News

Hawaii Legislature Considering Decriminalizing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 26, 2010 Legislation, News

Possession of small amounts of marijuana would be decriminalized under legislation advancing through the Hawaii State Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday passed a measure setting the fine for possession of less than an ounce of the herb at $100, reports the Honolulu Advertiser.

In separate legislation, a bill which would permit “compassion centers” to operate as medical marijuana dispensaries cleared its final Senate committee Monday.

Cannabis Group Seeks ID Of Informant Who Ratted Out Councilman

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

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

Activists in the Olympia, WA area are encouraged to print these posters and distribute them around town.

A Seattle-based marijuana advocacy group is trying to learn the identity of the “confidential informant” responsible for the recent arrest of Olympia City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Joe Hyer on pot charges.

Hyer was arrested February 18 by agents from the forfeiture-funded and citizen-feared Thurston County Narcotics Task Force for allegedly selling marijuana.

An acquaintance of Hyer had contacted the task force and reported that he was able to get cannabis from the councilman, and that he was ready and willing to wear a wire and go “undercover” in an expensive, month-long, taxpayer-funded marijuana investigation cum political vendetta.

Democrat Hyer’s high-profile arrest has already resulted in a chorus of calls for his resignation from ambitious local Republicans who see an opportunity to make political capital from the councilman’s misfortune.

U.S.-Mexico Drug Summit Ignores Obvious Solution: Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 25, 2010 Global, News

Photo: AP

Mexican Army soldiers stand at attention, desperately trying to keep a “military bearing” as the intoxicating smoke from a buttload of marijuana being burned billows over them in Ciudad Juarez

High-ranking officials from the United States and Mexico Thursday concluded a conference to reduce the illicit drug trade associated violence that plagues the border between the two nations.

Unfortunately, the talks concluded with no reference to the most sensible strategy for reducing that violence: removing marijuana from the criminal market, thus depriving drug cartels of their main source of income and strife.

“The only solution to the current crisis is to tax and regulate marijuana,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Once again, Mexican and U.S. officials are ignoring the fact that the cartels get 70 percent of their profits from marijuana.”

Mayor Pro Tem Charged For Selling Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2010 News

Photo: joehyer.com

Mayor pro tem Joe Hyer of Olympia, Washington: Did he try to live up to his last name?

Prosecutors have charged Olympia, Washington’s mayor pro tem, who was arrested last week under suspicion of selling marijuana, with three felonies.

Joe A. Hyer has been charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, reports Martha Kang at KOMOnews.com.

Hyer, 37, was arrested at his home on February 18 after a month-long investigation by the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force.

According to the police statement of probable cause, Hyer sold marijuana to two police informants on two separate occasions in February. In both instances, the buyer called ahead to arrange the purchase, and the mayor pro tem came out on his front porch to hand over a bag of pot for a preset price, investigators claimed.

After Six Years Out, Man Put Back In Prison To Finish 10-Year Pot Term

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2010 News

Photo: Noah Berger/AP

Ashley Epis’s dad is going back to federal prison — for growing medical marijuana, which has been legal in California since 1996. “I want everybody to know that my dad is not a criminal,” she said.

A California man has been taken back into custody after almost six years of freedom to finish the remainder of his 10-year prison sentence for growing medical marijuana.

Bryan James Epis, 42, of Chico, Calif., was remanded into custody based on a 2002 jury trial conviction for “conspiracy to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants within 1,000 feet of a school, and the manufacture of at least 100 marijuana plants within 1,000 feet of a school.”

Ohio Man Kills Himself After Son Rats Him Out For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Portage County Jail

Robert Batsch: Another victim of the war on pot

Police said a 55-year-old man killed himself Tuesday after he and his wife were charged with child endangering in connection with growing marijuana.

Robert Batsch and his wife Pamela, 54, of Rootstown, Ohio, were arrested Monday on warrants of allowing a juvenile to live in their home where marijuana was being grown. Their son told school officials about the marijuana, which led to a police investigation, reports Michael Sangiacomo of Cleveland.com.

Pamela found Robert’s body with a .22 rifle in the woods behind their home about noon on Tuesday, according to Portage County Sheriff David Doak.

A spokesman for the Portage County Coroner said Batsch’s death would be declared a suicide.

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes New York Senate Health Committee

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: The New York City Independent Media Center

Sick and dying New Yorkers who can benefit from using medical marijuana may soon be able to stop worrying about jail.

The New York State Senate Health Committee passed a medical marijuana bill Tuesday afternoon.

The passage of S. 4041-B marks the second consecutive year that the bill has gotten out of the Senate Health Committee. The Assembly’s medical marijuana bill, A. 9016, passed the Health Committee in January and is now sitting in the Assembly Codes Committee.

“We applaud the New York Senate Health Committee members for doing the right thing and taking this important step toward protecting sick and dying New Yorkers from arrest or jail,” said Noah Mamber, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

“Let’s hope New York legislators will follow the lead of New Jersey, the state next door, which is about to become the 14th state to implement an effective medical marijuana law,” Mamber said.

The New York State Assembly passed medical marijuana legislation in 2007 and 2008, but the issue has never gotten a Senate floor vote.

Medical Marijuana Likely On South Dakota Ballot This Year

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Oregon NORML

Medical marijuana has never lost the popular vote in a statewide election — except in South Dakota.

South Dakotans will probably get to vote (again) on legalizing medical marijuana this November.

Cannabis advocates on Monday filed petition signatures seeking a statewide vote on a proposal to legalize marijuana in South Dakota for medical use in treating pain, nausea and other health problems, reports KELO.

Nearly 32,000 signatures — almost double the 16,776 valid signatures needed to make the November ballot — were turned in to the secretary of state’s office in Pierre, according to one of the organizers, Emmett Reistroffer of Sioux Falls.

Man Calls Cops To Report Stolen Bag Of Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2010 News

Photo: The Fresh Scent

An Ohio man called police Monday afternoon to report that someone had robbed him at gunpoint — and stolen his bag of marijuana.

According to police, 35-year-old Jason Owens told them he’d been robbed by a gunman around 4 p.m. in Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati, reports Travis Gettys at WLWT.com.

When officers asked Owens what the gunman stole, he told them the robber took at $80 bag of pot.

V.A. Doctors Forbidden To Recommend Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2010 Medical, News

Graphic: salem-news.com

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients are the largest group enrolled in New Mexico’s medical marijuana program. But the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Albuquerque — the only source of health care for many veterans — doesn’t allow its physicians to recommend medical marijuana to patients, despite the fact that it’s legal in the state.

There are 1,249 patients enrolled in New Mexico’s medical marijuana program, reports Marjorie Childress of the New Mexico Independent. PTSD patients hold 291 of those spots. The next two largest groups are cancer patients, at 198, and HIV/AIDS patients, at 130.

The VA policy that forbids doctors to recommend medical marijuana is due to the influence of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), according to Sonja Brown, chief of Voluntary Service & Public Affairs Operations of the New Mexico VA Health Care System.

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