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Marijuana Grower Who Let Cops In House Gets Jail Time

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2010 Growing, News

Jesse Watkins said he “couldn’t stand the dog.” He also made the bonehead move of inviting the cops in with pot in plain view.

A Portsmouth, Maine man who invited police into his home to investigate a noise complaint — but failed to hide his marijuana — was sentenced to jail on Tuesday.

Jesse Watkins, 27, appeared in Portsmouth District Court September 21 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession. In a plea bargain, Watkins admitted to being in possession of marijuana, and a felony count of “manufacturing a controlled substance” was dismissed, reports Elizabeth Dinan at Seacoastonline.com.

Police were dispatched to Watkins’s home on September 8 for what was reported as a “loud domestic disturbance.” When a bloody Watkins invited officers in to prove he was alone, they found five growing marijuana plants and a bag of pot in plain view, Prosecutor Rena DiLando told the court.

Battering Ram Used On Man’s Door; Misdemeanor Pot Charge

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2010 News

Photo: nj.com

Drug War overkill has reached an absurd new low. A 29-year-old Florida man was arrested on misdemeanor marijuana charges after a Drug Task Force executed a search warrant by taking his front door out with a battering ram.

Incredibly, an expensive, surreal two-month investigation “into the man’s use and possession of marijuana” was conducted by gung-ho members of the Okaloosa County Multi-Agency Task Force and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

The man, who is not in the Air Force, was identified as a resident of Whisperwood Lane in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, reports Jeff Barker at Northwest Florida Daily News.

Oregon NORML Marches Proudly For Breast Cancer Cure

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Oregon NORML

About a dozen members of Oregon NORML proudly marched in the 19th Annual Susan G. Komen “Race For The Cure” in Portland on Sunday.

As long as breast cancer exists, the finish line has not been reached, but each year’s Komen race brings it closer

By Michael Bachara, Hemp News

Inspiration was in the air on Sunday, September 19 at the 19th Annual Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon. An estimated 40,000 people, including over 3,500 breast cancer survivors, walked, raced and ran, bringing awareness and raising millions in the name of breast cancer research.

Showing their pride as the emcee acknowledged their participation, about a dozen marchers were from the Oregon Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Their slogan was: “It’s NORML to Race for the Cure.”

“This is Oregon NORML‘s first year to have a team in the race,” said Anna Diaz of Oregon NORML. “As a team, we are going to do the untimed one-mile walk.”

Bizarre Marijuana Break-In Sparks Self-Storage Lawsuit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Living Stingy

A bizarre break-in to a California storage unit containing $35,000 worth of marijuana plants has the self-storage community puzzled, and engaging in what Inside Self Storage is calling a “spirited discussion” — well, that and a lawsuit.

Gary Hite, a tenant who grows medical marijuana, reported the theft of 35 cannabis plants, valued at $1,000 apiece, from his storage unit, reports Self Storage Investing.

Hite said the Hunco Way self-storage facility operator neglected to repair a broken door on an adjacent unit, from which determined, pot-hungry thieves tunneled through two layers of drywall to steal the plants.

Mexico Paper Asks Drug Cartels: What Do You Want From Us?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Trends Updates

The entire state of Chiahuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located, is out of control. Juarez itself is a virtual ghost town with no tourism, almost completely under the control of violent drug cartels.

A Mexican newspaper in the midst of the country’s Drug War has asked cartels for guidance on whether, and how, it should publish stories on the conflict.

El Diario de Juarez has become known for its excellent reporting from the blood-soaked streets of border town Ciudad Juarez, a haven for the violent drug-smuggling cartels, reports the BBC.

But the murder of their 21-year-old photographer last week prompted the newspaper to run a front-page editorial asking: “What do you want from us?”

First Marijuana Farmer’s Market Held In Washington

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Lui Kit Wong/Tacoma News-Tribune

A medical marijuana patient exchanges a plant for a donation at what was billed as Washington’s first cannabis farmer’s market at the Conquering Lion in Tacoma on Sunday

Farmer’s markets usually don’t require bouncers. But this wasn’t your usual farmer’s market.

A smiling guy in a skull and crossbones sweatshirt guarded the door Sunday to a rented room where the sweet smell of marijuana was heavy in the air, with the pulsing rhythms of reggae providing a soundtrack, reports Stacia Glenn of the Tacoma News-Tribune.

Only authorized medical marijuana patients were allowed inside the event, billed as Washington state’s first cannabis farmer’s market.

Michigan Town To Charge Marijuana Dispensaries $2,000 Fee

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: David Guralnick/The Detroit News

Co-owner Matt Curtis talks about the 15 to 20 varieties of marijuana sold at Clinical Relief LLC, a medical marijuana dispensary in Ferndale, Mich. The business’s client base grew to more than 1,000, according to owners, before police raids shut the place down last month. Now the City Council wants to charge a $2K per year “licensing fee.”

So, Ferndale, what’s it gonna be — raid ’em or tax ’em? Because it’s a little unseemly to do both.

Owners of any new medical marijuana dispensaries that want to open in the city of Ferndale, Michigan will have to pay a $2,000 fee for their license and annual renewals. That may not sound like the best of news, but could taxation mean an end to police raids like the one which closed down the city’s only dispensary last month?

The City Council enacted the “licensing fee” last week, and officials claimed they did so to “recover the costs” associated with inspections and other duties city workers and police conduct for licensing, reports Michael P. McConnell of the Oakland County Daily Tribune.

Activists Rallying In Seattle For Release of Canadian Pot Prisoner

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 18, 2010 Culture, Global, News

Graphic: High Times

From 12 noon until 4 p.m. Saturday, September 18, dozens of marijuana activists are scheduled to rally on an I-5 overpass in Seattle and to wave “Free Marc” signs at the traffic below.

Activists continue to call on President Obama to pardon Marc Emery, a Canadian and the so-called “Prince of Pot,” who was recently sentenced to five years in federal prison for selling marijuana seeds by mail to American customers.

“The Emery case is a prime example of the overreach of the federal government and the need for marijuana laws that match social reality in America,” said Philip Dawdy, Sensible Washington’s co-founder and vice-chair.

“It’s crazy that he’s going to prison for selling seeds and that the federal government is willing to spend millions of dollars prosecuting and imprisoning him,” Dawdy said. “President Obama should pardon Emery and get busy with reforming America’s outdated marijuana laws.

Marijuana Dispensaries Don’t Seem Like Big Threat: WA Paper

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 17, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: GrassCity.com

“It’s time to de-stupidify medical marijuana,” begins a Friday editorial by Shawn Vestal in The Spokane Spokesman-Review, which then proceeds to do exactly that.

Vestal’s excellent editorial pointed out the considerable time, effort and money spent on bringing down a local medical marijuana dispensary in Washington state.

“If someone breaks into your garage, don’t hold your breath waiting for an officer,” the paper editorialized. “But if you’re growing medical marijuana in that garage, they’ll find a way to send a car.”

“Simple folk might do something simple, like legalize it,” the editorial said. “Medical or not: Who cares?”

Drug Czar Blames Medical Marijuana For Increased Drug Abuse

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 17, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: The Fresh Scent

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske: “Calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people”

Advocates Say Federal Health Study Exaggerates Claims, Fails To Connect The Dots

The results of a national survey on drug use and health were issued Wednesday by the federal government, noting a surge in the use of marijuana and other drugs such as ecstasy and methamphetamine. Gil Kerlikowske, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), took the opportunity to rail against medical marijuana use.

Drug Czar Kerlikowske used the study to argue in mainstream media outlets that marijuana “is not medicine,” claiming that the issue of medical marijuana sends “mixed messages” to youth.

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