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How Greedy Profiteers Are Betraying The Cannabis Community

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2010 Culture, News

I know, I know. “It’s all about the money.” But are there no depths to which the anti-Prop 19 people — i.e., a few greedy growers and dispensary owners and their friends in law enforcement — won’t sink?

Just today, I saw that some obnoxious moron calling himself “Rtg Cel” on Facebook had even trumpeted the supposed “dangers” of stoned workers on the job as a reason to vote against Prop 19 legalization.

Surely he knows better. Marijuana users are typically among the safest, most bust-ass, least complaining employees in the workplace.

But what does truth matter, when profits are at stake?

Way to show your true colors, “Rtg Cel.” Way to fall into line with your prohibitionist allies.

Tacoma Medical Marijuana Providers Vow To Fight Shutdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

The city of Tacoma, Washington, has ordered eight local medical marijuana dispensaries to stop doing business by Saturday, sparking outrage among patients and providers. Cannabis advocates are planning an impromptu rally at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to support the dispensaries.

In a three-paragraph letter dated October 14 from Tax and License Manager Jodie Trueblood, dispensary operators were told that selling medical marijuana “to more than one patient” is illegal in Washington state, and outlines possible penalties if the shops don’t comply, reports Stacia Glenn at the Tacoma News-Tribune.

Business licenses will be revoked, fines and penalties could be assessed, and criminal prosecution isn’t out of the question, according to Trueblood’s letter.

Dispensary workers said on Monday that they were surprised when they received the cease and desist letters. Some have already appealed the decision, with others saying they plan to do so.

Advocates say that hundreds of supporters have been mobilized for a rally before Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. If they are unsuccessful on getting the dispensary question onto the Council’s agenda, they said they plan to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Supports Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 18, 2010 Legislation, News

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said Sunday that she supports legalizing marijuana.

“What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people,” Elders said, reports CNN. “And we use so many of our excellent resources… for things that aren’t really causing any problems.”

Californians vote in two weeks on Proposition 19, a ballot initiative to legalize, regulate and tax cannabis. The measure would effectively legalize adult recreational marijuana use in the state, though federal officials including Attorney General Eric Holder have claimed they would continue to enforce marijuana laws in California even if voters approve the initiative.

Welcome To The U.S.S.A.: Kid Turns In Parents For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 18, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: The Fresh Scent

Maybe they should be brown shirts instead.

Remember as kids, we were taught that one of the worst things about totalitarian regimes was their propensity to get children to snitch out their parents? Well, welcome to the U.S.S.A.

Two North Carolina parents are facing marijuana charges after their child took their cannabis to school and told an officer there that his parents were breaking the law.

The names of both the parents and the school are being withheld to protect the child’s identity, reports Jeff Rivenbark at WBTV.

Man Thanks Deputies Who Busted Him: They Found His Bong

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 18, 2010 News

Manatee County Sheriff’s Office

Mark Fiasco: Thanks, sheriff dudes… I’ve been looking for that bong for seven years, brah!

It was a bad news/good news scenario. A Florida man got busted for marijuana, but the search of his trunk revealed a bong inside a plastic shopping bag that he said had been lost for years.

Mark Fiasco (yes, that’s really his last name) thanked deputies who arrested him Friday morning during a vehicle search that also turned up the bong he said he lost years ago, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, reports Paradise Afshar of The Bradenton Herald.

Fiasco and Matthew Haley were pulled over around midnight; officers claimed a license plate light was out. The deputies’ report said the car had also been involved in a previous drug case in which an arrest was made.

When deputies first approached Fiasco, 23, he provided an address that did not match what was listed on his license. He was then asked if there were any drugs in the car and he said no, according to the report.

A search of the vehicle — to which Fiasco apparently consented, which you should never do — revealed just over an ounce, 29.3 grams of marijuana, to be precise, in the trunk. The search also revealed a big bong inside a plastic shopping bag.

Atty. Gen. Holder To California: You Can’t Legalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 15, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Angry White Dude

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder: “We will vigorously enforce the [Controlled Substances Act] against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the people of California can’t legalize and regulate marijuana. Let’s see what the people of California have to say about that on November 2.

Holder sent a letter earlier this week to former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in which he promised that the Justice Department would continue to enforce federal marijuana laws in California — even if the state’s voters approve Proposition 19, which would make marijuana legal for all adults 21 or older and allow localities to tax and regulate the sale of cannabis.

Holder seems to have forgotten that states are the laboratories of democracy in a federal republic — and he seems to have forgotten that he’s our Attorney General, not our daddy.

“We will vigorously enforce the [Controlled Substances Act] against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law,” Holder wrote in the letter, as reported by The Associated Press.

Drug Czar Decries Teen Pot Use; His Policies Behind Increase

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: The Information Underground

Gil Kerlikowske supports the failed prohibitionist policies which have made marijuana easily available to teens, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

MPP Calls On Drug Czar to Support Regulating Marijuana In Order to Take It Out of the Hands of Drug Dealers Who Sell to Young People

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske on Thursday decried recent data showing that American teens are using marijuana at younger ages and in greater numbers.

In response, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a cannabis policy reform organization, called on Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), to abandon the failed policies of marijuana prohibition and instead embrace the regulation of cannabis, accompanied by science-based education campaigns, as the only sensible way to reduce teen pot use.

“After decades of the same ineffective approach, it’s more clear than ever that our government’s current policies have failed to reduce marijuana’s use or availability among young people and that a change is needed,” said Steve Fox, director of government relations for MPP.

Man Had Weed Stuck In Teeth After Eating Pot In Traffic Stop

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2010 News

Photo: The Gainesville Sun

Amos Moye thought he’d just eat the evidence, but in doing so, he caught another charge.

A Florida man who tried to get ride of marijuana in his possession during a traffic stop by eating it was arrested Tuesday night and charged with tampering with evidence, according to the Gainesville Police Department.

Amos Moye had bits of cannabis stuck in his teeth and mouth when he was stopped by Officer Jeremiah Kelly at 11:15 p.m., according to police, reports Karen Voyles of The Gainesville Sun.

According to Officer Kelly, Moye got his attention on East University Avenue because the license plate on the vehicle Moye was driving was obstructed, and because he appeared to have made an improper right turn.

Kelly said he hit the blue lights on his patrol car, then followed Moye for about two blocks until the 22-year-old pulled over.

Kelly claimed he noticed the strong odor of burned marijuana as he walked up to the vehicle. He also saw something in Moye’s mouth.

Survey: 80% Of Pennsylvanians Support Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Lara Brenckle/The Patriot-News

When will Pennsylvania legislators finally get it? Their constituents support medical marijuana! Supporters of the the movement to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes rallied on the steps of the state Capitol in Harrisburg in July 2009.

“It may be as addictive as chocolate.”

~ Rep. Mark Cohen (D-Philadelphia)

A bill has been introduced in the Pennsylvania Legislature to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana — and a new survey shows that about 80 percent of state voters support the move.

“Even though there is broad popular support for legalizing medical marijuana in the state, prospects for its legalization seem slim,” wrote pollsters G. Terry Madonna and Berwood Yost, both Franklin & Marshall College staffers.

The poll also showed that only 33 percent of the state’s voters favor the outright legalization of marijuana, reports David Warner of the Mechanicsburg Patriot-News.

Partying Poodle Polishes Off Pot In Park; Gets Paranoid; Tests Positive

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2010 News

Photo: My Fox DC

Senator, a toy poodle, got stoned after he placed a marijuana roach in his mouth. His non-genius owner even got him a drug test. Yeah, he tested positive.

A Maryland woman who said she considers her toy poodle “more like a child than a pet” was crying as she took the cannabinated canine to the veterinarian Monday, after the partying pooch grabbed a marijuana roach in its mouth.

Cynthia Painter of Chevy Chase, Md., said she was walking “Senator” in her apartment courtyard when he tried to eat the cannabis butt, reports Will Thomas at My Fox DC.

“I quickly removed it, but within an hour, he couldn’t walk right and his eyes were glassy, so we rushed him to the hospital,” Painter said.

“Soon as the vet saw him, she said, ‘He’s stoned,’ ” Painter said. Proper!

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