| Photo: Finding Dulcinea |
| A park ranger chops down marijuana plants inside Sequoia National Park |
Cops and Border Patrol Agents Say the Only Real Solution is Marijuana Legalization
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday directing the White House drug czar’s office to develop a plan for stopping Mexican drug cartels from growing marijuana in national parks.
But a group of police officers and judges who fought on the front lines of the “War On Drugs” is pointing out that the only way to actually end the violence and environmental destruction associated with these illicit grows is to legalize and regulate the marijuana trade.
“No matter how many grow operations are eradicated or cartel leaders are arrested, there will always be more people willing to take the risk to earn huge profits in the black market for marijuana,” said Terry Nelson, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who is now a speaker for the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
| Photo: Bill Husa/Chico Enterprise Record |
| Holes are seen in the window of Cascade Wellness Center in Chico, California, after the medical marijuana dispensary was shot up early Monday morning by unknown gunmen. |
The trouble with alarmist anti-marijuana propaganda is that, sooner or later, it always manifests itself in ugly real-life incidents.
Shotgun vandalism at a medical marijuana dispensary north of Chico, California early Monday morning, and the November 27 shotgun wounding of an employee from another local pot shop, may be connected, according to some in the medicinal cannabis industry.
The operator of Cascade Wellness Center was called to the business just after 2 a.m. on Monday when alarms went off, reports Greg Welter at the Chico Enterprise Record.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office arrived to find the business heavily damaged by gunfire. Sgt. Derek Bell said a shotgun and a rifle were used by unknown gunmen who were likely standing in the parking lot.
| Photo: Four Aces Wholesale |
It’s the eternal stoner dilemma… what to do about that smell when straights are coming over?
Of course, we’re talking about the odor of marijuana. Whether it’s that wonderful skunky fresh-bud scent or the sweet smell of burning cannabis, it’s sometimes hard to remember that not everyone shares our enthusiasm for the essence of hemp.
Covering up the smell of our favorite herb sometimes becomes a necessity, whether it’s because of potential law enforcement encounters, that roommate or spouse who doesn’t toke, nosy neighbors, or just the folks coming over for the holidays.
For those times, one good solution is Blunt Block Incense Spray. You won’t break the bank since Blunt Block is only $4.99 a bottle, and it’s very effective.
| Photo: Cannabis & Hemp |
| If you see something like this in the woods, the Virginia State Police would love to know… but screw those porcine bastards. |
Apparently unable to do their jobs unassisted, Virginia State Police are asking hunters to report “suspicious drug activity” and marijuana grow sites while hunting in the woods.
The state police claim they destroyed more than 35,000 cannabis plants over the summer, with the assistance of federal, state and local law enforcement, reports WTVR.
“The discovery and destruction of these illegal grows have played a significant role in preventing marijuana from reaching the streets and Virginia’s youth,” claimed Lt. Richard A. Childers of Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Richmond Drug Enforcement Section.
| Photo: charlieshow.com |
| R.I.P. to former quarterback and football announcer “Dandy” Don Meredith, 72, who died Sunday after a brain hemorrhage |
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
I don’t care what your background, race, creed or gender is… I think there is one thing as Americans we can all agree on: Willie Nelson is truly an American hero. I really can’t think of anyone who runs the gamut of fans like Willie, from the bleachers and pits of NASCAR to the hills of Mendocino.
When I read that the stupid pot charges against Willie were reduced, I just shook my head. Did anyone actually think Willie Nelson would have to go to jail? He could have been convicted up to two years or more under Texas law for the bust.
But would America really let Willie Nelson go to jail? For pot?
I think even the most zealous anti-pot crusader would give Willie a Pasadena when it comes to the Red-Headed Stranger and his walking stick. In a way, Willie and pot is like apple pie and Chevrolet, it is part of our fabric.
Like the War on Christmas, it is another thing we take in stride and laugh off, until it becomes serious.
Who doesn’t know Willie smokes pot? And what does it matter?
I was thinking of Willie this morning reading about the passing of “Dandy” Don Meredith.
| Photo: Robert Platshorn |
| The Black Tuna, Robert Platshorn (right), with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson |
Popular author and outspoken cannabis activist Robert Platshorn will be in Denver on December 16 to promote the upcoming feature documentary adapted from his highly praised memoir, Black Tuna Diaries. He’ll do a book signing at Denver Relief, a local dispensary, and pay a visit to Kush Con to introduce The Silver Tour for older Americans who need medical marijuana.
According to High Times magazine, Platshorn, dubbed “The Black Tuna” by the Drug Enforcement Administration, served more time in prison — almost 30 years — for a nonviolent marijuana offense than anyone else in America.
Platshorn, whose writing often appears in High Times and their new Medical Marijuana magazine, will be at Denver Relief, 1 Broadway, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16. He’ll autograph copies of Black Tuna Diaries and preview clips from the documentary film Square Grouper.
| Photo: CNBC |
| Trish Regan, CNBC: “The government stands to make a lot of money in the marijuana business thanks to the tax revenue and licensing fees it generates” |
CNBC correspondent Trish Regan will take viewers back inside the booming marijuana industry on Wednesday night with the one-hour documentary Marijuana USA, looking at the world’s most commonly used illegal substance as it becomes part of the mainstream.
The Emmy-nominated Regan travels the country in this followup to CNBC’s Marijuana Inc., which was the most viewed documentary in CNBC history, and finds that in many places, marijuana has already shed its back-alley stigma.
Toke of the Town was able to catch up with the busy Regan and ask her a few questions.
Toke: What is the biggest misconception most Americans have about the marijuana business?
Regan: A lot of people assume the marijuana industry is filled with stoners and ex-hippies just trying to make a little cash.
This group exists; however, the marijuana business has gone far beyond “a little extra cash.” It’s a $100 billion industry and it’s now being dominated by a host of young, savvy entrepreneurs that are willing to risk it all for their chance to be on the front lines of America’s new green rush.
| Photo: Snoop Dogg |
| Cannabis buddies Willie and Snoop Dogg smoke it up. Posted by Snoop Dogg on twitpic, June 26, 2010. |
Willie Nelson’s arrest on November 26 for marijuana possession led to speculation that the country music legend might have to do prison time, because the six-ounce amount initially reported constituted a felony in Texas. But officials later “determined the amount” of pot to be only four ounces, earning the 77-year-old misdemeanor charge instead.
After cops “analyzed the case,” they “realized” the amount of pot was only about four ounces, which, whadda ya know, means a lesser charge.
Now, is it really possible that local law enforcement there in Hudspeth County, Texas is so deeply incompetent as to over-weigh the evidence by 50 percent? Or did they — reacting to the monsoon of negative media coverage they got for booking and charging the elderly Nelson — “lose” a couple of ounces so they could knock the charges down to a misdemeanor, with a $4,000 fine and a maximum year in the county jail?
| Graphic: Green Relief Medical Marijuana Convention |
| It’s coming to Glendale, Arizona, April 14, 15 and 16, 2011 |
It’s only been a month since Arizonans voted to legalize medical marijuana in the Grand Canyon State, but positive economic effects are already being felt. The Green Relief Medical Marijuana Convention & Expo is coming to Glendale, Ariz., April 14 through 16, 2011.
“Since Arizona voters passed Prop 203 in November, businesses have been scrambling to take advantage of the opportunities medical marijuana offers,” said Rick Ells, co-founder of Big Truck Media Group, which is overseeing the show.
| Photo: Steve Elliott/Reality Catcher |
| Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson at Portland Hempstalk 2010 in September |
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate, is already known as a supporter of cannabis legalization, and has said he smoked pot during his youth. “I never exhaled,” he joked recently. But now Johnson has admitted publicly for the first time that he smoked marijuana more recently — from 2005 to 2008 — for medicinal purposes.
“It’s not anything I volunteer, but you’re the only person that actually asked about it,” Johnson told reporter John McCormack of The Weekly Standard. “But for luck, I guess, I wasn’t arrested,” said Johnson, who was Governor of New Mexico from 1994 to 2002.
Although marijuana was illegal for medical or any other purposes in New Mexico until 2007, Johnson said he needed cannabis after a 2005 paragliding accident in Hawaii. His sails got snared in a tree, and Johnson fell about 50 feet to the ground, he said, suffering multiple bone fractures.
“In my human experience, it’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt,” Johnson said.
“Rather than using painkillers, which I have used on occasion before, I did smoke pot,” Johnson said, “as a result of having broken my back, blowing out both of my knees, breaking ribs, really taking about three years to recover.”