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Administration Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 4, 2013 Medical, News

Aaron Sandusky faces 10 years to life in federal prison. He will be sentenced next month.

This month will see a number of patients sentenced, sent to prison despite compliance with state medical marijuana laws

Fallout from the Obama Administration’s aggressive federal enforcement in medical marijuana states has reached a fever pitch this month with three people being sentenced, two others due to surrender to federal authorities to serve out sentences of up to five years in prison, and one federal trial in Montana currently scheduled for January 14.

UK Pot Group Threatens To Report Activist’s Wife To Employers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 3, 2013 Global, News

Peter Reynolds

By James Collins

Peter Reynolds Watch

Peter Reynolds — of the United Kingdom cannabis law reform group CLEAR — is back in rare form once again, threatening to sue people. I know, that doesn’t sound like news. In fact, it can’t be news, because the root word in news is “new” — and Peter is a dog that just can’t get the hang of new tricks.

He has in the past threatened to sue just about everyone, from Alan Wyllie from Politics UK, to the publishers of this site, all the way to former members of CLEAR, including the fellow who set up their rather slick online presence.

Yes, the guy who set up the CLEAR web site is now part of the effort to expose Peter Reynolds. Peter is currently riding the coattails of a man who now despises him. How sad is that?

The latest outburst from Peter “The Redactor” Reynolds is uniquely hostile. He has newly threatened — amongst others — an autistic student, a man in a wheelchair, a successful businessman, and while I haven’t been privy to such a communication, I wouldn’t be surprised if he threatened David Cameron with legal action as well.

Teen Pot Use Goes Down After AZ Legalizes Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 3, 2013 Legislation, Medical, News

Since Arizona voters legalized medical marijuana at the polls two years ago, fewer teens in the state are trying pot, according to a study published recently by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.

According to the study [PDF], 28.7 percent of students surveyed admitted to using marijuana at least once, reports Stephen C. Webster at The Raw Story. That figure represents a drop from 29.9 percent in 2010. Medical marijuana legalization took effect in Arizona in 2011.

While about one in nine students who admitted using cannabis claimed they got it from a medical marijuana patient or caregiver who received it legally, the vast majority said they got it from friends, at parties or at school. The only category students cited less often than medical marijuana cardholders was “home,” but teens also cited “home” as the second most common place they got dangerous prescription drugs for illicit use.

Two Women Sue After Roadside Body Cavity Search For Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 3, 2013 News

Dallas Morning News

Female Texas Ranger Kellie Helleson, left, aggressively searched the private parts of two women in full view of passing motorists

Texas Women Endured Aggressive Fondling of Private Parts In Public

Two Texas women are filing a lawsuit after state troopers gave them an aggressive roadside body cavity search last July — supposedly “searching for drugs” — which was caught on video.

Female state trooper Kellie Helleson is seen aggressively fondling the private parts of Angel Dobbs, 38, and her niece Ashley Dobbs, 24 — in full view of passing vehicles, reports the Daily Mail.

The women said the trooper used the same rubber gloves for both of them. They said Trooper Helleson used her fingers to publicly probe their anuses and vaginas on the roadside.

Marijuana Groups Back Mendo’s Refusal To Give Records To Feds

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 2, 2013 Growing, Medical, News

Marijuana Times

Advocates support county’s motion to quash, argue Obama Administration is attempting to undermine state law, violate patient privacy

Three medical marijuana groups have teamed up to support Mendocino County officials in their effort to fight a sweeping federal subpoena filed in October, seeking “any and all records” for the county’s medical marijuana cultivation program, otherwise known as County Code 9.31.

On December 21, Mendocino County filed a motion in San Francisco federal court to quash the Justice Department’s subpoena, and on Wednesday Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Emerald Growers Association (EGA) filed a joint amicus “friend of the court” brief in an attempt to protect the private patient records being sought.

Nation’s First Legal Marijuana Club Already Closed In Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 2, 2013 Dispensaries, News

White Horse Inn/Twitter

But Second Pot Club Is Still Open For Business

The first legal recreational marijuana club in the United States has closed its doors, just one day after opening, due to a misunderstanding with the landlord, but the second club is still open for business.

The White Horse Inn opened Monday in the tiny town of Del Norte, becoming — by just a few hours — the first in Colorado to offer adults a chance to have a legal joint with their coffee, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. When the landlord saw the publicity about Monday’s opening, he canceled the lease before it took effect, according to White Horse owner Paul Lovato. The lease didn’t start until Tuesday.

“By opening early I kind of screwed myself out of my building,” Lovato admitted on Tuesday. He had planned on having a storefront for customers to buy coffee and T-shirts, as well as other souvenirs, with a private building next door where customers could smoke free samples of cannabis.

Study: Naloxone Cost-Effective In Preventing Overdose Deaths

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 31, 2012 Medical, News

Prescribe To Prevent

The Annals of Internal Medicine released a study this week showing that giving heroin users the overdose antidote naloxone is a cost-effective way to prevent overdose death and save lives.

Phillip Coffin, MD, director of Substance Use Research at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco, and Sean Sullivan, PhD, professor and director of the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program at the University of Washington, co-authored the study.

Drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death in the United States with opioids, such as heroin, accounting for about 80 percent of those deaths. Naloxone, according to its manufacturers, is a safe and effective antidote that works by temporarily blocking opioid receptors.

As of 2010, 183 public health programs around the country, including those supported by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, had trained more than 53,000 individuals in how to use naloxone. These programs had documented more than 10,000 cases of successful overdose reversals.

Bill Filed To Reduce Marijuana Penalties In Texas

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 31, 2012 Legislation, News

Satire With Samuel

Texas Legislative Black Caucus

Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) filed the decrim bill

House Bill 184, which would reduce penalties for marijuana possession in Texas, has already been filed and is ready for the Legislature’s upcoming session in January.

The bill, filed by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), would reduce possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor, reports Sergio Chapa at ValleyCentral.com. Class C misdemeanors carry no jail time, and are punishable by up to a $500 fine.

“We are under no illusions that full decriminalization is gonna come to Texas anytime soon,” said Josh Schimberg of the Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Schimberg said the Austin-based group is pushing for full legalization, but sees HB 184 as a step in the right direction.

New York City Moms & Babies Tested For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 31, 2012 News

Plant Teacher

Public hospitals continue to drug-test mothers and newborn babies for marijuana, despite the fact that such tests have been shown to be inaccurate and that common soaps used to wash infants can cause false cannabis positives on such tests. And tragically, mothers are often arrested and separated from their babies.

Mothers in New York City, for instance, who test positive for marijuana after the delivery are likely to have a Child Protective Services investigation to contend with, before they can even get the baby home, reports Kiri Blakeley at The Stir. More than a dozen maternity wards in the Big Apple routinely test new moms for marijuana, then turn the results over to city authorities.

Pro-Marijuana Attorney Joins D.C. Council Race

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2012 News

Examiner.com

Voters in the District of Columbia will have a chance in April to make a statement in the nationwide debate about marijuana legalization.

Paul Zukerberg, an attorney who specializes in defending cannabis possession cases, plans to compete in the April 23 special election for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council, reports Tim Craig at The Washington Post.

Zukerberg, 55, who has defended more than 1,000 marijuana cases during his 27-year legal career, said he’s running for the council on a platform of decriminalizing marijuana in the District.

“We are behind New York,” the attorney said. “We are behind Chicago. We are locking up young people and giving them records for a joint or roach of marijuana.

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