| Photo: Saigon Market |
| I’m assuming dude falls on the “Yes” side of the question. |
A small majority of California voters supports the legalization of adult cannabis use in the state, according to a new Sacramento Bee/Field Poll.
The poll is especially interesting because it gave voters a menu of options from which to choose their preferred marijuana policy, reports policy analyst Jon Walker at Firedoglake.
“Maintaining the current marijuana policy is in fact an extreme minority position in the state,” notes Walker. Only one third of voters supports strictly enforcing current laws against pot, or passing even tougher laws.
Combining the small group (4 percent) of voters who think marijuana should be legal for everyone with those who support legalizing and regulating it like alcohol results in a total of 51 percent supporting legalization.
| Graphic: Boing Boing |
It’s been almost 14 years since the votes of California approved the Compassionate Use Act, Proposition 215, legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana with the recommendation of a physician. The initiative also encouraged federal and state governments “to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.”
Yet local governments within the City and County of San Diego, despite having since 1996 to do so, have failed to implement a plan. Any progress made in providing for the safe distribution of marijuana to patients has been stonewalled by the County Board of Supervisors, anti-pot firebrand San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and now San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders himself according to San Diego Americans for Safe Access.
| The latest research points the way towards increasing the potency of cannabis chemicals or their synthetic analogues |
Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered the latest in a long list of chemicals your body naturally produces that resemble those found in marijuana — chemicals they say could eventually be turned into a smokeless cannabis replacement that offers and increases the full efficacy of marijuana’s most useful effects.
In previous papers, scientists have noted that the body manufactures several cell signals that mimic the actions of marijuana-derived chemicals. This class of compounds known as endocannabinoids, from the Latin “endo,” for inside, and cannabis, the scientific name for marijuana, plays a vital role in the human body’s regulation of things like inflammation, reports Jason Mick at DailyTech.
| Graphic: Medical Marijuana U.S.A. |
| If you’re an American with a qualifying medical condition, you can legally smoke marijuana in Oregon or Montana. |
If you’re an American with a qualifying medical condition, you can legally smoke marijuana in Oregon or Montana — whether you live there or not.
With the discovery of a loophole in Montana’s medical marijuana law, the Big Sky State joins Oregon in no longer requiring state residency to obtain legal authorization to use medicinal cannabis.
Montana health officials said Friday that patients don’t have to live in the state to receive medical marijuana cards.
The discovery was made after the Department of Public Health and Human Services reviewed plans to require a Montana driver’s license or state-issued ID, according to department spokesman Chuck Council.
| Photo: Brian Kersey/UPI |
| Former Mexican President Vicente Fox: “We should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs” |
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is joining the chorus of those urging his successor, President Felipe Calderon, to legalize drugs in Mexico, saying that could could help break the economic power of the country’s illegal drug cartels.
The comments, posted Sunday on Fox’s blog, came less than a week after Calderon agreed to open the door to discussions about the legalization of drugs. Calderon, however, stressed that he remained opposed to the idea, reports E. Eduardo Castillo of The Associated Press.
“We should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs,” said Fox, who served as president from 2000 to 2006 and is a member of President Calderon’s conservative National Action Party. “Radical prohibition strategies have never worked.”
“Legalizing in this sense does not mean drugs are good and don’t harm those who consume then,” he wrote. “Rather we should look at it as a strategy to strike at and break the economic structure that allows gangs to generate huge profits in their trade, which feeds corruption and increases their areas of power.”
| Photo: NBC Montana |
| Under new TSA rules, medical marijuana is allowed in airports in states where it is legal. |
Medical marijuana is now allowed in airport terminals, reports Heidi Meili at nbcmontana.com.
Patients have reported “no problems” as they boarded with carry-on luggage and cannabis plants, Meili reports.
Under the new Transportation Safety Administration regulations, Meili reports that authorized patients are allowed to fly with medical cannabis, and can even change planes in states where it’s illegal.
TSA officials told Meili that state laws supersede what the agency would do in the aviation sector, and it would be up to local law enforcement officials to determine their course of action “based on whatever the person was trying to bring on board an aircraft.”
| Graphic: Seattle Hempfest |
| Seattle Hempfest is coming to Myrtle Edwards Park on the waterfront, August 21 and 22. See you there! |
If you’ve never been to Seattle Hempfest, the world’s largest “protestival” based around marijuana, you really owe it to yourself. While it’s hard to describe the vibe of being in a crowd of a couple hundred thousand like-minded people, those who have been there keep coming back again and again.
Hempfest, going strong since 1991, is one of the best and almost certainly the biggest marijuana rally in the world. This year’s edition hits Seattle on Saturday, August 21 and Sunday, August 22, and is dedicated to the memory of legendary hemp activist Jack Herer, whom the movement lost this year.
Free admission, good music, friendly people, and a beautiful setting have always been among the reasons to attend — and Myrtle Edwards Park on the lovely Seattle waterfront is guaranteed to be smelling really good once the party kicks in.
“The Seattle Hempfest is incredibly inspirational,” said Paul Stanford of this year’s primary sponsors The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF).
”It is the largest event in the world for people who want hemp and cannabis legitimized and restored,” Stanford said. “If you want to have a good time and spend a day or two with a half million or so like-minded people, you should come to the Seattle Hempfest!”
| Photo: www.medicalmarijuanablog.com |
An arrogant Hawaii judge said the court wouldn’t recognize the medical marijuana card of a man who was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service as part of five years’ probation in a pot case.
Kaleo Roberson, 35, was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine as part of his sentence imposed July 29, reports The Maui News.
Second Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto followed a plea agreement in sentencing Roberson, who had pleaded no contest to two counts each of “first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug” (when did medical marijuana become a “detrimental drug”?) and possessing “drug paraphernalia.”
Officers got a search warrant to search professional surfer Roberson’s home after marijuana plants were seen on the property by police in a helicopter during a marijuana eradication mission, according to court records.
| Photo: Marion County Sheriff’s Office |
| Wayne C. Chiaverini: “They say I do, but I don’t sell marijuana from the store” |
Sportsman’s Lodge and Store in Salt Springs, Florida is a store where you could buy soda, chips, bread, fishing tackle… and marijuana, according to police.
A 47-year-old clerk was arrested Thursday on allegations of selling pot from the store, where he is an employee.
Wayne C. Chiaverini was charged with selling marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and two counts of possession, reports Austin L. Miller at Ocala.com.
After snitches told police that marijuana was being sold from the store, officers from the Multi-Agency Drug Enforcement Team conducted two separate transactions — one in February and another in July — where Chiaverini reportedly sold pot to confidential informants at the store and from his home.
After the February sale, agents obtained a search warrant in March and arrested Chiaverini at home. He bonded out, but police said they continued to receive complains about Chiaverini selling weed, so they conducted a second operation for the store in July.
| Photo: Fulton County Jail |
| These are the 19 bags of marijuana police claimed they found on Ricky Hefflin as he tried to enter the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia. |
Ricky Hefflin either has big cojones or perhaps impaired decision-making skills.
Hefflin, 26, remains in jail after being arrested Wednesday for carrying 19 bags of marijuana into the Fulton County Courthouse, according to police.
Officers at the courthouse claimed they noticed “something suspicious” in Hefflin’s back left pocket when he went through the security line at the building’s metal detector, reports Raisa Habersham at the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Deputies said Hefflin was asked to empty his pockets and put his items in a bin for scanning by the courthouse magnetometer. But he refused, saying, “I don’t have anything,” according to officers, reports My Fox Atlanta.
Hefflin tried to walk on into the courthouse, but was stopped by the arresting officer, who once again requested that he empty his pockets.
When Hefflin “became nervous” and didn’t move, the officer told him to place his hands against the wall and proceeded to search him.