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San Diego Mayor Stonewalls Medical Marijuana Regulations

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 9, 2010 Uncategorized

It’s been almost 14 years since the votes of California approved the Compassionate Use Act, Proposition 215, legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana with the recommendation of a physician. The initiative also encouraged federal and state governments “to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.”

Yet local governments within the City and County of San Diego, despite having since 1996 to do so, have failed to implement a plan. Any progress made in providing for the safe distribution of marijuana to patients has been stonewalled by the County Board of Supervisors, anti-pot firebrand San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and now San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders himself according to San Diego Americans for Safe Access.

Tempest In A Teapot After UK Official Calls For Drug Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 21, 2010 Global, News

Photo: CanIdoit.org

Don’t ask me why they do it, but Brits traditionally mix their cannabis with tobacco. But they’re just like Americans in another way: Most of their politicians are reactionary cowards.

The chairman of the Bar Council for England and Wales, Nicholas Green QC, has said it is “rational” to consider “decriminalizing personal drug use.”

Other politicians, terrified at even the faint appearance of taking a stand or displaying any leadership qualities at all, quickly and predictably attacked Green’s remarks, claiming they “sent out the wrong message on drug use.”

Taking this step would save billions of pounds (drug-related crime costs the British economy £13 billion a year), free up police time, cut crime and improve public health, reports Christopher Hope at the Telegraph.

Presumably, actually being rational about drugs is considered quite a radical position.

Educational Site Worried Students Will Visit Like-Named Pot Site

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Newsbowl.com

Newsbowl.com gets you a grade-school education site. Newsbowl.org gets you a medical marijuana site.

The owner of a grade-school educational website says he’s worried he’ll be run out of business by a medical marijuana site with an almost identical name.

Peter Vavak, owner of Newsbowl.com, said he fears students will mistakenly log on to marijuana site Newsbowl.org and find information on how to buy medical marijuana instead of the school quizzes they were expecting, reports Ken Contrata at Fox News.

Even worse, Vavak fears, parents could see their children go to the marijuana “dot-org” site, call their teachers, and cancel their subscriptions to his educational “dot-com” site.

Canada: U.S. Agents Built Charges Against Prince Of Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Friends of Cannabis

Prince of Pot Marc Emery could be extradited to the United States at any time with four hours’ notice

A U.S. undercover agent posing as a marijuana seed buyer worked in Canada to get American criminal charges against Marc Emery, Vancouver’s self-anointed “Prince of Pot.”

The information was revealed Monday, the same day Emery’s bail expires, and when he is supposed to either turn himself in to authorities or face extradition to the United States — or to be released, if the justice minister refuses the extradition, reports The Canadian Press.

The undercover operation by U.S. agents is outlined in a briefing memo to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson dated February 10, 2010, and describes the case against Emery.

Numerous mail order purchases were made by U.S. undercover agents between March 2004 and March 2005, and then Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Tracy Mendez was sent to Vancouver, according to the memo.

L.A. Dispensaries Seek Help Fighting New Ordinance

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: LA Kush

Dozens of dispensary owners across Los Angeles are seeking legal help to keep their shops open despite being threatened with six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Collectives which stay open after June 7 could face a daily fine of $2,500.

Letters have already been sent to property owners and dispensaries as a result of the ordinance approved by the City Council earlier this year that sharply restricts the locations where the businesses are allowed to open, reports C.J. Lin at the L.A. Daily News.

Medical Marijuana Advocates Accuse L.A. City Attorney Of Entrapment

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

Photo: Shay Sowden/LAist

Medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) responded Tuesday to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s latest effort to shut down registered dispensaries by threatening to intervene in the lawsuits the city filed recently against raided collectives Organica and Holistic Caregivers.

According to ASA, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has taken preemptive enforcement action before dispensaries have a chance to comply with the recently adopted regulatory ordinance, which took more than two years to write and pass.

“It’s clear that the City Attorney is attempting to intimidate and close dispensaries before the Los Angeles ordinance even goes into effect,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford.

This Just In: Teens Who Listen To Pot Music Smoke Pot!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 22, 2009 Culture, News

Island Records [1973]

It’s the latest example of “They needed a scientific study to figure that out?” Displaying a keen grasp of the obvious, a scientific team has “discovered” that teens who listen to music containing references to marijuana are more likely to use the herb than their counterparts with less exposure to such lyrics.

The study, performed at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is online now in the journal Addiction.

“Based on an analysis of survey data from 959 ninth-graders, we found that students who listen to music with the most references to marijuana are almost twice as likely to have used the drug than their peers whose musical tastes favor songs less focused on substance use, even after controlling for confounding factors,” said Brian Primack, M.D., Ed.M., M.S. (Damn, with all those letters after his name, he must be right.)

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