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Group Fights For Cannabis Reform In Indonesia

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 27, 2011 Global, News

Photo: LGN

Our brothers and sisters in Indonesia are already in the street. Why stand we here idle?

Indonesia has some tough marijuana laws. In fact, having just a joint can get you up to four years in prison in this Southeast Asian island nation. But one brave and committed group of cannabis activists is leading the way towards legalization and regulation of the herb in Indonesia.

The group, Lingkar Ganja Nusantara (LGN), which means “Circle of Ganja Archipelago” in English, is raising consciousness on the cannabis issue in Indonesia, distributing information on the many uses and benefits of the plant.

U.S. Attorneys Threaten Medical Marijuana States

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 27, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Graphic: Salem-News/NORML Blog

It only took two years for the U.S. federal government to get from “we won’t interfere in state medical marijuana laws” to threatening raids and even arrests of state employees if dispensaries are legalized.

The administration is using a new tactic in its war against medical marijuana patients and providers. In at least four states in the past two months, U.S. Attorneys have been given the dirty work of threatening states if progressive medical marijuana legislation is passed.

Things got started in February when the U.S. Attorney for Northern California threatened to prosecute operators of a proposed commercial medical marijuana farm in Oakland, even though the farm was licensed by that city and legal under state law.

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag “strongly warned” Oakland that big industrial marijuana farms are illegal under federal law, and that the Department of Justice was considering “civil and criminal legal remedies” if the city went ahead with its plans to permit them. The plans were put on hold.

Washington: Raid Training Planned In Wake Of Federal Threats

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 27, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: News Junkie Post

“Patients are sick and tired of being marginalized and living in fear of the federal government.” ~ Steph Sherer, Americans for Safe Access

“Our community would do well to prepare itself, to brace for impact”

~ Rachel Kurtz

Cannabis Defense Coalition

In the wake of threats this month from two federal prosecutors in Washington state, medical cannabis activists are staging raid preparedness trainings in cities across the state. The move comes as Governor Chris Gregoire contemplates the fate of a bill to license cannabis providers and create a state registry of medical marijuana patients.

“The medical cannabis bill is a ghost of its former self, and could get dramatically worse if the governor exercises her sectional veto power,” said Rachel Kurtz of Seattle-based patient advocacy group the Cannabis Defense Coalition.

CU-Boulder Campus Wants To Ban Annual 4/20 Event

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

Photo: ThisSongIsSick.com

4/20 at 4:20 on the Norlin Quad at the CU-Boulder campus. Now tight-assed university officials want to take away the best thing about the damn place.

Thousands of people celebrate 4/20 every year on Colorado University-Boulder’s campus, and this year was no exception. But this year, CU-Boulder officials are complaining about the claimed $50,000 cost of providing security for the “non-sanctioned” event. CU regent Michael Carrigan is even talking about taking “whatever steps are necessary so that the protest doesn’t occur on our property” anymore.

Carrigan pointed out that the university “gets very little state funding,” and tries to put as much of its money as possible toward educating students, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword. “And unfortunately, quite a few outsiders have decided to make us the site for their battle on an unrelated social issue.”

But, as Westword notes, it’s kind of disingenuous of Carrigan to call the 4/20 participants “outsiders” when most coverage last week counted thousands of CU students among the revelers. Thousands more, though, come from beyond campus, at least according to Carrigan.

‘Bed Intruder’ YouTube Guy Busted For Marijuana

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

Photo: YouTube

Antoine Dodson in the “Bed Intruder Song” video from YouTube

Antoine “Bed Intruder” Dodson, whose TV news rant against a would-be rapist became a viral music video and his expressway to stardom, appeared in an Alabama city court on Monday, facing marijuana possession charges along with four other misdemeanors.

Shortly after his court appearance, Dodson posted a series of defiant tweets poking fun at the proceedings, reports CNN.

“Court was bullshit,” said one tweet.

“Damn I didn’t kill anyone did I??? It’s Just weed!!! You know that stuff that grows like grass?? Yeah that! !!” said another tweet to his 37,000-plus followers.

“Damn!! I never been in jail except that time in grade school,” he tweeted. “You remember!!!”

NYPD Arrests 140 People Every Day For Marijuana Possession

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

Graphic: Law Firm Blog

And Many Of Those Arrests Are Allegedly Due To Illegal Searches

The Big Apple is the marijuana arrest capital of the world. Police arrest 140 people every day in New York City for possessing small amounts of marijuana.

Pot possession has become by far the most common misdemeanor charge in the city. And surprise, surprise — these stop-and-frisk arrests take place predominantly in the city’s minority neighborhoods, with many officers likely violating people’s constitutional rights when they make the arrests.

Current and former cops, defense lawyers and more than a dozen men arrested for the lowest-level marijuana possession told WNYC’s Ailsa Chang that illegal searches took place during stop-and-frisks, which are street encounters carried out overwhelmingly on blacks and Latinos (about 90 percent of the time).

Drug-Bashing Republican Lawmaker Charged For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 25, 2011 News

Photo: Franky Benitez

Rep. Robert Watson likes making fun of marijuana. Oh, and smoking it.

In the latest fine example of Republican high-pocrisy when it comes to cannabis, a high-ranking GOP legislator in Rhode Island is squirming after being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession of “drug paraphernalia.”

An embarrassing pot bust would be bad enough for any politician, but this guy — Rep. Robert Watson — is a real piece of work who is remembered for making offensive anti-drug, anti-gay and anti-immigrant remarks, reports Kase Wickman at The Raw Story.

In February, Watson said the Rhode Island Legislature had their priorities right — “if you are a Guatemalan gay man who likes to gamble and smokes marijuana.”

Rather than just apologize and move on, Watson — while a guest on a radio show soon after that misstep, and in response to the understandable outcry over his comments — said, “I reject the suggestion that it’s insulting.”

Watson continued to refuse to say he was sorry. “I apologize when appropriate and/or necessary,” Watson told the Providence Journal in February. “I identify this situation as representing neither circumstance.”

5-Pound Brick Of Marijuana Mailed To Elderly Couple

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 25, 2011 News

Photo: 6 ABC Action News

This five-pound brick of marijuana mailed to an unsuspecting elderly couple in Pennsylvania last week. The cannabis has an “estimated street value” of from $10,000 to $20,0000.

Police are trying to figure out who mailed a five-pound brick of marijuana with a street value estimated up to $20,000. The weed was sent to an unsuspecting elderly couple in Pennsylvania.

The delivery arrived last Wednesday via UPS to the home in Upper Darby, reports 6 ABC Action News. The couple didn’t recognize the name on the package and thought it had arrived by mistake.

Not yet realizing what was inside, they left it on the front porch, thinking it would be retrieved.

Judge Says Trooper Couldn’t Have Smelled Pot; Dismisses Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 25, 2011 News

Graphic: Alaska Dispatch

Alaska State Trooper Kyle Young claims he smelled marijuana from 450 feet away. A judge threw the case out on Friday.

An Alaska trooper’s claimed ability to sniff out marijuana grow operations from hundreds of feet away has been called into doubt in federal court.

U.S. District Judge John Sedwick concluded in a Friday ruling that the reputed pot-smelling power of investigator Kyle Young wasn’t supported by the facts in a Mat-Su marijuana case, and should not have been used to justify a search warrant, reports Lisa Demer in the Tacoma News Tribune.

The judge said no reasonable jurist could believe the word of Trooper Young, and he threw out the seized evidence, including about 500 marijuana plants. Unless prosecutors appeal the ruling, the government’s cannabis case against Trace Rae and Jennifer Anne Thoms of Wasilla, Alaska, is mincemeat.

Maine Legislator Urges Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 22, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: The Bollard

The extremely cool Rep. Diane Russell of Maine: “We’re dealing with the world as it is”

Legalizing marijuana would just be recognition of “the world as it is,” according to Rep. Diane Russell, lead sponsor of a bill that would make cannabis legal in Maine.

Rep. Russell (D-Portland) has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana, allow people to grow small amounts for personal use and subject sales to a seven percent sales tax, reports Edward D. Murphy at The Portland Press Herald. The resulting revenue would be directed to law enforcement, agricultural programs, land preservation, weatherization and higher education.

Russell, who has already been anointed Toke of the Town‘s favorite Maine lawmaker, spoke about her plan to legalize pot at Portland City Hall with about a dozen supporters and a lone whack-job protester wearing a sweater with “Jail Diane Russell” emblazoned on its back.

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