Police say a Hispanic man was shot and killed in a field of hundreds of marijuana plants sometime over the weekend after discovering his body Monday.
A relative of the man phoned police to report the shooting, according to the Ukia Daily Journal, which broke the story.
According to Mexican news sources, members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution are drafting laws that would allow people to cultivate cannabis at home, smoke it at specific clubs and bars and possess up to 25 grams.
Currently, possession of up to five grams of cannabis is decriminalized in Mexico along with small amounts of other drugs like LSD and cocaine.
| New Hampshire state house. |
The New Hampshire House and Senate both approved medical marijuana bills this past session, but the differences between the two proposals were big enough that the two legislative bodies were forced to hammer out their differences in a joint committee.
And from the latest reports, it seems they’ve reached a compromise.
Later today, the Colorado Attorney General’s office will formally release a 71-count indictment targeting businessman Conley Hoskins and eleven others with defrauding investors who wanted to cash in on the state’s booming medical marijuana industry.
Denver Westword got an early look at the document, which should be released shortly. It details what prosecutors believe was a complex plot involving Jane Medicals, whose website notes locations in Denver and Lakewood. Click over to the Latest Word blog for more.
| You shouldn’t be buying shitty bongs like this anyway. |
Starting July 1, Florida residents won’t be able to buy bongs. Instead, you’ll have to purchase water pipes for tobacco use only (nudge-nudge, wink-wink).
Gov. Rick Scott signed the ban into law June 5, though it’s significantly less restrictive than originally proposed by former crack-addict Rep. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg.
Growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood in the 1970’s, Carl Hart was no stranger to life on the streets. One of eight kids, living in decrepit low-income housing projects, Hart watched his abusive father physically torment their mother for years.
Raised amid gunshots, domestic violence, and utter poverty, Hart was using and pushing a variety of drugs, had held someone at gunpoint, was committing robberies, and had unknowingly fathered a child – all by the age of 16. He seemed to be right on track to becoming another statistic in south Florida, another wasted youth.
| A sample Michigan medical marijuana card. |
Medical marijuana dispensaries in Michigan are reopening using a new model this month after being shut down since February thanks to a state Supreme Court ruling making patient-to-patient sales illegal.
Higher Expectations Medical Partnership in Battle Creek, Michigan says his shop now doesn’t have any marijuana on site to sell anymore. Instead, HEMP acts as a clearinghouse for caregivers and patients – a relationship that is still allowed by state law.
| Texas Gov. Rick Perry. |
Governor Rick Perry signed a bill into law Friday that will require people applying for unemployment benefits to submit to a drug test, if their responses to a screening questionnaire indicate possible drug use. The bill, written by Woodlands Republican Senator Tommy Williams, doesn’t set aside any new money for drug treatment programs, because of course it doesn’t. And if it’s anything like similar programs in other states, they’ll waste tens of thousands of dollars implementing it all while “saving” at most several hundreds when they “bust” some poor Texan who just wanted to get high one Saturday night with friends.
“The message is strong,” Perry said at a bill-signing ceremony today at the Capitol, according to the Tribune. “If you’ve got a drug problem, there are ways that we can help you get that licked, but we’re not going to entice individuals to not be responsible.” Dallas Observer has the rest.
Last week, defense attorneys weighed in on a damning March report aimed at the Colorado toxicology lab, which conducts blood tests for cases of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Now several activists and attorneys have said that the release of the report was postponed until June for fear it would undermine the THC driving bill, which passed last month after two failed attempts. Now, NORML (which was in favor of THC driving limits just a few months ago) wants the state legislature to revisit the law. Denver Westword has the rest.
The St. Louis Riverfront Times cover story this week tells the horrible and frightening tale of Schwagstock founder and Grateful Dead cover band musician Jimmy Tebeau, who was sentenced to federal prison not for any drugs he bought, used or sold – but for the drug usage of the people who attended his festival.
For simply being the venue owner, federal agents have ruined the 45-year-old’s life and put him in prison for the next 30 months.