Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

New York City Pot Arrests Soar To Near-Record In 2009

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 2, 2010 News

New York City leads the world in pot arrests — and wastes up to $90 million a year keeping it that way

New York Police Department officers made more than 46,000 arrests in 2009 for marijuana possession in public, second highest in the Big Apple’s history, according to statistics from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The annual arrest total is up more than 4,600 percent from 1990, when the NYPD reported fewer than a thousand pot arrests, reports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

San Diego Medical Marijuana Ordinance Developed In Secret

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 2, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Fox 5

Medical marijuana advocates have responded with shock and concern at a draconian proposal that would create strict new rules for medical marijuana collectives in unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

According to advocates, the ordinance, as drafted, threatens to cut off San Diego patients’ access to medical marijuana by making compliance with the absurdly too-strict rules almost impossible.

Popular Outdoor Writer Arrested For Weed… In Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 2, 2010 Culture, Growing, News

Photo: Northern California Hiking Trails Blog

Deputies claim popular writer Tom Stienstra, 55, had a “sophisticated cultivation operation” in his barn in Weed, California

Well-known outdoor author Tom Stienstra has been arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.

Stienstra, 55, was busted March 25 after deputies served a search warrant at his home in Weed, California, and found what they claimed was a “sophisticated cultivation operation” in his barn, sheriff’s department spokesperson Susan Gravenkamp said in an email to the Redding Record Searchlight.

Deputies claimed they found 31 immature marijuana plants, 29 mature plants and 11 pounds of dried marijuana, Gravenkamp said.

Much of the processed marijuana was packaged, according to Gravenkamp. Deputies also claimed they found scales, packaging material and other “paraphernalia” at Stienstra’s barn and inside his home, she said.

Stienstra, an outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and syndicated newspaper columnist, is also an author of books on hiking, camping and the outdoors. He has a weekly TV show in KBCW/KMAX in Sacramento, and a weekly radio program on San Francisco’s KCBS.

State Supreme Court To Review Firing Of Medical Marijuana Patient

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 2, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Fox 5

The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review a case in which an employee was fired solely for her lawful use, at home, of doctor-recommended marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The case arose from the 2006 firing of authorized medical marijuana patient Jane Roe (who is using a pseudonym to protect her identity) from a company called TeleTech Customer Care Management. Roe was hired by TeleTech to be a customer service consultant, which required answering phones and responding to emails.

Roe informed TeleTech about her medical use of marijuana during the hiring process, providing the company with a copy of her physician’s authorization.

However, when Roe’s pre-employment drug screen tested positive for THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, she was fired.

WA Governor Allows More To OK Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 2, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: World of Work

More medical professionals will be allowed to authorize the use of medical marijuana for qualified patients under a measure signed into law by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Washington’s newest improvement on the medical marijuana program expands the number of health care providers who are legally allowed to recommend medical marijuana to patients.

Gregoire signed the bill Thursday, and it will take effect June 10, reports The Associated Press.

Under previous law, only physicians were authorized to write a recommendation for medical marijuana.

The new measure adds physician assistants, naturopaths, advanced registered nurse practitioners, and osteopathic physician assistants to the list of those who can officially recommend cannabis for patients under Washington’s medical marijuana law.

94-Year-Old Woman Caught With 11 Lbs. Pot At Mexican Border

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2010 Global, News

Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CBP officers claimed the six bundles of Mexican pot have an estimated street value of more than $5,000

Officers say a 94-year-old Mexican woman has been arrested for trying to smuggle almost 11 pounds of marijuana across the border into Arizona.

U.S. Customers and Border Protection (CBP) officers claimed the woman, from Nogales, Sonora, said she was trying to cross the border Tuesday for a day of shopping. But an officer “became suspicious” and referred the woman for further searching, reports KPHO.com.

Authorities then found 10.5 pounds of cannabis strapped to the woman’s body, covering an area from her torso to her legs.

CBP officers claimed the six bundles of confiscated marijuana had an estimated “street value” of $5,250.

College Students: Marijuana Is SAFER Than Alcohol

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Madison NORML

Students at more than 80 colleges across the United States are urging their universities to allow them to use marijuana, rather than the legal party substance, alcohol, as part of National Alcohol Awareness Month.

The students argue that stiff penalties for being caught in a campus dorm with cannabis encourages students to use alcohol and promotes binge drinking.

Drug Czar Dodges Pot Legalization Question

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: popten

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske: “You can envision a lot of different things.” Oh yeah, Gil? Like you being out of a job?

The Obama Administration’s top drug enforcement official dodged a question Thursday on how the federal government would react if Californians vote to legalize pot in November.

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske said he “wouldn’t speculate” on what Obama would do if the marijuana legalization ballot initiative is approved.

“Since it hasn’t passed — right now it would be improper to speculate on what the federal government’s role is,” Kerlikowske said during an appearance on ABC’s Top Line webast, reports Michael O’Brien at The Hill.

When pressed, Kerlikowske admitted Thursday that a number of possible responses, including lawsuits to litigate the differences in state and federal drug laws, could spring up if California voters legalize pot.

“You can envision a lot of different things,” Kerlikowske said.

An April 2009 Field Poll showed 56 percent of Californians favor making pot legal for recreational use, while taxing the proceeds.

Most CA Atty. Gen. Candidates Oppose Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Proud Smoke

Most major candidates for California attorney general are lining up against the state’s marijuana legalization initiative, reports Seth Hemmelgarn at Bay Area Reporter.

Even supposedly liberal, but quite spineless, Democratic candidates disagree with those who say it’s time law enforcement got out of the marijuana business.

“As a career prosecutor, I believe that drug selling harms communities; it is not a ‘victimless crime,’ as some contend,” said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who is running in the Democratic Primary for California attorney general.

It’s Official: California GOP Against Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: DemocraticStuff.com

With sad predictability, the GOP’s cowardly, conservative apologists for the status quo in California have dutifully lined up against the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, which will appear on this November’s ballot in the Golden State.

The California Republican Party wasted no time in making their opposition to marijuana legalization official, reports Joe Garofoli at SF Gate.

“The last thing California needs is hundreds of thousands of more people getting high, and the costs to society that would come from widely expanded drug use,” said GOP chair Ron Nehring Wednesday, seemingly unaware that pot use has already expanded.

“We know a top factor behind whether young people try drugs is cost, and legalization would certainly bring the cost of dope down, making it much more widely accessible,” Nehring said, seemingly unaware that, so far in human history, cost of drugs has never kept any teen from trying the stuff, and besides, weed is already widely accessible.