Search Results: legalization (1475)

Reality Catcher
Once again, a jury has seen through the lies and distortions and found a medical marijuana patient not guilty

​Washington state jurors took less than two hours Thursday afternoon to find Cammie McKenzie, who grows marijuana to treat her chronic back pain, not guilty of all charges in a case where prosecutors tried to portray her as a drug dealer.

The prosecution’s unsuccessful case was notably nasty, even for a medical marijuana arrest in a state where some law enforcement officials have been slow to adjust to the legalization of medicinal cannabis passed by voters in 1998.

“This case is not about medicine. This case is about money,” Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Matthew Baldock said in his opening statements Tuesday. “The defendant was masquerading as a marijuana patient and was in reality a drug dealer, no question.”
One can only imagine the incensed reaction of Snohomish County’s good voters when they realize their scarce tax dollars are being wasted on foolishness like this.
Prosecutors and narcotics detectives claimed McKenzie, 24, was using her medical marijuana authorization as a front for an illegal pot farm at her home in Bothell, Washington, reports Diana Hefley of the Everett Herald Net.

Graphic: Cannabis Culture
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has reintroduced a bill to legalize marijuana in California

​A bill to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol was reintroduced today in the California Assembly.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) reintroduced the legislation, A.B. 2254, which would create a regulatory structure similar to that used for alcoholic beverages. The bill would permit taxed sales to adults, while prohibiting sales to or possession by those under 21.
Marijuana is California’s largest cash crop, with an estimated value of $14 billion in 2006, nearly twice the combined value of the state’s number two and three crops, vegetables and grapes.

Photo: Des Moines Register
Almost two-thirds of Iowans believe medical marijuana patients shouldn’t be arrested.

​A new Iowa poll shows that almost two-thirds of Iowans — 64 percent — think patients should be allowed to use marijuana as medicine if their doctors approve.

However, fewer than a third of Iowans want to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes, the same poll shows, reports the Des Moines Register.
Fourteen states in the U.S. have already legalized the medical use of marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy plans to decide Wednesday whether to recommend that the Iowa Legislature follow suit.
Medical marijuana supporters say that cannabis can relieve pain and nausea for many patients suffering from debilitating diseases, including cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

420girls.com
“What do you mean, what would I do for a lighter?”

​Marijuana activist/visionary Rob Griffin set the standard, simply because he was there before almost anyone else. When he launched 420 Girls in 1993, there weren’t any other sites centered around photos of naked women smoking weed.

The goal, Griffin says, was always to draw more people into the legalization movement through the beauty, glamor and sex appeal of the nude female figure.
The site features nude women smoking pot, posing with cannabis paraphernalia, marijuana plants and buds, posing in dispensaries, fields and grow rooms.
While the formula has certainly caught on — there are many others like it today — 420girls.com was the original.
Griffin’s mission came into being as a result of a marijuana possession conviction from 1992, while Rob was living in Maryland. Because he was then considered, by law, to be a felon due to drug-related charges, his right to vote was permanently suspended.
(NSFW after the fold)

Photo: Penny Ingram Vaughan
Members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care rally for medical marijuana in Birmingham, Saturday, February 13

​About two dozen members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care, a medical marijuana advocacy group, staged a march and rally in Birmingham Saturday afternoon.

The group is urging people to support a bill before the Alabama Legislature which would legalize the medical use of cannabis by seriously ill patients with the recommendation of their doctor, reports Roy L. Williams of The Birmingham News.
“Patients in Alabama should not be locked in prison for trying to ease their pain and suffering,” said Loretta Nall, executive director of Alabamians for Compassionate Care.

Photo: Jenn Miller

​The City of Seal Beach, California has paid a medical marijuana patient $32,500 to settle a lawsuit resulting from what he called the unlawful confiscation of 50 marijuana plants.

Bruce Benedict, 45, sued the Seal Beach Police Department for $1 million in August 2008, alleging violations of civil and safety codes, false imprisonment, battery and trespass, reports Jaimee Lynn Fletcher at The Orange County Register.
“I’m happy that I won,” Benedict said. “I’m happy that they got slapped in the face.”
“It’s not about the money,” he said. “These [cops]are bad for society.”

Photo: The Wow Report
Dennis Peron is co-author of Prop 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California.

​The man who opened the very first “pot club” in the United States for medical marijuana users is coming to Ashland, Oregon Tuesday night to speak in favor of legalizing cannabis.

Dennis Peron, known as the “father of medical marijuana,” is lending his support to full legalization in Oregon, reports John Darling of the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune.
Peron, 64, of San Francisco, was co-author and a major backer of California’s successful 1996 medical marijuana ballot measure, the first in the United States.
Peron is famed for his statement, “All use of marijuana is medical use.”
The passage of medical marijuana laws changed the image of cannabis from something used by “long-hair, hippie crazy” people to a drug of middle class people, Peron said.
“It helped make [marijuana use]more benevolent,” he said. “We turned the tide.”
Peron said the thrust of his work now is ballot measures to normalize marijuana distribution, so “you can get it at Walgreen’s” at affordable prices.

Photo: NORML
Seattle Hempfest crowd at 2009’s event enjoys the beautiful setting and good vibes at Myrtle Edwards Park

​With unprecedented Pacific Northwest activity on the cannabis law reform front, and at the request of Hempfest supporters, the world’s largest marijuana event, Seattle Hempfest, is launching a new membership campaign to promote cannabis education and social networking throughout the year.

Prospective members are invited to the February 20 kickoff at Columbia City Theater in Seattle, the first of many events to socialize and discuss the latest in pot reform with local activists, attorneys and cannabusiness entrepreneurs.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
7:30 pm – 11 pm
4916 Rainier Avenue, South
Seattle, WA 98118
$25 and up membership purchase gains entry to this and all year-round Hempfest events
(21 and over)


Graphic: ABC News
If you voted for marijuana as a CitizenTube question, then your vote didn’t count.

Yes, questions about marijuana were the most popular in the CitizenTube voting Monday afternoon.
But YouTube, in a gutless move, decided at the last minute not to present the highest ranked questions to the President.
Initial reports that the President had ignored the marijuana questions were inaccurate; YouTube took pot, the top vote getter, out of the running.
President Obama never even got an opportunity to answer the most popular question of all.
Wait, what?

Photo: Lori Horwedel/AnnArbor.com
A plethora of pot pipes: potential profits for an exhibitor at the Michigan Caregivers Cup

​Despite the forced cancellation of their medical marijuana competition and a brief mix-up over lecture admission prices, the Michigan Caregivers Cup is drawing plenty of visitors and continuing through the weekend, according to event organizers.

The contest, which would have been held Saturday, was canceled after law enforcement threatened that participants could be criminally prosecuted, reports Lee Higgins at AnnArbor.com.