News

Marijuana Billboards Go Up In Florida

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 12, 2012 News

The Silver Tour

This is one of two different billboards that will go up in Florida as part of a three-prong plan to push for the passage of medical marijuana in the state.

Medical marijuana will hit the road in Florida at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. That’s when two 48-foot billboards urging passage of medical marijuana for Floridians will be unveiled. Strategically placed on Pompano, Florida’s busiest thoroughfare, Sample Road, these signs carry a potent message.

The giant billboards are sponsored by The Silver Tour, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating senior voters about medical marijuana. The Silver Tour’s founder and director of NORML of Florida, Robert Platshorn, is the man who convinced Lake Worth Rep. Jeff Clemens to file Florida’s first bill for medical marijuana in the state capitol, Tallahassee.

The billboards are part of a three-prong plan to push for the passage of medical marijuana in Florida, according to Platshorn.

DEA, Police Raid Upland, California Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 12, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Jennifer Cappuccio Maher/San Bernardino Sun

A federal DEA agent enters G3 Holistic on Monday morning, March 12, 2012, in Upland, California. Federal agents served a search warrant at the medical marijuana dispensary, which has been at odds with the city for a couple of years.

The Drug Enforcement Administration at 9:30 on Monday morning served a search warrant at G3 Holistic, Inc., a medical marijuana dispensary that has been at odds with the city of Upland, California for a couple of years.

Seized in the raid were at least 25 pounds of marijuana and 89 pounds of medicated edible products containing cannabis, according to the DEA, report Canan Tasci and Melissa Pinion-Whitt of the San Bernardino Sun.

No arrests have been made.

DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen confirmed that a search warrant had been served at G3 and that the federal agency has been “working with” California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s office.

Zero Tolerance Marijuana DUI Bill Introduced In California

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 12, 2012 Legislation, News

THC Finder

A bill that would establish a zero-tolerance driving under the influence (DUI) standard for marijuana has been introduced in the California Legislature.

The bill, AB 2552, sponsored by Norma Torres (D-Pomona), would make any driver found with above-zero levels of cannabinoids in blood or urine presumptively guilty of DUI.

“Since cannabinoids remain in the system for days or weeks after last use, the bill would effectively outlaw driving by every marijuana user in the state,” said Dale Gieringer of California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).

Debate On Ending The War On Drugs Gains Momentum

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 12, 2012 Global, News

Osocio

Latin America Leads The Way; UN Remains Closed To Change

The 55th annual session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) started on Monday in Vienna, Austria, with a focus on strengthening the drug program of the United Nations. Government representatives from more than 100 countries will discuss international cooperation in combating drugs, and the enforcement of the current prohibition model. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime will invite delegates to celebrate 100 years of “successful” drug control. Are these people disconnected from reality?

“No changes to the UN conventions or even constructive discussions on alternative policies on drugs are to be expected at this meeting,” said Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), a group of international leaders that has called for an end of the global War On Drugs.

Lowest Police Priority: 6 WA Cities May Have Cannabis Initiatives

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 10, 2012 Legislation, News

Sensible Washington

Washington state legalization group Sensible Washington announced earlier this year that they would be running local, city-wide initiatives in 2012. Last month the group declared Spokane its first city. Now, just days away from filing, the group has announced the next five cities where they’ll be running initiatives:

• Everett

• Olympia

• Bremerton

• Kent

• Bellingham

According to Sensible Washington, these initiatives will combine making adult cannabis offenses the lowest law-enforcement priority, and prohibiting cooperation of local law enforcement with federal authorities in marijuana enforcement.

Outdated Tax Code Calls Marijuana Dispensaries Drug Traffickers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Veterans Today

Seattle Seminar Saturday March 10th to Educate Attorneys, Accountants and Cannabis Business Owners How to Prepare Their Businesses for Possible IRS Audits under the Current 280E IRS Tax Code

The Internal Revenue Service is using tax audits to rule that state-sanctioned cannabis businesses are deemed “drug trafficking organizations” under Section 280E of the IRS code which was created decades ago. Through this definition of the tax code, the IRS is denying legitimate businesses from making normal deductions such as rent payments, payroll, insurance, and other usual business expenses incurred, and demanding large taxes and fines on the industry.

Colorado DEA Chief Dismisses Medical Value Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

The Denver Post

Special Agent Barbra Roach, DEA: “By federal law, marijuana is illegal. There is no medical proof it has any benefit.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s new regional chief in Denver, Barbra Roach, wasted no time in offending Colorado. Claiming that marijuana has “no known medical value,” she also said that she will find a place to live that does not allow medical marijuana businesses.

“It is not surprising that in Colorado, where voters have approved medical marijuana, some find her comments more than a little offensive,” reports Scot Kersgaard at The Colorado Independent.

“By federal law, marijuana is illegal,” Roach — who is replacing Jeff Sweetin, who was promoted to run the DEA’s training center in Virginia — told The Denver Post. “There is no medical proof it has any benefit,” she said, ignoring literally hundreds or thousands of medical studies.

Roach told the Post that marijuana is illegal despite Colorado’s constitutional amendment which allows it for medicinal use. She didn’t return subsequent calls seeking further comment.

N.H. House Votes 162-161 To Decriminalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2012 Legislation, News

MilitantLibertarian.org

The New Hampshire House has passed a bill — by the narrowest possible margin, 162-161 — to decriminalize possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana.

Republican Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien abstained from voting, allowing the bill to get through by one vote, reports Kevin Landrigan at the Nashua Telegraph. The bill, HB 1526, cleared the House after O’Brien announced he was letting the measure pass by not voting.

Under current New Hampshire law, anyone possessing a half ounce of marijuana can face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. This bill would make such possession a civil violation on the first offense, with a fine of up to $250, and a fine of $500 the second time it occurred.

Afghan Air Force Transporting Drugs? U.S. Investigating

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2012 Global, News

Wikipedia

Afghan Air Force L-39 Albatross jets: drug smugglers?

The United States is looking into claims that some members of the Afghan Air Force (AAF), which was established largely with American funds, have used their airplanes to transport drugs, a U.S. military spokesman said on Thursday.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the drug-running allegations, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, are linked to the shooting deaths last year of eight U.S. Air Force officers at the airport in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, reports CNN.

Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Should Be Legal

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2012 Culture, Legislation, News

CNN

Pat Robertson: “I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol”

Says He ‘Absolutely’ Supports the Colorado and Washington State Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiatives

Pat Robertson is the latest and maybe the most surprising person to come out in support of legalizing marijuana. Last week on his show, The 700 Club, the signature program on his Christian Broadcast Network, he spoke out passionately against locking people up for possession of marijuana and noted that it was costing us billions of dollars.

Then on Wednesday, in an interview with The New York Times, Robertson, 81, went even farther by saying that he not only supported legalizing marijuana but that he “absolutely” supports the Colorado and Washington state marijuana legalization ballot initiatives on the 2012 ballot.

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