News

Man Chooses 30 Days In Jail Instead Of Quitting Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 4, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Charles Balzer: “It’s what the marijuana does for me”

Meet the latest marijuana martyr. A 30-year-old Nevada man on Wednesday chose a month in jail instead of probation which would have meant he couldn’t use medical marijuana for one year.

Charles Ray Balzer of Gardnerville, Nev., told East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl he was unwilling to give up pot for a year, and he would do 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment, reports The Record-Courier.

Balzer has a legal medical marijuana card from the Nevada State Health Division. He told EnEarl he smokes cannabis and takes a prescription painkiller for a back injury.

If Balzer had accepted probation, he could have avoided the jail term, but one condition would have been that he not use “drugs or alcohol” for one year.

In an unaccountable quirk of the law, use of doctor-recommended medical marijuana is considered violation of probation, despite the fact that it is legal in Nevada.

Marijuana Dispensary Joins Chamber Of Commerce

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 4, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: The Hemp Center

The Hemp Center: “We’re trying to represent a more upscale experience”

The Hemp Center in Littleton, Colorado, has become the first medical marijuana dispensary to join the local Chamber of Commerce, in what may be a sign of growing acceptance of the cannabis industry.

The family-owned shop on downtown’s Main Street was approved last month by the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, reports Peter Jones at The News Press.

It took the chamber’s governing board of business leaders less than five minutes to reach its unanimous decision to approve The Hemp Center’s application, according to chamber president John Brackney.

Pair Accused Of Buying Marijuana With Senator’s Credit Card

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2010 News

Photo: News 10

Bernell Bryan Washington (left) and Sky Manriquez are accused of going on a spending spree, including buying $225 worth of marijuana withwith the senator’s credit card

A couple who investigators claim used a Virginia state senator’s American Express card to buy marijuana at a Sacramento dispensary have surrendered to authorities.

Bernell Washington, 24, and Sky Manriquez, 21, turned themselves in because of the intense publicity surrounding the case, according to Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force commander Capt. Jim Cooper, reports George Warren at News 10.

The pair is accused of going on a spending spree with Sen. Richard Saslaw’s credit card. Saslaw is Democratic majority leader in the Virginia State Senate.

The couple’s purchases included expensive restaurant meals, smoking paraphernalia and $225 worth of medical marijuana from the Fruitridge Health and Wellness Collective.

Actress Kirsten Dunst: I Am Not A Pothead

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Socialite Life

Pothead-in-denial and Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst getting high in happier times

Hollywood hottie and party girl Kirsten Dunst, testifying in court in a purse snatching case, said that she doesn’t smoke marijuana. Asked if she used pot, the Spider-Man actress answered with a curt “No.”

“I don’t,” said Dunst, who was testifying at the retrial of a man accused of stealing her purse from a penthouse suite at the SoHo Grand Hotel, reports Laura Italiano at the New York Post.

Dunst was, however, quick to throw her personal assistant, Liat Baruch, under the bus, saying that Baruch did smoke pot.

Baruch remained loyal, testifying that her boss, Dunst, did not know about the pot, reports Melissa Grace at the New York Daily News.

California: Thousands Gather To Support Marijuana Lifestyle

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: Julie R. Johnson/Corning Observer

Ken and Kathy Prather, operators of Tehama Herbal Collective, in Corning, Calif., had a booth and were one of the main sponsors of the World Hemp Expo in Tehama County on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. From left, pictured with the Prathers are Brian Campbell and Ken West.

Thousands of people gathered in Tehama County, California last weekend to participate in a first-of-its-kind event in the area: The World Hemp Expo.

The Expo, held just south of Red Bluff, drew about 800 people on Friday, and 2,500 on Saturday. Because entrance was free on Sunday, event organizers aren’t certain about attendance figures that day.

Ken and Kathy Prather, operators of the Tehama Herbal Collective (THC) in Corning, were major sponsors of the Expo and had a booth set up, reports Julie R. Johnson of Tri-County Newspapers.

Not just anyone could walk into the Expo and start smoking marijuana, explained Ken Prather.

“People had to check in at a designated booth, show their medical marijuana recommendation and receive a blue wrist band,” Ken said. “Then, if they wanted to smoke, they could go to any of a number of patient sections.”

D.C. Could Collect $400K In Marijuana Taxes Over Next 5 Years

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: MaryjSpot.com

A medical marijuana tax could generate about $400,000 for Washington, D.C., over the next five years, according to an estimate from the city’s top financial officer released on Tuesday.

Washington’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer provided the estimate to the D.C. Council, which has proposed taxing marijuana as part of budget negotiations, reports Jessica Gresko at The Washington Examiner.

D.C. voters legalized medical marijuana in 1998, but Congress for more than a decade blocked implementation of the law, until last December.

Marijuana Legalization On November Ballot In Detroit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Shawn Wilson

The movement to legalize marijuana in Detroit appears to be ready for a decision by voters in November after petitions were certified by the Detroit Elections Commission. The initiative would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use.

The petitions were filed by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit last month with City Clerk Janice Winfrey. Backers said petitions to put the initiative before voters were certified May 19, reports Darren A. Nichols of The Detroit News.

“They met the proper number (of signatures) and we met all the legal standards,” said Tim Beck, a registered medical marijuana patient who filed the petitions.

Indiana Police Waste Millions Trying To Eradicate Ditch Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 1, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: International Cannagraphic

Feral hemp grows on an Indiana roadside. The Indiana State Police spent untold millions of federal dollars, and thousands of man-hours, pulling up 20 million stalks of this ditch weed last year. Trouble is, feral hemp contains no THC.

Sgt. Lou Perras and a team of state troopers from the Indiana State Police launched a bizarre annual ritual in May: their patently impossible, insanely expensive, and laughably absurd effort to “eradicate marijuana” in the state.

Perras said part of the war on pot includes combating the public’s lighthearted attitude about the friendly weed.

“People have this attitude — ‘It’s just marijuana,'” Perras said. “That’s a sad misrepresentation of the drug,” the earnest lawman intoned soberly.

Perras seems to irrationally believe his team’s doomed efforts will somehow counteract the romanticism marijuana enjoys. The growing public acceptance of marijuana use — and its legality for medicinal usage in 14 states and counting — is making Perras’s job tougher this growing season, the drug warrior whined.

Minneapolis Mayor Blames Pot Smokers For Gang Violence

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 1, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: The Political Junkie

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has taken to Minnesota’s airwaves in a misguided attempt to blame violence at the hands of criminal gangs on marijuana consumers.

“When you pay for marijuana, you are paying for the bullet that goes into the head of someone on the streets,” he told the Star Tribune, in one instance of his absurdly inflated rhetoric.

But the mayor’s logic is tragically flawed. By trying to blame violence entirely on marijuana’s consumers, Mayor Rybak is conveniently ignoring the central role in gang violence played by marijuana prohibition and the politicians who support it, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

90-Year-Old Granny Arrested For Dealing Pot; Had 170 Pounds

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 29, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Motivated Photos (www.motivatedphotos.com/?id=59543)

A 90-year-old grandmother suspected of selling cannabis was arrested Friday after police raided her home and found more than 170 pounds of marijuana.

A squad of armed South African police officers with drug dogs stormed the elderly woman’s home and discovered the pot stashed in multiple bags, according to the Daily Mail.

“This lady was quiet, old and looked like an angel sent from God,” said the rather poetically inclined Police Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng.

“But we received a tip-off two weeks ago that a lot of people were going into her house and coming out looking happy,” Mokheseng said.

Wow, happy people? That will not do! Obviously, law enforcement was called for, don’t you think?

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