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Police Likely ‘More Vigilant’ On Stoned Drivers Under I-502: Stamper

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Legislation, News

Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper admitted in a new interview with the Seattle Weekly that law enforcement officers in Washington state will likely be more vigilant in trying to apprehend and arrest drivers under the influence of marijuana if I-502, a limited legalization initiative, is approved by state voters in November.

But Stamper, who now heads up Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said he believes that a major breakthrough in the nationwide push for marijuana law reform like I-502 would be worth the trade-off, reports Keegan Hamilton at Seattle Weekly.

Nevada Court Strikes Down Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 26, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun

District Court Judge Donald Mosley ruled that Nevada’s medical marijuana distribution law is unconstitutional because it doesn’t provide a reasonable way for patients to lawfully get medicinal cannabis

In a case almost certainly headed to the Nevada Supreme Court, a district judge has ruled that the state’s medical marijuana distribution law is unconstitutional. According to Las Vegas District Court Judge Donald Mosley, the law does not provide a reasonable method for patients to get medical marijuana lawfully.

A review by the state supreme court could bring more clarification to the law after split opinions by lower courts, according to Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association (NSMA), reports Alicia Gallegos at American Medical News. The NSMA was not involved in the case, and has not taken a formal position on the distribution law.

Marijuana DUIs Went Up 76% In Nevada With Per Se Limit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2012 Legislation, News

Law Office of Joel M. Mann

Numbers Put The Lie To Claims Washington’s I-502 Won’t Harm Patients

Driving under the influence of marijuana. It’s the new scare tactic used by prohibitionists and drug warriors as an argument against the legalization of cannabis. Unfortunately, it’s also used by some people who are supposed to be on our side as a political wedge issue to gain support for Initiative 502, a Washington legalization measure that includes blood THC limits as per se proof that you’re guilty of DUI.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, despite its opposition as an organization to per se marijuana DUI testing, has endorsed I-502, warts and all. This seeming contradiction — wherein NORML supports per se testing in Washington, after having opposed it in medical marijuana states like Colorado and California — occurs because, NORML says, it’s important to pass an initiative, any initiative, to “send the Feds a message.”

Well, if the message you’re sending them is “open season on medical marijuana patients,” then congratulations; mission accomplished! Otherwise, not so much.

Man Accuses Cop Of Mistaking His Genitals For Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 10, 2012 News

Gwinnett County Jail

Bryan Brown is facing drug charges after a traffic stop on I-85 just north of Hamilton Mill Road. He says the officer who searched him “grabbed his dick.”

…Gets Busted Anyway

A Georgia man is facing marijuana charges after a traffic stop on Interstate 85 just north of Lawrenceville.

On the afternoon of February 3, Bryan Brown, 21, was stopped by a Gwinnett County Police officer for tailgating another vehicle, reports Kristi Reed at the Dacula Patch. The officer approached the passenger side window of Brown’s car and claimed he detected the strong odor of marijuana. According to the police report, Brown “showed signs of nervousness,” including shaky hands and an unsteady voice.

Study Suggests Low Hard Drug Prices Behind Crime Drop

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 20, 2011 News

Curt Merlo/The Village Voice

Violent crime has declined dramatically in New York City since 1990, the year when the Big Apple set a record for the most homicides in its history. A new study shows that the price of hard drugs has also plummeted in the past 20 years, and suggests the two phenomena may be linked.

The price of cocaine fell from $400-$460 per pure gram in the early 1980s to less then $200 by the early 2000s, reports Alexander Hotz at The New York World. Similarly, heroin prices dropped from $3,000 to $3,600 per pure gram in the 1980s to about $2,000 by the 2000s.

A team of anthropologists and economists at Manhattan’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York (CUNY) has suggested that the collapse of heroin and cocaine prices might be at least partially responsible for the reversal of crime rates.

DEA Agents Made Marijuana Patient Evaluations — From Across The Street

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 17, 2011 Dispensaries, News

West Seattle Blog

DEA agents swarm the G.A.M.E. Collective Lounge in White Center. Agents who performed surveillance felt that the patients didn’t “look sick enough.”

Need To Be Evaluated For Medical Marijuana? The DEA Can Tell If You ‘Deserve’ Medical Pot — From A Distance! With No Training!

The spectacle of federal and local law enforcement agents wasting large amounts of cash in Washington state while investigating medical marijuana dispensaries, of all things, just got several orders of magnitude more absurd and maddening.

The agents, who evidently have no serious crime to investigate, spent weeks staked out at various dispensaries across western Washington, watching from afar as patients came and went with medical marijuana. Not a big shocker. That’s what happens at dispensaries; patients get pot.

Why Does DEA Quote Toke Signals Marijuana Review In Warrant?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 16, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Seattle Weekly

Today’s weirdness comes courtesy of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which quoted one of my “Toke Signals” Seattle Weekly medical marijuana dispensary reviews in the search warrant affidavit for a Seattle collective which was raided on Tuesday.

The review, which was a positive one for Seattle Cannabis Co-Op, was printed in the Weekly back in March. It’s not apparent why the DEA would choose to quote the review in their search warrant affidavit, since none of the alleged improprieties mentioned elsewhere in the warrant were even hinted at in the review.

But there it was to greet me this morning, before I’d even had time to fortify myself with a cup of coffee: “DEA Medical-Marijuana Dispensary Search Warrant Quotes Seattle Weekly Toke Signals Column.”

Mich. Judge: Med Marijuana Law Does Not Protect Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 23, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: The Oakland Press

Judge Colleen O’Brien won’t even allow dispensary operator Alexander Vlasenko to mention medical marijuana during his trial.

A local judge has ruled that Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act does not protect dispensaries from prosecution.

In a written opinion issued last week, Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien granted a motion from the prosecutors to preclude defendant Alexander Vlasenko from asserting a defense under the state’s medical marijuana law, reports Ann Zaniewski at the Oakland County Daily Tribune.

Vlasenko, who is facing three counts of delivery and “manufacture” of marijuana, won’t be allowed to even mention medical marijuana during his trial.

The charges stem from an undercover investigation of a Waterford Township business called Modern Age. (Sad but true: apparently Oakland County law enforcement officials have nothing better to do than conduct “undercover investigations” of medical marijuana dispensaries.)

Mounties Let ‘Honest’ Pot-Smoking Driver Through Checkpoint

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 12, 2011 Global, News

Photo: The Wyckoff Journal

A Canadian man who smoked a joint while an RCMP officer chatted with drivers a few cars ahead of him at a roadside checkpoint last week was allowed to continue on his way after he gave up his small stash of marijuana.

The man, from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, was upfront when asked if he had “smoked any dope recently,” reports Brian Medel at the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Yes, he said — about 30 seconds ago.

But at least his seat belt was fastened, and he was courteous and cooperative. Even though the aroma of freshly smoked cannabis wafted up through the air as the officers waved him up, “he seemed fine,” so after he put his small weed stash into the outstretched hand of a Mountie, he was on his way.

“It’s Really A Bummer”: Mayor Orders Pot Dispensaries To Close

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: BG Organics

The negative effects continue to mutiply after Washington Governor Christine Gregoire’s gutting of a bill that would have legalized dispensaries in the state.

Kent, Washington Mayor Suzette Cook said she is in favor of medical marijuana. In a statement issued on Tuesday, she said she supported the state’s medical marijuana law when it was approved by voters in 1998, and that she “sympathizes” with cancer patients and others who rely on cannabis for medicinal purposes. But following Gov. Gregoire’s gutting of SB 5073, which would have allowed dispensaries, Cooke and her administration felt they had no choice but to tell the four dispensaries in town to close their doors.

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