Toke of the Town

Marijuana Minister Gets 6.5 To 13 Years In Prison

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By on Growing, News

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Photo: WHTM
Robert Henry: “My growing and smoking, it harms no one.”

​A Pennsylvania man who says he smokes marijuana daily for religious reasons was sentenced to a lengthy prison term on Wednesday after telling the judge that he is being persecuted for his spiritual beliefs.

Robert Henry, 51, formerly of Fannettsburg, was given a sentence of 6.5 to 13 years in prison for growing and selling cannabis, reports Myles Snyder at WHTM.
A jury last month found him guilty of “manufacturing marijuana” with intent to deliver, conspiracy, and possession of “drug paraphernalia.” Henry reportedly wore a T-shirt featuring a marijuana leaf and the words, “I Am Not A Criminal” and “Legalize Marijuana” to his trial on April 14. At Wednesday’s hearing, he had on an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles.
Franklin County Senior Judge John Walker also ordered Henry to pay $50,500 in fines, undergo a drug treatment program and avoid contact with his codefendants in the case, reports Jim Tuttle at Public Opinion.
“I liken what the government is doing to me to the way the Nazis treated the Jews during World War II,” Henry said.
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Don’t Miss 2nd Annual Tacoma Hempfest This Saturday

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By on Culture, Products

Graphic: Tacoma Hempfest

​If you’re in the Puget Sound area and want to help break down the negative stereotypes surrounding cannabis and the people who use it, I have a great, free destination for you this weekend — and the weather’s supposed to be pretty, too. The second annual Tacoma Hempfest happens this Saturday, June 25, at Wright Park in Tacoma, Washington.

“We’d like everyone to come out and show the variety of people who truly support cannabis culture in the area,” Tacoma Hempfest creator and organizer Justin Prince told Toke of the Town.
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New Cannabis Comedy ‘Wilfred’ Debuts On FX

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By on Culture, Products

Photo: Cheryl Shuman
From left, Jason Gann (Wilfred), medical marijuana consultant Cheryl Shuman, Elijah Wood (Ryan) and David Zuckerman (executive producer)

​​Ever noticed how often TV shows get it wrong when it comes to the telling little details of marijuana culture? Inaccuracies, large and small, can diminish our enjoyment of a show because they call our attention to artifice rather than art.

Well, I can assure you those kinds of details are going to be correct in “Wilfred,” a new pot-based comedy debuting tonight on the FX television network. How am I so sure? Because, in what appears to be a first, the producers had the good sense to hire Cheryl Shuman (yes, the well-known cannabis activist and Kush Magazine media director) as medical marijuana consultant.
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‘New Approach Washington’ Files Initiative To Legalize Marijuana

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By on Legislation, News

Photo: Don Skakie
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes: “Ending marijuana prohibition and focusing on rational regulation and taxation will free up law enforcement resources to combat violent and property crimes, and it will restore respect for government and the law”

​There’s a new move afoot to legalize cannabis in Washington state. The newly formed political action committee New Approach Washington on Wednesday filed an initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in the state. Sponsoring the measure are prominent civic leaders, along with members of the public health and legal communities.

The initiative would authorize the Washington State Liquor Control Board to regulate the production and distribution of marijuana for sale to adults 21 and older through state-licensed stores. A new marijuana excise tax would be earmarked for prevention, research, education, and health care. State and local retail sales taxes would be directed to the general fund and location budgets.
Unfortunately, the initiative would not allow the cultivation of marijuana by recreational users (medical marijuana patients in Washington are already allowed 15 plants). Cannabis users would be required to buy their supply at state-licensed stores. Another possible sticking point is the codification a THC blood level of of 5 ng/ml as per se driving under the influence; that would criminalize any driving by most medical marijuana patients, although very few daily medicinal users would be impaired at that level.
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U.S. Conference of Mayors: War On Drugs Is A Failed Policy

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By on Legislation, News

Graphic: The Weed Blog

​United States Conference of Mayors Unanimously Passes Resolution Calling the War On Drugs a Failed Policy Driving Over-Incarceration and Racial Disparities

“The war on drugs — declared 40 years ago this weekend — has been the principal driver of mass incarceration in America,” said U.S. mayors in a resolution adopted on Monday at the United States Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting in Baltimore.
The mayors pointed out that the U.S. has by far the highest incarceration rate in the the world, with 2.4 million of its residents in prison or jail, including about 500,000 Americans behind bars for drug law violations — an increase of 1,200 percent since 1980.
In their resolution, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) officially endorsed pending bipartisan federal legislation, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2011, sponsored by Virginia Senator Jim Webb and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
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Legislation To End U.S. Marijuana Prohibition Coming Thursday

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By on Legislation, News

Graphic: Drug Policy Alliance

​The first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition is coming on Thursday, June 23. Historic, bipartisan legislation which would end the United States’ war on marijuana — and allow states to legalize, tax regulate and control cannabis commerce without federal interference — will be introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or interstate smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal.
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4:20 Time? Shipment Of Pot-Stuffed Clocks Busted In Illinois

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By on News

Photo: NBC Chicago
All four sides of the 36 clocks had marijuana concealed in them — about a half pound on each side, and a pound at top and bottom.

​Police have recovered 132 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of wooden clocks in Illinois.

Roberto Carlin, 38, of Cicero, was charged with marijuana possession and possession with intent to deliver, according to Cicero Police spokesman Ray Hanania, reports NBC Chicago.
The bust came down on Monday, when Cicero Gang and Narcotics Officers were notified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that a shipment of three packages containing clocks with cannabis hidden inside had been sent from Kentucky and was addressed to a Cicero address, according to officials.
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Former U.S. Attorney Sponsors Marijuana Legalization Drive

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By on Legislation, News

Photo: Mike Siegel/Seattle Times
Former U.S. Attorney John McKay is sponsoring a drive to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state.

​Marc Emery’s Prosecutor Switches Sides; Joins ACLU, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, and TV Host Rick Steves in Backing Inititiave

The former U.S. Attorney for Seattle who prosecuted “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery said Tuesday that he is sponsoring an initiative to legalize and tax marijuana in Washington state. John McKay, who spent five years enforcing federal drug laws, said he hoped the measure would help “shame Congress” into ending cannabis prohibition nationwide.

McKay, who was fired by the Bush Administration in early 2007, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the laws criminalizing marijuana are destructive because they create a black market fueling international drug cartels and crime rings, reports Gene Johnson.
“That’s what drives my concern: The black market fuels the cartels, and that’s what allows them to buy the guns they use to kill people,” McKay told the AP. “A lot of Americans smoke pot and they’re willing to pay for it. I think prohibition is a dumb policy, and there are a lot of line federal prosecutors who share the view that the policy is suspect.”
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Montana Cops Want Caregivers To Turn In Marijuana By July 1

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By on Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Wikiality
Montana caregivers are supposed to turn over their plants to the cops by July 1.

​Montana’s medical marijuana caregivers officially have less than two weeks to turn in their cannabis plants to the police to be destroyed, but one advocate says that’s not likely to happen.

On July 1, medical marijuana providers are out of business in the state, thanks to the new law, SB 423, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, reports Matt Leach at NBC Montana. The law supposed “takes the profit out of the industry” (actually, it only drives it underground — and removes the tax benefits to local governments) and forces caregivers to turn over any marijuana they might have on hand.
It’s not gonna go down like that, according to Tayln Lang of the Montana Medical Growers Association.
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Study Claims Marijuana Users Don’t Care If They Lose Money

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By on Culture, News

Graphic: NowPublic
Yikes! We can’t have people caring less about MONEY! This is a capitalistic society, after all!

​Smoking marijuana makes you care less about money, at least if you believe the conclusions of a recent “scientific” study from an obviously anti-pot bunch of capitalistic Bible-thumpers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
“Smoking marijuana affects peoples’ impulsivity, attention, memory, cognition and decision-making abilities,” the authors of the study claim in a June 21 news release. “That’s been scientifically proven.” Well, yeah, man, at least if the stuff’s any good.
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