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Stanford Pushes To Legalize Cannabis In Oregon

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 21, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: KATU

Paul Stanford, THCF: Prohibition of cannabis hemp, destroying lives and families in the process, is truly evil.

If Paul Stanford has his way, cannabis will become legal in Oregon next year. The executive director of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF) is working to get a measure on the ballot in 2012 to legalize marijuana in the Beaver State.

Pot should be taxed like cigarettes and alcohol to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state, according to Stanford, who said cannabis would be regulated and sold to people over the age of 21, reports Joe Raineri at KATU.

“We want to regulate it so that businesses like bars and taverns that bar the admission of minors can offer that as a business,” Stanford said.

NORML Director Predicts 2012 Cannabis Initiatives In Four States

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Nilo Radio

NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre: “This is the generation that’s going to be at the vanguard of legalization”

Marijuana initiatives will likely be on the ballot next year in at least four U.S. states — California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — according to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“I think these states are going to try to pass initiatives in 2012,” St. Pierre told about 80 attendees at a University of Central Florida NORML meeting Wednesday night, reports Katie Kustura at the UCF student newspaper, Central Florida Future.

However, St. Pierre warned, if they don’t reach the “magic number” of 58.5 percent in favor and maintain that support for at least six months, any initiative — marijuana related or not — will not succeed.

One of the reasons that probably led to the failure of California’s Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana there, is the fact that it was “too detailed” and left proponents open to attack from the opposition, according to St. Pierre.

Florida Cop Picks A Bud From Seized Pot Plant, Gets Busted

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 News

Photo: Chip Osowski/TBO.com

Officer Ricard Flores was charged with burglary, petty theft and possession of marijuana after picking a bud from a plant seized for evidence

What is it with these stoner cops, anyway? Can’t they buy their own supply?

A Florida police officer was arrested and suspended Wednesday after he took a bud of marijuana from a large quantity of pot the department had seized in an investigation, according to the Winter Haven Police Department.

Ricardo Flores, 36, was charged with burglary of a conveyance, petty theft and possession of marijuana, less than 20 grams, reports Tampa Bay Online. He was booked into Polk County Jail and his being held without bail, according to the jail website.

R.I. Lawmaker Again Seeks Decriminalization Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Zazzle

Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Tiverton) has again introduced legislation to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in Rhode Island.

Possession of any amount of marijuana is currently a criminal offense, punishable by up to a year in jail and $500 fine, reports Katherine Gregg at The Providence Journal.

Under Edwards’ proposal which he is introducing for the second year in a row, possession of an ounce or less of pot would instead be a civil offense, subject to a $150 fine.

“My intent with this legislation remains the same: to provide some relief to the taxpayers of our state,” Edwards said. “In these difficult times, we must look for ways to cut costs wherever we can.

Former Sheriff Gets Life In Prison For Marijuana, Murder Plot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 News

Photo: WSIL

Former Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin was sentenced to two life prison terms today.

Calling a disgraced Illinois sheriff “the worst of humanity,” a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced him to life in prison for trafficking marijuana on the job and a foiled plot to have a potential witness killed.

Former Sheriff Raymond Martin should be harshly punished, U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert said, calling the longtime sheriff of southern Illinois’ Gallatin County “nothing but a common thief and thug who disregarded the very laws that you swore to uphold, defend, protect and honor, reports Jim Suhr of The Associated Press.

“You could have likely been sheriff until you decided to retire,” the judge scolded Martin, who was kicked out of office within days of his conviction last September of all 15 felony counts with which he was charged. “But no, you couldn’t stand prosperity, and your arrogance, greed and power got the best of you.”

Marijuana Smugglers Call Cops After Their Car Is Hijacked

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 News

Photo: Wyoming Highway Patrol

This 170 pounds of marijuana had three different owners in one night — first the smugglers, then the carjackers, then the cops.

What would you do if you were smuggling 170 pounds of marijuana across the United States and you were carjacked? Two accused would-be pot smugglers came up with the wrong answer Friday night.

Smack dab in the middle of Wyoming, on I-80 near Sinclair, the erstwhile pot smugglers had their car hijacked, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, reports Howard Pankratz at The Denver Post. And the victims decided to call the cops.

The man and woman accused of hauling the weed are in the jailhouse now, along with one of the two male carjackers, according to Sgt. Stephen Townsend, spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Troopers were told of the alleged carjacking at about 9 p.m. on Friday. The victims said a couple of guys in a red SUV had taken their car by force and left them sadly standing by the interstate, unharmed but weedless.

Attorney: Michigan Task Force ‘Overly Aggressive’ On Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Pennington County Sheriff

The defense attorney in a dismissed medical marijuana case in Michigan said drug enforcement task force officers raiding medical marijuana patients are being “overly aggressive.”

“The way police are doing investigations needs to change,” said Michael Komorn of Southfield, Mich., attorney for Gregory Pointer of Clarkston, reports Carol Hopkins of The Oakland Press.

Pointer was charged with “unlawful manufacture of marijuana” contrary to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, but his case was dismissed last week in Genesee Circuit Court.

Did NFL Legend Marino Play Football High On Pot?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Hollywood Collectibles

Dan Marijuano? “All those pictures of him and his old hair, I wouldn’t pass it by him.” ~ Kyle Turley

If you’re inclined to believe locker room rumors, one of them has it that legendary National Football League quarterback Dan Marino was known to smoke marijuana before games.

Former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Turley claimed this week on the Dan LeBatard Show that while he doesn’t know for sure, stories of Miami Dolphins legend Marino sparking up before games is the stuff of common locker room lore, reports Michael J. Mooney at our sister Village Voice Media blog, Broward Palm Beach New Times.

Turley, ostensibly on LeBatard’s show to promote a Super Bowl party he’s hosting, started bragging about how he drinks whiskey straight out of the bottle and smokes medical marijuana. The former New Orleans Saint, Los Angeles Ram and Kansas City Chief claimed he smoked pot during his 1998-2007 NFL career, but never before games — which he heard was Marino’s practice.

Idaho Senate Attacks The Menace Of Blunt Wraps. WTF?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Idaho Secretary of State

Dude won’t be winning any high-IQ tests anytime soon: Clueless Idaho Sen. Denton “Dense” Darrington believes blunt wraps are a threat to civilization in Idaho.

Let’s be “blunt” about this: With all the real issues facing the Potato State, the Idaho Legislature has some mighty strange priorities.

A bill introduced Monday in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee would make it unlawful to sell, manufacture or distribute roll-your-own cigar blunt wraps in the state. This is because blunt wraps, made from tobacco leaves, are widely used by marijuana smokers to consume weed.

The incredibly pinheaded proposal, sponsored by Republican Senator Denton “Dense” Darrington, would give blunt wraps the same status as other supposed “drug paraphernalia,” opening sellers, manufacturers and owners of the products to potential criminal charges, reports Ben Botkin at the Magic Valley Times-News.

The bill comes — you guessed it! — at the urging of Big Tobacco, who would really hate to see Americans switch from smoking their cancer-causing product — which causes 440,000 deaths every year in the U.S. alone — to marijuana, for which nobody seems to be able to find a single substantiated fatality.

The Cigar Association of America claims the wraps “have no legitimate use” and are primarily used to make “marijuana cigarettes.” The horror…. The horror!

Corrections Officer Smuggled Marijuana-Filled Sandwich Into Jail

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 News

Photo: Ocala.com

Don’t laugh, man. I *almost* got to meet a stripper!

If you smuggle marijuana into this county jail, you get a roast beef sub and an expensive bottle of tequila. Make it into lock-up with a cell phone and you’ll be introduced to a stripper.

That may sound like some new weird reality TV show, but Florida authorities said a Marion County corrections officer actuallyaccepted all of the above.

The officer and four other people — two inmates and their girlfriends — have now been arrested, reports Austin L. Miller at the Ocala Star-Banner.

Joseph Jones, 31, a master corrections officer, was charged with principal to introducing contraband into a detention facility, introduction of contraband into a detention facility, and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Jones was booked into Marion County Jail at 9:55 p.m. Wednesday, and released about an hour and a half later, at 11:30 p.m. He was suspended without pay from his job, and an Internal Affairs investigation has been launched.

A jail inmate, Travis Cottrell, 28, told officers that the scheme worked like this: Two women would go to a sandwich shop not far from the jail and order two sandwiches. They’d remove the meat and other contents from one sub and place the marijuana inside the bread.

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