News

Merle Haggard Sticks Up For Willie Nelson, Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 28, 2010 Culture, News

Merle Haggard: “I think it’s silly to put someone in jail for marijuana possession”

“We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee,” Merle Haggard sang back in 1969. But Merle’s changed his tune these days. The plain-spoken 73-year-old is still making music, winning awards and taking a stand for what he believes — including the legalization of cannabis.

“There are some people in this world that have no idea what the real deal is,” Haggard told Jennifer Self of the Bakersfield Californian when asked about his friend Willie Nelson’s recent pot bust. “I think it’s silly to put someone in jail for [marijuana possession]. I think it’s a threat to the pharmaceutical industry that you can go to the garden to grow something that might keep you from having to use Lipitor.”

Buzzkill: Man Locks Keys In Car, Gets Busted For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2010 News

Photo: The Sacramento Bee

A Wisconsin man is facing marijuana charges in Lincoln County after he asked a deputy to help him get his keys, which he’d accidentally locked inside his vehicle.

A deputy went to South Gate Drive in Tomahawk about 1 a.m. Friday to assist the 28-year-old man, who was from Madison, Wisconsin, reports WSAW.

As the deputy worked to open the vehicle, he saw marijuana sitting on the front passenger seat.

The man admitted it was his pot, and additional marijuana was found in the trunk, along with a cannabis grinder.

Woman Fired Over Medical Marijuana To Get Day In High Court

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Working World

Should companies be able to fire employees for using medical marijuana — at home, with no effects on job performance — even in states where the medicinal use of cannabis is legal?

Washington judges and lawmakers will be wrestling with that question next month as the state Supreme Court hears the case of a woman fired for legally using pot medicinally, and the Legislature looks at a bill to expand patient protections in the state’s 12-year-old medical marijuana law, reports Vanessa Ho of the Seattle P.I.

The case before the high court involves a woman suing her former employer after she failed a drug test and was fired from a customer-service job in Bremerton. The woman, using “Jane Roe” as a pseudonym in court records, was using marijuana authorized by her doctor for debilitating migraines.

Feds Want Michigan Medical Marijuana Patient Records

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 27, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: The Atlantean Conspiracy

Federal agents want the state of Michigan to turn over records in a medical marijuana investigation of seven people in the Lansing area.

The U.S. Attorney’s office is asking a judge to order Michigan to comply with a subpoena.

In a court filing last week, prosecutors said the state is resisting because of privacy provisions in Michigan law, reports the Associated Press.

Federal drug agents want to see the records of medical marijuana patients and caregivers for seven people.

The seven are are not identified in court documents.

There are no details about the investigation, according to AP.

In a court document, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruha said possession and distribution of marijuana are illegal under federal law.

Sheriff Claims Seized Marijuana Worth $2,250 An Ounce

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 25, 2010 News

Photo: Minor Ripper

$80 a gram, anyone?

A Chicago man has been charged with receiving shipments containing five 5-gallon buckets of “high-grade” marijuana that the Cook County Sheriff’s Office claimed is worth $2.7 million.

Based on the $2.7 million total price the sheriff’s office claimed for the marijuana, the street value of the pot is estimated at around $80 a gram, $2,250 an ounce, or $36,000 a pound.

But the sheriff’s office surely wouldn’t tell a lie, now would they?

Leroy Scott, 42, is being held on $150,000 bail. Investigators said he made “multiple trips” to the Southwest in the days before each package was shipped to him from the same area, reports David Elsner at the Chicago Tribune.

Fatal Car Crash Into Man’s Home Reveals Indoor Marijuana Farm

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 23, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Howard County Police

Police said these marijuana plants were discovered in an Ellicott City, Maryland home after a fatal accident in which a car crashed into the home.

Police in Maryland found an indoor marijuana farm while investigating a car crash in which a young driver plowed is vehicle into a man’s home.

Richard Marriott, 44, of Ellicott City, Maryland, was arrested Wednesday morning after cops found a cannabis growing operation in his home, report Yeganeh June Torbati and Larry Carson at The Baltimore Sun. Nearly 20 large pot plants, a hydroponic system, grow lights and other smaller plants were found, police claimed.

Cops and firefighters were investigating the scene after a 20-year-old driver, Bryan Bolster, crashed his BMW into Marriott’s home about 11 p.m. on December 10, causing part of the house to burst into flames. Witnesses told police that the car was being driven at a high rate of speed.

Toking In 2010: Biggest Cannabis Stories of the Year

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 23, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Naming And Treating

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Here are the stories, tidbits and bong-thoughts of 2010 that caught my attention.

Veterans and Weed

In July, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs changed its stance from “attention” to “at ease” by allowing the use of medical marijuana for GI’s in the states where medicinal cannabis is legal.

Maybe one of the biggest underreported stories of the year was the acceptance by the U.S. federal government to allow marijuana as a possible medical treatment.

End Times? Pat Robertson Endorses Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 22, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Conspiracy Planet

I just pray that all you marijuana supporters will join my other followers, and don’t forget to send the cash.

The marijuana reform movement got some support from an unlikely source this week as 700 Club founder Pat Robertson, closely identified with the fundamentalist Christian Right in American politics, called pot legalization “getting smart on crime.”

Robertson aired a clip on a recent episode of his 700 Club TV show that advocated the viewpoint of drug law reformers who run prison outreach ministries, reports Stephen C. Webster at The Raw Story.

“It’s got to be a big deal in campaigns: ‘He’s tough on crime,’ and ‘Lock ’em up!’ ” Robertson said. “That’s the way these guys ran and, uh, they got elected. But that wasn’t the answer.”

Meno Leaves Marijuana Policy Project Due To ‘Continuing Circumstances’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 22, 2010 News

Photo: MPR News

Mike Meno: “Leaving MPP was not an easy decision… but continuing circumstances at the organization compelled me to look for other opportunities”

Citing “continuing circumstances at the organization,” Mike Meno, director of communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the group.

“It’s with mixed emotions that I’m writing to let you know I’ve decided to leave the Marijuana Policy Project at the end of this year,” Meno wrote in an email addressed to “Friends and Colleagues.”

“Leaving MPP was not an easy decision, especially considering how much I believe in its mission and how much progress our movement has made in the last year,” Meno said, “but continuing circumstances at the organization compelled me to look for other opportunities.”

Traffic Stop Yields 513 Pounds Of Marijuana In Queens

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 22, 2010 News

In what police are calling a “rare” seizure, a routine traffic stop early Sunday in the New York City borough of Queens led officers to more than a quarter-ton of marijuana.

Two officers in an unmarked car noticed a white 2010 Dodge Caravan run a red light and make a quick turn without signaling at about 4 a.m. Sunday, reports Mosi Secret of The New York Times. Officer Jason Zummo said he tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped off, leading them on a five-block chase.

The Caravan drove onto a dead-end street, where the drive jumped out and fled on foot. The officers grabbed him as he was trying to scale a fence. Officer Zummo claimed Hunter resisted arrest, struggling to avoid being handcuffed, reports Jano Tantongco of The Queens Courier.

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