Growing

Prayer For Global Cannabis Freedom

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2010 Culture, Growing

The key to so many problems in our world today is cannabis, the Tree of Life.

Cannabis hemp will displace petrochemical and pharmaceutical corporations that dominate our politics today, and decentralize wealth and influence at a time of growing technological advancement.

Stop the Drug War before they kick in your door.

For those facing execution for anti-cannabis laws in Malaysia and elsewhere, work for global cannabis freedom.

For those languishing in jails and prisons for anti-cannabis laws everywhere, work for global cannabis freedom.

For our forests, the web of life and the Mother Earth, which suffers from extraction of her resources and poisoning of our environment, work for global cannabis freedom.

For economic and political justice, work for global cannabis freedom.

Rutgers Chickens Out On Governor’s Request To Grow Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 26, 2010 Dispensaries, Growing

Photo: NorthJersey.com

Scarlet Knights or Yellow Frights? Rutgers University has fearfully turned down a request from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to grow medical marijuana as part of the state’s new medicinal cannabis program.

The university said that, if it were to grow the herb, which is illegal for any purpose under federal law, it could lose out on millions of dollars of government funding, reports Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times.

Oakland Approves Factory Farms For Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 21, 2010 Dispensaries, Growing

Photo: Ask Bury

The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday to license up to four large marijuana farms in industrial areas to supply the city’s four medical cannabis dispensaries, a groundbreaking decision that could result in the mass commercialization of a formerly illicit crop.

The 5-2 vote came after two hours of heated debate between growers who argued the proposal could destroy their livelihoods, and businessmen who said it could turn Oakland into the Silicon Valley of marijuana, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.

Ban-Happy Town May Be First In Canada To Nix Pot Growing

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 20, 2010 Global, Growing, Medical

Photo: Lincoln Clarke

If this is your garden and you live in Pitt Meadows, Mayor Don MacLean has a message for you: Get the hell out of town.

Pitt Meadows may be the ban-happy capital of Canada.

The list of outlawed businesses in the sleepy little British Columbia town include massage parlors, X-rated video stores, strip bars, hydroponic gardening stores, nuclear power plants, used car lots, and even giant advertising icons placed on the tops of buildings — you know, those big gorillas you see at car dealerships.

Existing municipal bylaws ban all those things in Pitt Meadows, and now they’re going after legal medical marijuana — the first town in Canada to do so, reports Rod Mickleburgh at The Globe And Mail.

“We are just saying ‘no,'” said Pitt Meadows’ longtime mayor, obvious Nancy Reagan fan Don MacLean, of the town’s move to ban the production of medical marijuana.

Two Charged In Daycare Marijuana Growing Operation

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 14, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: KBOI

Police in Suffolk, Virgina have charged two adults in Friday’s discovery of an alleged marijuana growing operation in a home that doubles as a children’s daycare center.

Warrants for possession of marijuana were served Tuesday for Michael R. Cabrera, 26, and Angie M. Cabrera, 25, of Suffolk, reports Tracy Agnew at the Suffolk News-Herald.

Police answered a domestic disturbance call about 8 p.m. Friday in the Hillpoint neighborhood, according to city spokeswoman Debbie George.

Michigan Man Wants To Run State’s Largest Marijuana Grow

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 12, 2010 Dispensaries, Growing

Photo: MLive.com

A Royal Oak, Michigan man met with city officials in May to discuss his plan to avoid foreclosure on his 23,000-square-foot warehouse by leasing it to medical marijuana growers, according to documents posted on the city’s website.

If all the warehouse’s space is used for growing cannabis, the building could become the biggest marijuana facility in the state, Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine publisher Rick Ferris told the Detroit Free Press.

Kentucky: 70-Year-Old Man Charged With Growing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 9, 2010 Growing, News

Graphic: Senior Zen

A 70-year-old eastern Kentucky man has been indicted on federal charges of growing marijuana with intent to distribute and illegally possessing firearms.

Federal prosecutors claim that Charles Edward Polly was growing at least 100 marijuana plants. They said he also had eight firearms, including four shotguns, reports Carl Keith Greene of the Corbin Times-Tribune.

Polly was also charged with intending to distribute “a mixture containing a detectable amount of marijuana,” whatever the hell that means.

The 70-year-old wasn’t supposed to have guns, and he had previously “been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” Polly had weapons including two 12-gauge shotguns, one 20-gauge shotgun, one .410-gauge shotgun, two .22-caliber rifles, a .22-caliber revolver, and a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Polly, along with Ann Marie Smith, 40, of London, Ky., were also charged Wednesday with misrepresenting qualifications for Supplemental Social Security income.

Parents Charged With Child Abuse For Growing Medical Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 1, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: Denver D.A.’s Office

Joseph Lightfoot is a legally licensed caregiver with all his paperwork in order. But he’s been charged with felony child abuse for growing medical marijuana.

In what may be a harbinger of a disturbing new tactic on the part of police in targeting legal cultivators of medical marijuana, a Denver couple has been charged with felony child abuse for operating a licensed cannabis grow operation in their home.

Joseph Daniel Lightfoot and Amber Brooke Wildenstein, both 29, were arrested after police noticed the grow operation when they were called to the home on a domestic-violence report from a neighbor earlier this month.

A police investigation found that “it had only been a verbal argument, so no domestic-violence crime had been committed,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword.

Three children, ages 7, 9, and 11, live in the home with the couple.

Because of the presence of the children, Lightfoot and Wildenstein are each facing one count of felony child abuse, according to the district attorney’s office. They were released on $50,000 bond each.

Ex-Firefighter Gets 8 Months Prison For Growing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 28, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Bridgton Maine Police

Dude definitely knew what he was doing. These are some of the plants found in firefighter Sean Berte’s home in Maine.

A federal judge in Maine sentenced a 32-year-old former Boston firefighter to eight months in prison on a marijuana-growing charge this week, noting that the man had admitted smoking about two ounces of pot a week, reports Martin Finucane of the Boston Globe.

Sean Berte was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal in Portland, Maine, for his role in cultivating 131 cannabis plants, U.S. Attorney Paula D. Silsby’s office said Friday.

“At the sentencing, the court noted that in addition to pleading guilty to cultivating the marijuana, the defendant admitted smoking approximately two ounces of marijuana [weekly]during the eight years the defendant was employed as a Boston firefighter,” prosecutors said.

Nebraska Man: Hitler Made Me Grow Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 25, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Extremely Funny

Sieg High? Just when you think you’ve heard every possible reason for cultivating cannabis, some imaginative farmer comes along to prove you wrong.

A 42-year-old Nebraska man told police “Adolf Hitler made me grow it,” after they discovered marijuana plants in his West Omaha home, reports Jodi Baker at WOWT.

The Omaha Police Department’s narcotics unit served a court-ordered search warrant on Darin Badami’s home near 114th and West Center Road on Wednesday morning.

The man’s unique excuse didn’t get him out of being arrested on felony charges.

For those of a historical bent, Hitler, despite being born on April 20, was a non-smoker who initiated the first anti-smoking campaign in modern history.

While the Führer almost certainly would have taken a dim view of pot use, he was quite fond of methamphetamine. Starting in 1942, Hitler received daily injections of meth from his personal physician, Dr. Theodor Morell. The Führer also had more than a passing acquaintance with cocaine.

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