| TokeoftheTown.com |
Those sneaky anti-cannabis vermin at the Colorado state legislature just won’t give up this session.
Late last night a group of two-dozen bipartisan state Senators introduced a bill that could effectively shut down Colorado’s recreational marijuana laws before anyone in the industry could sell so much as a nickel bag until people approve up to a 30 percent tax on their herb. Thankfully, the bill was eventually shot down as the night drew on.
| George Clooney. |
Teaming up for the first time since their red carpet victories with Argo, writer Grant Heslov and actor George Clooney (who co-produced Argo) have reportedly been recruited by Sony Pictures to produce a feature film about a 1970’s Southern California pot smuggling ring, tentatively titled Coronado High.
But while there’s little doubt the script would be hit with moviegoers, the mere rumors of the flick have put the tiny Coronado Island community back in an unwanted spotlight.
The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled earlier today that cities and municipalities in that state can outright ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The decision centers around the Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center, which was shut down by the city last year after the city declared the dispensary a public nuisance. The court today ruled the city was within it’s legal rights to do it, opening the doors for all other cities in the state to ban medical marijuana shops if they want.
| Addy, driving stoned on a closed course in Wash. |
For the millions of people who now use marijuana legally under their states’ laws, driving in Arizona is technically a crime.
Motorists with pot metabolites in their bloodstreams who want to avoid a marijuana DUI — which comes with nasty fines and a one-year suspension of driving privileges, instead of the regular 90 days for booze DUIs — may want to consult this quick primer over at the Phoenix New Times.
If you combined Saturday Night Live‘s “Really?” segment with ESPN’s celebration of boneheaded NFL plays titled “C’Mon Man!” you would have my reaction to Derek Rosenfeld’s recent HuffPo article trashing our commander in chief. In his piece “President Obama Is the Last Person Who Should Joke About Marijuana”, Rosenfeld, who is the Internet communications associate at the venerable Drug Policy Alliance, took issue with one joke from the Prez’s annual White House Correspondents Dinner.
What was so egregious about Obama’s marijuana diss? It wasn’t one to begin with.
| Grand Rapids, Mich. |
Grand Rapids residents are already enjoying lessened penalties for marijuana possession in their city, which went into effect May 1.
According to MLive.com, a 28-year-old man was cited for possession just three hours after the city ordinance went into effect. Dude now faces a $25 fine, and police likely took his stash from him. Sucks, but at least he’s not in jail.
You know the scales are tipping in favor of reasonable cannabis laws when Fox News polls agree with cannabis supporters.
That’s the case this week with a survey showing 85 percent of Americans would approve of people legally using medical marijuana with a physicians recommendation.
Five New York men have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that New York City police regularly profile and harass black and Latino people to create marijuana charges.
The men argue that has routinely happened to them while they were going about their day buying groceries, on lunch breaks and simply walking down the street jamming out to their headphones. Pot was found that wasn’t even worth the time to bring it before a judge, but the police trumped up the charges and called it public display.
| Flickr.com |
Should High Times be kept behind the counter with Hustler? Enough Colorado legislators seem to think so, and the proposal ended up as part of a larger bill that creates Colorado’s recreational cannabis industry being debated right now. The bill is required by Amendment 64, which legalized small amounts of cannabis for personal use and cultivation as well as created a state-regulated cannabis industry.
Amendments to the implementation bill also bring back the proposed THC DUI laws that were shot down last month by a state Senate committee but seem to have once again reared their science-less head with just days left before the legislature adjourns. Denver Westword has the local angle.
| Wikipedia commons. |
Eleven Seattle-area medical marijuana shops were told to shut down by the Drug Enforcement Administration for being within 1,000 feet of schools. The letters take a similar tactic to one federal agents used in 2011 and 2012 in Washington and other states.
“The DEA enforces federal drug laws and these letters have nothing to do with any pending legislation or state law,” a DEA spokeswoman told the Seattle Times .