Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

Seattle Hempfest All Weekend! Meet The Safety Team

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 19, 2011 Culture

Photo: Jack Rikess

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent (From Seattle)

Seattle’s Hempfest opens today. For 20 years, political activists, social progressives, cannabis enthusiasts and the curious has been making the trek out to the Northwest’s longest running cannabis klatch. The festival occupies a twist of land that stretches on the East edge of the sound for a little better than a mile and half. Really, just a hefty salmon toss down from Pike Place Market.

Expanding from two to three days, with a new Friday opening instead of the usual Saturday beginnings, from what I saw Thursday as the crews were setting up, it’s only getting bigger and better. For three days, there will be knowledgeable speakers talking about issues intrinsic to Washington State, plus non-stop music, great looking food booths and of course, about two hundred thousand attendees, looking for info, music, exotic munchies and a precipitous good time.

Vote For Medical Marijuana At South By Southwest

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 19, 2011 Culture, Medical, News

Photo: WBAL

Marijuana critic: William Breathes at work

My friends at Denver Westword are lobbying to have their medical marijuana panel accepted for the 2012 South By Southwest (SXSW) conference, and they have a good shot at making the cut. But they need our help.

The panel, “Big Business: The Future of Marijuana Journalism” couldn’t be more relevant and timely.

Online voting comprises 30 percent of how a panel gets accepted for inclusion. “That’s a big chunk,” said Web Editor Nick Lucchesi at Westword.

To vote for inclusion of the medical marijuana panel, click this link:

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/9525

Find The Right Marijuana Strain For You At Leafly.com

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, Products

Graphic: Leafly.com

Leafly helps you make sense of the plethora of medical marijuana strains available.

Leafly.com, online for just over a year now, is a powerful resource which can help medical marijuana patients find the strains which work best for them. Since its debut in June 2010, patients have used the site to explore the dispensary options available and to match strains with symptoms.

When I entered one of my favorite strains, Afgoo, Leafly told me the effects, medical uses, and where I could find it, listing five dispensaries from 10 to 35 miles away.

Toke of the Town had a chance to chat with Mike Juberg, on the sales team at Leafly.com, about what the site has to offer.

This Weekend: Hempfest Marks 20 Years With Biggest One Yet

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 18, 2011 Culture, News

Graphic: Seattle Hempfest

There has to be a Number One in every category. When it comes to pot rallies, Seattle Hempfest is the biggest and arguably the best on the planet.

The monster marijuana rally — or “protestival,” as organizer Vivian McPeak puts it — is marking 20 years of existence with this year’s event, held at Myrtle Edwards Park on the beautiful Seattle waterfront — and for the first time ever, Hempfest is slated for three days.

The party begins at high noon on Friday, August 19 and continues until 8 p.m., then things start up again at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, lasting until 8 each night.

President Freezes Up, Stumbles When Asked About Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Blogging Vermont Style

Since it is becoming increasingly obvious that President Obama is going to be asked about marijuana every single time there’s a forum where the public is free to submit questions, it would make sense for the Commander in Chief to bone up on the subject, and at least go to the trouble to prepare some intelligent responses.

Apparently the Administration doesn’t feel that it’s worth their time to do that, though. Obama seems to actually be getting worse at talking about cannabis, as pointed out by Scott Morgan of StoptheDrugWar.com.

“This latest exchange is just embarrassing,” Morgan writes of the President’s latest sidestepping of a cannabis question.

Prison Inmate Arrested With 48 Bags of Marijuana and Scales

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2011 News

Photo: Virgin Islands Daily News

Golden Grove Prison on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where it’s not very hard to find weed.

A prison inmate in the U.S. Virgin Islands has been arrested (interesting concept, getting arrested when you’re already in prison) after police claimed they found 48 small bags of marijuana on him, along with two scales to weigh the stuff.

Police said in a Tuesday statement that they arrested Emmett Bramble, 26, after a “routine search” at Golden Grove Prison in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, reports the Associated Press. It was not clear if Bramble had an attorney, but it was damn clear he needed one.

‘Toke Signals’ Forum To Discuss Future of Marijuana in WA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2011 Culture, News

Graphic: Seattle Weekly

Tomorrow night at 7, I’ll be onstage in Seattle with seven other panelists to discuss what’s next for marijuana in Washington State.

The event, sponsored by Seattle Weekly and KCTS 9, is called “Toke Signals: The Future of Marijuana in Washington State.”

And there’s still time to submit questions for the panel, reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly.

The forum will be at KCTS 9’s studio near Seattle Center and will feature:

• John McKay: Former U.S. Attorney and Seattle University Law Professor who prosecuted Marc Emery

• Rick Steves: Author, PBS travel correspondent and marijuana law reform advocate

• Steve Elliott: Seattle Weekly’s “Toke Signals” medical marijuana dispensary review columnist and Toke of the Town blog editor

Montel Wants To Own A Marijuana Dispensary In D.C.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, News

Photo: Chris Pizzello

Montel arrives at the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas, June 27, 2010. Williams is part of a group which seeks to operate a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facilities in Washington, D.C.

Celebrity Montel Williams is part of one nonprofit group trying for a license to operate a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facilities in the District of Columbia.

The Abatin Wellness Center has expressed “preliminary interest” in opening medical marijuana businesses in the city, according to D.C. records, reports Mike DeBonis at The Washington Post. Montel is already the public face of a dispensary by the same name which opened this year in Sacramento, California.

Growing Marijuana? Get The Secrets of the West Coast Masters

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 16, 2011 Growing, Products

Photo: West Coast Masters

Do you grow medical marijuana? Would you like to have more of it? Ounces are for amateurs, according to Dru West, author of The Secrets of the West Coast Masters. West wants to teach you how to yield a pound per plant — indoors.

The West Coast Masters are medical marijuana growers and patients from California, Oregon and Washington state. After researching the leading cannabis cultivation techniques from around the world, including bonsai and tomato horticulture, they developed what they call the “ultimate techniques” for growing medicinal marijuana.

“Throughout the mountains and valleys of the US West Coast resides a secret society of master growers who are producing marijuana of unbelievable yields and potency,” we’re told on the cover of this $34.99 hardback. “While most growers are content with a yield of two ounces per plant, these West Coast Masters consistently yield over a pound, and in some cases over two pounds, all while staying within the limits of their medical marijuana programs.”

N.Y. City Council Members: End Marijuana Arrest Crusade

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 16, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: New York Magazine

The Big Apple is King of the World for marijuana arrests

City Council Resolution Highlights Illegal Searches, Targeting of Youth of Color, and $75 Million Wasted

On Wednesday, August 17, at 10 a.m., a group of New York City Council members will introduce a resolution calling for an end to the racially biased, costly marijuana arrest crusade in New York City.

The resolution calls on the state Legislature to pass S.5187/A.7620, a bipartisan proposal to fix the law.

More than 50,000 marijuana possession arrests were made in New York City in 2010, according to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), despite marijuana possession being decriminalized in the state of New York back in 1977.