Search Results page/

Search Results: page/ (51)

Seattle Protesters Tell Drug Czar: ‘Gil, Get With The Times’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2011 News

Marijuana advocates held a protest outside the Seattle Times on Friday as Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske met with the newspaper’s editors. The protesters, holding signs reading “Get With The Times” and “De-Fund The Drug Czar,” said they believe the Drug Czar was sent to change the editorial’s board’s minds.

Kerlikowske asked for the meeting with the editorial board soon after the newspaper called for the legalization of marijuana in a recent editorial, reports KIRO 7.

In an interview with KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Anchor Chris Egert on Friday morning, Kerlikowske denied the White House sent him to Seattle just to speak with the editorial board. He said he was in Seattle for a previously scheduled event.

No Surprise: Maui Cops Oppose Marijuana Law Reform

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 15, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Maui News

Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta: “We feel that [marijuana]will be contradictory to character building, job skills, academics, all the skills necessary to become a productive citizen”

Ever heard a cop say “we don’t write the laws, we just enforce them?” Next time you hear it, you have my permission to say “Bullshit!”

Responding to bills in the Hawaii Legislature intended to liberalize marijuana laws, Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta said the department is taking a more “proactive stance” to show the public its opposition to marijuana by reaching out to Maui residents at public places, reports Melissa Tanji at Maui News.

On Monday, police officers went to Walmart to hand out pamphlets telling cop-sponsored lies about what “experts” supposedly say regarding marijuana as medicine and pot’s health risks. They planned to be there telling more ridiculous cop lies on Tuesday.

The goal of the effort, according to the cops, is to “gather the public’s support” this legislative session and ask people to submit email testimony against the bills which would liberalize Hawaii’s marijuana laws.

Yabuta helpfully said the police “would be glad” to pass out their lying-ass brochures or even present lying-ass talks to the public at community events and at schools.

Officer Yabuta claimed he didn’t know the taxpayer cost of the brochures that are being passed out, but defensively said they were “nothing fancy.” He claimed that funding came partly from a grant that initiated the brochure (your wasted tax money), as well as “county funds” (more of your wasted tax money, spent telling ridiculous, outdated 20th Century cop lies and superstitions about cannabis).

Medical Marijuana Patient Sues To Keep Growing Pot Plants

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Growing, Medical

Graphic: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association

A registered medical marijuana patient in Michigan is suing the Lyon Township and Oakland County because they’re trying to take his growing cannabis plants away from him.

Steven J. Greene got a notice from the township attorney on December 20 telling him he had 30 days to get rid of the marijuana plants growing inside his mobile home — on threat of seizure and prosecution under the township ordinance, reports Mike Martindale at The Detroit News.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, which discovered the plants last year after both a storm and an attempted break-in set off burglar alarms at Green’s residence in separate incidents, according to Greene’s attorney, Thomas Loeb.

Greene, who is HIV positive, is on medical disability and uses marijuana to combat nausea from drugs used to treat his health condition, Loeb said.

Pot Collectives: Road To The Future Or Path To Frustration?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Humboldt County News

Exclusive Interview: Humboldt County Growers Find Collectives Bring Complications

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

“It seemed so much easier when it was illegal,” my knowledgeable friend told me candidly. “You basically had to hide what you were doing and find your own way to get your crop to market. Trying to do this legally with others and letting the government and the law in? It’s a headache.”

Toke of the Town spoke with a grower in Humboldt County who, along with others, has taken the steps to establish a farmer’s collective, primarily a way to come out of the shadows legally in an effort to develop safe and fair practices for the distribution of marijuana.

Legalize It! Peter Tosh Family Endorses Prop 19

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 29, 2010 Culture, Legislation, News

Graphic: uuLyrics

“Some call it tampee. Some call it weed. Some call it marijuana. Some of them call it ganja. Legalize it; don’t criticize it. Legalize it, and I will advertise it.”

When reggae legend Peter Tosh released the song and album “Legalize It” in 1976, a new anthem for the marijuana movement was born. And that same year, as a newly licensed 16-year-old driver, Legalize It was one of the first 8-track tapes (I know, LOL) I ever bought.

Now, in 2010, the family of Peter Tosh is, for the first time, coming out and announcing its strong support of California’s Proposition 19 and the Just Say Now campaign to legalize marijuana nationwide, reports Michael Whitney at Just Say Now.

Part of that support is the launch of a new video from Peter Tosh’s son Dave, intended to help mobilize voters to vote November 2, and to organize supporters to call voters for Prop 19 this weekend.

Peter Tosh’s family released this statement:

Today, as Peter Tosh did back in 1976 with the release of Legalize It, the Peter Tosh Estate proudly speaks out for marijuana legalization. They do this in the name of Peter Tosh, his music, and their strong belief in the power of “Yes” on California’s Proposition 19. Join them in the fight for legalization by supporting the Just Say Now campaign.

S.D. Highway Patrol Electioneering Against Medical Marijuana?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 20, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: KELOLAND.com

The South Dakota Highway Patrol isn’t officially allowed to interfere with elections. But they found a way around the rule.

South Dakota’s medical marijuana initiative, Measure 13, is fending off a new foe: the state’s Highway Patrol.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol saved “news” about marijuana busts from the summer — supposedly related to “out of state medical marijuana” — to release two weeks before the election, Michael Whitney of JustSayNow.com told Toke of the Town on Wednesday.

“It certainly looks like the South Dakota Highway Patrol is interfering with the state’s medical marijuana ballot initiative,” Whitney told us Wednesday afternoon.

“Just Say Now is working with Measure 13’s campaign to fight back,” Whitney said.

Measure 13, which would legalize the medicinal use of cannabis in South Dakota for patients with a doctor’s authorization, is in a tight race going down to the wire on November 2.

Oregon Lawyers Assoc. Endorses Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 5, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Oregon Measure 74

The Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association announced on Monday that it is endorsing a measure on the November ballot that would create state-regulated dispensaries for medical marijuana in the state.

If approved by voters, Measure 74 would authorize nonprofit organizations to set up state-regulated dispensaries to sell pot to authorized medical marijuana patients, who now must grow their own, pay someone to grow it for them, or obtain it on the black market.

Beer Companies Join Law Enforcement’s Fight Against Legal Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2010 News, Products

Daniel Rhoades/A Life Of Absolute Gangsterism

Man, I really hate to tell you this. But if you’re a cannabis user in California, you should stop drinking beer, unless you are into donating money to continue being busted for pot.

The second biggest contributor to the main group opposing Prop 19 marijuana legalization in California — behind only law enforcement organizations — is the trade association for the state’s beer distributors, according to Steve Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project, co-author of Marijuana Is Safer.

On September 7, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors made a whopping $10,000 contribution to a committee opposing Proposition 19.

“Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear,” Fox said.

“Plain and simple, the alcohol industry is trying to kill the competition,” Fox said. “They know that marijuana is less addictive, less toxic and less likely to be associated with violent behavior than alcohol. So they don’t want adults to have the option of using marijuana legally instead of alcohol.”

“Their mission is to drive people to drink,” Fox said.

Dutch Mayor Wants To Ban ‘Too Strong’ Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2010 Dispensaries, Global

Photo: Bistra Velichkova

Coffee Chop DE OS in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, may soon be forced to stop selling its most potent cannabis and hashish — if reefer madness-infected Mayor Ferd Crone has his way.

The old “marijuana is stronger than it used to be” and “reefer madness” arguments, so popular in the United States, are taking a tour of Europe. Marijuana and hashish which he considers to be “too strong” could soon be banned in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, if local Mayor Ferd Crone has his way.

Mayor Crone has submitted his proposal to the city council, under which “coffee shops” would eventually lose their license if they sell marijuana with more than an agreed level of the main active ingredient, THC, reports Dutch News.

The THC level in marijuana and hashish in Dutch coffee shops has supposedly doubled over the past few years, from 10 percent to around 20 percent. Some samples tested by Trimbos Institute have turned up a THC level up to 64.8 percent, Volkskrant reported on Monday.

Facebook Says No To Pro-Legalization Just Say Now Campaign

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 24, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Firedoglake

Facebook has banned the ads of anti-prohibition group Just Say Now, a campaign for marijuana legalization. Just Say Now ran ads that showed their logo, which uses a marijuana leaf. Despite the ad running more than 38 million times, Facebook has flip-flopped and starting censoring the ads, claiming they promote “tobacco products.”

“In a nutshell, they allowed us to serve our ads for 10 days (38 million impressions), then suddenly reversed their approval and told us we could no longer show the image of a marijuana leaf,” said Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake and the Just Say Now advisory board.

“They said they decided to reclassify it as similar to tobacco, but we said we weren’t trying to encourage people to smoke marijuana, we were supporting a change in U.S. drug policy,” Hamsher said, reports Xeni Jardin at Boing Boing.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next