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Birdwatcher Arrested For Sage In Botched Marijuana Bust

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 30, 2011 News

Birdwatcher Robin Brown was handcuffed, thrown in jail, stripped, and body cavity searched — for possessing sage.

Robin Brown Was Stripped, Subjected To A Body Cavity Search, And Spent The Night In Jail

A birdwatcher landed in a Florida jail on felony charges of marijuana possession after a clueless sheriff’s deputy mistook the sage she had in her backpack for pot.

Robin Brown, 49, of Hollywood, Florida, was arrested after Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Dominic Raimondi, 51, decided her sage was marijuana. Deputy Dumbass, I mean Raimondi, then searched her car and found more “pot,” which was also sage.

Tellingly, the dimwitted deputy’s notoriously unreliable field kit said the sage — bought at an airport gift shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico — tested positive for marijuana, reports Susannah Bryan at the Orlando Sentinel.

San Diego Medical Marijuana Ban Suspended; Signatures Filed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 27, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: California Cannabis Coalition

Craig Beresh of the California Cannabis Coalition turns in 47,000 voter signatures at the registrar’s office in San Diego at 4:20 Friday afternoon.

Strict new medical marijuana rules were scheduled to take effect on Friday in San Diego — amounting to a de facto ban, according to many activists — but the action has been suspended since 47,000 signatures were filed for a referendum to end the ban on medicinal cannabis in the city, according to the California Cannabis Coalition and Patient Care Association of California.

“We needed 32,000 signatures for the referendum to end the ban,” said Craig Beresh of the California Cannabis Coalition just before the referendum was filed.

“We will turn today over 47,000 signatures,” Beresh said. “This will suspend the ordinance. The ban on medical marijuana in San Diego will be suspended until the registrar verifies the signatures.”

“We filed at 4:20 today,” Beresh said. “So the end result… THE BAN HAS BEEN SUSPENDED AS OF 4:20 TODAY!”

Government Forced NCI To Censor Medical Cannabis Facts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 27, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: NORML Stash Blog

Fuck censorship.

In March, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a component agency of the National Institutes of Health, acknowledged the medicinal benefits of marijuana in its online treatment database. But the information only stayed up a few days, before it was scrubbed from the site.

Now, newly obtained documents reveal not only how NCI database contributors arrived at their March 17 summary of marijuana’s medical uses, but also the furious politicking that went into quickly scrubbing that summary of information regarding the potential tumor-fighting effects of cannabis, reports Kyle Daly at the Washington Independent.

Phil Mocek, a civil liberties activist with the Seattle-based Cannabis Defense Coalition, obtained the documents as a result of a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request he filed in March after reading coverage of the NCI’s action. Mocek has made some of the hundreds of pages of at-times heated email exchanges and summary alterations available on MuckRock, a website devoted to FOIA requests and government documents.

Report: Marine Never Fired On Officers Who Fatally Shot Him

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 27, 2011 News

Photo: CNN

Jose Guerena was shot up to 60 times by five police officers. There was nothing illegal in the house.

A United States Marine who died in a flurry of bullets in a botched drug raid near Tucson, Arizona, never fired on the SWAT team that stormed his house, according to a new report from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

The revelation added to national outrage over the death of Jose Guerena, who died May 5 after a SWAT team descended on his home with a search warrant, reports Chuck Conder at CNN. Guerena’s home was 0one of four that police claimed were “associated with a drug smuggling operation” in the area.

Poll: 85% Of Grandparents Favor Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 26, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: I’ve Made A Huge Tiny Mistake

Baby Boomers always said they’d make the coolest generation of grandparents ever. Now they’re following through on that promise.

Grandparents, those members of society who’ve had the most time to accumulate knowledge, experience and wisdom, overwhelmingly favor the legalization of marijuana, according to a new poll.

GRAND Magazine, which calls itself “the only magazine for today’s grandparents,” on Thursday released the results from a poll question which appeared in their March/April issue: Is it time to legalize marijuana? A whopping 85 percent responded that yes, pot should be legalized.

Even readers who don’t use cannabis themselves argued that it is hypocritical to outlaw pot when cigarettes, alcohol and fatty foods are legal, but account for so many health issues and deaths.

They pointed out that cannabis is used to treat symptoms such as pain and nausea, and that in some states it is legal for dispensaries to sell medical marijuana.

Tourist Fined $2,000 For 3 Grams Of Marijuana In Bermuda

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 26, 2011 Global, News

Photo: Cruise Law News

Don’t carry your weed to Bermuda.

An American tourist who said she smoked marijuana for medical reasons was fined $2,000 on Thursday in Bermuda.

Teresa Sheridan, 53, of Oregon, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to one count of importing cannabis, reports Mikaela Ian Pearman of the Bermuda Sun.

Sheridan arrived on a flight from New York to Bermuda on May 23 at 2:10 p.m. She was selected for a search by Customs officers because a drug-detecting dog had alerted to her seat on the plane.

Marijuana Advocates ‘Dis-Endorse’ Denver Mayoral Candidate

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 26, 2011 News

Graphic: Cannabis Therapy Institute

A coalition of groups supporting adults’ right to use cannabis and voters’ decision to legalize it in Denver gathered outside a Thursday morning fundraiser for mayoral candidate Michael Hancock to upbraid both candidates for failing to answer a cannabis questionnaire, and to “disendorse” Hancock for mayor.

The action follows last week’s move by Robert Chase of the Colorado Coalition for Patients and Caregivers, who sent an open letter to mayoral candidates Chris Romer and Michael Hancock, asking them to answer three key questions about marijuana policy in the city. Neither camp had responded to the request as of Thursday morning, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword.

Bills To Protect Marijuana Patients & Providers Intro’d In Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Students for Sensible Drug Policy

A bipartisan group of legislators introduced three bills in Congress on Wednesday which, for the first time in history, would federally protect and support medical marijuana patients and providers in states where the medicinal use of cannabis is legal.

The first of the bills, the “States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” would modify federal law so that individuals acting in compliance with state law are immune from federal prosecution. The other two bills, which address banking and tax issues faced by medical marijuana providers, are the first two bills in the history of Congress to protect and advance the interests of medical cannabis businesses.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is the lead sponsor of the States bill, which has garnered bipartisan support in past sessions of Congress.

S.F.: Pot Shops Must Release Names, Addresses Of Growers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

The San Francisco Department of Public Health, which licenses and polices the city’s 26 storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, announced on Friday that it will ask every dispensary to provide a list — with names and addresses — of every grower with which it does business.

The result would be a disaster for the city’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry, according to Kevin Reed, president of the Green Cross medicinal cannabis delivery service, reports Chris Roberts at the S.F. Weekly.

“It’s unacceptable,” Reed told the Weekly. “It would be a disaster.”

The list of grower names and addresses is needed, claimed Rajiv Bhatia, head of DPH’s Occupational & Environmental Health, for safety and legality reasons.

“DPH is trying to ensure that permitted MCDs [medical cannabis dispensaries]comply with all state and local laws,” Bhatia said. “By ensuring this, the industry will be best situated to be protected from code enforcement and criminal prosecution.”

California Judge Throws Out Case Against Marijuana Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: THC Finder

Deputies Conveniently Forget To Mention Existence Of A Tape Which Showed Dispensary Was Following The Law

A Superior Court judge in California has thrown out a criminal case against an Oildale medical marijuana cooperative that was shut down in 2009. According to the judge’s decision, the search warrant that led to the closure was based on incomplete information because it left out a tape recording indicating the cooperative was following the law.

Judge Michael Dellostritto on Friday called the affidavit supporting the search warrant “false and misleading,” and said he never would have issued the warrant if he had heard the recording, reports Courtenay Edelhart of the Bakersfield Californian.

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