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Black Government Employees Call For End To War On Drugs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 31, 2011 Culture, News

Retired U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg, LEAP: “The war on drugs has put blacks behind bars for drug offenses at more than 10 times the rate of whites”

Group Joins Police Officers In Calling For Legalization

Blacks In Government (BIG), a group representing the interests of African-American government employees at the federal, state, county and municipal levels, overwhelmingly passed a resolution at its national delegates meeting last week calling for an end to the failed and racially biased “War On Drugs.”

The resolution, which will be delivered to President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, calls for “alternatives to incarceration that may, in part, include a model to regulate and control the distribution of some drugs.”

The resolution pointed to the words of Maryland State Police Major Neill Franklin and U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg, both members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of police, judges, prosecutors and prison wardens who support legalizing and regulating drugs.

BIG and LEAP noted that African Americans constitute 53.5 percent of all persons in prison because of a drug conviction, despite the fact that blacks are no more likely than whites to use drugs.

3-Year State Trooper Study: Marijuana Has An Odor

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 30, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: Alaska Hemp

“Hey, I think I smell something…”

A press release from the Alaska State Troopers proudly unveiled the results of a three-year(!) study which, not shockingly, determined that the odor of marijuana may be associated with the presence of marijuana.

Now, stop it. Maybe Alaska State Troopers (AST) don’t have much to do; I’m sure their lives could use a little more excitement. And they have all those “federally forfeited illegal drug proceeds” to spend on, well, something.

The troopers used the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Justice Center to analyze three years’ worth of marijuana grows which they busted. The study analyzed 200 marijuana grow searches conducted by Alaska State Troopers covering 2006 to 2008.

Man Uses Fake Gun To Rob Store Of Fake Pot; Gets Shot In Ass

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 29, 2011 News

Photo: Jack Dillon/NIJ

A Texas man tried to rob a gas station of fake marijuana, using a hammer as his weapon, but the attempt was foiled when he got shot in the ass by another customer.

Dustin Darsp, 35, tried to steal synthetic marijuana known as K2 from a Shell convenience store at about 9:30 Sunday night in San Antonio, reports KSAT. Carrying a small hammer draped in a block cloth or sock — which he attempted to pass off as a gun — he grabbed a box of K2 and hurriedly left the store.

“He carried it as if it was a gun and pointed it at the clerk and the customer,” said San Antonio Police Detective Robert Bernal, reports Jessica Kwong of the San Antonio Express-News. “He wanted them to believe that what he had was a gun.”

Woman Pulls Out Bag Of Weed When Cops Ask For ID

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 29, 2011 News

Photo: Daily Mail

Danielle Ray Shockey, 27, accidentally pulled out a bag of weed when asked by a cop for her ID.

Please keep your weed and your driver’s license in separate locations. A 27-year-old Florida woman was thrown in jail after pulling out a bag of marijuana when police asked for her identification.

Clearwater Police said Danielle Rae Shockey was sitting in a car in the La Quinta Inn parking lot at 3 a.m. Saturday when an officer approached and asked what she was doing, reports Will Hobson at the St. Petersburg Times. She told them she was talking to her boyfriend, and thinking of renting a room.

The officer asked for her ID and police said she reached in her purse and pulled out the card, along with a bag of pot, which she immediately tried to conceal.

It was too late, though. The cop saw it and searched her purse.

Police said the purse also contained painkillers and sedatives: 57 oxycodone pills, seven methadone pills, three Valium and one clonazepam (a muscle relaxer).

Ohio Man Faces 10 Years For Pot-Laced Rice Krispie Treats

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 29, 2011 News

Photo: ABC 6 On Your Side

Om nom nom nom.

An Ohio man faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $20,000 fine after law enforcement officers found 4.5 pounds of marijuana-laced Rice Krispie treats during a traffic crash investigation.

Patrick Altier, 22, of Boardman, Ohio, was charged with possession and trafficking of marijuana, both third-degree felonies, after Ohio State Highway Patrol troops detected a “strong odor of marijuana” on him during the crash investigation in Boardman Township, Mahoning County, on August 25.

During a “probable cause” search of Altier’s vehicle, based on the pot smell, troopers found individually wrapped Rice Krispie-like treats (the photo actually looks like it could be some Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles, and trust me, I’m an expert in such matters).

Jailed Marijuana Dispensary Owner Goes On Hunger Strike

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 29, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: MHP of Spokane

Jerry Laberdee in happier days at his dispensary, Medical Herb Providers, in Spokane.

There are two ways to look at the federal government’s war on medical marijuana patients and providers. One is the theoretical, statistical way of looking at things — where it’s all numbers — and another is looking at the pot war’s impact on actual human beings.

The second way is a lot more difficult.

A medical marijuana patient and dispensary owner in Washington state has been on a hunger strike ever since he was jailed six days ago on federal charges.

Jerry Laberdee, 56, has been in Spokane County Jail since last Tuesday, after he refused to take his court-ordered drug test, reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly. Laberdee says he won’t eat until he’s released and allowed to use medicinal cannabis, as he is legally authorized to do under Washington law.

His daughter, Jessica Vogel, 28, told the Weekly that she hasn’t been able to talk much with her dad since he was jailed, but she hopes his hunger strike will “wake people up.”

Man, 82, Shoots Guy For Snooping Around His Marijuana Patch

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 28, 2011 Growing, News

Dude, in Kentucky you don’t mess with anyone’s moonshine or marijuana. A 82-year-old Kentucky man has been arrested for shooting a guy for snooping around in his pot patch Thursday night.

Raymond Anthony Faehr Sr., 82, of Pulaski County, shot an unidentified man he allegedly found in his cannabis garden. He told law enforcement he didn’t want the guy to steal his plants, reports Tricia Neal at the Somerset Commonwealth Journal.

The intruder, who was blasted with a shotgun, being struck in the arm, abdomen and thigh, was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for treatment of his gunshot wounds. His condition is not known.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department did not reveal the identify of the gunshot victim in a statement on the incident, and Sheriff Todd Wood did not return a call seeking further comment.

10,000-Plant Marijuana Farm Found In Oregon Forest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 26, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: KVAL News

Sections of the Oregon forest were cleared to make way for the illegal marijuana plantation.

Police seized what they claimed were more than 10,300 marijuana plants from an illegal plantation on privately owned forest land in northeastern Oregon on Wednesday. They claimed the crop was worth about $25 million.

Two men, ages 50 and 25, were arrested and jailed after police raided the grow site, reports KVAL.com.

The investigation began last week when a helicopter spotted the plants from the air. Law enforcement searched the rural property in Wallowa County, not far from the Washington and Idaho borders.

They said they found more than 10,300 plants ranging from three to five feet tall. All the plants have been destroyed, authorities claimed.

Facebook Makes Teens Smoke Weed, Addiction Center Claims

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 26, 2011 Culture, News, Products

Photo: Kush Weed

Did Facebook make them do it?

In the ever-popular game of “blame the messenger,” a new study claims that teens who regularly use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other online social networks are much more likely to drink, smoke and use marijuana.

Supposedly, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace encourage them to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. Meanwhile, the reality show “Jersey Shore” can inspire them to try prescription drugs. All this, that is, if you believe a questionable new study about the use and influence of online social networks.

The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVI has been conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), reports the Secaucus New Jersey News.

Many Michigan Marijuana Dispensaries Close After Ruling

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 26, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Melanie Maxwell/Detroit Free Press

Ann Arbor residents Jaymz Edmonds, left, and T.J. Rice protest outside the OM of Medicine marijuana dispensary Thursday in Ann Arbor after a police raid of the nearby A2 Go Green dispensary.

Raids, Closings Leave Medical Marijuana Patients Hurting

Many medical marijuana dispensaries in Michigan closed their doors on Thursday following a Court of Appeals ruling.

“It would be dangerous to operate with the specter of a criminal case hanging over our head,” said John Lewis, lawyer for Compassionate Apothecary in Mt. Pleasant, the center of the controversy, reports the Detroit Free Press.

Some Ann Arbor area activists sought to regroup at a rally Thursday night, reports Kyle Feldscher at AnnArbor.com.

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