| Photo: Lara Brenckle/The Patriot-News |
| Supporters of the movement to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania rallied on the steps of the state Capitol in Harrisburg in July 2009. |
On Thursday, four state senators in Pennsylvania introduced Senate Bill 1003, which would legalize the medicinal use of cannabis in the Keystone State.
According to an unofficial PDF of the bill viewed by Randy LoBasso at PhillyNow (the official bill has not been made public), it would provide for “the medical use of marijuana; and repealing provisions of the law that prohibit and penalize marijuana use.”
The bill’s language contends there are several reasons why this needs to happen now: first of all, modern medical research “has discovered a beneficial use for marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain” or symptoms caused by certain medical conditions. Secondly, 99 percent of all marijuana arrests are made under state, not federal law. And thirdly, 15 other states have already enacted such policies “for the health and welfare benefits of their citizens.”
| Photo: Franky Benitez |
| Rep. Robert Watson likes making fun of marijuana. Oh, and smoking it. |
In the latest fine example of Republican high-pocrisy when it comes to cannabis, a high-ranking GOP legislator in Rhode Island is squirming after being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession of “drug paraphernalia.”
An embarrassing pot bust would be bad enough for any politician, but this guy — Rep. Robert Watson — is a real piece of work who is remembered for making offensive anti-drug, anti-gay and anti-immigrant remarks, reports Kase Wickman at The Raw Story.
In February, Watson said the Rhode Island Legislature had their priorities right — “if you are a Guatemalan gay man who likes to gamble and smokes marijuana.”
Rather than just apologize and move on, Watson — while a guest on a radio show soon after that misstep, and in response to the understandable outcry over his comments — said, “I reject the suggestion that it’s insulting.”
Watson continued to refuse to say he was sorry. “I apologize when appropriate and/or necessary,” Watson told the Providence Journal in February. “I identify this situation as representing neither circumstance.”
| Photo: 6 ABC Action News |
| This five-pound brick of marijuana mailed to an unsuspecting elderly couple in Pennsylvania last week. The cannabis has an “estimated street value” of from $10,000 to $20,0000. |
Police are trying to figure out who mailed a five-pound brick of marijuana with a street value estimated up to $20,000. The weed was sent to an unsuspecting elderly couple in Pennsylvania.
The delivery arrived last Wednesday via UPS to the home in Upper Darby, reports 6 ABC Action News. The couple didn’t recognize the name on the package and thought it had arrived by mistake.
Not yet realizing what was inside, they left it on the front porch, thinking it would be retrieved.
| Graphic: Alaska Dispatch |
| Alaska State Trooper Kyle Young claims he smelled marijuana from 450 feet away. A judge threw the case out on Friday. |
An Alaska trooper’s claimed ability to sniff out marijuana grow operations from hundreds of feet away has been called into doubt in federal court.
U.S. District Judge John Sedwick concluded in a Friday ruling that the reputed pot-smelling power of investigator Kyle Young wasn’t supported by the facts in a Mat-Su marijuana case, and should not have been used to justify a search warrant, reports Lisa Demer in the Tacoma News Tribune.
The judge said no reasonable jurist could believe the word of Trooper Young, and he threw out the seized evidence, including about 500 marijuana plants. Unless prosecutors appeal the ruling, the government’s cannabis case against Trace Rae and Jennifer Anne Thoms of Wasilla, Alaska, is mincemeat.
| Photo: Clark County Conservative |
| Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is chicken to sign legislation legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries without asking for the federal government’s permission first. |
The Washington state Senate gave final passage Thursday morning to a bill attempting to regulate medical marijuana cultivation and sales, setting up a likely showdown with Governor Christine Gregoire, who opposes provisions for state employees regulating a system of medicinal cannabis dispensaries.
The Senate, on a 27-21 vote, approved amendments to the system adopted by the House earlier this month. That agreement, known as concurrence, sends Senate Bill 5073 to Gregoire’s desk, reports Jim Camden at the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
Washington’s current medical marijuana law, passed in 1998 by voters, allows medical marijuana but sets up no system for legal distribution. According to Sen. Lisa Brown (D-Spokane), that’s unfair to patients, neighborhoods and legitimate businesses that could provide the product.
Meanwhile, you have some clueless blowhard like Sen. Jeff Baxter (R-Spokane Valley), who’s still trying to fight a battle that was decided by the voters 13 years ago. “It’s a gateway drug,” the IQ-challenged Baxter claimed, seemingly unaware of scientific studies which make him look like an uninformed moron.
| Photo: The Bollard |
| The extremely cool Rep. Diane Russell of Maine: “We’re dealing with the world as it is” |
Legalizing marijuana would just be recognition of “the world as it is,” according to Rep. Diane Russell, lead sponsor of a bill that would make cannabis legal in Maine.
Rep. Russell (D-Portland) has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana, allow people to grow small amounts for personal use and subject sales to a seven percent sales tax, reports Edward D. Murphy at The Portland Press Herald. The resulting revenue would be directed to law enforcement, agricultural programs, land preservation, weatherization and higher education.
Russell, who has already been anointed Toke of the Town‘s favorite Maine lawmaker, spoke about her plan to legalize pot at Portland City Hall with about a dozen supporters and a lone whack-job protester wearing a sweater with “Jail Diane Russell” emblazoned on its back.
| Photo: Fred Beckham/AP |
| Basketball star Jamal Coombs-McDaniels of the national champion UConn Huskies was arrested Thursday night for marijuana possession |
Seems it’s time to go through the old routine again. You know — the one where mainstream sports commentators express “surprise” and “disappointment.” Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, a star on the University of Connecticut’s national championship basketball team, has been arrested for marijuana possession.
When will they get it? Athletes, like people in every other walk of life, choose to use marijuana — and life goes on.
Campus police say the sophomore from Dorchester, Massachusetts was arrested at 10:23 Thursday night along with two other people at Merritt Hall, a UConn campus dormitory, reports Pat Eaton-Robb of The Associated Press.
Officers responded to Hilltop Apartments for a “narcotics complaint,” reports Brian Zahn of The Daily Campus, an independent UConn newspaper.
“During the course of the investigation, officers found Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and two other individuals in possession of 5.6 grams of marijuana, a marijuana grinder and a package of cigars used to smoke marijuana,” the police report drily noted.
Coombs-McDaniel was charged with marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession. He was released on a $500 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on May 5. Also arrested were Shakwaan Simpkins and Stanley Winn, both 19 and both of Boston.
| All photos by Jack Rikess |
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
President Obama’s fund raising drive continued in San Francisco on April 20 with a financial pow-wow at the St. Regis Hotel downtown. The President was met by some 75 medical marijuana protesters who had arrived at 7 a.m. at 3rd and Mission. The protesters were carrying homemade signs and chanting that the President has turned his back on the medical marijuana community.
“We’re here because Obama hasn’t provided safe access for patients that need their medicine. Raids are continuing on dispensaries,” David Goldman of Americans for Safe Access explained over his coffee cup.
“The IRS is putting pressure on the banks that do business with anyone in the Medical Marijuana community,” Goldman told Toke of the Town. “The IRS is also disallowing expenses to be used as deductions. No sane business can operate without allowing deductions.”
| Photo: Beats From The Streets |
Concentrating marijuana down into hashish could get you a life sentence in Oklahoma under a bill approved by the Oklahoma Senate.
The Senate voted 44-2 for the bill on 4-20, of all days. Dudes, are they saying F.U. to us, or what? The bill now heads to the House for final consideration, reports the Associated Press.
The bill was “requested” by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Well, hell. Nice to know that in Oklahoma, they let the BNDD not only enforce the drug laws, but also write the damned things. That cuts a whole host of inconvenient things out of the process, you know? Things like citizen input and common sanity.
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
It starts on the downbeat about an hour before noon.
Five cats in assorted guises from assorted backgrounds bang on congas, snares, and on upside-down five-gallon buckets, pounding out an Afro-beats while the first couple hundred of celebrators mosey their way into Golden Gate Park, and to establish themselves at party central headquarters, Hippie Hill.
It will be another five hours or so before the land and the world as we know it will bend in time. The reality that we call Marijuana for some, will change their conscientiousness and for others just take their change. For now, everything seems copacetic, tranquil, and even sedate with just of a hint of backbeat in the air.
Since early morning, folks of all creeds, colors, genders and baseball affiliations, whether Giants or A’s, have been streaming in to what should be the biggest pot party this side of Seattle. Soon there will be nothing but grins, smiles and a lot of nodding.
But for now, there are some 500 people who are animated; chatting gaily laying down blankets and lugging coolers as more and more stoners appears every minute, getting ready for…something.