Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

Washington State Woman Shoots Would-Be Marijuana Thief

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

The homeowner at this Spokane residence told police she shot at two men attempting to steal her marijuana crop, hitting at least one of them.

A Washington state woman who is a legal medical marijuana patient shot a man in the head Monday; she said the guy was trying to steal part of her backyard cannabis crop, according to Spokane police. His alleged accomplice is still at large, and possibly wounded as well.

Officers found the man about two hours later with a gunshot wound to his skull — but “for whatever reason he was walking and talking,” said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department, reports Meghann M. Cuniff of The Spokesman-Review.

The man had a bullet lodged in the back of his head.

Mom Who Sold $31 In Pot Gets 4 Years Cut From 12 Years Prison

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

Tulsa World

Patricia Spottedcrow, 26, a mother of four, was originally sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to selling $31 worth of marijuana. On Friday, her sentence was reduced to eight years.

An Oklahoma judge has taken four years off a 12-year prison sentence for a first-time offender who sold $31 worth of marijuana to a police informant.

Associate District Judge Robert Davis decided to suspend the final four years of Patricia M. Spottedcrow’s sentence, but he just couldn’t resist a little condescension to go along with it, saying the young mother has “done better in the structure of the Department of Corrections than she had done during her adult years in the community.”

Even in reducing the draconian sentence by four years, the judge showed his arrogance and cowardice; a hearing had been scheduled for Thursday during which Spottedcrow’s lawyer would have been able to present all the evidence, but the judge evidently didn’t have the stomach to face a young mother of four doing a 12-year prison term for $31 worth of marijuana.

Spottedcrow, 26, got the stiff sentence in October 2010 after selling the marijuana to an informant in December 2009 and January 2010. Her four children were ages 9, 4, 3 and 1 at the time of her sentencing. Her mother, Delita Starr, 51, was also charged.

Both Spottedcrow and her mother pleaded guilty before a judge without knowing what their sentences would be. (Please, never enter a “blind guilty plea” like this.) The results weren’t good for them: Spottedcrow got 10 years in prison for distribution and two years for possession, and her mother got a whopping 30-year suspended sentence, for marijuana, mind you.

Neither had any previous criminal record.

Worth Repeating: DEA Faces Suit For Blocking Marijuana Research

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 4, 2011 Medical

Montana Biotech

U.S. federal government-issued cannabis

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

DEA policy is a violation of the fundamental principles of the scientific method. Seventy-five years of bias must come to an end.

First, the backstory.

Jan 12, 2009:

“With one foot out the door, the Bush administration has once again found time to undermine scientific freedom,” said Allen Hopper, litigation director of the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Law Reform Project. “In stubbornly retaining the unique government monopoly over the supply of research marijuana over the objections of DEA’s own administrative law judge, the Bush administration has effectively blocked the proper regulatory channels that would allow the drug to become a wholly legitimate prescription medication.”

Source

“The federal government’s official policy is that marijuana has no medical benefit.”

Source

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a legal brief that the DEA’s politics are keeping

cannabis-based medicines off shelves.

Source

mmmMarijuana: Chocolope Hits The Spot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Products

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Chocolope melts in your mind.

It’s no wonder that Chocolope, a delightful marijuana strain resulting from the cross of Chocolate Thai with Cannalope, is taking dispensaries everywhere by storm.

Get The Most Out Of Your Marijuana: Sherlock Luxury Kief Boxes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Products

Sherlock Box

The “Branyan” Sherlock box, the larger of two models, is available for $89.99.

More and more marijuana users and growers have discovered the joys of kiefing, that is, harvesting some of the trichomes from dried cannabis flowers to make a potent concentrated medicine that can be smoked, sprinkled on foods or in a drink, or used in cooking. One of the best ways to kief (also spelled “kif” or “keif”) buds is with a kief box, especially designed for just that purpose.

That’s where Sherlock Box comes in. Donnie of Sherlock Box told me he began building these kief boxes two years ago.

“The response has been amazing,” Donnie said. “I am in a handful of stores in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I plan on bringing my boxes to the shelves of Denver stores soon.”

Feds Seize Bank Accounts Of Marijuana Dispensaries: $250K

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Dispensaries, News

The Sacramento Bee

Happier times: Lito Catabran, 62, in front of One Love Wellness Center in Sacramento in August. Catabran, a former RV salesman, had hoped to retire soon.

In what appears to be an escalation of the U.S. government effort to stamp out medical marijuana, federal authorities have seized almost $250,000 from the accounts of two Sacramento area dispensaries in an investigation of alleged concealment of cannabis profits.

U.S. Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows approved two warrants on September 22 allowing authorities to seize business checking accounts from operators of the One Love Wellness Center dispensary in Sacramento and Mary Jane’s Wellness in Gold River, reports Peter Hecht at the Sacramento Bee.

The warrants were requested by a U.S. Treasury Department criminal task force. They allege that the two dispensaries may have violated U.S. financial laws through irregular banking deposits to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Website Aims To Connect Marijuana Dispensaries & Growers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing

Berkeley Patients Care Collective

California dispensaries looking for a pure sativa like this Lambsbread now have help finding growers who have the strain in stock, thanks to CannCast.

How can medical marijuana growers know which dispensaries need their strains? And how can dispensaries know which growers have what they need?

This conundrum had frustrated Berkeley Patients Care Collective managers Erik Miller and David Bowers for 10 years. There was no reliable way for their medical cannabis dispensary to regularly get certain strains that patients needed. Waiting and wishing is sometimes all dispensary managers can do, while spending too much time with providers who don’t have the strains or quality that they want.

Brown To Intro Medical Marijuana Bill In Alabama Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Medical, News

The Weed Blog

An Alabama lawmaker said on Friday that he will sponsor a bill during the 2012 session of the Legislature to legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Rep. K.L. Brown (R-Jacksonville) said his sister used medicinal cannabis 25 years ago to ease the suffering of her breast cancer, reports Patrick McCreless at The Anniston Star. According to Brown, the aim of his legislation is to provide similar relief to other chronically ill Alabama patients.

“My sister used it very successfully to control her nausea and pain,” Brown said. “I think the time has come for the state to consider medical marijuana.”

Brown, who said he had already met with state health department officials to consider their potential role if the bill is passed, said he plans to pre-file the bill by November. He will soon meet with other lawmakers to discuss the legislation.

Here’s The Difference Between Marijuana And Drugs That Kill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 2, 2011 Culture

Georgia Toons

This comic gets it exactly right.

Artist Georgia draws one-of-a-kind comics at her Blah Blah Blog.

Her strips are full of social commentary, insights, and whimsy. “Draw what you know!!!” Georgia says. “This is what I know. LIFE. Like it or not. One BREATH at a time.”

McWilliams’ Legacy Still Inspires Medical Marijuana Activists

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 30, 2011 Culture

Recollection Books

Peter McWilliams was many things: author, publisher, photographer, poet and activist, among others. But one of the most important things McWilliams was, was an inspiration. His courage and charisma were and continue to be a source of strength to many who are struggling with illness and with the injustice of our marijuana laws.

He had a remarkable career starting in the 1970s, writing more than 40 books, including works on depression, losing a loved one, computers, and poetry. Several of Peter’s books made The New York Times Top 10 nonfiction bestseller list.

Peter’s 1993 book Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do remains one of the greatest affirmations of the right of citizens to act and live in any peaceful, honest lifestyle, including their inalienable right to drugs and especially cannabis. It is regarded by many as a “libertarian Bible,” with its emphasis on personal freedom and responsibility.