Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

Colorado Nets $7 Million From Pot Dispensary Application Fees

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 4, 2010 Dispensaries, News

With more than 2,000 people in Colorado applying for licenses to run state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries, growing facilities or related businesses before the past weekend’s application deadline, the state made $7.34 million from application fees alone.

More than 700 applied specifically for dispensary licenses, far exceeding the number expected by state officials, who estimated that only half of the state’s roughly 1,100 pre-existing dispensaries would apply for licenses.

State officials will now conduct background checks on applicants before awarding licenses, which are expected to generate additional millions in annual revenue for Colorado.

“This outpouring of applications is another sign of how willing and eager marijuana business owners are to be taxed, regulated, and given equal treatment to other legitimate establishments, said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Missing Boy Found… Along With Dad’s 147 Marijuana Plants

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: The Trentonian

It was a classic good news/bad news scenario. Police in Maine said they found a three-year-old autistic boy who wandered away from his home — along with 147 marijuana plants being cultivated by his father.

The boy was reported missing by his father, 41-year-old Jonathan Lehr, at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, reports News 13.

The three-year-old, Benjamin Lehr, was found unhurt about two hours later when a pilot with the Maine Warden Service spotted him in some tall grass and woods not far from his home in Vienna, Maine. He was dehydrated and disoriented, but otherwise OK.

Vermont Gubernatorial Candidate To Discuss Marijuana Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Straight Talk On Marriage

Pete Shumlin: “We need to have an honest conversation with Vermonters about changing laws that are diverting resources and attention from real problems, and filling our prisons up with folks that shouldn’t be there”

Gubernatorial candidate Pete Shumlin will be at the University of Vermont next week along with other speakers to discuss marijuana decriminalization at an event sponsored by Marijuana Resolve, a Vermont non-profit focused on cannabis policy reform issues.

“We need to have an honest conversation with Vermonters about changing laws that are diverting resources and attention from real problems, and filling our prisons up with folks that shouldn’t be there,” Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Shumlin said in June as he called for marijuana decriminalization.

“I believe it is a mistake to be sending young people on second, third, fourth offenses to prison on marijuana-related charges,” said Shumlin, who has previously sponsored a decriminalization bill. “That’s where we could make a difference.”

If elected governor, Shumlin has pledged he will work to pass legislation that will make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a civil, rather than a criminal, violation, punishable by a $100 fine without the possibility of jail time.

Just Say Now Campaign Aims To End Marijuana Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Just Say Now

The mainstreaming of marijuana means that it is no longer considered a “right” or “left” issue. Pot legalization is now receiving support from across the political spectrum.

And that’s a good thing, according to Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of leading progressive blog Firedoglake.com.

“It is very important to us that this is not viewed as a partisan issue, because we don’t think that it is,” Hamsher said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters.

“Young people want marijuana to be legalized in overwhelming numbers: young voters are not just excited to support legalization, but are much more likely to turn out to vote if marijuana is on the ballot,” Hamsher said. “We’re delighted about organizing legalization supporters and getting them to the polls on Election Day.”

More Than 2,000 Apply For Colorado Marijuana Licenses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Legal Libations

Residency Requirement Creates Controversy; Sparks Lawsuit Threat

More than 2,000 Coloradans have applied for licenses to operate in the state’s burgeoning medical marijuana business. The applications were due Sunday, and the figure could still rise because those postmarked by the due date will still be counted.

The 2,059 forms received so far include applications from 717 dispensaries, 271 marijuana product makers (edibles), and 1,071 marijuana growers, according to John Ingold of The Denver Post.

Man Calls 911 For Ride To Liquor Store; Gets Busted For Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 News

Photo: First Coast News

George D. McMurrain, 57, wants to party.

He wanted a ride to the liquor store; instead, he got a lift to the jail.

A Florida man was charged Saturday night with misusing 911 and possession of marijuana after he had already been warned that his call to 911 for a ride to a liquor store would result in his arrest, reports Nicole Hernandez of The Florida Times-Union.

George D. McMurrain, 57, had already called 911 twice when an an officer from the St. Augustine Police Department responded to a third call.

After the second call, police had told McMurrain that 911 was for emergencies only and he would be arrested if they had to come back, reports First Coast News.

The Flower: A Meditation On The Costs Of Marijuana Prohibition

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 3, 2010 Culture

The Flower contrasts a utopian society that freely farms and consumes a pleasure-giving flower with a society where the same flower is illegal and its consumption is prohibited.

The animation is a meditation on the social and economic costs of marijuana prohibition.

Posting About Marijuana On Facebook Can Get You Fired

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: MarijuanaSEO.com

Your cannabis activism on Facebook may mean a lot to you. Or maybe you just like posting party pictures. But if you’re in the corporate world, either one can get you fired.

In a growing nationwide trend, companies are starting to pay more attention to their employees’ Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace postings — and that’s not always a good thing, especially when staffers are involved in the marijuana subculture.

This has resulted in employers increasingly punishing employees who are seen as damaging the “digital reputation” of the firms for which they work, reports Tim Devaney at The Detroit News.

This year, more than one in five companies with 1,000 or more employees — 21 percent — have disciplined employees for “violating social networking policies,” compared to 13 percent in 2008, according to a survey by Proofpoint Inc., an email security company in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Ultralight Flight To Check Two Pot Plants Lands Fla. Men In Jail

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2010 Growing, News

Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

Two men are accused of flying this small ultralight aircraft to an island to tend two marijuana plants.

Two Brevard County, Florida men are in jail on marijuana cultivation charges after they made an ultralight flight, allegedly to tend their cannabis plants on a deserted island inside a conservation area, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

An agency inspector working on the nearby Seminole Ranch Conservation Area about 9 a.m. on Friday said he saw an ultralight plane land near a palm island in the St. Johns River in Volusia County, agency spokeswoman Joy Hill said, reports Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel.

Group Works To Bring Medical Marijuana Dispensaries To Texas

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: Disinformation

With its recognition by the state of Texas as a nonprofit, the Medicinal Marijuana Advocates Group (MMAG) says the fight to bring medical cannabis legislation to Texas is getting closer to reality.

MMAG, recently founded to advocate “peaceful protest for pharmaceutical research,” brings motivation and passion to the struggle, according to Alexander Young, president and founder of the group.

“We expect strong opposition from disbelievers,” Young said. “It’s inevitable in such a conservative atmosphere. We knew this when we started and we’re ready for a struggle. But it’s time to end needless suffering.”

“It’s time to bring centralization and a single, clear, professional voice to the medicinal cannabis community,” said Tim DaGiau, public relations director for MMAG.