News

New Hampshire Medical Marijuana Veto Upheld

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 27, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Bad news from the Live Free Or Die state, where they won’t allow patients to live free, but seem to have no problem allowing them to die. The New Hampshire Legislature on Wednesday morning narrowly failed to overturn Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a proposed medical marijuana bill.

SB 409, which would have allowed people with certain qualifying medical conditions to grow and possess limited amounts of marijuana with doctors’ recommendations, was approved by the House and Senate earlier this month. That was the first time a Republican-led legislature sent a governor an effective medical marijuana bill.

Gov. Lynch vetoed the bill last Thursday, citing law enforcement concerns that advocates had previously amended the bill to address.

The veto came as no surprise. Lynch vetoed similar legislation in 2009, after which the House voted by more than two-thirds to override the veto, but support in the Senate fell two votes short of the necessary two-thirds.

Judge Strikes Down Lawsuit Against D.C. Blunt Wrap Ban

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 26, 2012 Legislation, News

The Milwaukee Drum

A judge has ruled against a tobacco company that sued challenging a District of Columbia law which made it a lot tougher to buy cigar-style blunt wraps commonly used to smoke marijuana.

National Tobacco Company, based in Kentucky, sued D.C. last year, arguing that a 2010 ban on the sale of tobacco wrapping papers used to roll cigars (and blunts) was vague and unconstitutional, reports The Associated Press. But the judge on Monday ruled for the city.

Ammiano Withdraws CA Medical Marijuana Regulation Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 26, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Kush Magazine

A bill which would have regulated California’s medical marijuana industry has died due to a lack of support in the state Senate.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano called off a scheduled Senate committee vote on his medical marijuana regulation legislation on Monday, acknowledging that he was short on votes ahead of a July deadline, reports Torey Van Oot at the Sacramento Bee.

“Certainly in counting noses, the noses weren’t there, even in committee,” Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said of the Businesses, Professions, and Economic Development Committee.

Medical Marijuana Access Signature Gathering Drive Successful

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 25, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

City-Data.com

Citizens for Patient Rights on Monday announced the successful completion of their signature gathering effort in Lemon Grove, California. The group said it submitted more than 3000 signatures to the Lemon Grove City Clerk, substantially more than the 1,754 signatures needed to qualify for a regular or special election.

“As part of our initiative petition, we have submitted a formal request for a special election, though we hope the Lemon Grove City Council will see fit to enact the ordinance directly or put it to a vote of the people in the November general election, in order to guarantee a quick resolution of the question of whether there will be safe access for the medical marijuana patients of Lemon Grove and the surrounding areas,” Citizens for Patient Rights said in a prepared statement.

This Is What A Drug War Looks Like When It’s Dying

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 25, 2012 Legislation, News

Drug Enforcement Administration Director Michele Leonhart’s recent testimony during an oversight hearing before Congress is very notable for a couple of reasons.

The first and most obvious is Leonhart’s deep cluelessness — whether real or (very convincingly) feigned — about the effects of marijuana, the effects of federal drug policy and, particularly, the impact of federal marijuana policy on people’s lives.

Leonhard flat-out refused to admit that marijuana is any different than heroin, meth, or cocaine, and simply avoided directly addressing the hard questions put to her by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

Two Men Sentenced To Death For 3/4 Ounce Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 25, 2012 Global, News

MFS – The Other News

A 19-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old British man were sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates on Monday for allegedly selling marijuana to an undercover policeman.

The Briton’s mother collapsed outside Criminal Court in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., after the verdict was announced as the Syrian’s mother tried to comfort her, telling her they could appeal the decision, reports Haneen Dajani at The National.

The two young men were caught after an officer posing as a customer bought 20 grams (about three-quarters of an ounce) of cannabis for Dh1,500 (just over $400 American). The officer had earlier bought Dh500 ($136) worth to test it and confirm it was actually marijuana.

Group Wants Marijuana Lowest Enforcement Priority

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 25, 2012 Legislation, News

Jon Miller

Sensible Washington organizer and attorney Douglas Hiatt, right, fires up activists before a marijuana march in downtown Bremerton, Washington, earlier this month

Sensible Washington Announces Paid Signature Gatherers in Bremerton, Washington

Sensible Washington on Monday announced that several “gracious and anonymous donors” have agreed to pay signature gatherers $1 per valid signature, “to assure we get our Bremerton initiative on this November’s ballot.”

This initiative would make cannabis the lowest enforcement priority within the city, as well as ban the city from cooperating with the federal government in the implementation of federal cannabis policies (federal non-cooperation).

Texas Democratic Party Supports Marijuana Decriminalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2012 Legislation, News

Satire With Samuel

The Texas Democratic Party has officially endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana, saying that current laws are negatively affecting too many young people who get busted with small amounts of weed.

“You shouldn’t put a criminal stigma on these young folks for the rest of their lives, and affect their ability to get jobs and their ability to have a meaningful career for using marijuana when they were young,” said State Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa, reports Daisy Martinez of Action 4 News.

Hinojosa said he and the Texas Democratic Party believe the criminalization of marijuana may also be contributing to the selling power of drug cartels and dealers.

Nebraska Judge Rejects Beal’s Medical Marijuana Argument

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2012 Medical, News

Freedom of Medicine and Diet

Dana Beal: “I’m not a run-of-the-mill drug runner. I’m a medical advocate. I had to do it.”

A Nebraska judge this week rejected an effort by one of the original Yippies from the 1960s to get marijuana delivery charges against him dropped because he says he was hauling marijuana across the country to help AIDS and cancer patients on the East Coast.

Dana Beal, 65, is looking at up to five years in the clinker after his arrest near Ashland, Neb., in 2009 in a van carrying 150 pounds of marijuana, reports Paul Hammel at the Omaha World-Herald.

Beal, a resident of New York City, said he was hauling the load of weed to a club of buyers from New York and Washington, D.C., who use cannabis for medicinal purposes. Medical marijuana is still illegal in New York, but has been legalized in D.C.; however, all cannabis sold to patients in D.C. is required to be grown within the District by licensed cultivators.

UK Cannabis Group Made Unauthorized Withdrawals From Members’ Bank Accounts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2012 Global, News

Peter Reynolds Watch

Peter Reynolds of Cannabis Law Reform (CLEAR)

By Kevin John Braid

Special to Toke of the Town

You may remember a couple of months ago I wrote about the despotic behaviour of Peter Reynolds, the leader of the British political party, Cannabis Law Reform, or CLEAR for short.

Things were not looking good for the UK cannabis movement. Attempts by former members of the CLEAR Exec, Chris Bovey and Greg de Hoedt, to topple Reynolds had failed, as Reynolds unconstitutionally sacked them.

Reynolds even filed bogus reports to the British police against those who challenged him, falsely accusing them of hacking the CLEAR web site and boasting on Facebook they were likely to receive a couple of years in prison. Dorset police have since confirmed no action is being taken against the people Reynolds reported with regards to his allegations.

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