News

San Diego Patient Gets Her Bongs Back From The Cops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 20, 2010 Medical, News

Tiffani Kjeldergaard got her bongs and pipes back from the cops. Now her lawyer is filing a motion to get the pot back, too.

On January 19, a San Diego medical marijuana patient got her bongs back from the police, winning a seven-month battle after the bongs were seized in June 2009.

Tiffani Kjeldergaard was sentenced in January of 2009 to probation on a non-drug related offense. She continued to use her legal medication and tested positive for THC on drug tests conducted by the probation department until June, when her probation officer decided to stop by her house for a “safety check,” reports Safe Access San Diego.

Guy Gets Pulled Over, Tries To Eat Pot, Goes To Jail

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

Photo: Alachua County Jail

Robert Michael Grady, Jr. tried to eat his marijuana; now he’s charged with felony tampering instead of misdemeanor possession

A Florida man who was pulled over for not using his turn signal ended up in jail for allegedly trying to eat a handful of marijuana.

Gainesville Police said the man would only have been charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, but is now charged with a felony for tampering with evidence, reports Karen Voyles of The Gainesville Sun.

An officer said he saw Robert Michael Grady, 27, put the marijuana in his mouth and start chewing.

Grady was arrested at 2:36 a.m. Monday and was also charged with habitually driving with a suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officer Byron Carroll said when he pulled Grady over, he saw him in the driver’s seat holding “a large handful” of a green, leafy substance that was later identified as marijuana. Grady then put the substance in his mouth, the officer said.

‘Live Like It’s Legal’: Landmark Cannabis Hearing In New Zealand

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Global, Legislation, News

Photo: gonzofreakpower.blogspot.com

Dakta Green: “Live like it’s legal”

Dakta Green, founder of New Zealand’s most visible cannabis club, will argue in court Wednesday that marijuana laws are a fundamental breach of his rights, in what is being called a “landmark” hearing.

Green will argue before Judge Ann Kiernan in Auckland District Court that cannabis laws discriminate against users of the herb, and that the severity of marijuana penalties under the Misuse of Drugs Act violates New Zealand’s Bill of Rights Act.

“Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous drugs but are legally available,” Green said. “Cannabis causes less harm to our community.”

Green, whose motto is “live like it’s legal,” will call two witnesses to bolster his claims of persecution and discrimination.

Attorney To Health Dept.: Where Has All The Medical Marijuana Registration Money Gone?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: westword

Activist/attorney Rob Corry: “Serious questions are raised as to the allocation of the patients’ funds”

Activist/attorney Rob Corry, one of the most visible marijuana advocates on the Colorado scene, has sent an open records request to the Colorado Department of Health. Corry wants to know where the money has gone.

Via email, Corry writes that Colorado has received “conservatively $1.7 million… from suffering patients paying for the privilege of waiting four months for a paper card that doesn’t fit in normal wallets and falls apart in one wash,” reports Michael Roberts at Westword.

In the letter, Corry documents 19,691 patients who received marijuana registry cards between June 2001 and September 2009. With the health department recently receiving a record 1,650 applications in a single day, that number is clearly out of date.

Washington Lawmakers Snuff Out Marijuana Legalization Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 19, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: seattlest.com

A Washington grow room. A bill which would legalize marijuana in Washington is dying through lack of leadership in the Legislature.

If marijuana is going to be legalized in Washington this year, it will have to be the voters who do it — because the Legislature won’t.

The House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee is expected to vote down bills dealing with legalization and decriminalization of marijuana, reports Jerry Cornfield at the Everett Herald Net.

Rep. Chris Hurst, chairman of the public safety panel, told Cornfield there aren’t enough votes to move either bill out of committee.

Court: Tracking Devices OK On Marijuana Suspects’ Vehicles

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

Graphic: www.technologygear.net

A federal appeals court in Oregon has ruled that mobile tracking devices can be attached to the vehicles of suspects as part of a marijuana investigation, The Associated Press reports.

Juan Pineda-Moreno argued his constitutional rights were violated when U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents attached the tracking devices to his sport utility vehicle.

DEA agents attached several of the spy gadgets to Pineda-Moreno’s SUV, tracking his movements after they learned the suspect and his associates bought large amounts of fertilizer, groceries, irrigation equipment and deer repellent in the Medford, Oregon area in 2007.

Initiative Tells College Students Marijuana Is SAFER Than Alcohol

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

SAFER Campuses Initiative

With the spring semester beginning at colleges around the nation, the SAFER Campuses Initiative, letting students know marijuana is safer than alcohol, is off to an early start, according to Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER).

Every objective study on marijuana, according to SAFER, has concluded that marijuana is far safer than alcohol. Yet most of the nation’s universities punish students far more harshly for pot than for booze.

“In doing so, they are sending a dangerous message that fosters and perpetuates a ‘culture of alcohol’ on campuses nationwide, and drives students to drink rather than make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead,” SAFER says in a press release.

New Poll: 81 Percent Of Americans Support Legalizing Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2010 Culture, Medical, News

Graphic: ABC News/Washington Post

Support for medical marijuana, already high in 1997, his risen to even greater levels in the past dozen years.

More than eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a new poll. Almost half favor decriminalizing the herb completely.

According to the new ABC News/Washington Post national poll, 81 percent support legalizing cannabis for medicinal use, up from already sizable 69 percent support in 1997.

Support for both medical marijuana and decriminalizing for all adults is far higher than it was a decade ago, reports poll analyst Gary Langer at ABC News.

Seattle’s New City Attorney: ‘Not Going To Prosecute Marijuana Possession Cases’

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

Pete Holmes

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes: “We’re not going to prosecute marijuana cases anymore”

Seattle’s new city attorney, keeping a campaign promise, is dismissing all marijuana possession cases, starting with those that were begun under the previous city attorney.

“We’re not going to prosecute marijuana possession cases anymore,” City Attorney Pete Holmes said Thursday. “I meant it when I said it” during the campaign.

Holmes, who defeated incumbent Tom Carr in November, said he dismissed two marijuana cases in his first day on the job, and several others are about to be dismissed, reports Emily Heffter at The Seattle Times.

Unless there are “out of the ordinary circumstances,” Holmes’s office doesn’t intend to file charges for marijuana possession, according to Craig Sims, criminal division chief.

New Poll: 56 Percent Favor Marijuana Legalization In Washington

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

Photo: alapoet

Signage at the Seattle Marijuana March, Washington. A solid majority of Washingtonians support legalization, according to a new poll.

A solid majority, 56 percent, of Washingtonians believe legalizing marijuana is a “good idea,” according to a new poll.

The poll of 500 adults in the state, conducted for Seattle TV station KING 5 by SurveyUSA, asked respondents: “State lawmakers are considering making marijuana possession legal. Do you think legalizing marijuana is a good idea? Or a bad idea?”

Thirty-six percent of respondents described legalizing pot as a “bad idea,” while eight percent weren’t sure. The poll had a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

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