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Belize To Consider Decriminalizing Marijuana Possession

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2012 Global, Legislation, News

A sign greets visitors to Caye Caulker, Belize, with a warning: Though marijuana and cocaine are readily available to tourists, drugs are illegal in Belize

Belize Announcement on Heels of Uruguayan President’s Proposal to Legalize and Sell Marijuana

DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann: Alternatives to Prohibition Growing Trend in Latin America and Caribbean

The government of Belize released a press statement on Monday announcing the appointment of a committee to evaluate a proposal to decriminalize marijuana possession. The committee – to be headed by a former police minister – was appointed by the Minister of National Security.

The proposal seeks to remove criminal penalties for possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana and instead impose fines and mandatory drug education. Currently, possession of less than 60 grams of marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to US $26,000 and/or up to three years in prison.

Drug Policy Alliance’s Nadelmann Rocks CNN Drug War Debate

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2012 News

CNN hosted a debate on the War On Drugs on Tuesday.
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance went toe-to-toe with Kevin Sabet, who formerly worked in the Drug Czar’s office.

Yikes: Google Wants To Help With The War On Drugs?!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 17, 2012 Global, News

StopOxy.com

What’s the difference between Google and law enforcement? Not much, apparently.

Like an overbearing, clueless cousin, Google is putting itself into the fight to disrupt global drug cartels with a two-day summit in Los Angeles. The summit, “Illicit Networks: Forces In Opposition,” is put on by Google Ideas, the company’s “think/do tank,” and is part of the company’s effort to “answer humanity’s most intractable problems.”

Do you see the problem here? Anybody who pisses off government officials can be declared “illicit” and Google’s all-too-willing help could turn it into yet another technological tool of the all-seeing Surveillance State.

Long Beach Pursues Costly Marijuana Raids; Lawsuits Result

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 17, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Lawyers.com

A Long Beach cop smashes the video surveillance camera at the THC Downtown Collective

City Is Broke, Yet It Pursues Expensive, Futile Marijuana Dispensary Raids, Resulting In $1 Million Lawsuit

The City of Long Beach, California had an estimated deficit of $14 million in 2011. At an August 2, 2011 news conference covering the “fiscal year 2012 proposed budget,” Mayor Bob Foster is quoted as saying, “We have an extraordinary hole to climb out of and as all of you know, the first rule of holes is when you are in one you stop digging, we need to stop digging.”

On June 19, for a medical marijuana collective raid, the local government utilized roughly 14 of its police officers, numerous patrol cars, the fire department, a hospital ambulance, a city official of the Department of Finance (Erik Sund) and an attorney from the City Attorney’s office (Kendra Carney). All were intermittently onsite for an estimated time of 4-5 man-hours.

Feds Strong-Arm 3 States On Cannabis Food Stamp Deduction

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2012 Medical, News

Arizona Medical Marijuana Blog

Oregon, New Mexico and Maine will no longer allow certain applicants for food stamps to deduct medical marijuana expenses from their incomes after federal officials threatened to slap the three states with penalties.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a nationwide memo to regional directors of the food stamp program after newspaper The Oregonian contacted the agency about the deductions last week. The newspaper surveyed the 17 medical marijuana states and found that Oregon, New Mexico and Maine allowed deductions for the cost of medicinal cannabis.

In deciding whether a family is poor enough to receive food stamps, the three states had allowed applicants to deduct medical expenses from their incomes. Since all three states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana, they had counted the cost associated with buying medical cannabis as a qualifying medical expenses, reports Noelle Crombie.

Federal Judge Orders Defendant To Stop Taking Marinol

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2012 Medical, News

Asian American Bar Association

Federal judge Donna Ryu ordered a defendant to stop taking the legal prescription drug Marinol because it causes the court a problem on drug tests

A medical cannabis activist has been ordered by a judge to find another legal drug than Marinol to treat his chronic back pain.

Jose Gutierrez’s doctor, Frank Lucido, testified at a pretrial detention hearing that he had prescribed Marinol because it is the best legal drug for his condition, but the federal magistrate Donna Ryu objected that it caused her a “problem” because drug tests cannot differentiate it from marijuana, which is illegal under federal law.

In fact, there does exist a test that can discriminate between Marinol and marijuana, according to Dale Gieringer of California NORML, but it is not available through the particular laboratory that has been hired by U.S. Pretrial Services.

“The bottom line is that a US court is asking a defendant who has not yet faced trial to give up legal cannabinoids in favor of addictive opiates because of the inadequacies of its own laws and drug detection technology,” Gieringer said.

Gutuierrez faces felony charges for “assaulting a federal officer” stemming from a scuffle in which he was beaten to the ground by federal agents during the Oaksterdam University raid in April. The offense carried a prison sentence of up to five years.

Who’s To Blame For The California Marijuana Crackdown?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2012 Dispensaries, News

The Weed Blog

By Jack Rikess

Northern California Correspondent

To the readers of Toke of the Town:

I had my last article, ‘Disorganized Government Crime: AG Hits Bay Area MMJ Scene,’ removed from the Toke banner after a couple of comments were made disputing the facts of my report.

As a writer, I’m always striving to be a better journalist. While I depend on the facts for a story, I do sometimes in the same motion; offer my opinions on the situations I see evolving surrounding cannabis issues in the Bay Area and beyond.

I’ve realized I need to learn to be clearer on my execution or delivery as to what the facts are and what isn’t fact but commentary. To remain objective and honest with the details and differentiate distinctly when I’m stating opinions or my “take” on how the shit is going down.

Marijuana Legalization Makes Oregon Ballot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2012 Legislation, News

Campaign For The Restoration and Regulation of Hemp

Late Friday afternoon, the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office certified Initiative 9, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, which will appear as Measure 80 on the Oregon ballot in November.

“Today is an historic day for Oregon and for the national movement for common-sense marijuana policy,” said Paul Stanford, chief petitioner. “Oregon’s long had an independent streak and led the nation on policies that benefit the public good. Regulating marijuana and restoring the hemp industry is in that tradition of independent, pragmatic governance.”

Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, would regulate cannabis (marijuana) for adults 21 years of age and older, with commercial sales only through state-licensed stores. Ninety percent of tax revenue, estimated at more than $140 million annually, would go to the state’s battered general fund.

Get The Greed Out Of The Weed Tour Will Be At DNC

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2012 Culture, News

GreedOutOfWeed.org

Get The Greed Out Of The Weed, a group of what seems to be incurable optimists is still holding out hope that President Obama will do the right thing when it comes to marijuana policy. In their view, that would mean a “baby steps” approach of rescheduling marijuana from its current ultra-restrictive Schedule I status under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act to the least-restrictive Schedule V.

Get The Greed Out Of The Weed leader, AIDS/HIV activist and medical marijuana pioneer Richard Eastman is a busy man these days. Right after he returns to Washington D.C., for the next stop on the Get The Greed Out Of The Weed Tour on July 22 along with thousands of AIDS/HIV activists for the “Keep The Promise March On Washington,” he will begin planning his protest at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

‘They Should Not Be Allowed To Impede Access To Marijuana’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 13, 2012 News

Jill Stein for President

Jill Stein: “As a medical doctor myself, I am a strong proponent of legalization”

Exclusive Interview: Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein

Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee for President of the United States, has a very clear concept of the mainstream roadblock to marijuana legalization. “We consider marijuana a substance which is dangerous because it is illegal,” she told Toke of the Town in an exclusive interview Friday morning. “But it is, in fact, not dangerous; it is far less a health concern than perfectly legal substances such as tobacco and alcohol.”

When Stein says so, it perhaps carries a little more weight than if your average politician said it; besides being a mother and a housewife, this 1979 Harvard graduate is a medical doctor. And she believes that marijuana prohibition is a really bad idea.

“We think making marijuana illegal increases the public health threat because it forces people to associate with the underground illegal drug culture,” Stein told us. “We are committed to using science in the scheduling of marijuana and hemp, and it’s quite clear that if science is brought to bear on this — it’s supposed to be about health and addiction — marijuana and hemp would not be scheduled substances. We would move quickly to order the DEA to de-schedule marijuana.”

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