| FlickrCommons |
| Is 10% of America’s workforce really toking up before clocking in? |
There is a headline making the rounds from Mashable.com right now whose headline bluntly states, “Nearly 10% of Americans Go to Work High on Weed“.
Now, if you visit Mashable.com for news about anything other than maybe potato recipes, you were likely too blinded by the cutesy illustrated infographic attached to the article to have noticed how shoddy the actual attempt at journalism was.
Proponents of a 2016 citizens’ initiative in Arizona that aims to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older filed paperwork with the state on Thursday, the first step in their campaign.
The Marijuana Policy Project of Arizona initiative still has a long way to go before becoming a law. But if it’s successful, it would reverse about 80 years of marijuana prohibition in Arizona, raise millions in tax revenue and potentially end black-market sales of the plant.
More at the Phoenix New Times.
| Voice Media, 2014. |
Operation Grow4Vets, a group we’ve reported on in the past, gave out marijuana and marijuana edibles to hundreds of veterans in Colorado over the weekend dubbed the Denver Cannabis Givewaway Event.
The giveaway, at a Quality Inn in Denver on Saturday, was open to everyone 21 and up. Under Colorado law, adults can give away up to an ounce of herb at a time to other consenting adults over 21.
| Charlo Greene. |
Charlo Greene, a TV reporter in Anchorage, Alaska, knows how to make an exit. During a report last night on the 10 o’clock news in Anchorage, Greene did a report on the Alaska Cannabis Club – a local group pushing for the legalization of limited amounts of cannabis this fall. When the station panned back to Greene for the live shot, she dropped a bomb on everyone: she’s the owner of the club.
As for her reporter job? Greene puts it bluntly: “Fuck it.”
| Citizen Dave |
| Madison Wisconsin Police Chief Mike Kovak wants to legalize weed |
The war on drugs, specifically the battle against marijuana, has been an “abject failure”. So says the Police Chief of Madison, Wisconsin, Mike Koval.
Koval is an officer of the streets, having shot up from the rank of Sergeant all the way to Police Chief with no stops in between. During his three decades in uniform, Koval has become convinced that the fight against cannabis is a massive drain on resources, and only serves as a distraction from the truly harmful drugs, like heroin.
| Antonio Litterio/Commons. |
A Missouri school district is now up against an angry dad after suspending his daughter for the majority of the 2014 school year because they found references to marijuana written in her personal journal. What is even more disgusting is that her disciplinary papers indicated that she had been suspended for “possession of a controlled substance,” even though she is not guilty of anything other than penning her thoughts.
Yesterday, the Vikings released wide receiver Jerome Simpson with little fanfare. The reason? A traffic citation that occurred… over two months ago. Keep in mind Simpson, no stranger to booze- and drug-related controversy, was pulled over with an open bottle and marijuana in his vehicle. That being the case, we asked Bloomington Deputy Chief Rick Hart why he wasn’t arrested. Hart says not arresting somebody in that situation is “very typical.”
“Unless there’s ongoing criminal conduct, or a history of not responding to a citation, it’s very appropriate to issue a citation,” Hart says. “The primary reason to arrest [someone]is to stop criminal behavior… the officers made a determination that he was not intoxicated.”
Never mind that the NFL has updated their marijuana policy within the last week to allow for more leniency in pot testing punishments, Simpson won’t be playing in Minnesota this year. More at the Minneapolis City Pages.
| Klaus With a K. |
The story of actress Daniele Watts’ confrontation with police last week has sparked a raging debate in Los Angeles. Do you have the right, as Watts insisted, to refuse to identify yourself to cops? In situations like the one Watts found herself in last Thursday, in which a caller alleged to the police that she was having sex in a car in the middle of the day, the practical answer is … probably not.
Now, it’s a little complicated: The ACLU of Southern California is in Watts’ corner, saying you do have the right to refuse, while the union representing rank-and-file Los Angeles Police Department officers says you don’t have that right, not if you’re being detained for questioning.
Cops, backed by federal law, have been taking stuff from innocent people, and some not-so-innocent people, at alarming rates for more than a decade. The government’s “equitable sharing” civil forfeiture rules encourage federal agents and some local cops to seize goods from folks they believe are criminals. Encouragement comes in the form of language that lets agencies keep what they take. Some departments have been known to proudly advertise that their fancy new vehicles were taken from alleged bad guys.
And unlike the rest of our criminal justice system, these federal rules don’t require due process. In fact, the law says if you want your stuff back, you must sue the government to prove it wasn’t used in the commission of a crime. The burden of proof is on you.
California U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas, along with New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett, this week proposed new legislation that would change that. LA Weekly has more.
Once more, Santa Ana’s City Council brought up the recent whirlwind of medical marijuana clinics at the September 16th city council meeting. For the first time since the July 15th meeting, they even decided to have a discussion about it. Prior attempts to do so have been delayed due to absent council members. At the July 15th city council meeting, the council voted in favor of allocating $500,000 toward marijuana enforcement, a move initiated by Councilwoman Michelle Martinez. However, they didn’t inform the general public at that meeting (or any subsequent meetings) that pulling money from the city’s reserve funds requires a “supermajority,” in this case, a minimum of 5 “yes” votes. As the July 15th vote didn’t actually have a supermajority, they had to vote on it again at the September 16th meeting.
All this after several high profile dispensary raids this summer.