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Citizens Urged To Report Dispensaries To IRS For Cash Rewards

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 Dispensaries, News

The extremist anti-drug group Coalition for a Drug Free California (CDFC) has encouraged citizens from around the state and nation to become dispensary whistle-blowers.

“By simply reporting a pot store to the IRS, average citizens who are fed up with these domestic marijuana cartels can now fill out a very simple form,” said Dr. Paul Chabot, founder of the CDFC. “If the IRS takes action and fines the pot store, the whistle-blower, by law is entitled to a 30 percent cash award.”

CDFC points to a recent case in which the IRS took action against a pot store in northern California with a $2.4 million tax investigation.

Police Say Toilet Plunger Used As Pot Pipe

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 News

KFOR.com

Police claim this seized pot pipe was made from a toilet plunger. Babe-a-licious reporter Joleen Chaney of KFOR-TV holds the plunger pipe above.

Police in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, made an unusual marijuana bust after pulling over a truck with a broken taillight. They claim the driver was making a pot run that started in California but only made it as far as Kingfisher, and was carrying — along with a bunch of weed — a pipe made from a toilet plunger.

“I got enough that he’s going to go away for a long time,” a deputy said with unsavory glee, reports Joleen Chaney of KFOR-TV.

There was supposedly enough marijuana and associated paraphernalia “to fill an evidence room,” including jars of cannabis police claim they seized after making the traffic stop.

“He was just acting a little bit funny, and my partner said he smelled burnt marijuana in the vehicle, and I told him I smelled green marijuana coming from the vehicle,” said Kingfisher County Deputy Eric Richardson. “He said that he did have marijuana in the floorboard.”

Anti-Marijuana L.A. City Attorney Falsely Claims Endorsements

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 Medical, News

Los Angeles Dragnet

Among all the tinhorn dictators who rail against California’s liberal medical marijuana laws, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich — notorious for his rabid anti-cannabis stance — stands out for his constant hotdogging and grandstanding on the issue.

Officials with three law enforcement organizations said they have yet to formally decide whom to back — if anyone — in this year’s race for Los Angeles district attorney, reports Jack Leonard at the Los Angeles Times. Trutanich, the obvious frontrunner, is now in political hot water after falsely claiming several key supporters, including the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, the Los Angeles School Police Association, and the National Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

Pro-Marijuana Legislator In Montana Targeted By DEA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 Legislation, News

Missoula Public Library

Rep. Diane Sands (D-Missoula) stood up for medical marijuana patients — and was investigated by the DEA

Montana legislator Diane Sands has come under investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, and she’s not sure why. But Sands said she suspects the investigation is because she advocates liberalizing the marijuana laws.

Sands told the Colorado Independent‘s Scot Kersgaard that she has no involvement in medical marijuana other than her work in the Montana Legislature. But the Missoula Democrat has been outspoken in advocating for reducing penalties for marijuana, and also advocating for the federal delisting of cannabis so that the issue can be decided by individual states.

“Because of the federal supremacy clause, federal law always trumps state law,” Sands said. “We fought a civil war over this. There is nothing a state can do to make marijuana legal, or even to make medical marijuana legal, but there is a process to change that at the federal level. Now that so many states have made medical marijuana legal, the federal government should remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controllled Substances Act, and let the states regulate marijuana as they see fit.”

Warehouse Full Of Growing Marijuana Found Next To Crime Lab

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 6, 2012 Growing, News

KION 46

The three suspects are accused of operating a 480-plant marijuana grow operation next to a crime lab

Three Pacific Grove, California residents were in jail on drug charges Thursday after the Santa Cruz Anti-Crime Team raided an Airport Boulevard warehouse, which was adjacent to a state Department of Justice crime lab in Watsonville, according to sheriff’s deputies.

Law enforcement also searched a home in Pacific Grove after finding an illegal marijuana operation growing 480 plants inside the warehouse, reports Cathy Kelly at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Legalization Measure Short By 2,400 Signatures; Has 15 More Days

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 4, 2012 Legislation, News

The Weed Blog

In a near-miss, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act has fallen 2,409 signatures short of winning approval for the ballot from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. But the good news is, supporters still have 15 more days to reach the number of valid signatures needed.

RMLA submitted 163,632 signatures, reports Michael Roberts at Westword, almost twice as manyas the 86,105 required to make the ballot. But a shocking 79,936 of the signatures were deemed invalid by Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office, leaving only 83,696 that were considered acceptable.

“Today’s news is unexpected, but it is really just a very small bump in the road on our journey to end the irrational policy of marijuana prohibition in the state,” RMLA backer Mason Tvert told Westword. “Fortunately, we started this signature drive in 2011, so that we would have the opportunity to cure any shortfall in our count.

Rhode Island Voters Support Reducing Marijuana Penalties: Poll

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

A January 25-26 Public Policy Polling survey found strong support for marijuana policy reform, including more than two-to-one support for reducing the penalty for possession of marijuana to a $150 civil fine. Marijuana possession is now punishable in Rhode Island by a $500 fine and up to a year in jail.

Of those polled, an overwhelming 65 percent supported decreasing the penalties for simple possession of less than an ounce of marijuana by removing the possibility of jail time and making the offense a civil citation. Such a change received support from across the political spectrum, with 73 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Republicans, and 60 percent of independents in favor of the measure.

Two bills, H 7092 and S 2253, have been introduced in the Rhode Island House and Senate to remove the threat of arrest and jail for personal possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Joan Rivers Smokes Marijuana On Reality Show [Video]

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 2, 2012 Culture, News

Gawker

Toke it out, Joan.

Hey, that weed smells like… a publicity stunt! Veteran comedian Joan Rivers freaked out some American TV viewers on Tuesday by smoking marijuana on her reality show.

Rivers was shown getting medicinal cannabis from a California dispensary before puffing it from a pipe while sitting in her car with a pal, reports WENN.com.

As the marijuana takes effect, Rivers dissolves into giggles and is driven home by a friend, stopping on the way to pick up burgers and fries.

Police: Entire New York City Building Was Marijuana Farm

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 2, 2012 Growing, News

NBC New York

Police raided a five-story Bronx building they claim was being used as a marijuana farm, with hundreds of plants in an “elaborate” growing system.

An entire five-story building in New York City was raided by the police this week, and authorities claimed the entire structure was being used as a multi-floor marijuana farm.

Police said that four of the floors appeared to be used for various stages of the plants’ growth, with the most mature cannabis being on the top floor, reports Stephen C. Webster at The Raw Story.

The building reportedly had elaborate watering and air filtration systems to keep the plants healthy and the smell under control, reports Shimon Prokupecz, Jonathan Dienst and Joe Valiquette at NBC New York.

California Marijuana Policy Bills Fail To Advance By Deadline

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 2, 2012 Legislation, News

San Francisco Sentinel

California State Senator Mark Leno has been a consistent champion for medical marijuana patients’ rights

Despite hundreds of letters urging California lawmakers to support legislation to improve California’s marijuana policies, two bills that would have done just that failed to advance out of their respective chambers by Tuesday’s deadline.

Although both proposals enjoy strong public support, both were pulled prior to a vote by their sponsors due to a lack of majority support in their respective chambers.

The first bill was AB 1017, introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano. This bill proposed changing the penalty for marijuana cultivation from an automatic felony to a “wobbler” that could be charged as a misdemeanor. AB 1017 received a vote last spring, when it lost 24-36, but it did not garner enough support to pass if it was voted on again.

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