Toke of the Town

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Who is Better for America? Donald Trump or Steve DeAngelo?

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By on Culture

Redheaded Blackbelt/Celebitchy
Steve DeAngelo, left, and Donald Trump

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
On Monday, July 9, this office filed civil forfeiture actions against 1840 Embarcadero, Oakland, California, and 2106 Ringwood Avenue, San Jose, where Harborside, a marijuana dispensary claiming over 108,000 customers, operates.

This office has used its limited resources to address those marijuana dispensaries that operate close to schools, parks and playgrounds. As I have said in the past, this is a non-exclusive list of factors relevant to whether we should commence civil forfeiture actions against marijuana properties, and circumstances may require us to address other situations.

I now find the need to consider actions regarding marijuana superstores such as Harborside. The larger the operation, the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state’s medical marijuana laws, and marijuana in the hands of individuals who do not have a demonstrated medical need. 

The filing of the civil forfeiture complaints against the two Harborside properties is part of our measured effort to address the proliferation of illegal marijuana businesses in the Northern District of California.

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag in San Francisco
America loves Donald Trump. He’s has a big show, property all around the world, and for some, they wished he’d be our next commander-in-combover. Does America listen to what The Donald has to say because he’s sexy, smart, and for the world of ideas he brings to better us all. No. We listen to The Donald because he’s rich.
America loves a winner. And they love losers too. 
In the middle of staggering unemployment, we loved to hear the phrase, “You’re fired!” To see someone leave the boardroom angry and utterly humiliated on national TV keeps the Atlantic City hotels full and the Trump good name fresh in the hearts of many Americans.
Steve DeAngelo is big too. He’s big in the cannabis world. How big? He’s the kind of big that lands you on the Feds’ radar for being too just too damn big.  
Steve Angelo, like Donald Trump, had his own reality show. Some would say that wasn’t the first instance of Steve DeAngelo reaching for fame. That he’s been catering to the limelight since the early 2000’s when he arrived on the California cannabis scene. Prior to that, as an activist and entrepreneur, his resume was pretty solid. 
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The War On Foie Gras, And The Gras Underground

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By on Culture

Charles Haynes/Wikipedia
Foie gras with mustard seeds and green onions in duck jus

The World According To Jack

I’m Tired of Having Shit Jammed Down My Throat

Commentary By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Gavage; (French orig., to gorge) 
1. Practice of feeding an animal against their will
 2. Supplying a nutritional substance by means of a plastic tube.
On July 1st of 2012, California banned Foie Gras from being sold in state’s restaurants or stores. Those epicureans among us know that Foie Gras is made from the liver of a goose or a duck that has been forcibly enlarged by being fed utilizing a long funnel that transfers corn or other grains directly into the bird’s stomach. The mash is forced down their throats many times a day fattening up the birds for slaughter while producing, some say an exquisite liver-like substance in the process. That’s basically Foie Gras, not counting thousands of years of French history.
This popular and well-known delicacy is like smashed giblets drenched with butter purée and pressed in a liver-casing that’s guarantees a creamy rich good time. Now it is prohibited to sell Foie Gras in California, just as it has been outlawed Illinois and in London for some time.
So your first thought is, when they outlaw Foie Gras, only outlaws will have Foie Gras.
Wrong, Ducky. When the ban came down prohibiting the fatty bloated liver spam, dedicated activists hardly wasted any time responding with the birth of the Foie Gras Black Market. The parallels to the prohibition on… alcohol are uncanny.
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Who’s To Blame For The California Marijuana Crackdown?

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By on Dispensaries, News

The Weed Blog

By Jack Rikess
Northern California Correspondent
To the readers of Toke of the Town:
I had my last article, ‘Disorganized Government Crime: AG Hits Bay Area MMJ Scene,’ removed from the Toke banner after a couple of comments were made disputing the facts of my report. 
As a writer, I’m always striving to be a better journalist. While I depend on the facts for a story, I do sometimes in the same motion; offer my opinions on the situations I see evolving surrounding cannabis issues in the Bay Area and beyond.
I’ve realized I need to learn to be clearer on my execution or delivery as to what the facts are and what isn’t fact but commentary. To remain objective and honest with the details and differentiate distinctly when I’m stating opinions or my “take” on how the shit is going down.  

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Exclusive: Assemblyman Ammiano Speaks On Medical Marijuana

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

SF Weekly
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano: “The voters spoke clearly in 1996”

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
When California Assembly Bill 2312 was pulled out of committee last week, local cannabis organizations and activists began a heated debate, theorizing why the bill was removed before having a chance to be voted on by the legislature. Toke of the Town was able to interview Assemblyman Tom Ammiano late Thursday afternoon.
We appreciate that Assemblyman Ammiano was able to talk to us during a very busy day. Some of the interview questions have been edited for clarity. All of Mr. Ammiano’s statements are verbatim. 
Toke: Is there any truth to the rumor that Americans for Safe Access and other groups were strongly opposed to the clause in AB 2312 allowing Board of Supervisors or town council members of any California town to ban dispensaries in their towns if they felt compelled to instead of allowing the voters to decide? Is there any truth to the rumor that ASA convinced you to remove the bill or was it the other way around? 
Ammiano: There has always been a clause in AB 2312 that permits local jurisdictions to opt-out of the state standard proposed in AB 2312, what changed coming out of the Assembly Appropriations committee is the threshold which was lowered from a vote of the people in that local jurisdiction, to an ordinance enacted by the local government. I understand that there are concerns regarding bans by local governments, and wish there would have been more opposition to AB 1300 which passed last year with me as the only “NO” vote on the floor. I support a vote threshold to enact bans, but AB 1300 allows local jurisdiction to enact ordinances without going to the voters, which is why I opposed it. 
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We Want The Weed And We Want It Now

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By on Culture

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
Here’s my little story. I’ve been smoking marijuana for more than 35 years, off and on. I started smoking relatively around the same time I started marching against the Vietnam War. Getting high made going to school easier and while my adolescent body was changing, grass mellowed some of the insecurities that came with a raging metabolic hailstorm that I call being a teenager.
I sometimes think, without pot, I might have been more of an uncontrollable angry young man than I was. Without the occasional ganja-time-outs, I might have been more destructive to myself and society, than I was. 
I’ve been jailed and made to feel like a criminal for the act of smoking weed. 
I’ve also partied my ass off with some very famous people who smoke pot and had exceptionally great times with good puffing buds at concerts, parties, and those special moments like a Hawaiian sunset that were enhanced by smoking the pakalolo.
Now in my mid-50s, I suffer from severe migraines and a bad back that was damaged while working in an elderly care unit. Those two conditions allow me to receive a California Medical Marijuana card. 
So who I am? A very deserving patient who gave of his body to help others or an old dope smoker who doesn’t want to stop banging the gong?
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Emerald Triangle: The Feds Are In Charge, People Are Hurting

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By on Culture, Growing

Jack’s Blog
The Feds came in heavy at the end of last year, flexing their muscles, showing who’s boss, and reminding the growers, that no matter what they think, the Feds are in charge.

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
When I was a kid, you could look in the back pages of High Times magazine to see how much a pound, ounce, eighth was going in your town. Most of us were still too scared to be seen with that evil weed magazine. The sight of a glossy mag proclaiming the virtues of marijuana might lead to more questions than 16-year-old wants to answer.
Quickly opening the last few pages at the newsstand I found my state, and could get a pretty accurate idea of what I should be paying for my weed. Plus, you could see how the rest of the country was faring when it came to the Tao Jones of pot. 
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Medicinal Milkshakes and the End of Marijuana Prohibition

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By on Culture, Legislation

SOAR Study Skills
In America, the fountain manager at one of the original Walgreen’s, Ivar “Pop” Coulson, took the traditional British milkshake (booze and all) and added ice cream. These babies took off like … ice cream mixed with booze

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent

I have a theory about beer: Consumption of it leads to pseudo-military behavior. Think about it – winos don’t march. Whiskey guys don’t march, either. Beer drinkers are into things that are sort of like marching – like football.
~ Frank Zappa
I drink your milkshake.
~ There Will Be Blood 
Beer goes where angels and politicians fear to tread.
~ Jack Rikess 
June 8, 2012
I love basketball and it is Finals time. It is down to few remaining games. The players are exhausted from a truncated season shortened because of contract negotiations that plagued the beginning of the season.  
(As a side note: Part of the arbitration dispute that almost sidelined the whole season, besides that the owners wanted the players to take a pay cut, was the issue of being drug tested for cannabis-during the off-season. The pro hoopsters won the right not to pee in a bottle for weed during their four months off.) 
For the past few months, Budweiser has been the major sponsor of the NBA Finals. That means I’ve been watching the same commercials over and over, sometimes the exact same message, 15 to 20 times a night. The repeated advertisement I hate the most is the stupid Budweiser commercial extolling the virtues of it being the end of Prohibition. An optimistic, bright-eyed kid beats the band running downs Main Street announcing Prohibition is over to a waiting, thirsty, hops-hoping nation of Americans! We’re back in business. Booze is King, again!
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Marijuana: How Does Change Look?

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By on Culture

flickrhivemind.net

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I wish Marijuana could still be honored and treated like it was when I was growing up. In those days, life was delineated by politics and cultures; it was easy to know who your friends were. If they smoked grass, were against the Vietnam War and liked the new long-grooved FM music that was floating off the radio, they were cool.
You were either cool or uncool. Hard to believe how binary we were in those days. 
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Hippie Hill, Golden Gate Park, 4/20: Toke Was There [Photos]

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By on Culture

All photos by Jack Rikess for Toke of the Town
The climactic moment: 4:20 p.m. on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, April 20, 2012

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Maybe there’s no greater metaphor for what’s going on with marijuana in 2012 than the proceedings that took place with Friday’s 4/20 celebration in Golden Gate Park. To recognize marijuana or not, that is my question.
Last Wednesday I called the director of Golden Gate Park, wishing to speak to him about the annual 4/20 festivities and if the Park plans to do anything different on that day, e.g. add more trashcans, porta-potties, security, etc… 
I wasn’t allowed to speak to the director because all media questions are to be routed through the Park’s media person. When I asked if they were prepared for this Friday’s yearly gathering she explained that because there weren’t any permits or paperwork submitted, she didn’t know anything about the event.
I was thinking, is this the new “don’t ask, don’t tell?”
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Oaksterdam: ‘They Didn’t Knock Us Out – Just Down’

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By on Culture, News

Narfolaxer
Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee is fully separating himself from the school and his other cannabis-affiliated businesses

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

Two weeks and a few days after the Federal Government raided Richard Lee’s world in Oakland, showing the Cannabis World who’s boss, Oaksterdam is back.
At a mid-morning press conference held in the last remaining quarters left to the University, Richard Lee officially stepped down as the school’s dean to pursue drug policy reform, on a national level, full-time. Dale Sky Jones, Oaksterdam’s executive chancellor, will continue the University’s commitment of quality training for the cannabis industry, as per Richard’s mission statement.  
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