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City of Carrollton, Texas
Carrollton Police Officer Jeremy Sanchez, left, and K-9 “Bosko”: A Texas court accepted police claims that Bosko smelled marijuana on money, under a bed, in a gym bag, in a back room of the house — from under the garage door

Fort Worth, Texas attorney David Sloane occasionally happens across appellate cases where the court’s blind acceptance of the police account of events surrounding a marijuana arrest is astounding — even for a seasoned trial lawyer like himself. A case from Dallas suburb Carrollton certainly fits this description, according to Sloane.

In $27,877.00 Current Money of the United States v. The State of Texas, an asset forfeiture case, the Carrollton Police Department alleged their dog “Bosko” was able to “sniff” and “alert” — from under a garage door — on the mere scent of marijuana on currency concealed in a gym bag under a bed in a back room of the defendant’s parent’s home.
The trial court accepted this, and the appellate court agreed!

NORML UK

Last week, a major independent study called for the decriminalization of cannabis in the United Kingdom. The publication of a six-year study from the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) likened cannabis use to “moderately risky” gambling or junk food.
The report prompted the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live Show, a weekly topical political news show aired at 10 a.m. every Sunday, to hold a debate on cannabis.
The show included a debate in the studio with journalists and broadcasters Germaine Greer, Peter Hitchens, James O’brien, Gary Parker and contributions via Skype from former government drugs advisor Prof. David Nutt, drugs rehab worker, Gary Parker, and Clark French, a medicinal cannabis user with multiple sclerosis who is also NORML UK’s national spokesperson.
During the show, the BBC ran a viewers poll asking whether cannabis should be decriminalized. The result showed an overwhelming majority in favor, with 69 percent voting yes against only 31 percent who were opposed.
“I was incredibly pleased and excited to be invited on BBC1 this morning for a live debate,” Clark French said. “I had so much to say and so little time to say it, but I am pleased with the points I managed to convey. I hope to build on the current momentum and reach out to more television shows to share my story and campaign for our right to use cannabis as a safer form of medicine and recreation.”

Marijuana Majority

Marijuana Reform Is An Increasingly Mainstream, Majority-Support Position
Site Lets Supporters Tweet Prominent People to Encourage Speaking Out
Just over two weeks before voters in three U.S. states decide on ballot measures to legalize marijuana, a new website launches on Monday that tracks prominent people and organizations speaking out in favor of changing marijuana laws. MarijuanaMajority.com allows visitors to see just how mainstream this debate has become by viewing and sharing visually appealing lists of elected officials, actors, medical organizations and business leaders who support solutions like decriminalizing marijuana possession, allowing medical marijuana or legalizing and regulating marijuana sales for adult use.
In addition to tracking prominent people who have already spoken out, MarijuanaMajority.com has a social component that lets individual supporters play a role in convincing even more opinion leaders to publicly say they favor reform. Visitors to the site will be able to easily send targeted tweets to celebrities and politicians with just a few clicks, encouraging them to speak out and join the Marijuana Majority. Among the initial “Get Out the Quote” targets are Ben Affleck, Mark Cuban, John Cusack, Van Jones, Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”), Shaquille O’Neal, Rihanna and Kanye West.
“At a time when polls show that a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana and that mega-majorities support allowing medical marijuana or at least decriminalizing possession, it makes no sense whatsoever that so many national politicians look at this issue as some kind of dangerous third rail of politics,” said Tom Angell, founder and chairman of Marijuana Majority.
Global Commission Members, Including Four Former Presidents, To Gather in Warsaw Oct. 24-25
On Heels of Success in Latin America, Global Commission Will Strategize Next Steps for Global Drug Policy Reform
The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) will gather in Warsaw on October 24 and 25 to highlight the impact of the war on drugs on public health in Eastern Europe and prospects for change around the world.
The Global Commission was convened in July 2010 and has been working to establish a road map for change in drug laws and policies. It is currently composed of 22 international leaders, including seven former presidents.
The GCDP meeting in Poland brings the debate to Eastern Europe, in order to focus on the dramatic human and social consequences of the prevailing hardline approach to drugs in the region. The meeting will include a roundtable organized by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza to allow interaction with key media and stakeholders.

MelissaEtheridge.com
Melissa Etheridge: “Medical marijuana made a big difference, instantly”

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Citizens for Patient Rights has announced the endorsement of singer/songwriter and outspoken breast cancer survivor, Melissa Etheridge for its campaigns to allow safe medical marijuana access in Lemon Grove (Prop T), Solana Beach (Prop W) and Del Mar (Prop H).
Medical marijuana is commonly used by cancer patients to combat the adverse symptoms related cancer radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Moreover, studies have shown that compounds found in medicinal marijuana may slow of the growth of cancerous cells.
Melissa experienced first hand the positive benefits of medical marijuana during her own chemotherapy. According to Melissa, “Medical marijuana made a big difference, instantly, within a minute, relieved the nausea, relieved the pain. And all of the sudden, I was normal… I could get out of bed. I could go see my kid. And it was amazing.”

LUCID Public Relations
Montel Williams supports Issue 5, an initiative on the November 6 general election ballot which would legalize medical marijuana in Arkansas

The medical marijuana battle is heating up in Arkansas, with less than three weeks to go until the general election. A statewide medical marijuana ballot initiative, Issues 5, appears on the November 6 ballot in Arkansas.
An anti-medical marijuana group called the “Arkansas Family Council” has been disseminating misinformation in the state, seeming to believe that since Arkansas is located in the Deep South, nobody will call them on their b.s. Wrong, Arkansas Family Council!
Former talk show host Montel Williams, through his publicist, on Thursday decried a new ad from the Council which is tainted with racist stereotypes.

“This morning we became aware of a TV ad the Arkansas Family Council has put on YouTube, and apparently made a very small ad buy for, in opposition to Issue 5 that features several actors,” said Williams’ publicist, Jonathan Franks. “The one African-American actor was depicted as a criminal drug dealer behind a table with guns.

Rose Shields
Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion was found not guilty of marijuana distribution by a jury of his peers on Thursday

Here’s some great news: It’s getting harder and harder for hapless, overwhelmed prosecutors to get a marijuana conviction in the United States — even when the amount in question is a pound, and the charges are distribution, not simple possession.

Such became obvious Thursday afternoon in a Mount Holly, New Jersey, courtroom, when a jury found Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion not guilty in the cannabis activist’s marijuana distribution case, reports Danielle Camilli of PhillyBurbs.com.
The decision came after Forchion was almost held in contempt of court Thursday morning as he delivered his closing argument. NJWeedman tried to introduce his jury nullification argument into the closing, but Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey, who had already barred any discussion of it, quickly stopped him.

Mario Moretto/Bangor Daily News
Thomas Davis, a licensed medical marijuana grower and caregiver, inspects his only remaining plant after his crop was burglarized Wednesday night. Police eventually recovered the stolen marijuana, and three days later returned it to Davis, who estimates about 85 percent of the crop was ruined by mold after it was stolen

The police brought an estimated $12,800 worth of marijuana to Thomas Davis of Ellsworth, Maine, last week.

While very few of us have had the opportunity to avail ourselves of such an exclusive delivery service, licensed medical marijuana patient and caregiver Davis got the plants back because he had reported them stolen, reports Ron Recinto at The Sideshow. The plants were stolen from a greenhouse near Davis’s home.
Ellsworth Police arrested Aaron Pert, 32, of Trenton, Maine, and charged him with burglary, theft, firearms possession, and marijuana possession after he admitted to the crime. Pert was caught when a car he was in got pulled over for allegedly running a stop sign. He was released from jail Friday morning on a $500 unsecured bail.

KATU.com
Michael Safiotti — in jail for marijuana — died after jail workers served him oatmeal containing dairy products, then refused to help him when he had an allergic reaction

Although marijuana has never killed anyone in history, the marijuana laws have claimed another tragic victim.

Michael Saffioti, 22, who, upon his mother’s advice, had turned himself in to the Lynnwood Police Department after missing a court date, was dead after just one night in the Snohomish County Jail in Washington state, reports Molly Shen of KATU.com. The county could face a lawsuit for ignoring Saffioti’s food allergy.
The young man knew dairy products could kill him; he read labels and carried medication, and suffered severe reactions from just being near dairy protein. His anxiety over the allergy was so severe, in fact, it left him needing medication.

Pot.tv

As voters begin receiving their voter pamphlets and as voter registration closes, the Yes on 80 campaign is bringing the soon-to-be-released social documentary, Legalize It, and its filmmaker, Dan Katzir, to Oregon for a series of screenings and private events.

Legalize It is an inspiring journey demonstrating that even those without wealth and political connection can bend the arc toward greater social justice.  
 
The public screenings give Oregonians a special opportunity to preview the documentary, which follows the Proposition 19 campaign in California that, in 2010, transformed a fringe social issue into a mainstream political topic and set the stage for marijuana-policy reform efforts in 2012 in Oregon, Colorado and Washington. 
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