Toke of the Town

Economist Poll: ‘Huge Majority’ Supports Legalizing Marijuana

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By on News

Graphic: The Economist

​A new poll from The Economist and YouGov contains exciting news for marijuana advocates. “A huge majority of Americans, more than two to one once ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded, support the legalization and taxation of marijuana,” the magazine announced.

Even without excluding the “don’t knows,” a clear majority — 58 percent — favors treating cannabis like tobacco or alcohol, according to the poll.
The data reveal some interesting patterns, according to the magazine. In every age group, more people favor legalization than oppose it.
Not surprisingly, young people heavily favor legalization. But Baby Boomers want to legalize pot almost as much as the 20-somethings do. Even those over 65 are narrowly in favor of legalization, as well.
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Infamous Sheriff Arpaio Targets New Medical Marijuana Law

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By on Medical, News

Photo: ONE/MILLION
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claims he “wanted to be prepared for criminals who believe that Proposition 203 will allow them to deal marijuana with impunity”

​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, already infamous for his treatment of immigrants and prisoners, has now set his sights on Arizona’s new medical marijuana patients following the passage of Proposition 203 by voters last November.

Arpaio on Wednesday announced the formation of a special unit targeting people who violate the state laws, claiming he “wanted to be prepared for criminals who believe that Proposition 203 will allow them to deal marijuana with impunity,” reports Deborah Stocks at ABC 15.
The Sheriff is so far alone — other police agencies in Arizona are waiting for finalization of state Department of Health Services rules regulating medical marijuana before assigning resources to control abuses of the law, reports JJ Hensley at The Arizona Republic. 
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City Weighing Medical Pot Patient’s Cannabis Cooking Oil

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By on Medical, News

Graphic: Cafe Press

​Law enforcement in some Washington towns still haven’t really come to terms with the state’s medical marijuana law. Voters almost 13 years ago approved the initiative legalizing medicinal use of cannabis, but that doesn’t seem to be long enough for some localities to get the idea.

Case in point: Medical marijuana patient Forrest Amos, whose cannabis and cannabis-infused cooking oil were seized by police in Centralia, Washington last month, reports Adam Pearson at the Lewis County Chronicle.
Amos said he was told by Police Chief Bob Berg and Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer that the cup of cooking oil was being tested and weighed to determine if it exceeded his authorized possession limit of 24 ounces of dried marijuana.

About 20 people showed up to voice support for Amos at the Centralia City Council meeting on Tuesday night. Although the City Council did not address Amos’s complaint of police harassment, it did agree to send a $400 damage claim he filed on January 24 to the city’s insurance pool to reimbursement him for his marijuana.
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New Poll: 75% Of Idahoans Favor Medical Marijuana

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By on Medical, News

Photo: THC Finder

​The respected Boise State University Public Policy survey, a poll that’s been conducted statewide for more than 20 years, yielded an interesting result Tuesday: 74 percent support for allowing “terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes.”

Just 23 percent said “no” to medical marijuana in the statewide survey, and three percent said they didn’t know, reports Betsy Z. Russell of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
“I’m not surprised at all,” said state Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), who has pending legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho, “because in similar states out here in the West, the results are 65 to 75 percent (in favor), as long as you focus, like we have, very narrowly on medical marijuana for folks who are in excruciating pain with long-term diseases.”
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Ethics Committee Eyes Iowa Rep’s Medical Marijuana Lie

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By on Legislation, News

Photo: Des Moines Register
GOP Rep. Clel Baudler lied to a California doctor in order to get a medical marijuana authorization.

​An Iowa state representative’s lie to a California doctor to obtain a medical marijuana authorization is the focus of an ethics complaint to be considered Thursday by a legislative ethics committee.

The complaint was filed by Des Moines resident and marijuana advocate Mike Pesce, who said Rep. Clel Baudler broke California law, which forbids people from fabricating information to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation, reports Jason Clayworth at the Des Moines Register.
Rep. Baudler claims he “did not fill the prescription.” He said he conducted the publicity stunt last year to demonstrate what he claims are “abuses” of California’s medical marijuana laws.
“I spent 15 minutes with this ‘doctor’ and six of thouse were used attempting to overcome the language barrier between us (he was an oriental [sic]‘doctor’ and only spoke broken English,)” Baudler wrote in an email to supporters in October.
Baudler, 71, a former state trooper, admitted he lied about having medical problems — hemorrhoids, in his case — to obtain a medical marijuana recommendation to prove “how asinine it would be to legalize ‘medical marijuana.’ “
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Blacks, Hispanics More Likely To Be Stopped On Drug Suspicion

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By on News

Photo: cityrag
New York City is the world “leader” in marijuana arrests — especially if you’re African-American or Hispanic.

​Getting stopped on suspicion of possessing drugs might have just as much to do with your race as it does with your potential illegal activity, according to a New York study.

Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be pulled over for “suspicion of illegal drugs” by the New York Police Department than are white or Asian citizens, found the report by the New York Civil Liberties Union and Harry Levin, a sociology professor at Queens College.
An analysis by Columbia University’s Jeffrey Fagan of the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” data concurred, finding that race is the strongest way of predicting police activity in the city.
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Dutch Officials Oppose Requiring Weed Passes For Foreigners

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By on Global, Products

Photo: UK420.com
An employee places filter tips in joints containing marijuana at a Dutch coffee shop.

​Officials in Eindhoven, a city in the south of the Netherlands, have rejected the idea of a pass system for buying cannabis, which would have prevented “drug tourists” from purchasing small amounts of marijuana in local coffee shops.

Local politicians in nearby Den Bosch and Maastricht have already come out against introducing the “weed passes,” the aim of which would be to bar the sale of cannabis to anyone other than Dutch residents, reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
Dutch towns including Eindhoven have supposedly been hit by a “wave of violent crime” somehow connected to the supply of cannabis to local coffee shops — at least if you believe those who wish to restrict sales.
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Multi-Tasking Munchies Combine Cannabis And Chocolate

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By on Products

Graphic: Choco-Potamus
The more you eat, the hungrier you get.

​Since you know the marijuana’s gonna give you the munchies anyway, why not multi-task and take a pre-emptive strike against hunger even as you medicate?

That choice is yours thanks to companies like Oakland, California’s Choco-Potamus, turning heads and pleasing palates with their luxury cannabis chocolates, reports the “SFoodie” blog at SF Weekly.
The use of real cocoa butter — not cheap substitutes like coconut oil — makes big difference in the final product, according to SFoodie, giving it a taste that ranks it “high” (yes, I went there) above the competition.
Available in both dark (sativa hybrid) and milk chocolate (indica/sativa hybrid), the bars are also connoisseur-worthy in another respect: The manufacturers use cannabis buds rather than the typical shake and stems used in edibles, giving the chocolates a stronger effect.
“The world’s finest chocolate and the highest grade cannabis buds, combined in one deliciously potent bar,” reads the Choco-Potamus Facebook page. “Each fast-acting psychedelicious dose lasts +3 super-functional hours.”
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When Grows Go Bad: Cannabis Cultivation and Con-Men

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By on Culture, Growing

Photo by Jack Rikess
The environmental damage of a grow like this is hard to calculate.

​By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent

Here’s a story about unreal estate that could only happen behind the Green Curtain.

Only in Mendo, where your business is your own and few questions are asked on a good day, could a story like this happen. I thought only in Mendocino County could three tattooed guys rent 50 acres to legally grow marijuana from a guy who didn’t own the land. That is, until I found out how long this one guy’s been doing it. Now I can only wonder how many more are out there.
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