Search Results: ap/ (46)

Photo: Wikiality
Montana caregivers are supposed to turn over their plants to the cops by July 1.

​Montana’s medical marijuana caregivers officially have less than two weeks to turn in their cannabis plants to the police to be destroyed, but one advocate says that’s not likely to happen.

On July 1, medical marijuana providers are out of business in the state, thanks to the new law, SB 423, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, reports Matt Leach at NBC Montana. The law supposed “takes the profit out of the industry” (actually, it only drives it underground — and removes the tax benefits to local governments) and forces caregivers to turn over any marijuana they might have on hand.
It’s not gonna go down like that, according to Tayln Lang of the Montana Medical Growers Association.

Photo: THC Finder
The Dutch make lots of money on cannabis tourism — so obviously, they have to stop that. Wait a minute…

​The Dutch Cabinet said it will go ahead with plans to force anyone wishing to buy marijuana at the country’s “coffee shops” to first get an official pass — a move designed to stop tourists from buying cannabis.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he plans to begin rolling out the system in southern Netherlands later this year, reports the Associated Press. The southern part of the country is popular with French and German cannabis tourists. The system would then be instituted in Amsterdam’s famed weed cafes, which are major tourist attractions for the city, later in Rutte’s term of office.

Graphic: Sensible Washington

​Two volunteers from marijuana legalization group Sensible Washington have been driving an RV dubbed “the CannaBus” across the state this week to gather signatures and rally support for I-1149, a ballot initiative that would remove all criminal penalties for adult cannabis offenses.

From Thursday, May 19 through Sunday morning, May 22, volunteers Mimi Meiwes and Tricia Rogers, along with the CannaBus, will be in Spokane, where new raids this week by Spokane Police and federal agents have left even more medical cannabis patients without safe access to the medicine their doctors have authorized.

Photos: San Mateo County Sheriff
Virginia Pon, 65 (left) and Aleen Lam, 72, were arrested after police found more than 800 plants growing in their San Bruno, California home.

​Two elderly women are in a California jail after neighbors called the police to report a burglary at their San Bruno residence. When police arrived, they saw, through the broken front door, nearly 800 marijuana plants inside the home.

Aleen Lam, 72, and Virginia Chan Pon, 65, were arrested Friday afternoon, reports Erin Sherbert at the S.F. Weekly. Police, searching the unoccupied home, found $3,000 in cash as well as an electrical bypass that allowed the grannies to steal electricity from Pacific Gas & Electric.

Graphic: KTVQ

​Montana’s state House and Senate have passed a bill aimed at radically slashing the number of authorized medical marijuana users and eliminating large cannabis businesses in the state.

The measure cleared both chambers of the Legislature on Wednesday, and now heads to Governor Brian Schweitzer for his signature, veto or amendment recommendations. Schweitzer has already vetoed an outright repeal of the state’s medical marijuana law, saying it went against the will of the voters, who approved the law in 2004.

Photo: Franky Benitez
Rep. Robert Watson likes making fun of marijuana. Oh, and smoking it.

​In the latest fine example of Republican high-pocrisy when it comes to cannabis, a high-ranking GOP legislator in Rhode Island is squirming after being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession of “drug paraphernalia.”

An embarrassing pot bust would be bad enough for any politician, but this guy — Rep. Robert Watson — is a real piece of work who is remembered for making offensive anti-drug, anti-gay and anti-immigrant remarks, reports Kase Wickman at The Raw Story.
In February, Watson said the Rhode Island Legislature had their priorities right — “if you are a Guatemalan gay man who likes to gamble and smokes marijuana.”
Rather than just apologize and move on, Watson — while a guest on a radio show soon after that misstep, and in response to the understandable outcry over his comments — said, “I reject the suggestion that it’s insulting.”
Watson continued to refuse to say he was sorry. “I apologize when appropriate and/or necessary,” Watson told the Providence Journal in February. “I identify this situation as representing neither circumstance.”

Photo: The Individuals
The Individuals, from left: Ando Tha Don, Big Lou a.k.a. Fatt Joejoe, T.C.O. Onedaman, Raw Bizness

​Chicago-based rap/hip-hop band The Individuals have already made a huge impact on both the music world and the cannabis reform community. The band’s music was used in the second and third seasons of the smash Showtime series Weeds, which led to The Individuals covering the show’s theme song “Little Boxes” for a third season episode.

Their previous albums, Something To Smoke To and Something To Smoke To 2 took the toking community by storm, serving up a potent mix of musical styles, all steeped in delicious herbal goodness. 
It’s not every day that I can say “this band wrote one of my favorite weed songs,” but with The Individuals it’s totally true. Their potently catchy staccato track “High Daily” is a frequent play on my iTunes, and in fact, just talkin’ about it, imma have to bump it right now.

Photo: Matt Lennert/flickr
A Jamaican farmer in his field of ganja

​Top government officials in Jamaica have said they will review recommendations to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and religious use in the Caribbean island nation.

Six Cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s administration will evaluate a 2001 report by the National Commission for Ganja, reports David McFadden of Bloomberg Businessweek.
The commission, which included academics and doctors and was appointed by a government led by the current opposition party, argued that cannabis was “culturally entrenched” in Jamaica and that moderate use had no negative health effects on most users.

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory
Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if SB 5073 passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

​Washington lawmakers are spending some time on cannabis this week, discussing both outright legalization as a source of revenue, and legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries to provide safe access for patients under the law approved by voters in 1998.

Supporters of a bill to legalize cannabis made a push to revive a measure they say would be worth $440 million in a two-year state budget cycle, reports Jim Camden at The Spokane Spokesman-Review. With a state budget deficit projected at more than $5 billion, that’s a more powerful argument than ever for legalization in the Evergreen State.
HB 1550, the legalization bill sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), already had one hearing in the House Public Safety Committee, “where it attracted the usual list of supporters, who noted that some of the Founding Fathers grew hemp, and detractors who warned of growing usage by teens and drivers should marijuana become legal,” noted the Spokesman-Review.

Graphic: AP/CBS

​A coalition of House lawmakers has reintroduced legislation that would legalize and regulate the “production, distribution and sale” of marijuana to adults in Washington state.

House Bill 1550 allows for the state-authorized cultivation and distribution of cannabis and marijuana-related products. It is similar to HB 2401, which in 2010 didn’t make it past the Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.
A state fiscal analysis of the measure estimates that regulating and taxing marijuana sales could yield some $300 million in new revenue per biennium, while also reallocating an estimated $25 million annually in law enforcement costs.