News

Strip Club? Massage Parlor? Cheaper License Than Pot Dispensary

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

Priorities? Opening a medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego costs more to license than opening 17 strip clubs or 27 massage parlors.

Since You Don’t Have Enough Money — Or A Legal Spot — To Open A Medical Marijuana Dispensary In San Diego County, Maybe You Should Consider The Sex Trade Instead

In a move seen as continuing their notorious hostility to implementation of California’s medical marijuana law, approved by voters 15 years ago, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an $11,017 annual fee to open medicinal cannabis dispensaries in the county’s unincorporated areas. They also further restricted where the shops can open, resulting in a “de facto ban,” according to activists.

Supervisors Ron Roberts and Greg Cox said the fee — which, surprise, surprise, will go to the Sheriff’s Department — appeared “high,” reports Chris Nichols of the North County Times.

They’re right about that. In fact, it’s the highest annual fee charged to any Sheriff’s Department-regulated business in the county.

DUI For Drugs Fails In Montana Legislative Committee

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 26, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: KPAX.com

A Montana plan to issue DUI tickets for those under the influence of “dangerous drugs” while driving was rejected Tuesday in a legislative committee amid concerns there is no valid test for determining impairment.

The measure was one piece of the drunken driving reform working its way through the Montana Legislature, reports Matt Gouras of The Associated Press.

Another, larger reform initiative that would require repeat drunk driving offenders to undergo twice-daily breath tests at their own expense was unanimously endorsed Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee and will go to the full House.

Washington Could Legalize Marijuana, Sell It In Liquor Stores

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 26, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Cafe Press

A bill has once again been introduced to the Washington Legislature which would legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold in state liquor stores.

State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson of Seattle, who compared current cannabis laws to alcohol Prohibition, introduced the bill, reports The Associated Press. According to Dickerson, it’s time to take marijuana out of the hands of criminals, regulate it, and tax it like alcohol.

Dickerson introduced a similar bill last year, but never made it out of committee when the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee, after holding the first-ever legislative hearing on marijuana legalization in Washington, voted it down.

The bill also calls for the state to license marijuana growers.

Critics, of course, claim the bill would “increase marijuana use among teens,” as if they don’t already smoke it, and “could lead to harder drug use,” which is, of course, the already-discredited Gateway Theory.

Predictably, Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office, notorious for fighting marijuana reform, lost no time in saying it will oppose the bill.

Cannabis Legalization Initiative Filed In Washington Jan. 26

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 25, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Sensible Washington

Voters in at least one state may get the chance to legalize marijuana this year. Washington State’s 2011 initiative to legalize cannabis for adults will be filed Wednesday, January 26, Sensible Washington state coordinator Don Skakie told Toke of the Town Tuesday afternoon.

The initiative, which would remove marijuana penalties for adults, will be filed in the Secretary of State’s office in the Legislative Building, Olympia, Washington, at about 2 p.m.

“Anyone wanting to be part of this historic event is welcome to participate,” Skakie said. “Please be mainstream in your dress and appearance.”

Illinois Looks At Making Marijuana Possession Like Traffic Ticket

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 25, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: TheBongPlace

A new bill introduced in the Illinois House of Representatives would lower the penalty for an ounce or less of marijuana to a petty offense similar to a traffic violation.

House Bill 100, introduced January 12, would change the consequences of possession of under 28.35 grams of cannabis from a Class A Misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine — down to a petty offense rather than a criminal offense, reports Brendan Denison at the Daily Illini.

If passed, the bill would set a $500 fine for first-time marijuana possession offenders, $750 for second-time offenders, and a $1,000 fine for each offense thereafter.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, the Democrat who introduced the bill, said he expects it to free up the court systems and reduce the number of people who receive criminal background histories for possessing small amounts of cannabis.

Marijuana Holds Top 50 Spots In Questions For Obama

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 25, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: 8000 Credit

Change.org is once again asking the American public for questions for President Obama, based on their top concerns. This time it’s in the form of “Your Interview with the President, hosted on YouTube. And once again, marijuana legalization questions are dominating the polling, by one account nailing down the top 50 spots based on popular vote.

But unsurprisingly, the subject of marijuana doesn’t show up anywhere on the YouTube site — unless you do some sorting.

Rather than being allowed to actually see the obvious popularity of marijuana law reform, visitors have to click “All Questions” and then click “Sort By Popularity” to see that all the questions with the most votes relate to cannabis prohibition in some form.

Pro-Drug Test Lt. Gov.: Helping Poor Like Feeding Stray Animals

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

Photo: Playahata

Fox News is gonna love this guy.

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, as part of an argument that people should lose government benefits if they fail drug tests, drew a comparison between government help for poor people and “feeding stray animals” — who, he added, “breed.”

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals,” Bauer said during a town hall meeting, reports Brian Montopoli at CBS News. “You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply.”

“They will reproduce, especially ones that don’e think much further than that,” Lt. Gov. Bauer continued. “And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”

Former Bank Could Become Marijuana Dispensary

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

Graphic: GUS314159

Dude, this could turn into some serious overdraft action.

Talk about “high” interest! A building formerly occupied by a bank could become a medical marijuana dispensary in Rhode Island.

One of the 18 applications for medical marijuana dispensaries in the state names a former bank building at 6851 Post Road in North Kingstown as its location, reports Chris Church at the North Kingstown Independent.

Marijuana would not be grown at the bank building. It would be cultivated at a windowless building in Cranston, R.I., according to the application sent to the state Department of Health by applicants Chronic Pain Management Centers of Rhode Island.

Law Enforcement Says Hunters At Risk From Marijuana Growers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 24, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee

A special agent with the Bureau of Land Management looks at marijuana plants illegally growing on BLM land in El Dorado County, California.

California’s public lands are overrun with medical marijuana growing operations, guarded by armed crews toting powerful weaponry — and hunters are at risk, according to a law enforcement panel including game wardens and a Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement task force commander.

The message came Sunday during the 24th International Sportsmen’s Exposition at Cal Expo in Sacramento, reports Loretta Kalb of The Sacramento Bee.

The Mexican drug cartels have turned to California for their operations that now supply much of the United States with weed, according to the panelists.

Wyoming Supreme Court Rejects Man’s Medical Pot Defense

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 24, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: KJCT8

People who legally obtain medical marijuana in other states are not exempt from criminal prosecution for possessing it in Wyoming, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The court unanimously ruled last week in the case of Daniel J. Burns of Boulder, Colorado, who was arrested in March 2009 in Laramie County, Wyoming on a felony drug possession charge after he was caught with more than a pound of marijuana in his vehicle, reports Bob Moen of The Associated Press.

Burns, who has a Colorado medical marijuana card and doctor’s certification to use cannabis for medicinal purposes, argued that Wyoming drug laws exempt people who are prescribed drugs by a doctor.

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