Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

Los Angeles Voters Approve Taxing Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Los Angeles voters on Tuesday approved a measure to tax medical marijuana dispensaries as a new source of revenue for the budget-challenged city.

Early returns from Tuesday’s polls showed most voters favored Measure M, which would allow the city to collect $50 out of each $1,000 in “gross reimbursements” that dispensaries receive from patients, reports Yang Lina at Xinhua.

With 40 percent of precincts counted, Measure M was ahead by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent, reports Gene Maddaus at LA Weekly.

No Medical Marijuana Repeal This Year In New Mexico

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Santa Fe Reporter

N.M. Gov. Susanna Martinez: “I do not support distributing marijuana for any purposes”

A bill to repeal New Mexico’s medical marijuana law — supported by the state’s new Republican governor — will not receive a vote this year, as the sponsor of the bill has reportedly pulled the legislation.

A secretary in the office of freshman state Rep. James Smith (R-Sandia Park), who initially sponsored a bill that would kill the state’s medical marijuana program, confirmed that attempts to dissolve the program have been aborted, reports Alexa Schirtzinger at the Santa Fe Reporter.

Florida Could Let Voters Decide On Medical Marijuana In 2012

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: THC Finder

Voters in the Sunshine State could get a chance to decide for themselves about medical marijuana — if the Republican-controlled Legislature will let them.

Florida voters could get a chance to decide for themselves about medical marijuana next year — if the Republican-controlled Legislature will let them.

Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) has filed a joint resolution that, if passed by the Legislature, would let Floridians vote on a state constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana.

Just last week, a Republican pollster found high support in The Sunshine State for medicinal cannabis, with 57 percent — almost enough to pass a state constitutional amendment, which would require 60 percent.

So, Florida. Are you going to insist on a chance to decide for yourselves about medical marijuana? Or are you going to stand idly by while your Republican-controlled Legislature ignores you for yet another year?

A “Legislative Action on Medical Marijuana” press conference has been scheduled for Thursday, March 10 at 11 a.m. at Florida’s Capitol in Tallahassee.

DC Businesses Try For A Piece Of The Medical Marijuana Action

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Graphic: VaporMe.com

Every new industry is driven by risk-taking pioneers, and it’s no different with medical marijuana in the District of Columbia. Entrepreneurs trying for a piece of the cannabis action in D.C. are crafting business plans, arranging financing, and readying for fierce competition to get licenses to operate five dispensaries and 10 cultivation centers.

Whether motivated by prospective profits or a belief in the medicinal value of marijuana, “everyone is cagey about their plans, because no one is certain who is in the hunt,” reports Paul Schwartzman at the The Washington Post.

“People are hiding in the shadows,” said Alan Amsterdam, co-owner of a hemp store and part of a team hoping to open a marijuana dispensary and cultivation center. “Then they’ll strike like a cobra.”

Guard Arrested For Smuggling Marijuana Into Prison

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 News

Photo: My Fox 8

Tavaries Moore won’t be working as a prison guard again anytime soon. However, he has a promising future as a trustee.

A North Carolina prison employee has been arrested and accused of smuggling marijuana inside the facility.

Tavaries Cordero Moore, 22, of Greensboro, N.C., is getting the book thrown at him. Moore is charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance in a prison facility and aiding and abetting providing drugs to an inmate, reports My Fox 8.

Moore is an employee of the Caswell Correctional Facility in Caswell County. Deputies said they began their investigation on March 1, reports WXII 12.

N.J. Patients Criticize Overly Strict Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: ImageShack

Patients in New Jersey have waited more than a year since their medical marijuana law passed, yet still have no safe access

Dozens of medical marijuana patients and advocates vented their frustrations on Monday over New Jersey’s proposed strict rules for the state’s long-delayed medical marijuana program, signed into law more than a year ago by outgoing then-Gov. Jon Corzine.

“You’re getting hammered up there, aren’t ya?” Crohn’s disease patient Stephen Cuspilich of Southampton, N.J., asked state health department officials, reports Susan K. Livio at NJ.com. The officials were holding a legally required hearing on the proposed rules from the administration of Republican Gov. Chris Christie, expected to take effect this summer.

The Christie Administration has repeatedly pushed back implementation of the law, supposedly to “craft rules” for the program. Without the rules in place, patients have no legal access to marijuana. But the proposed rules are far too restrictive, according to many patients and advocates.

CA Dispensaries Can’t Keep Charlie Sheen Pot Strain On Shelves

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: TMZ

“Charlie Sheen” weed will run you $70 an eighth, $400 an ounce at many Los Angeles dispensaries.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in California are selling cannabis with the strain name “Charlie Sheen” in a tribute to the headline-grabbing star.

The Charlie Sheen marijuana, reportedly with a THC content of 23 percent, was flying off the shelves at several shops last week, reports TMZ.

Demand for the new strain was so high that growers were being asked to put in more crops to keep up with the demand, the celebrity website reported.

In a move that couldn’t have hurt sales of Charlie Sheen the marijuana strain, Charlie Sheen the actor defended his increasingly erratic behavior by saying last week, “I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen.”

U.S. Government Helps Arm Mexican Drug Cartels

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Global, News

Photo: CBS News

ATF Agent John Dodson says he was ordered to let guns get into the hands of Mexican drug cartels

CBS News has uncovered that the U.S. government has actually been allowing thousands of military-style firearms to be smuggled into Mexico “to see where they would end up.” Investigators call the tactic “letting the guns walk.”
The entire operation, which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) called “Fast and Furious,” was kept secret from Mexico.
“Documents show the inevitable result,” Sharyl Attkisson at CBS News reports. “The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets … the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence.”

Marijuana Patients To L.A. Voters: Vote NO On Measure M

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: MJ Dispensaries of Southern California

Los Angeles will vote on Tuesday, March 8, on a measure which threatens to increase the cost of an already expensive treatment for medical marijuana patients in the city. Measure M, which is one of 10 ballot measures facing L.A. voters, would increase taxes on medical marijuana by five percent, above and beyond the nearly 10 percent in sales tax which patients already pay.

Patient advocates have come out in opposition to the measure, asking the city to find other sources of revenue and to remove the tax burden from sick people.

“We understand that the city is under a lot of economic stress,” said Don Duncan, California director at Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana group which is strongly opposing Measure M. “But it doesn’t make sense to charge our most vulnerable people more money for the treatment.

Legislature Set To Gut Washington’s Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Jane Meets Jane

The Washington Legislature is on the verge of gutting the state’s medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 1998. It’s time to make a phone call.

Here’s What You Can Do

The Washington Legislature started this session with a very good medical marijuana dispensary bill which would have finally provided safe access and arrest protection for patients, 13 years after voters legalized the medicinal use of cannabis in the state.

You’ll notice I said “started this session,” because the bill is no longer a good thing. In fact, as currently amended, the bill has sadly turned into an enormous negative for the medical marijuana community.

“In its current state, the bill is set to gut our voter-approved medical cannabis law,” said Ben Livingston of the Seattle-based patient advocacy group Cannabis Defense Coalition.