News

Denver Public Radio Commentator: The War On Drugs Has Failed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 7, 2009 Culture, News

KUNC

A commentator on Denver public radio has called the War on Drugs a failure, and has endorsed the legalization of marijuana.

“As a nation we have been waging a war of attrition against ourselves in which the winner is none other than narco-traffickers south of the border,” said KUNC commentator Dr. Pius Kamau. “We have fought a valiant but losing war on drugs.”

“We must be cognizant of the fact that the cost of incarcerating 2 million Americans for drug offenses is bankrupting this nation,” Dr. Kamau said. “And experience has shown that the best way to deal with those addicted to drugs is not prison. It is therapy.”

San Diego Dispensary Manager Faces Sentencing Today

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 7, 2009 Dispensaries, Medical, News

10News.com

Dispensary manager Jovan Jackson faces sentencing today for ecstasy and Xanax.

The manager of a San Diego medical marijuana dispensary will be sentenced today for illegal possession of prescription drug Xanax and the street drug Ecstasy.

Although 31-year-old Jovan Jackson was acquitted of marijuana possession and sale, he still possibly faces more than three years in prison because of the Xanax and ecstasy. However, he’ll probably only get probation, said Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg, according to San Diego’s 10News.com.

Jackson’s case was the first to go to trial after law enforcement raids in September resulted in 31 arrests and 14 medical marijuana collectives being shut down in San Diego. His arrest had an earlier genesis, though, resulting from raids last year at Answerdam Alternative Care Collective in Kearny Mesa.

Washington State Bar Association Board Solidly Backs Marijuana Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 5, 2009 Legislation, News

Photo: Joe Mabel

A massive representation of a joint in a “rolling paper” evoking the American flag, 2008 Summer Solstice Parade, Fremont Fair, Seattle, WA.

Marijuana decriminalization in Washington state just won some important allies.

This morning, the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors (BOG) voted to support the decrim bill, SB 5615, in the upcoming session of the Legislature.

The BOG voted 9 in favor, 0 opposed, and 2 abstaining to support the bill, Alison Holcomb, drug policy director at the ACLU of Washington, has told Toke of the Town.

It’s Not Nice To Pinch Spice: Tennessee Men Stole Oregano Thinking It Was Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 5, 2009 Culture, News

Photo: Henna

Careful flashing that oregano around just anywhere.

A Clarksville, Tenn., man faces charges after being indicted on allegations he robbed a girl at gunpoint for what turned out to be what must have been some very nice-looking oregano.

Victor L. Little was arrested Dec. 3 from circuit court on an aggravated assault charge. His bond was set at $15,000, reports Tavia D. Green of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle. (No, I’m not making that newspaper name up.)

According to the indictment, Little, 18, along with Keith A. Jackson, 18, and Timothy E. Ogburn, 19, are charged with aggravated robbery and assault.

On Sept. 10, the men and a juvenile allegedly robbed two females at gunpoint, thinking they had a bag of marijuana in their possession.

It turned out to be oregano used as a prop in a school project.

High Alpine: Colorado Ski Town Almost Ready For Legal Pot On January 1

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 4, 2009 Culture, Legislation, News

Photo: David Shankbone

With views like this AND legal pot, what’s not to like about Breckenridge?

The place looks like a storybook, and on January 1, the story’s getting a lot cooler. Plans for implementation of a voter-approved citywide legalization of marijuana in the Colorado ski resort town of Breckenridge are nearly complete.

In response to the voter initiative which passed Nov. 3, when an overwhelming 71 percent of Breckenridge voters approved removing all penalties for pot, the town council has prepared a draft ordinance making it legal for those 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of dank.

U.S. Anti-Drug Aid Slow To Arrive In Mexico

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 4, 2009 Global, Legislation, News

DEA

“Drug money” and cartel weapons seized by the Mexican Federales and the DEA

Promised security help from the United States for Mexico’s drug war, including helicopters and scanners for contraband detection, has been held up by bureaucratic red tape and is slow in arriving, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Ken Ellingwood reports in the Los Angeles Times.

The GAO examination said that just $26 million, or 2 percent of the nearly $1.3 billion appropriated for security aid, had been spent by the end of September.

The multi-year Merida Initiative is intended to help Mexican officials, who are locked in a bloody three-year offensive against illegal drug cartels. The Mexicans have complained that the promised American help has been too slow to reach them.

Michigan Medical Marijuana System Overwhelmed; State Asks Patients For Patience

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 4, 2009 Medical, News

Graphic: Reality Catcher

The Michigan Department of Community Health has been overwhelmed by the number of medical marijuana applications and calls.

A lack of resources has left the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) unable to process medical marijuana permit applications within the 15-day time frame specified under state law, the agency announced today on the state website.

With an average of 66 applications received every day, the agency has fallen behind and says it is just now processing applications from late September.

MDCH is asking users of the system for patience while they work out the kinks in the system, Eartha Jane Meltzer reports at The Michigan Messenger.

“The statute currently allows for a copy of the application submitted to serve as a valid registry if identification if the card is not issued within 20 days of its submission to the department,” the MDCH explains. “At this time, we are unable to process the valid cards within the statutory time frame with the resources available to us.”

DEA Arrests Dispensary Owner In L.A.; First Since Obama Ordered Feds To Back Off

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2009 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Cooljuno411

It’s an unhappy day in Southern California: The DEA has arrested a dispensary owner in L.A.

A Los Angeles marijuana dispensary owner was arrested by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) because they say he tried to open two pot shops while awaiting sentencing on a drug charge, which had been forbidden by a judge in the case.

Dennis Romero at L.A. Weekly reports that 42-year-old Virgil Grant III was arrested at an L.A. dispensary, as confirmed by DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen. According to terms set by the judge, Grant wasn’t supposed to be around dispensaries before his sentencing next month.

Pullen said Grant is scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon to explain why he was trying to open two dispensaries while on bond.

Oregon: Jack Herer Benefit Event Friday In Portland

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2009 Culture, News

Photo: Hemp News

Jack Herer has worked for decades for this community. Let’s show him what we can give back.

Everyone is invited to a benefit event Friday, Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. at the Village Ballroom in Portland for hemp legend and author, Jack Herer.

The Village Ballroom is at 700 N.E. Dekum Street. Not so coincidentally, that means it is directly above the Oregon Cannabis Cafe, Oregon NORML’s spiffy new medical marijuana patient resource center that has received an avalanche of publicity since opening last month.

The Herer benefit is organized by The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), and is co-sponsored by Oregon NORML and Texas-based Waco NORML.

“We are joining together to raise money for Jack Herer, who suffered a heart attack after delivering a passionate speech on stage at the Portland Hempstalk Festival this past September,” said THCF’s Paul Stanford.

Jack is recovering in Eugene, Ore., and making positive strides daily, according to Stanford. “He is a fighter and will surely overcome this obstacle to see the hemp plant restored to its rightful place in society,” Stanford told Toke of the Town.

Buy Booze For Marijuana In Seattle December 5

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 3, 2009 Culture, Medical, News

Cannabis Defense Coalition

It’s the place to be Saturday night in Seattle.

The Cannabis Defense Coalition (CDC), always a great group of folks with whom to hang out, is throwing a benefit party this Saturday night, Dec. 5, at the Cannabis Resource Center in Seattle’s beloved South Park neighborhood.

“We’ll be setting aside our ‘marijuana is safer than alcohol’ rhetoric for the night and serving up the hooch to fund pot activism,” said spokesman Ben Livingston of the CDC.

Musical entertainment will be provided by acoustic/bluegrass/Celtic group Boys of Greenwood Glen and blues/roots artists Sidestreet Reny.

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