Live in Santa Fe, New Mexico? Use cannabis? Well, this November you should vote to make your life just a little easier and stress-free by voting to abolish laws making the possession of up to 28 grams a misdemeanor charge worth up to 15 days of your life in jail and $100 in fines.
Under the proposed changes, marijuana possession of up to 28 grams would be a civil infraction punishable by a $25 fine. Read it below.
| Flickr user 0_hai/Modified under Creative Commons license |
| Hit bongs, not spouses |
In the business of analyzing the domestic abuse statistics and trends in our country, there is a term used called “Alcohol or Other Drug” involvement, or AOD. The data seems to show that the impairment, poor decision making and amped up aggression that is generally associated with abusing alcohol, or “Other Drugs”, commonly leads to physical violence in a marriage.
Studies over the decades have varied, but they typically show that 48% to 87% of the time that a person is physically assaulted by their spouse, the aggressor is juiced up on some booze.
So, what do the statistics say about weed?
| William Breathes. |
On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, our colleagues at the Riverfront Times Richard Stulz, Lac Qui Parle county attorney, in hopes of speaking with him about why he decided to press charges against Angela Brown, the Madison, Minnesota woman who gave her ailing teenage son medical marijuana oil to (effectively) treat symptoms stemming from a traumatic brain injury.
But Stulz, unfortunately, isn’t in the mood to talk about it. Their calls weren’t returned, and that appears to be the case for other reporters who have reached out to him as well.
Colorado attorney Rob Corry recently asked for a temporary restraining order to halt tax collection while the matter is considered, but Denver District Court Judge John Madden rejected that request at Friday’s session. The ruling disappoints Corry, but he’s optimistic about the case’s future and feels plenty of interesting information came out — including, he says, the admission by city and state reps that anyone buying marijuana in Colorado is incriminating themselves in the eyes of the federal government.
As Corry said in June, when the suit (on view below) was originally filed, “The primary cause of action is based on the Timothy Leary case before the U.S. Supreme Court:” — a reference to 1969’s Leary v. U.S. “That case struck down the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 after Leary successfully argued to the court that payment of a marijuana tax was a violation of the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.”
| Timophey Tkachik/Flickr. |
When smuggling a stash of marijuana through the foothills of West Virginia, it is highly advisable to eliminate any and all bizarre variables from the equation that could possibly contribute to an accident or an unsavory run in with the law… or both. Just ask 20-year-old Seth Grim, who was arrested last Friday for possession of marijuana after his dog caused him to lose control of his Ford Explorer and wipe out along a stretch of highway — exposing the unusual contents of his SUV.
It’s that time of year again. No, not harvest time. That’s in a few more weeks. We’re referring to the time of year when cops and farmers across the Midwest stumble upon clandestine marijuana fields set up by guerilla growers.
We’ve already seen it happening outside of Houston over the last few weeks, but a bust in Pennsylvania this weekend officially kicks off the start of this most depressing season.
Despite laws requiring the testing of all cannabis sold in Colorado for mold, contaminates and pesticides, the state says they won’t have any of that ready until the end of the year at the earliest.
According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, regulators are going to miss their self-imposed October 1 deadline to get the program up and running so that they can further tweak their system. Officials say they are going to begin beta testing soon.
| Angela Brown. |
The number of children registered as medical marijuana patients in Colorado continues to grow: The digits rose from 305 to 337 in a month, with reports suggesting that many of the additions are moving here from other states.
The story of Minnesota’s Angela Brown could well inspire even more people with sick kids to relocate. She’s now been charged with a crime and could face jail time for providing her head-injured son with medical marijuana legally purchased during a visit to Boulder.
| BPBNT courtesy of Cheryl Shuman. |
| Cheryl Shuman posing for photos in a garden she likely doesn’t actually tend. |
Cheryl Shuman runs the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club out of L.A., which she says sells one of the first designer brands of pot (never mind that there apparently isn’t an actual dispensary). Her product runs $750 an ounce and comes wrapped in 14-carat gold (no word on if anyone is naive enough to actually pay that). New dupes customers often get star treatment: Chefs will come to their mansions to prepare cannabis-infused meals.
In fact, Shuman claims her entire clientele is star-studded. She says she’s sold to celebrities like Justin Timberlake, who told Playboy in 2011 that he “absolutely” smokes. Other clients have to be kept on the down-low, and the business lacks a brick-and-mortar location in the Hollywood Hills. (She claims a lot, actually, and some say she’s full of it). Now the self-professed “Martha Stewart of marijuana” wants to start a political Super PAC of pot-smoking mommies in Florida to help get medical marijuana passed this November. Read more at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.
As summer break winds to an end, and another school year begins, many unsuspecting 5th graders and junior high students across the country will get their first introduction to drugs. No, it won’t be on the playground or the back of the bus, but as a part of their classroom curriculum, as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE) kicks off its 31st year in existence.
Over three decades of War on Drugs propaganda comes at a cost, however. “Just Say No” coloring books and foil badge stickers ain’t free you know! With schools in disrepair, teachers being laid off, and art, music, and extra-curricular activities being defunded, many schools are deciding that their books may be more easily balanced without DARE in the budget.