| City of Carrollton, Texas |
| Carrollton Police Officer Jeremy Sanchez, left, and K-9 “Bosko”: A Texas court accepted police claims that Bosko smelled marijuana on money, under a bed, in a gym bag, in a back room of the house — from under the garage door |
Fort Worth, Texas attorney David Sloane occasionally happens across appellate cases where the court’s blind acceptance of the police account of events surrounding a marijuana arrest is astounding — even for a seasoned trial lawyer like himself. A case from Dallas suburb Carrollton certainly fits this description, according to Sloane.
In $27,877.00 Current Money of the United States v. The State of Texas, an asset forfeiture case, the Carrollton Police Department alleged their dog “Bosko” was able to “sniff” and “alert” — from under a garage door — on the mere scent of marijuana on currency concealed in a gym bag under a bed in a back room of the defendant’s parent’s home.
The trial court accepted this, and the appellate court agreed!
| NORML UK |
Last week, a major independent study called for the decriminalization of cannabis in the United Kingdom. The publication of a six-year study from the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) likened cannabis use to “moderately risky” gambling or junk food.
The report prompted the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live Show, a weekly topical political news show aired at 10 a.m. every Sunday, to hold a debate on cannabis.
The show included a debate in the studio with journalists and broadcasters Germaine Greer, Peter Hitchens, James O’brien, Gary Parker and contributions via Skype from former government drugs advisor Prof. David Nutt, drugs rehab worker, Gary Parker, and Clark French, a medicinal cannabis user with multiple sclerosis who is also NORML UK’s national spokesperson.
During the show, the BBC ran a viewers poll asking whether cannabis should be decriminalized. The result showed an overwhelming majority in favor, with 69 percent voting yes against only 31 percent who were opposed.
“I was incredibly pleased and excited to be invited on BBC1 this morning for a live debate,” Clark French said. “I had so much to say and so little time to say it, but I am pleased with the points I managed to convey. I hope to build on the current momentum and reach out to more television shows to share my story and campaign for our right to use cannabis as a safer form of medicine and recreation.”
| Better World Books |
As the art and science of cultivating cannabis have advanced by leaps and bounds over the past decades, more and more weed consumers — particularly medical marijuana patients — have noticed that organically grown herb not only tastes better, but has superior medicinal effects and a better high.
What’s the difference between marijuana grown with chemical nutrients and that which is grown organically? One place to find out is the new True Living Organics by The Rev, which describes itself as “The Ultimate Gujide to Growing All-Natural Marijuana Indoors.” According to The Rev, your existing grow room can be converted to an all-natural, synthetic-free, living, breathing cannabis cultivation space.
Written in an accessible, jargon-free style, the book sifts through the jargon surrounding organic cannabis cultivation and gets straight to the heart of the matter: the living soil. Providing several different ways to create a high-quality growing medium for your plants, True Living Organics makes an excellent handbook for growing organically. In fact, the book features what may well be the most extensive soil and growing medium guide ever published.
| Marijuana Majority |
Marijuana Reform Is An Increasingly Mainstream, Majority-Support Position
Site Lets Supporters Tweet Prominent People to Encourage Speaking Out
Just over two weeks before voters in three U.S. states decide on ballot measures to legalize marijuana, a new website launches on Monday that tracks prominent people and organizations speaking out in favor of changing marijuana laws. MarijuanaMajority.com allows visitors to see just how mainstream this debate has become by viewing and sharing visually appealing lists of elected officials, actors, medical organizations and business leaders who support solutions like decriminalizing marijuana possession, allowing medical marijuana or legalizing and regulating marijuana sales for adult use.
In addition to tracking prominent people who have already spoken out, MarijuanaMajority.com has a social component that lets individual supporters play a role in convincing even more opinion leaders to publicly say they favor reform. Visitors to the site will be able to easily send targeted tweets to celebrities and politicians with just a few clicks, encouraging them to speak out and join the Marijuana Majority. Among the initial “Get Out the Quote” targets are Ben Affleck, Mark Cuban, John Cusack, Van Jones, Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”), Shaquille O’Neal, Rihanna and Kanye West.
“At a time when polls show that a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana and that mega-majorities support allowing medical marijuana or at least decriminalizing possession, it makes no sense whatsoever that so many national politicians look at this issue as some kind of dangerous third rail of politics,” said Tom Angell, founder and chairman of Marijuana Majority.
| Arkansas Sheriffs Association |
The Arkansas Sheriff’s Association and the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police held a press conference on Friday announcing their official opposition to Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act.
In a statement released to the press on Tuesday, Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Ronnie Baldwin claimed they “don’t want people to think law enforcement is not compassionate to the people who would use it and use it responsibly,” but the group is openly trying to take good medicine out of the hands of sick people for reasons that have no basis in fact, according to Arkansans for Compassionate Care.
Law enforcement’s chief concern — that Issue 5 would lead to greater teen drug use — just isn’t accurate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a study spanning a 16-year period which showed teen marijuana use actually went down in states with legal medical marijuana programs.
| Green Medical Group |
By Edward Nguyen
If you are a healthcare provider or patient, you have heard about HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Did you also know that computer systems (such as verification systems used to verify medical cannabis patients) that store patient information are also subject to HIPAA security regulations?
Patient verification systems are a cornerstone of the medical cannabis healthcare movement. Like other patient databases, they may store sensitive patient data, such as medical record numbers, patient addresses, patient contact details, diagnoses codes and driver’s license numbers.
Global Commission Members, Including Four Former Presidents, To Gather in Warsaw Oct. 24-25
On Heels of Success in Latin America, Global Commission Will Strategize Next Steps for Global Drug Policy Reform
The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) will gather in Warsaw on October 24 and 25 to highlight the impact of the war on drugs on public health in Eastern Europe and prospects for change around the world.
The Global Commission was convened in July 2010 and has been working to establish a road map for change in drug laws and policies. It is currently composed of 22 international leaders, including seven former presidents.
The GCDP meeting in Poland brings the debate to Eastern Europe, in order to focus on the dramatic human and social consequences of the prevailing hardline approach to drugs in the region. The meeting will include a roundtable organized by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza to allow interaction with key media and stakeholders.
| Americans for Safe Access |
| Now, the battle over rescheduling has moved from DEA and HHS to the federal courts. |
“The DEA had ignored accumulating evidence of marijuana’s benefits, and so acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in rejecting the rescheduling petition last year. Federal law requires the agency to take such evidence into account, accusing the Department of Health and Human Services of creating a Catch-22 for medical marijuana advocates by strictly limiting researchers’ access to marijuana, then arguing there is insufficient scientific evidence to merit rescheduling it.”
The present day drug scheduling is an incomplete scale in that it only lists negatives!
Medical marijuana does not fit into the present drug schedule; this unique medicine is so special that its multitude of many actions creates its own stand-alone category, a “positive side,” mirror-image type of drug scheduling.
| MelissaEtheridge.com |
| Melissa Etheridge: “Medical marijuana made a big difference, instantly” |
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Citizens for Patient Rights has announced the endorsement of singer/songwriter and outspoken breast cancer survivor, Melissa Etheridge for its campaigns to allow safe medical marijuana access in Lemon Grove (Prop T), Solana Beach (Prop W) and Del Mar (Prop H).
Medical marijuana is commonly used by cancer patients to combat the adverse symptoms related cancer radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Moreover, studies have shown that compounds found in medicinal marijuana may slow of the growth of cancerous cells.
Melissa experienced first hand the positive benefits of medical marijuana during her own chemotherapy. According to Melissa, “Medical marijuana made a big difference, instantly, within a minute, relieved the nausea, relieved the pain. And all of the sudden, I was normal… I could get out of bed. I could go see my kid. And it was amazing.”
| LUCID Public Relations |
| Montel Williams supports Issue 5, an initiative on the November 6 general election ballot which would legalize medical marijuana in Arkansas |
The medical marijuana battle is heating up in Arkansas, with less than three weeks to go until the general election. A statewide medical marijuana ballot initiative, Issues 5, appears on the November 6 ballot in Arkansas.
An anti-medical marijuana group called the “Arkansas Family Council” has been disseminating misinformation in the state, seeming to believe that since Arkansas is located in the Deep South, nobody will call them on their b.s. Wrong, Arkansas Family Council!
Former talk show host Montel Williams, through his publicist, on Thursday decried a new ad from the Council which is tainted with racist stereotypes.
“This morning we became aware of a TV ad the Arkansas Family Council has put on YouTube, and apparently made a very small ad buy for, in opposition to Issue 5 that features several actors,” said Williams’ publicist, Jonathan Franks. “The one African-American actor was depicted as a criminal drug dealer behind a table with guns.