News

Marijuana Advocates Urge County To Fight Federal Subpoena

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 4, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and County Counsel hold closed-door meeting Tuesday after 9 a.m. public comment period

The Mendocino Board of Supervisors and County Counsel Thomas Parker met in a closed-door session Tuesday to discuss a pending federal subpoena for records held by the Sheriff’s now-defunct medical marijuana cultivation program, County Code 9.31, in which registrants were allowed to grow collectively up to 99 plants and were sold zip ties for $25 per plant to show they were being cultivated in compliance with state law.

Former Microsoft Exec Plans Connoisseur Marijuana Business

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2012 Dispensaries, Growing, News

KIRO TV

Former Microsoft executive Jamen Shively: Will he become the Bill Gates of bud?

A former Microsoft executive in Washington state plans to enter the newly legal marijuana business there, with a decided tilt towards the upscale end of the cannabis market.

Jamen Shively said he plans to name the business after his great-grandfather, who supplied hemp tope to the Spanish Armada during the Spanish-American War, reports KIRO TV. He reportedly brainstormed the idea “after a few bong hits.”

Ex Drug Policy Adviser: Feds Won’t Allow Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2012 Legislation, News

The Raw Story

Former federal drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet: “I can’t imagine the Administration is going to say it is going to be OK with retail sales”

A former senior drug policy adviser in the Obama Administration said on Sunday that it was “unlikely” the federal government will allow Colorado and Washington to legalize marijuana, despite the fact that citizens of both states voted to do so.

“I think the administration has been very clear and the President has been very clear that he is against legalization,” former drug policy adviser Kevin Sabet said on MSNBC’s Up With Chris Hayes. “From public health grounds, we know with legalization we are going to have a cheaper drug, more people are going to use it, it is just going to be more socially acceptable and according to the NIH [National Institutes of Health] that is a problem for one in six kids — it is not a problem for everybody, but it can be a problem on the roads and for IQ and learning, et cetera,” Sabet annoyingly bullshat.

Spottedcrow Paroled Early In 12-Year Marijuana Sentence

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2012 News

News9.com

Patricia Spottedcrow is free

Harsh Sentence Was For $31 Worth Of Weed

Patricia Spottedcrow held her four children — ages 11, 6, 5 and 3 — in her arms Thursday afternoon, as a free woman. The youngest was just one year old when Spottedcrow began a 12-year prison sentence two years ago after being convicted of selling $31 worth of marijuana.

The children could have been teenagers by the time their mother got out of prison, if Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin hadn’t approved Spottedcrow’s parole, and if the Pardon and Parole Board hadn’t agreed to early consideration for her case, reports Cary Aspinall at Tulsa World.

Spottedcrow was released on Thursday morning from Hillside Community Corrections Center in Oklahoma City after completing a community-level sentence required by the governor as a condition of her parole.

Poll: Most Americans & Canadians Ready To Legalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2012 Culture, Global, News

T-Shirt Wonderland

Two Thirds of Respondents Expect Marijuana To Be Legal In Next 10 Years

A majority of people in the United States and Canada believe cannabis should be readily available for those who want to use it, a new two-country Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of representative national samples, a majority of Canadians (57 percent) and Americans (54 percent) support the legalization of marijuana.

Most respondents in each Canadian region back the legalization of cannabis, including 64 percent of Atlantic Canadians and 60 percent of British Columbians.

Deepak Chopra Joins Movement To End War On Drugs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2012 Global, News

Wikipedia

Deepak Chopra: Newest member of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Honorary Board

Becomes Newest Member of Drug Policy Alliance Honorary Board

Joins Powerful Group that Includes Former Heads of State, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, Sting, Russell Simmons, and Former U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Attorney General and Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve

Physician, bestselling author and global thought leader Deepak Chopra has joined the Honorary Board of the Drug Policy Alliance, the U.S.-based organization that is leading the fight for drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.

N.M. Committee To Consider Decreasing Marijuana Penalties

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2012 Legislation, News

MMJ-guide.com

Legislative Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee To Hear Testimony On Decreasing Penalties for Adults Who Possess Small Amounts of Marijuana

DPA: Reducing Marijuana Penalties will Improve Lives, Save Taxpayer’s Dollars and Significantly Reduce the Burden on Law Enforcement Resources

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) on Thursday will be testifying to the New Mexico Interim Legislative Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee about the importance of decreasing penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana. DPA is scheduled to present at 10 a.m. in Room 307 at the State Capitol in Santa Fe.

NORML’s St. Pierre Calls Marijuana Dispensaries ‘Moonshiners’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Cheeba!

Allen St. Pierre, NORML: “They’re moonshiners. It’s a tiny group of people who don’t comport”

Medical marijuana patients in Washington state are offended after Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), called medicinal cannabis dispensaries “moonshiners” in a Huffington Post interview.

“They’re moonshiners,” St. Pierre said of the dispensaries which opposed Initiative 502, passed by 54 percent of Washington voters. “It’s a tiny group of people who don’t comport.”

Of course, painting all Washington patient collectives with this broad brush — especially when St. Pierre is 2,600 miles away and doesn’t know what the FUCK he’s talking about — is the height of irresponsibility. I’ve been in close to 90 medical marijuana access points in Washington state, and I can personally tell you that the vast majority are not profiteers, and definitely not “moonshiners.”

“Now patients that grow in collective gardens are ‘moonshiners’ according to the head of NORML!” responded patient advocate Steve Sarich of Cannacare on Facebook Wednesday morning. “Only state-run marijuana is acceptable to NORML?”

Minister Still Behind Bars On Marijuana Charge

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2012 Culture, News

Roger Christie/Facebook

Rev. Roger Christie in happier days, as a free man in 2010

As Cannabis Becomes Legal in Colorado and Washington, Hawaiian Minister Roger Christie Remains Locked Up

As more Americans demand legalization of cannabis, thousands of prisoners, including Reverend Roger Christie, are still locked up on nonviolent marijuana charges. Since July 8, 2010 Rev. Christie has been behind bars without bail awaiting trial on federal charges of marijuana possession and trafficking, despite being a Christian minister with a state sanctioned license as a “Cannabis Sacrament Minister.”

Lawmakers Introduce Respect States’ and Citizens’ Rights Act

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 27, 2012 Legislation, News

420 Magazine

Bipartisan Bill Introduced To Address Federal Preemption of State Marijuana Laws

Would Clarify That States Can Determine Their Own Cannabis Policies

A bipartisan group of legislators from around the country led by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) on Tuesday introduced a bill in Congress that would clarify that Colorado and Washington may fully implement the new marijuana laws approved by voters on November 6.

The bill, known as the “Respect States’ and Citizens’ Rights Act,” would add a provision to the federal Controlled Substances Act expressly stating that state marijuana laws shall not be preempted by federal law.

Other sponsors of the legislation include Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN), and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).

Browsing: News