Yesterday New Mexico’s House of Representatives approved House Bill 465, which would decriminalizes up to 4 ounces of cannabis. The measure passed by a vote of 37-33, and now moves to the Senate.
Browsing: News
A judge sentenced a former Pima County (AZ) Sheriff’s deputy for his role in ripping off drug smugglers, attempting to distribute marijuana, and aiding a drug trafficking organization. Francisco Jimenez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to commit offenses against the United States: stealing government money and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, all done because of an agreement with a drug trafficking organization to protect drug loads and steal money from rival organizations. For the rest of this story, head over to the Phoenix New Times.
| El Paso County Sheriff. |
| Actual ice cream truck. |
The coolest ice cream truck in El Paso, Texas won’t be serving up treats anytime soon after the driver was found with herb inside after a traffic stop. About 3 p.m. on Friday, two patrollers with the El Paso County Texas Sheriff’s department saw an ice cream truck with an expired registration sticker and a cracked windshield – or so they say.
| Andrew Walton. |
Over the last few months in Colorado, there has been a proliferation of free-marijuana giveaways on Craigslist, with respondents getting weed at no charge if they offered a donation or bought something else — like a sticker, or washer/dryer repair. Participants insisted that such offers were authorized under Amendment 64, which allows Colorado adults 21 and over to possess small amounts of marijuana. Law enforcers disagreed — including, presumably, the folks at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, who’ve busted Andrew Walton for taking part in such a scheme.
Click over to Denver Westword for more on this story.
| USBP |
| A California beach bust from last year. |
Add military bases to your list of places you don’t want to use as a drop zone for your $1 million marijuana haul. Yesterday a 20-foot boat was found floating upside down without an engine floating outside of Vandenberg Air Force base Santa Barbara, California. Since the base – the third largest in the world – is used for testing missiles and firing rockets into space, this caused quite the stir.
| TokeoftheTown.com |
Illinois is one step closer to having medical marijuana laws on the books after a bipartisan subcommittee approved HB0001 to move into the House for a full vote. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time bills have made it this far only to find their demise before the entire House.
If passed, the Illinois medical marijuana bill would allow patients to possess up to two and a half ounces, which they could replenish at one of 60 proposed, state-regulated dispensaries every two weeks. Herb would be grown in 22 cultivation facilities scattered across Illinois.
| Flikr.com |
| Let me grow. |
The movement to reform our failed cannabis policies has grown tremendously in recent years and months. It’s not slowing down anytime soon. Cannabis reform is a mainstream issue, and frankly, there’s no denying it. A majority in the county support legalizing cannabis, and 81% support its legalization for medical purposes.
On top of this, a majority of states in our country (27 in total) have either decriminalized cannabis possession (14), or legalized it for medical and/or recreational purposes (18). The remaining states are hard at work towards reform, and advocates in the states mentioned above are vehemently trying to improve their situation. For those who have been on the line about getting involved in helping bring cannabis law change, now is absolutely the time to jump in.
Below is a breakdown of efforts going on around the country:
| Drug money. |
For their weekly feature story this week, the Phoenix New Times looks into the workings of an Arizona drug smuggling gang:
“Rodrigo, his 19-year-old cousin Sal, his uncle Sergio, and four other family members live in the small house on Phoenix’s west side. From the house’s garage, the pot moves to wholesalers. “Most of them are black or Jamaican,” Rodrigo says. Each year, Palmona’s group distributes about 10,000 pounds of marijuana to different people who drive it to places like Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky, and Chicago, where it’s divided into pounds, half-pounds, ounces.”
For the rest of the (completely amazing) story, head over to Phoenix New Times.
| N.M. State Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino. |
A bill that would require the state of New Mexico to conduct an economic study on legalizing and regulating marijuana passed out of sub committee yesterday and now moves on to the senate for approval.