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Charges Dropped Against Washington Pot Dispensary Owners

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Pierce County, Washington prosecutors have dismissed numerous marijuana charges filed last year against two men who run a Tacoma medical marijuana cooperative, North End Club 420.

Guy Lewis Casey and Michael Jonathan Schaef — who operate the dispensary on Oregon Avenue in Tacoma — had been scheduled for trial in April, reports Adam Lynn at the Tacoma News Tribune.

DEA Says Woman Called From Jail About Marijuana Money

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2011 News

Photo: Inmate Telephone Service

Almost as soon as she was jailed last year for allegedly shipping hundreds of pounds of marijuana to Ohio in suitcases, a woman placed calls to a California accomplice asking about the status of proceeds from the operation, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Thursday.

Lisette Lee asked Christopher Cash several times about “paperwork,” a phrase the DEA said is commonly used for drug money, even though Cash warned Lee over and over to be careful what she said because the calls were being recorded, the DEA said, reports Associated Press legal affairs writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

After Lee’s arrest, she called Cash in California on June 21 and told him to get some items out of her apartment, including a white Christian Dior bag. “You know what I’m talking about, right? Everything?” Lee asked Cash, according to the DEA.

Michigan And Montana Voters Still Support Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: Potspot 411

Amid a push in Montana to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law and litigation related to some aspects of Michigan’s law, new polls show that voters in both states still overwhelmingly support allowing patients to use medical marijuana with doctors’ recommendations.

In Montana on Monday, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the state’s 2004 voter-enacted law. Meanwhile, the state Senate is considering legislation to further regulate the distribution and cultivation of marijuana in the state.

These poll results show that voters want to work with their state legislatures to ensure access to medical marijuana is protected, and any problems that arise are addressed in a rational manner through regulation, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Science Proves What You Already Know: Pot Causes Munchies

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2011 Global, News

Photo: Geobent

The study’s results won’t come as a surprise to these Seattle medical marijuana activists, pictured here marching on May 2, 2009.

Sure, you may think it’s pretty well-established that marijuana gives you the munchies. But it isn’t official until rigorous double-blind medical studies prove it, and now that’s happened as well.

A new Canadian study from the University of Alberta has found that small doses of an active ingredient in cannabis, THC, boost the appetites of terminal cancer patients, reports the Los Angeles Times.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence concerning pot and hunger, and researcher Prof. Wendy Wismer said she realizes that. But she defended her pilot study as being the first to be conducted under strict controls, and as such, the results are a valuable tool for researchers.

People with advanced cancer said food tasted better when they took THC compared with placebo sugar pills, the study showed, CBC News reports. Cancer patients commonly report decreased appetite and changes in their senses of taste and smell that can lead to weight loss and decreased survival. Thus marijuana-induced munchies can save lives by making food taste and smell better.

IRS Auditing California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Eric Wolfe

Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside Health Center, Oakland’s largest medical marijuana dispensary, looks over a marijuana display case

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is auditing medical marijuana dispensaries in California, with advocates calling for a change in federal tax laws.

The sale of medical marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries is legal under California law, but possession, cultivation or sale of cannabis for any purpose is illegal under federal law. Patient collectives in California say there is a problem because of the way they are being treated by the IRS, reports CNN.

The problem is federal tax code 280-E, which does not allow “drug trafficking organizations” to deduct business expenses.

“If 280-E were applied strictly, we would not be allowed to deduct our rent, our payroll or any of the other normal and usual expenses that other businesses deduct,” said Steve DeAngelo of Harborside Health Center, one of the biggest Bay Area dispensaries.

76% Of Montanans Oppose Medical Marijuana Repeal: Poll

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: The Weed Blog

The Montana Legislature is on the verge of re-criminalizing thousands of medical marijuana patients in one fell swoop, but the citizens of the state do not support such a move.

A statewide poll released on Tuesday indicates that a big majority of adult Montanans — 76 percent — oppose repeal of the state’s medical marijuana law. Sixty-three percent still support allowing medical marijuana with strict new regulations, while others believe no changes are needed to the law. In stark contrast, very few — only about 20 percent — support repeal of the state’s compassionate Medical Marijuana Program.

The results are particularly striking because they fly in the face of Republican claims that voters somehow “regret” legalizing medical cannabis, or that they were somehow “misled” in doing so.

International Hash Fair Planned; Denmark Police Appalled

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 21, 2011 Global, News

Photo: Grarup Jan

The first International Hash Fair is being planned for this summer in Denmark, but local police are reportedly appalled at the idea, claiming it will result in an “increase in the number of hash and skunk laboratories.”

Organizers are well-advanced with their plans to hold the hash fair June 24-26 in the country’s second-largest city, Aarhus, reports Politiken.dk. Guests from Denmark and abroad are being invited to study and buy products including fertilizer, grow lights (which a clueless press always seems to report as “heat lamps”), and smoking pipes.

Montana House Votes Again To Repeal Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: News Junkie Post

Speaker of the House Mike Milburn (R-Cascade) preens as he prepares to accept his nomination as Speaker in the Montana Legislature. One of Milburn’s first acts as Speaker was to call for the repeal of Montana’s medical marijuana law, which would end safe access for patients.

On an almost entirely party-line vote with Republicans in favor, the Montana House voted again on Saturday to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 2004, after a House panel supposedly looked at the repeal measure’s fiscal impacts.

House Bill 161, sponsored by Speaker Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), now faces a final house vote, probably on Monday, before heading to the Montana Senate, reports Charles S. Johnson at the Missoulian.

The House once again voted 63-37 to pass HB 161, with all 63 votes in favor coming from Republicans. All 32 House Democrats and five Republicans voted against repeal.

Feds Will Study Only ‘Negative Consequences,’ Not Medical Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 21, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: New York Medical Marijuana Society

The National Institute on Drug Abuse: “Our focus is primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use. We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana”

Nearly two years ago, the Obama Administration issued its heralded “Scientific Integrity” memorandum which said “Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration.”

Coming, as pointed out by NORML’s Paul Armentano at AlterNet, just months after the American Medical Association called for “facilitating … clinical research and [the]development of cannabinoid-based medicines,” the memorandum stoked the hopes of pot activists who want to see the commencement of long-overdue human studies into the safety and effectiveness of medical cannabis.

But that was before cold gray reality, also known as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), weighed in. NIDA, which oversees 85 percent of the world’s research on controlled substances, reaffirmed its longstanding policy of “no medical marijuana” to The New York Times.

“As the National Institute on Drug Abuse, our focus is primarily on the negative consequencs of marijuana use,” a spokesperson told the Times in 2010. “We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”

Months After Dispensary Raids, No Charges And No Money Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 21, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Cal Pot News/Corning Observer

More than seven months after Butte County, California law enforcement coordinated raids on seven marijuana dispensaries, the sheriff’s office claims it is still “investigating” the case, so the District Attorney’s Office has yet to file criminal charges.

A number of dispensary owners have since filed civil cases to have their confiscated money returned, reports Katy Sweeny at the Chico Enterprise-Record.

More than 100 law enforcement officers on June 30, 2010 served search warrants on seven marijuana dispensaries and 11 residences in Chico, Forest Ranch, Magalia and the Sacramento County town of Rio Lindo. The officers stole — I mean, “confiscated” — marijuana, guns, financial records, computers, Proposition 215 verifications, cash, and other items.

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