Search Results: global/ (59)

Photo: Eric Wolfe
Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside Health Center, Oakland’s largest medical marijuana dispensary, looks over a marijuana display case

​The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is auditing medical marijuana dispensaries in California, with advocates calling for a change in federal tax laws.

The sale of medical marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries is legal under California law, but possession, cultivation or sale of cannabis for any purpose is illegal under federal law. Patient collectives in California say there is a problem because of the way they are being treated by the IRS, reports CNN.
The problem is federal tax code 280-E, which does not allow “drug trafficking organizations” to deduct business expenses.
“If 280-E were applied strictly, we would not be allowed to deduct our rent, our payroll or any of the other normal and usual expenses that other businesses deduct,” said Steve DeAngelo of Harborside Health Center, one of the biggest Bay Area dispensaries.

Photo: WAFF
Scott Burgert, left, and Bradley Jones allegedly sneaked 48 pounds of pot out of the police station over a three-day period in January.

​Only Four Pounds Recovered

Two Alabama men who were working on renovations at the Florence Police Station are in jail after they were accused of taking 48 pounds of marijuana from the evidence locker.

Scott Raymond Burgert, 45, and Bradley Thomas Jones, 40, both of Florence, Alabama, are both charged with first-degree theft of property and trafficking marijuana, Florence Police Chief Rick Singleton said, reports Tom Smith at the Florence Times Daily.
The two men were part of a construction crew which was remodeling the first floor of the police department.

Photo: Robert Craig/The News Journal
Sen. Margaret Rose Henry: “Delaware legislators have been listening to patients and families in community meetings and the stories they’ve heard changed minds and hearts”

​Medical marijuana backers have filed another bill in the Delaware Legislature to legalize medicinal use of cannabis.

This is the third straight year that Senate Major Whip Margaret Rose Henry has introduced medical marijuana legislation, reports The Associated Press. Henry said she is optimistic for the bill’s chances this year.
“Delaware legislators have been listening to patients and families in community meetings and the stories they’ve heard changed minds and hearts,” Sen. Henry said. “Legislators have begun to understand the very real need for legislative action to allow this treatment option without in any way undermining law enforcement or the prosecution of those engaged in the recreational use of marijuana.”
Rep. Helene Keeley, the House co-sponsor, said that unlike California and 13 other medical marijuana states — but like neighboring New Jersey — the bill would not permit patients to grow their own marijuana. This is a disturbing trend with recent marijuana laws — it’s as if there is some sort of competition to see which state can make a medical marijuana law the least friendly and useful to patients.
Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson (R-Milford) said he is undecided about SB 17, the medical marijuana bill, and claimed he is “concerned” that marijuana is a “gateway drug” that “leads to the use of more dangerous drugs.” I think we can pretty much give up on hearing anything intelligent on from that guy on the subject of cannabis.,

Photo: Terra.com
N.M. Gov. Susana Martinez opposes safe access for patients, and wants to repeal her state’s medical marijuana law.

​New Mexico’s medical marijuana program will continue for now, although the state’s new Republican governor has made it clear she dos not support the law, which allows people with certain medical conditions to use cannabis.

Gov. Susana Martinez said during her campaign that the state’s medical marijuana law puts state employees in the position of violating federal law and she’d like it repealed, reports the Associated Press.
But she also said New Mexico had pressing budget issues, so repeal is “not a priority” in the 2011 legislative session.

Photo: WLNS
A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential patient records protected by state law.

​A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold in Lansing, Michigan, this week to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential medical marijuana patient records protected by state law.

Medical marijuana advocates made some noise, raising their voices against what they call increasing federal involvement in states where medical marijuana is legal.

“I’ve been raided twice,” said protestor John Roberts, reports WLNS. “First time they raided me they didn’t even take the plants; they took all the medicine we made for the patients.”
Roberts, a medical marijuana user, caregiver and advocate, said the feds need to stay out of the confidential records of medical marijuana users.

Photo: WTOL 11
850 pounds of marijuana was found in Angel Rivera’s home after he was shot and robbed, then called 911.

​An Ohio man who remains at a local hospital after he was shot in the face during a home invasion/robbery now faces federal marijuana charges.

Angela Rivera, 21, of Fairfield Township, called 911 when two men busted down his front door, then robbed and shot him on December 30 at his home on Fayette Drive, reports WHIO TV.
The first officer on the scene said he “saw drugs” and issued a search warrant.
Investigators found 850 pounds of “high grade” marijuana while searching Rivera’s home.
“I’ve been doing this for 34 years, and I have never seen this much marijuana in one spot,” Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones said on Monday. “It’s almost getting to where this is what you see on the border (with Mexico), not here in Butler County.”

Photo: KKTV
Police detectives raided Cannabis Therapy Center in Colorado Springs on Thursday.

​Detectives raided Cannabis Therapy Center (CTC), a medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday.

The Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Unit got a search warrant because they have “probable cause to believe there was criminal activity going on there,” claimed Sgt. Steve Noblitt, reports KKTV.
“The officer in charge told me we’re being raided because we don’t have state approval to be open here, and they were issuing a warrant based on that information,” said CTC owner Don Liles.
Police refused to say what the “alleged criminal activity” was that led them to execute the raid.

Photo: Reuters

By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California
Correspondent
This isn’t scientific but, for my buds, 2010 has been one of the more pivotal years in the advancement of the acceptance of cannabis into our society.
With much speculation and hand-wringing follow the antics of that little bill called Proposition 19, the Bay Area, along with Colorado, has been ground central for the battle of hearts and minds following the exploits of our friend, marijuana. 
And now the smoke has cleared. After a bitter battle that both plagued the movement with infighting as well as attacks from the outside by the usual suspects, I think it time to check in with my man on the front line, Raul.
Raul is the manager of a dispensary in the Bay Area. He’s one of the good guys.

Photo: KXXV
This 18-wheeler had from 600 to 1,000 pounds of marijuana aboard, but the driver fled on foot after a Texas State Trooper found the weed.

​Law enforcement authorities are searching for a man who fled on foot after a large amount of marijuana was found inside his truck.

A Texas State Trooper stopped to check on an 18-wheeler parked on the northbound side of Interstate 35 in Waco around 5:20 Thursday morning, reports Louis Ojeda Jr. at News Channel 25.
The trooper asked to search the truck, and the driver seems to have foolishly given consent. Between 600 and 1,000 pounds of marijuana were found in the trailer, according to Cpl. Charlie Morgan, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
Two people were taken into custody, but the driver, Jose Juan Gonzalez Jr., 26, of Laredo, Texas, fled on foot and the cops are currently looking for him.

Photo: Fox 2
Never mind that medical marijuana isn’t against the law for authorized patients in Michigan. MSU’s gonna bust legal patients if they bring pot on campus.

​A policy prohibiting legal medical marijuana patients from using or possessing cannabis on the campus of Michigan State University is coming under increasing fire.

In “Frequently Asked Questions” page on MSU’s website, the policy is outlined, reports Todd A. Heywood of The Michigan Messenger:
3. Does the Act change University policy regarding drug use or possession on campus?
No, University policies have not changed. Students and employees may not use or possess marihuana on campus. This is true whether the marihuana is smoked or ingested through other means. Michigan State University is subject to the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendment of 1989. Consistent with those laws, the MSU Drug and Alcohol Policy prohibits the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of controlled substances, illicit drugs, and alcohol on any property governed by the Board of Trustees and at any site where work is performed by individuals on behalf of the University. The Alcohol and Controlled Substances Policy also applies to employees performing safety-sensitive functions and whose position responsibilities require they obtain a commercial driver’s license.
Employees and students who violate University policy prohibiting the use or possession of illegal drugs on campus are subject to disciplinary action through the appropriate disciplinary process.
The problem with MSU’s policy, according to activists, is that it violates Michigan’s medical marijuana law, passed overwhelmingly by 63 percent of the voters in 2008. That law specifically prohibits anyone from denying rights and privileges based on the fact that a person is a legal medical marijuana patient.