Global

Holy Sh*t! 30 Pounds Of Weed Found Inside Pictures Of Jesus

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Customs and Border Protection

“Lo, thou must hide thy stash much better next time.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on Wednesday found 30 pounds of marijuana stuffed into framed pictures of Jesus Christ at the border with Mexico, reports CNN.

“This is not the first time we have seen smugglers attempt to use religious figures and articles of faith to further their criminal enterprise,” said William Molaski, port director of the agency’s office in El Paso, Texas.

‘Cannabis Casualty’? Brit Government Goes After Scientific Independence

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2010 Global, Legislation, News

Photo: Political Scrapbook

U.K. drugs advisor David Nutt was sacked for… well, advising about drugs.

It all started late last year when David Nutt, chairman of Britain’s Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (ACDM), was sacked by Home Secretary Alan Johnson after Nutt said scientific evidence showed cannabis and ecstasy are less dangerous than alcohol.

Now more than 80 leading scientists in the United Kingdom have signed a document rejecting a set of government principles which they say would compromise their scientific integrity, reports health editor Sarah Boseley at The Guardian.

Happy Birthday, Bob Marley!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2010 Culture, Global

Photo: Tampa Calling

Reggae king Bob Marley would have been 65 today.
R.I. P., Iron Lion Zion.

“The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall.”

~ Robert Nesta Marley (1945-1981)

Brits Invent Shatterproof Pints So Drunks Won’t ‘Glass’ Each Other

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 4, 2010 Culture, Global

Photo: Stefan Rousseau/AP

British Home Secretary Alan Johnson holds two prototype pint glasses designed not to break up into dangerous shards on impact. The British government wants pubs to try out the shatterproof glasses to cut back on alcohol-related violence.

From time to time, we as marijuana users may find it instructive to look across the aisle, as it were, at our alcohol-imbibing brethren.

These glances almost always serve to remind us why we choose pot instead.

Such is the case with today’s news from the United Kingdom, where those booze-loving Brits have invented a new, shatterproof pint glass, according to The Associated Press.

That’s right: Limeys will still be able to get smashed, but their pint glasses won’t.

A proud British government unveiled the shatterproof glasses Thursday. Officials claimed the country would save billions in health care by coming up with a glass that doesn’t double as, you guessed it, a lethal weapon.

Canadian Woman, 74, Extradited To U.S. On 30-Year-Old Pot Charge

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 3, 2010 Global, News

Photo: visualizeus.com

Pot charges don’t go away, even after 30 years.

A 74-year-old woman from Hamilton, Ontario who attempted to cross the U.S./Canadian border into New York earlier this week was arrested when a officials discovered a marijuana charge from 1980.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents said Homenella Cole advised officers at the Lewiston-Queenston border crossing Monday that she had previous criminal convictions in Canada, reports the National Post.

“She said she wanted a waiver to enter the U.S., which is not uncommon,” CBP spokesman Kevin Corsaro said.

When officers then ran a routine criminal record check, they learned Cole had an active felony warrant issued on April 1, 1980 by the New York City Police Department.

Cole was arrested on the outstanding warrant and was extradited to New York City.

Brit Tabloid (Non)Shocker: Michael Bublé Loves Weed, Munchies And Sex

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 31, 2010 Culture, Global

Photo: Jeanie Mackinder

Bastard’s stoned out of his gourd! Look at him!

Michael Bublé, he of the wholesome image and music, may just be a regular guy after all.

The clean-cut singer’s embittered ex-girlfriend is doing a lot of talking to the U.K. media. Tiffany Bromley told the press that Bublé regularly smoked marijuana, then would stuff himself with biscuits and cakes to assuage the raging pot munchies.

Yeah, I know; seems like pretty tame stuff to the rest of us, but remember: This is Michael freakin’ Bublé, dudes.

“Michael smoked up to three joints a day when I was with him,” ex-girlfriend Bromley told News of the World.

“He always had a couple in his wash bag ready to go,” the ex-model turned hairpiece maker told the press. “He insisted it was his way of winding down at the end of the day. But sometimes he started the day with one.”

Oh, horrors. Michael Bublé wakes and bakes!

Thing is, Bublé himself beat his pissed-off ex-girlfriend to the punch, a couple of months ago.

Late last year, the singer confessed his marijuana use and partying ways in an interview published in Britain’s The Sun tabloid.

Mexico Proposes Jailing Musicians For Singing About Drugs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 29, 2010 Culture, Global

Graphic: Rock101

South Central has gangsta rap. Mexico has narcocorridos.

Dudes, if you don’t like the song, maybe you should just change the station. A new proposal by Mexico’s ruling party could result in prison sentences for musicians who perform songs that “glorify drug trafficking.”

The proposed law would mean up to three years behind bars for those performing or producing songs or films that the government deems “glamorize criminals,” reports The Associated Press.

“Society sees drug ballads as nice, pleasant, inconsequential and harmless — but they are the opposite,” claimed Oscar Martin Arce, a National Action party Member of Parliament.

There are so many of the drug ballads, there’s even a name for the genre — narcocorridos. The songs often describe drug smuggling and related violence, and are increasingly popular among some norteño bands.

New Zealand: Drug Trial Going Ahead For Cannabis Advocate

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 29, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Dakta Green

Dakta Green: “I will never stop campaigning to free cannabis users from these harsh and unfair laws”

The trial of a New Zealand man campaigning to have cannabis legalized is going ahead next week after he lost his bid to stop the proceeding.

Dakta Green said he was nevertheless “encouraged” by comments from the judge.

Green is facing six marijuana charges and is scheduled to go on trial in Auckland District Court next week, reports 3 News.

“The truth is coming out,” Green said on his Facebook page. “If we don’t win in court we will win in the court of public opinion.”

Green had applied for a stay of proceedings on the grounds that the charges against him breached his rights under the Bill of Rights Act.

Friday in a reserved decision Judge Anne Kiernan threw out his application, ruling he had produced no evidence that his rights had been breached.

However, during her ruling, the judge said Green had produced some persuasive arguments for the legalization of cannabis, but that the court was not the right place for such arguments to be heard.

Finland: Police Raid Garden Supply Store For ‘Promoting Cannabis’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 22, 2010 Culture, Global, Growing

Photo: www.greenroofs.com

Believe it or not, you can grow stuff besides pot using hydroponic systems. But don’t try to tell that to the Finnish police.

There was no marijuana discovered at the place. But a Finnish garden supply store has been raided by local police who claimed the operation is “deliberately promoting” the purchase and use of home cultivation supplies for growing cannabis.

According to Finnish legal experts, the cops are breaking new ground in trying to link hydroponic gardening equipment with illegal cultivation of marijuana. The question of whether merely selling hydroponic equipment is equal to “drug promotion” has no precedent in Finnish law, reports A. Rienstra at IceNews.

“The police are testing the boundaries,” said Matti Tolvanen, professor of criminal and procedural law at the University of Eastern Finland. “After all, selling knives is not illegal, even though they are used to commit homicides.”

‘Live Like It’s Legal’: Landmark Cannabis Hearing In New Zealand

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Global, Legislation, News

Photo: gonzofreakpower.blogspot.com

Dakta Green: “Live like it’s legal”

Dakta Green, founder of New Zealand’s most visible cannabis club, will argue in court Wednesday that marijuana laws are a fundamental breach of his rights, in what is being called a “landmark” hearing.

Green will argue before Judge Ann Kiernan in Auckland District Court that cannabis laws discriminate against users of the herb, and that the severity of marijuana penalties under the Misuse of Drugs Act violates New Zealand’s Bill of Rights Act.

“Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous drugs but are legally available,” Green said. “Cannabis causes less harm to our community.”

Green, whose motto is “live like it’s legal,” will call two witnesses to bolster his claims of persecution and discrimination.

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