polled say they support medical marijuana. That number is among the highest medical pot has ever polled in any state, and our friends at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times point out that it’s freakishly high for a poll in the Sunshine state:
“Floridians have been supporting the idea of legalized medical marijuana since the idea of it getting onto the ballot was brought up. With each successive poll, Florida has shown a growing support for medical weed. Now the latest Quinnipiac poll released Monday gives us the clearest picture to changing attitudes. According to the survey, nearly 90 percent of Floridians polled say they back the legalization of medical marijuana.”
Read the rest of the local angle at the Miami New Times and the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

Colorado initiative would remove any fines and sentences for cannabis possession in Colorado

By William Breathes on July 29, 2014 Legalize It, News

While Coloradans did legalize limited amounts of pot for adults 21 and up in 2012, we didn’t make all cannabis possession legal and, in fact, you can still be fined and even arrested for having more than one ounce on you at any given time.
One Colorado activist is trying to change that with a ballot initiative that would remove pot penalties from the books. Proposed ballot initiative #3 would eradicate all fines and sentences for the possession of cannabis, and guaranteeing that in the Colorado Constitution.
But its proponents have just one more week to collect the required signatures, and efforts are lagging.

Author William Breathes