Jeff Mizanskey wants you to write the governor.
The only person in Missouri serving a life without parole sentence for nonviolent, marijuana-only charges, Mizanskey says he is overwhelmed by all the attention his case has received over the past year, which included nationwide coverage and a Change.org petition with nearly 500,000 signatures asking Governor Jay Nixon to give clemency to the 61-year-old prisoner.
It was billed as California’s the nation’s first “marijuana farmers market,” and it attracted hundreds of patients who stood in line to get a farm-fresh experience buying medical cannabis.
Unfortunately, it was also illegal.
That, at least, is the contention of L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer, who today announced that he has asked a judge to issue a preliminary injunction that would forbid the operators from doing their California Heritage Market again, a spokesman for his office told our associates at the LA Weekly.
With a November ballot initiative teed up for medical marijuana, the camps working both sides of the issue are now deep in the trenches, trying to lure voters. Cold, hard cash is obviously powering the efforts, which begs the question: Where’s the money coming from?
In both camps, big-money donors are footing most of the bill. But in terms of the pro-pot movement, two main funders are being underwritten by thousands of contributors from across the state — moms and pops and potheads opening their wallets for $50 and $100 donations.
Between June 1 and July 1, the State of Colorado has issued six new retail-marijuana licenses, three of them in municipalities that (until now) were strangers to recreational pot.
Moffat, Edwards and Manitou Springs will all be offering recreational marijuana in the near future — or sooner.
| Commons/Seics. |
Bad news for those of you University of Arizona students who like to toke up discreetly using an e-cigarette-style vaporizer: your cover has been blown. The University of Arizona has banned the use of e-cigarettes on campus.
Those students, faculty members and even construction workers caught puffing away on an e-cigarette will be “referred to the appropriate college student representative for educational resources”. Visitors may be asked to leave the campus entirely. Read more over at the Phoenix New Times.
| Freddie Alexander Smoke III. |
A man with the unfortunately ironic last name of “Smoke” was arrested this week, charged with starting a wildfire near an illegal pot grow in Northern California that is forcing people from their homes.
Freddie Alexander Smoke was arrested over the weekend, accused of starting a fire after a spark from his truck exhaust set the dry grass near his illegal pot grow on fire. Smoke was also charged with illegal marijuana cultivation for the 180 plants investigators found on site.
| Commons/postdif. |
| “Hello Brooklyn”. |
Despite Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announcing last week that his office will no longer prosecute cases for low-level marijuana possession, the New York Police Department says it is business as usual when it comes to busting stoners in the streets of the Big Apple.
Just days after Thompson received praise from marijuana proponents for taking a stand against the war on drugs and its fierce efforts to lure non-violent offenders, especially those of African American decent, into the criminal justice system, police commissioner Bill Bratton emerged with a subsequent statement demanding officers to ignore the new policy.
The Denver Broncos are facing a lawsuit against the team and its owner, Pat Bowlen, after police twice ejected a Cannabis University vehicle from a Mile High Stadium parking lot, allegedly because the word “cannabis” was printed on it.
The complaint has already been amended once. But now, powerful attorney David Lane has taken on the case, and he predicts that the Broncos are headed for a loss.
The 9-year-old Barnesville girl who snitched on her parents for growing pot entered the police station on June 6 “visibly upset” and, though tears, told officers she took her story to authorities because “doing drugs is bad.”
“She didn’t want to be around marijuana smoke anymore because it made her sick,” an incident report sent to our friends at the Minneapolis City Pages by the Barnesville Police Department says. “She also indicated that she was concerned… because [redacted]blow marijuana smoke into [her]dog’s mouth.”
Read the (heavily redacted) report below.
| Ildar Sagdejev/Commons. |
| “Quick! Come up with a lie we can use to bust some harmless pot smokers!” |
Cops in Durham, North Carolina lied about 911 calls to trick residents into opening the doors and letting the pigs inside when they otherwise wouldn’t have had access.
This wasn’t just once, mind you. Apparently, it was a pseudo-policy for the department despite Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez’s denial.