Search Results son/

Search Results: son/ (75)

SF Board of Supes President Condemns Cannabis Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 28, 2011 Dispensaries, News

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu: “With its recently announced ‘crack down’ on these dispensaries, the federal government has proposed a solution in search of a problem”

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu responded this week to the Obama Administration’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries in California, calling the action “a solution in search of a problem.”

“Medical marijuana dispensaries are providing safe access to treatment options that many Californians depend on to live a comfortable, pain-free life,” Chiu wrote in a Wednesday email to Shona Gochenaur of the Axis of Love, a San Francisco dispensary.

“With its recently announced ‘crack down’ on these dispensaries, the federal government has proposed a solution in search of a problem, while California law supports allowing these distribution centers to give patients the medicine they need,” Chiu said.

“I am very disappointed in Attorney General Holder’s decision and hope that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco focuses on more important issues than restricting access to a legal medical treatment,” Chiu said.

U.K. Rejects Official Advice: Decriminalize All Drug Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2011 Global, News

The Telegraph

Possession of any drug for personal use should be decriminalized. That’s the official recommendation of the U.K. government’s drug advisors as of Thursday night. But the Home Office on Friday quickly rejected the suggestion.

If the proposals had been accepted, tens of thousands of people arrested for drugs from cannabis to heroin would have gotten drug education courses instead of getting punished in the courts, The London Times reported on Friday.

Hemp Activist Creates Stir At National Night Out Event

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 6, 2011 Culture, News

Tucson Weekly

“It’s the ultimate in ridiculousness if you ask me,” activist Michelle Graye told Toke of the Town.

Oh, the drama. When hemp activist Michelle Graye set up a small table with hemp and medical marijuana information Tuesday night at Tucson’s National Night Out event in Amphi Neighborhood Park, she had made the honest mistake of going to the wrong place — there were two National Night Out events in Tucson.

But some “offended” parents in attendance called Graye’s very presence at the event “inappropriate” and said the booth had no business at an event whose focus is crime-fighting. You almost get the idea that advocating for cannabis reform is roughly equivalent to leprosy with some of these folks.

Couple Held In Death Of Medical Marijuana Distributor

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

Photo: Long Beach Post

Police say they’ve identified the man in this security camera footage from a Beverly Hills convenience store as Marcel Mackabee, who has been arrested for the murder of medical marijuana distributor Philip Williamson.

A husband and wife have been arrested in the March 24 Long Beach slaying of a medical marijuana distributor.

Marcel Mackabee on Tuesday was charged with one count of murder, and his wife, Rosemary Sayegh, was charged as an accessory in the shooting death of Philip Victor Williamson, according to police, reports Greg Mellen at the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Robbery was the motive for Williamson’s murder, according to police, who said the victim may have had $500,000 and seven pounds of marijuana at the time of his death.

More arrests are expected, according to police.

$10,000 Reward Offered In Medical Marijuana Delivery Murder

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: OC Weekly

Philip Victor Williamson, 29, was gunned down in a Long Beach alleyway.

A $10,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest of whomever is responsible for the murder of alleged medical marijuana hauler Philip Victor Williamson, whose body was discovered on March 24 in an alley in Long Beach, California.

The award was proposed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, reports Allison Jean Eaton at the Long Beach Post. Police believe Williamson, 29, reportedly a medicinal cannabis deliveryman, could have had up to $500,000 in cash on him when he died, reports Nick Schou at OC Weekly.

Williamson was shot in a Pine Avenue alleyway, and Long Beach Police say his death “could be linked” to his distributing medical marijuana from a collective in Chico to dispensaries in Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The reward money “may prompt witnesses to come forward,” Knabe said.

Marijuana Suspect’s Daughter Asks Willie Nelson For Help

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jessica Vogel-Laberdee

Jessica Vogel-Laberdee: “We need the voice of a great man like yourself to speak out about the unjustice that my dad is facing”

The daughter of a Spokane, Washington medical marijuana dispensary operator recently indicted in federal court is calling on legendary country singer and cannabis advocate Willie Nelson for help.

In an email to the Spokane Spokesman Review, Jessica Vogel-Laberdee asks Nelson, who plays locally at Northern Quest Casino on Sunday, “to speak out about the unjustice that my dad is facing.”

“I am aware that you owe us nothing, and doing this would be a gesture that would fulfill only my wildest dreams,” Vogel-Laberdee wrote, “but I am sending you this because there is a chance that you will step into my dad’s shoes (if only for a moment) and decide to take action.”

Nelson is on vacation and is unavailable for comment, according to his publicist. Willie’s had a few pot-related legal hassles of his own, with a judge recently rejecting a proposed plea bargain that would have resolved a misdemeanor marijuana possession case with a fine.

Advocate Goes To Prison Rather Than Quit Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 16, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Meredith J. Graham

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Greeson holds up a jar of marijuana obtained from defendant Joel Castle’s hotel room ore than a year ago. Castle, left, was ultimately found guilty of possession and sale of marijuana. He chose nine months in prison rather than three years’ probation.

A California medical marijuana patient said he prefers being behind bars to being told he can’t use cannabis. Joel Castle is going to prison for nine months rather than spending the next three years on probation, because a condition of the probation a judge offered him was that he quit smoking pot.

Castle, the former Chico Cannabis Club operator who was found guilty last month of two felonies associated with a guitar-for-pot trade in January 2010, was sentenced earlier this month, reports Meredith J. Graham at the Chico News Review.

Judge Robert Glusman at first offered Castle three years’ probation. But the medical marijuana patient refused, and was sentenced instead to two years, eight months in state prison.

“It was the first time I really spoke my mind to that judge,” Castle said. Castle ended up being ejected from the courtroom during his sentencing, never a good sign.

World Leaders Urge An End To Marijuana Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 2, 2011 Global, News

Graphic: Virgin

Feel that? It’s the political ground shifting underneath our feet.

On Thursday, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an international organization consisting of high level current and former heads of state, along with policy experts, released a report suggesting world governments give up the War On Drugs and consider more rational harm-reduction policies, including removing all criminal penalties for the possession and use of marijuana.

The Commission, which includes former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, among many others, urged leaders to consider alternatives to incarceration for drug use to shift their focus toward treatment of drug abusers, rather than punishment and interdiction for recreational users.

Willie Nelson Un-Endorses Gary Johnson For President

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 20, 2011 News

Photo: Politico

Willie Nelson, left, un-endorsed presidential candidate Gary Johnson, right, after seeming to belatedly realize there may actually be more to a politician than whether he supports marijuana legalization. Johnson was apparently so surprised, it knocked his eyebrows clean off.

It didn’t take country legend Willie Nelson long to change his mind after endorsing Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson last week. The country singer took it all back on Thursday.

“Yesterday, both the Teapot Party and Gary Johnson 2012 sent out press releases announcing the endorsement,” wrote Teapot Party member Steve Bloom, reports David Edwards at The Raw Story. “The media immediately jumped on it, with Politico, Fox and Raw Story leading the coverage. We were on a roll.”

But Nelson withdrew his endorsement after seeing press coverage of it.

Remembering Ben Masel: Activist Changed The Cannabis Debate

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 3, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: StoptheDrugWar.org

By Michael Bachara

Hemp News Correspondent

Lifelong activist Ben Masel died on Saturday after a battle with lung cancer. As the hemp and cannabis community and many others mourn this great loss, we must also remember what Masel spent most of his life fighting for, and continue on the path he helped to blaze.

Over the course of his life, Masel traveled countless miles and spent innumerable hours voicing his ideas and fighting for the rights of his fellows. Even in the face of opposition, he continued to speak out in favor of hemp and cannabis legalization, freedom of speech and the ability of people who take a stand to make a difference.

Masel’s lifelong passion, the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival in Madison, Wisconsin, began as a marijuana smoke-in in 1971. The Harvest Festival, now marking its 41st year, has a long history of promoting cannabis/hemp legalization and free speech while providing an annual celebration for like-minded people.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 8 Next