News

WalMart Fires Associate Of Year, Cancer Patient For Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 12, 2010 Medical, News

Despite medical marijuana being legal in Michigan, WalMart has fired a cancer patient and former employee of the year who tested positive for the drug, which was recommended by his doctor.

“I was terminated because I failed a drug screening,” ex-WalMart employee Joseph Casias told WZZM-13.

In 2008, Casias was Associate of the Year at the WalMart store in Battle Creek, Mich., despite suffering from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.

Colorado: Medical Pot Records Seized In Grow Op Search

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 11, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: Bayou Perspective

A Colorado search warrant executed Tuesday authorized the seizure of records for more than 300 medical marijuana card holders, including doctors’ recommendations and personal contact information.

The warrant was issued after officers from the Grand Junction Police Department were called out Tuesday to investigate a suspicious odor emanating from a building near the offices of the U.S. Census Bureau, reports Paul Shockley at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

The warrant, signed by District Judge Thomas Deister, allowed for Western Colorado Drug Task Force officers to confiscate records “in order to verify who the current primary caregiver is” for the approximately 308 patient files found inside a large marijuana grow.

Feds Raid The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 11, 2010 News

Photo: mixed meters

The door to the THC Ministry’s upstairs space at 94 Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo was locked.

Federal drug agents raided the downtown Hilo sanctuary of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry Wednesday morning, assisted by local police.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck said that no one had yet been arrested or charged in connection with the raid, reports John Burnett at Stephens Media.

Shortly before 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Muehleck declined to provide other details and would not say whether THC Ministry director and founder Roger Christie had been detained.

“There’s gonna be no comment from our office talking about anything that’s occurred in Hilo or on the Island of Hawaii at this point,” Muehleck said.

More States Embrace Marijuana Decriminalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 11, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

With numerous states facing significant budget cuts, legislators and voters across the United States this month have been giving overwhelming support to measures that would reduce the penalty to a civil fine for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

On Wednesday in New Hampshire, the state House voted 214-137 to pass HB 1653, a bill the would reduce the penalty for possession of up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $200.

In Hawaii, the state Senate voted 22-3 to March 2 to pass SB 2450, a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses.

N.H. House Overwhelmingly Passes Marijuana Decriminalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 10, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Mother Jones

The New Hampshire House of Representatives Wednesday voted, as it did in 2008, to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

House Bill 1653, which would reduce the penalty for possessing one-quarter ounce or less of cannabis, passed by an overwhelming 214-137 vote. That’s almost 61 percent of the House voting in favor of decrim.

Previously, the bill had been recommended “out to pass” in a 16-2 vote by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on February 11.

“This makes three years in a row that the House has passed a bill attempting to reform New Hampshire’s archaic marijuana policies,” said Matt Simon, executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy.

Californians Smoke 16 Million Ounces Of Weed A Year: Report

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: misshightimes.com

Miss High Times 2010 contestant Caitlin, of Santa Cruz, California, with part of this year’s 16 million ounces

Whoa, dude. Californians smoke 16 million ounces of marijuana a year (yeah, genius, that’s a million pounds), according to a recent report prepared for the Legislature. That’s almost half an ounce for every man, woman and child in the state.

The numbers, from a recent state Board of Equalization report, were prepared for legislation introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) which would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for Californians 21 and older, reports Peter Hecht at The Sacramento Bee.

Ammiano’s legislation, AB 2254, would create a regulatory structure for marijuana similar to that used for alcohol. The bill would allow taxed sales to adults, while banning sales to or possession by those under 21.

Other interesting findings included in the report:

• California is America’s top marijuana growing state, with 8.6 million pounds of cannabis produced annually, at an estimated value of $13.8 billion. If those numbers are accurate, that represents more than a third of the entire pot crop of the United States. “The fact that California’s largest cash crop continues to go untaxed and unregulated is astounding, especially in such tough economic times,” said Aaron Smith, California policy director of the Marijuana Policy Project.

City Councilman Says Informant Wanted Weed For ‘Sexual Needs’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2010 News

Photo: The Olympian

Olympia City Councilman Joe Hyer pleads not guilty to three marijuana felonies, Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Olympia, Washington City Councilman Joe Hyer pleaded not guilty to three marijuana felonies Tuesday, with his attorney suggesting that “a trusted political mentor” entrapped and cajoled Hyer into selling him marijuana twice due to “depression” and “sexual needs.”

“Judge Pomeroy, I plead not guilty to all charges,” Hyer said during his arraignment.

Hyer is charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, each a Class C felony, reports Jeremy Pawloski at The Olympian.

Hyer, 37, was arrested at his home last month by members of the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force after a “confidential informant” wearing a wire bought pot from the councilman twice during “controlled buys” in February, according to court papers.

Colorado Lawmakers Ask US Attorney General To Stop Pot Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: DEA

Colorado’s legislators, currently in the midst of trying to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, are asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raids of medicinal cannabis operations.

A group emailed the request to Holder on Monday, following up on a letter sent last week, according to the Associated Press.

According to the lawmakers, the raids are discouraging dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients and growers from working with the Colorado Legislature on proposed regulations.

The letter was sent by Sens. Chris Romer and Nancy Spence, and Reps. Tom Massey and Beth McCann.

A suburban Denver man has been charged with marijuana possession in federal court after DEA agents raided his home and found 224 pot plants.

The raid took place only hours after segments aired of a television interview with Chris Bartkowicz, in which he boasts of his $500,000 basement grow operation, his $637,000 home and his expected $400,000 profits this year.

Your Pockets Are ‘Pot Paraphernalia’ On Bainbridge Island

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Tobias Elgen

The ferry Wenatchee enroute to Bainbridge Island, Washington (background), where your pockets are considered pot paraphernalia

Ever hear that if cops really want to bust you, they can find a way? Well, maybe it’s true.

Because there’s no local statute for misdemeanor level marijuana possession — under 40 grams — if you get arrested on Bainbridge Island, in Washington’s Puget Sound, you aren’t prosecuted under any law dealing with pot, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

But that won’t keep you from being busted.

“We can arrest someone for having drug paraphernalia,” said Scott Weiss, an island officer. “But not for marijuana.”

Turns out “paraphernalia” can be defined pretty loosely, to say the least.

“Even if they have marijuana in their pocket, then the pocket becomes the paraphernalia,” Kitsap County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Claire Bradley said.

This Just In: Reefer Madness Is Still B.S.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 5, 2010 News

Photo: 4&20 blackbirds

“Just get me some more reefers… NOW!”

Every few months, you can count on it: Another “scientific” study that attempts to draw some connection, however tenuous, between getting high and going crazy. But those outlandish claims amount to just putting a white lab coat on the “Reefer Madness” warnings of the 1930s, and it’s easy to see why.

I mean, get real: Considering modern rates of usage, if cannabis really produced psychosis, the streets would be choked with a gibbering throng of burned-out potheads. It doesn’t. They aren’t.

“I’ve said it for years now,” film director John Holowach, responsible for the documentary High: The True Tale of American Marijuana, told Toke of the Town. “If pot and mental illness were linked, the two should rise and fall with one another, but they don’t.”

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