Toke of the Town

Florida Cop Picks A Bud From Seized Pot Plant, Gets Busted

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By on News

Photo: Chip Osowski/TBO.com
Officer Ricard Flores was charged with burglary, petty theft and possession of marijuana after picking a bud from a plant seized for evidence

​What is it with these stoner cops, anyway? Can’t they buy their own supply?

A Florida police officer was arrested and suspended Wednesday after he took a bud of marijuana from a large quantity of pot the department had seized in an investigation, according to the Winter Haven Police Department.

Ricardo Flores, 36, was charged with burglary of a conveyance, petty theft and possession of marijuana, less than 20 grams, reports Tampa Bay Online. He was booked into Polk County Jail and his being held without bail, according to the jail website.
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N.J. Medical Marijuana Advocates Blast Proposed Regulations

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By on Legislation, Medical

Photo: NY Post
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie has been accused of needlessly delaying safe access to medical marijuana by proposing unworkable regulations

​Medical marijuana advocates on Thursday said the regulations New Jersey has proposed for medicinal cannabis make no sense for businesses, patients or doctors.

A state Senate hearing consisted mostly of advocates criticizing the proposed regulations, which had few defenders there, reports The Associated Press.
The hearing was one step in a rarely used constitutional maneuver the Legislature is using in an attempt to force Gov. Chris Christie’s health department to come up with more workable regulations.
Some lawmakers contend that the rules drafted by the Christie Administration don’t follow the intent of the legislation through with the Legislature authorized medical marijuana. Activists have also accused Christie of dragging his feet and needlessly delaying safe access for the state’s seriously ill patients.
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Cannabis Association Supports Medical Marijuana Reform In WA

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: OC NORML

​The Washington Cannabis Association has announced its support for a historic and sweeping medical cannabis reform bill — S. 5073 — which is set to have its first legislative committee hearing Thursday in the State Senate’s Health and Long-Term Care Committee.

According to a January 20 press release from the group, the WCA “supports the bill with some modifications and recognizes that it could clean up our state’s medical cannabis law for the good of medical cannabis patients, their providers and law enforcement.”
Sponsored by State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Queen Anne), S. 5073 [PDF] would for the first time offer Washington medical marijuana patients true arrest protection and would offer legal protection to dispensaries and producers, while also regulating them under the authority of state agencies.
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R.I. Lawmaker Again Seeks Decriminalization Of Marijuana

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By on Legislation, News

Photo: Zazzle

​Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Tiverton) has again introduced legislation to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in Rhode Island.

Possession of any amount of marijuana is currently a criminal offense, punishable by up to a year in jail and $500 fine, reports Katherine Gregg at The Providence Journal.
Under Edwards’ proposal which he is introducing for the second year in a row, possession of an ounce or less of pot would instead be a civil offense, subject to a $150 fine.
“My intent with this legislation remains the same: to provide some relief to the taxpayers of our state,” Edwards said. “In these difficult times, we must look for ways to cut costs wherever we can.
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Makers Of Natl. Geographic Marijuana Special Misled Participant

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By on Culture, Products

Photo: National Geographic Channel
Michael Hayne in the National Georgraphic documentary “High On Marijuana”: “I was manipulated and given false assurances. If only I could sue the bastards.”

​One interviewee featured in the current National Geographic pot documentary, “High On Marijuana,” has told Toke of the Town he was “manipulated and given false assurances” that the show — widely criticized in the cannabis community for its alarmist portrayal of the herb — would be an impartial look at cannabis.

I mean, come on. How are we supposed to take a supposedly “scientific” show seriously when it describes the onset of marijuana’s effects as like “terrorists taking over the brain”?

As Toke of the Town pointed out before the show aired, the fact that the show features testimony from those who have, to quote Nat Geo, “been addicted,” was something of a red flag to those of us who were expecting an impartial viewpoint. Still, it came as a disappointment that the show turned out to be a “breathless piece of anti-pot hogwash,” as we had predicted.

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WA Supreme Court Hears Case: Woman Fired For Med Pot Use

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By on Legislation, Medical

Photo: Stoel Rives World of Employment

​Can medical marijuana patients be fired from their jobs for legally using cannabis with a doctor’s authorization? That’s the question before the Washington Supreme Court, which heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys in the case of a medical marijuana patient fired by a telemarketing firm for failing a drug test in 2006.

Voters in 1998 would be “flabbergasted” to hear someone could be fired for legally using medical marijuana away from work, in this case to alleviate migraine headaches, argued Michael Subit, attorney for the woman called “Jane Roe” in court proceedings to protect her identity, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

“The Legislature understood (voters) were giving broad permission” to use marijuana medicinally, argued Subit, “…and that’s why they [legal medical marijuana patients]can’t be fired.”
But James Shore, attorney representing Teletech, claimed the law passed by voters provides only a defense in court to patients who have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana. Shore said Washington’s medical cannabis law does not offer employment protection.
“An employer could permit it in the workplace if they want to,” Shore said of medical marijuana. “But they don’t have to.”
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Former Sheriff Gets Life In Prison For Marijuana, Murder Plot

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By on News

Photo: WSIL
Former Gallatin County Sheriff Raymond Martin was sentenced to two life prison terms today.

​Calling a disgraced Illinois sheriff “the worst of humanity,” a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced him to life in prison for trafficking marijuana on the job and a foiled plot to have a potential witness killed.

Former Sheriff Raymond Martin should be harshly punished, U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert said, calling the longtime sheriff of southern Illinois’ Gallatin County “nothing but a common thief and thug who disregarded the very laws that you swore to uphold, defend, protect and honor, reports Jim Suhr of The Associated Press.
“You could have likely been sheriff until you decided to retire,” the judge scolded Martin, who was kicked out of office within days of his conviction last September of all 15 felony counts with which he was charged. “But no, you couldn’t stand prosperity, and your arrogance, greed and power got the best of you.”
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Marijuana Smugglers Call Cops After Their Car Is Hijacked

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By on News

Photo: Wyoming Highway Patrol
This 170 pounds of marijuana had three different owners in one night — first the smugglers, then the carjackers, then the cops.

​What would you do if you were smuggling 170 pounds of marijuana across the United States and you were carjacked? Two accused would-be pot smugglers came up with the wrong answer Friday night.

Smack dab in the middle of Wyoming, on I-80 near Sinclair, the erstwhile pot smugglers had their car hijacked, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, reports Howard Pankratz at The Denver Post. And the victims decided to call the cops.
The man and woman accused of hauling the weed are in the jailhouse now, along with one of the two male carjackers, according to Sgt. Stephen Townsend, spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
Troopers were told of the alleged carjacking at about 9 p.m. on Friday. The victims said a couple of guys in a red SUV had taken their car by force and left them sadly standing by the interstate, unharmed but weedless.
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Attorney: Michigan Task Force ‘Overly Aggressive’ On Marijuana

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By on Medical, News

Photo: Pennington County Sheriff

​The defense attorney in a dismissed medical marijuana case in Michigan said drug enforcement task force officers raiding medical marijuana patients are being “overly aggressive.”

“The way police are doing investigations needs to change,” said Michael Komorn of Southfield, Mich., attorney for Gregory Pointer of Clarkston, reports Carol Hopkins of The Oakland Press.
Pointer was charged with “unlawful manufacture of marijuana” contrary to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, but his case was dismissed last week in Genesee Circuit Court.
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