| Jayneandd/Flickr. |
The state’s Violent Crimes Coordinating Council is having a hard time obeying the rules.
You may remember that these were the guys who, in January, jumped unexpectedly into the medical cannabis debate by sending a letter of “strong opposition” to key legislators. The problem was that no one asked for the council’s opinion, and by providing one, its members overstepped their boundaries.
| Mary Rose Wilcox, center, with supporters. |
Comprehensive immigration reform dominated the candidate forum at South Mountain Community College last week — and no wonder, considering that voters in in Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District are overwhelmingly Democratic Latinos. And here’s a shocker: All of the candidates at the forum — a politician, a preacher, an attorney and a teacher — support immigration reform that includes halting deportations and a path to citizenship.
But when it comes to legalizing pot in Arizona, only Mary Rose Wilcox, former Maricopa County Supervisor, voices her opposition to doing so.
The Massachusetts Department of Health are going after caregivers who are selling cannabis to more than one medical marijuana patient. According to officials, some 1,300 patients and 17 caregivers were sent letters last week gently reminding them that it is illegal under state law to do things like, say, post extra meds for sale on Cragislist.
But patients say that it is the only way they can legally access meds while the state drags their heels trying to get dispensaries up and open, likely not until the Fall.
Backers of Initiative 71, which would legalize the possession and use of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and up in our nation’s capitol, say they are just a few days from submitting 60,000 signatures to get their proposal on the November ballot.
That is, if the U.S. Congress lets them.
The exact cost of a marijuana raid in America is hard to put an accurate estimate on. The first, and most important, question is, “the cost to whom?” Besides their livelihood, their reputation in the community, and even one’s freedom, the financial costs of a marijuana raid can be overwhelming to the suspect – whether they are ultimately found guilty, or not.
As marijuana goes more mainstream, however, state and local law enforcement officials are looking to revise their own decades-old procedures when it comes to busting weed growers, before their own departments’ budgets get flipped upside down by pot cultivation cases gone bad.
| The California Highway Patrol playing tough-guy dress up and photo shoot with taxpayer money all to intimidate YOU. |
The American SWAT team has become a domestic extension of the United States military, conducting seek and kill thrill missions that have cost an increasing number of the average citizen in this country both life and limb. Not only are these raucous foot soldiers of the War on Drugs gaining sustutnance from their gnawing wrath against dark skin poverty, but their cutthroat infiltrations are without regard for public safety and ultimately, making enemies of a population they are paid to serve.
This is the consensus of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose recent study, entitled “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing,” paints a vile portrait of the Land of the Free by revealing how state and local law enforcement agencies are bribed by Uncle Sam to make drug busts in exchange for federal funding – an incentive program that has armed local yokel police departments to the teeth. The ACLU finds this military-grade arsenal is in the hands of lunatics who have accomplished very little but a violent onslaught of no-knock savagery that has invoked fear and panic throughout entire communities.
It never ceases to amaze us the despicable lengths law enforcement officers are willing to go through to establish probable cause for a search. Throughout the years, we have heard horror stories about these bullheaded, sarcastic bastards using every ridiculous means possible to destroy the property of citizens in hopes of making a big drug bust. Fortunately, there are those particularly interesting situations in which despite the officer’s raging hard on and gnashing teeth, the search comes up empty handed and a lawsuit follows.
That is exactly the deep shit situation a pair of Utah state troopers have found themselves drowning in ever since giving 54-year-old Sherida Felders a savage roadside shakedown based on her possession of air fresheners, religious paraphernalia and a couple packages of beef jerky. Now, two law enforcement weasels are left wishing they had never messed with a citizen as litigious as she is God-fearing.
| Rand Paul. |
Late last month, the U.S. House voted to defund DEA medical marijuana raids in Colorado and other states that have legalized MMJ — an unprecedented development that was greeted with cheers by many cannabis reformers.
But the next step in the legislative process — passage by the U.S. Senate — hit a snag despite support by two extraordinarily odd political bedfellows: Kentucky’s Rand “Son of Ron” Paul, a firebrand touted in many quarters as a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, and New Jersey’s Cory Booker, a liberal Democrat and unapologetic pal of President Barack Obama.
| Minnesota state Sen. Branden Petersen. |
After spending the last legislative session pushing medical marijuana and a cell phone tracking bill, Sen. Brandon Petersen (R-Andover) is now looking toward a totally different cause: Bitcoin, the semi-controversial digital currency.
This week, Petersen announced that he’s founding a new nonprofit, yesbitcoin, with a mission to communicate to people and organizations how Bitcoin works and the ideas and infrastructure behind it. Petersen will serve as the executive director of the organization, but his role as senator will stay separate. Minneapolis City Pages has more.
Enjoying its sixth year of showcasing the hottest innovations, and innovators, in the deeply talented glassblowing industry, the Degenerate Flame Off (or DFO) kicks off today in Eugene, Oregon.
Hosted annually since its inception by the beloved local glass supercenter, Cornerstone Glass, along with Northstar Glassworks, the DFO brings together the cream of the crop in the functional glassblowing world, along with mobs of their fans, for a scene that is equal parts competition and celebration.