Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

DEA, DOJ Won’t Talk About Medical Marijuana Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2010 Medical, News

Despite campaign promises to the contrary, the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder has continued raiding marijuana dispensaries in states where cannabis is legal for medical purposes. But the DOJ has changed one policy now that it’s under Democratic control: It has stopped publicizing medical marijuana raids, refusing to distribute press releases and requesting that more cases be sealed under court order.

After recent Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI raids of medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada (last week), Mendocino County and San Diego, California, and in Michigan (all in July), the DEA and U.S. Attorney’s offices issued no press releases and held no press conferences, reports Mike Riggs at The Daily Caller.

Dutch Mayor Wants To Ban ‘Too Strong’ Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 14, 2010 Dispensaries, Global

Photo: Bistra Velichkova

Coffee Chop DE OS in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, may soon be forced to stop selling its most potent cannabis and hashish — if reefer madness-infected Mayor Ferd Crone has his way.

The old “marijuana is stronger than it used to be” and “reefer madness” arguments, so popular in the United States, are taking a tour of Europe. Marijuana and hashish which he considers to be “too strong” could soon be banned in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, if local Mayor Ferd Crone has his way.

Mayor Crone has submitted his proposal to the city council, under which “coffee shops” would eventually lose their license if they sell marijuana with more than an agreed level of the main active ingredient, THC, reports Dutch News.

The THC level in marijuana and hashish in Dutch coffee shops has supposedly doubled over the past few years, from 10 percent to around 20 percent. Some samples tested by Trimbos Institute have turned up a THC level up to 64.8 percent, Volkskrant reported on Monday.

Michigan: Medical Marijuana Advocates Plan More Protests

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: AP

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard: “This is Michigan, not some Cheech and Chong movie”

Following a protest Wednesday by more than 150 people at the Oakland County, Michigan courthouse, medical marijuana advocates said they plan to gather Monday in Pontiac and Lapeer for more protests against the arrests of patients and raids on cannabis dispensaries.

“The idea that it’s acceptable for law enforcement to beat down doors, hold weapons at patients’ heads, discuss killing family pets in front of children — all that has to stop,” said Southfield attorney Michael Komorn, who helped organize the protests.

National Geographic Explorer Looks At ‘Marijuana Nation’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Culture

Tuesday, September 14, 10 p.m.

Photo: National Geographic Explorer

Marijuana is the most widely used “illicit drug” on the planet, according to National Geographic, and Explorer rerun focuses mostly on cannabis in Canada with an encore airing (OK, a rerun) of the episode Marijuana Nation at 10 p.m. Tuesday night.

“Reporting from secret farms and not-so-secret grow houses of marijuana cultivators, Lisa Ling goes into their world — where marijuana is not just a drug but a way of life,” National Geographic informs us.

California Pot Dispensary Finds Sweet Market Niche: Ice Cream

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Creme De Canna

I want! I want!

If you hear talk around this place about getting stoned on a bowl, they may not be talking about smoking.

Santa Cruz County’s newest medical marijuana dispensary serves half pints of Banannabis Foster, Straw-Mari Cheesecake and TRIPle Chocolate Brownie ice creams, all infused with cannabis, alongside the regular offerings of smokable pot, reports Kurtis Alexander of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

No on-site consumption is allowed, but card-carrying marijuana patients have some cool options at the new Creme De Canna Non-Profit Collective. For now it’s just the three flavors of ice cream, according to proprietor Jonathan Kolodinski, but others are planned.

Nevada: Medical Marijuana Legal But No Place To Buy It

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: KTNV

Nevada’s debate over medical marijuana is heating up after recent raids on local dispensaries. No arrests were made, but federal agents did seize boxes of documents, patient records and “other evidence.” Now, patients who rely on medical marijuana are joining forces to fight back, reports KTNV.

Dozens of people showed up for a meeting to discuss how to change state law. In Nevada, people authorized to use medical marijuana are allowed to have one ounce on them at all times. But there’s no legal way to actually get it, besides growing it themselves.

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided several medical marijuana dispensaries for, they claimed, selling cannabis to patients. The clinics are only licensed to consult with patients, according to the DEA, and advise them on how to grow and use marijuana. They’re not specifically allowed by the language of Nevada’s medical marijuana law to provide cannabis.

Maine: Hundreds Of Marijuana Plants Stolen From Police

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: FOX6Now

It’s the feel-good story of the day. About 750 marijuana plants were stolen from a Farmington, Maine law enforcement storage building overnight last week. The storage facility is only half a mile from the police station.

Farmington police officers discovered the break-in Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., according to Police Chief Jack Peck, reports David Robinson of the Central Maine Morning Sentinel.

An overhead garage door had been “pried open” and about three-quarters of the 1,000 marijuana plants seized earlier on Tuesday in a northern Franklin County drug raid and stored in facility that night, were gone gone gone, according to Peck.

Green Party Senate Hopeful Calls For Repeal Of Marijuana Laws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 13, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Duane Roberts

Duane Roberts: “Repealing federal laws criminalizing marijuana will save the U.S. government billions of dollars”

Duane Roberts, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from California, has called for repealing federal laws prohibiting marijuana from being used for “medicinal, recreational and industrial purposes.” Roberts urged the passage of Prop 19, saying it will send a message to the political establishment.

“As I officially kick off my campaign for the U.S. Senate today, one of the first declarations I make is to call for the repeal of all federal laws on the books which make it a criminal act for people to grow, sell and use marijuana for medicinal, recreational and industrial purposes,” Roberts said on Thursday.

“According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 800,000 people are arrested each year in this country for using a plant of which the evidence suggests is far less dangerous to consume than alcohol, tobacco, and some well-known prescription pharmaceuticals,” Roberts said.

This is a big waste of taxpayer money, according to Roberts.

“Not only does this clog the court systems and fill up the jails and prisons with non-violent offenders, but it diverts the limited resources of the police, prosecutors, and judges away from pursuing individuals who engage in violent crimes against others,” said the Senatorial candidate.

Marijuana: Fight Back With The Facts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 12, 2010 Culture

Photo: Buzzle.com

I’ve been smoking marijuana for 33 years — since I was 17.

Coming of age in Alabama in the 1970s as a cannabis user, I learned one thing very clearly by getting busted for pot five times by the time I was 25 years old:

I don’t like the laws against marijuana.

They’re dumb, they don’t work, they don’t keep anyone who wants cannabis from getting it, and they destroy people’s lives for no good reason.

I decided to fight back with the facts.

Law Enforcement Support For Prop 19 Pot Initiative Growing

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 10, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Cal Pot News

Support for Proposition 19, the voter initiative on November’s ballot which would legalize, control and tax marijuana in California, continues to grow in the law enforcement community.

A group of police officers, judges, and prosecutors who support Prop 19 will hold simultaneous press conferences Monday, September 13 in front of Oakland City Hall and in West Hollywood Park near Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PDT to release a letter of endorsement by dozens of law enforcers across the state.

“At each step of my law enforcement career — from beat officer up to chief of police in two major American cities — I saw the futility of our marijuana prohibition laws,” said Joseph McNamara, former police chief in San Jose and in Kansas City, Mo.

“But our marijuana laws are much worse than ineffective; they waste valuable police resources and also create a lucrative black market that funds cartels and criminal gangs with billions of tax-free dollars,” said McNamara, who is now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).