Toke of the Town — Marijuana and Cannibis News

DEA And Police Raid California Pot Dispensary For Third Time

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 18, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: The Last Free Voice

This was the scene left by DEA agents after the 2008 raid at Organica. The collective was raided again in 2009 and again Thursday.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Sarah Pullen has confirmed the DEA is serving warrants at Organica Collective, a marijuana dispensary in Culver City, California.

Culver City police also participated in the raid, reports Amina Khan at the Los Angeles Times.

Witnesses saw several officers and cars congregating around 10 a.m. Thursday around Organica Collective at 13456 Washington Boulevard.

At least three people were detained, according to witness Erin Olf, officer manager at Rainbow Acres Natural Foods, a neighboring business. Olf said she saw the three handcuffed and standing in front of a graffiti-covered storage truck.

San Diego Dispensary Asks Cops To Return Its Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 18, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Last Blog on Earth

The defense team for a San Diego medical marijuana collective manager is requesting the return of several pounds of cannabis and all other property seized in a 2008 raid after Jovan Jackson was acquitted of all pot charges.

During their “investigation” of Answerdam Collective, law enforcement agents “confiscated” computers, business records, and several pounds of medical marijuana, reports Eugene Davidovich of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) San Diego.

Dispensary owner Jackson is a medical marijuana patient, Navy veteran, and the victim of two “Operation Green Rx” raids, part of San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’s quixotic and misguided war against medical marijuana patients and providers.

Pot Patients Picket Obama: ‘Get The DEA Out Of Colorado’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 18, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: KDVR

Medical marijuana patients and advocates Thursday will participate in a Denver protest of the continuing federal raids of patients and providers in Colorado, according to Sensible Colorado.

The protest is in response to the recent Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids of two medical marijuana testing laboratories and the February 12 raid of a licensed grower in Highlands Ranch.

Cannabis Quote Of The Day: Buddha

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 18, 2010 Culture

Graphic: Indianetzone.com

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

~ Buddha

(Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

Santa Barbara Police Raid Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 18, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Santa Barbara Police and other local law enforcement agencies Wednesday raided several medical marijuana dispensaries in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, California.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday evening, the operation was still underway, according to keyt.com.

Authorities were very tight lipped about the raids, but said “lots of marijuana was confiscated.”

Decade-Long Scientific Studies: Medical Marijuana Works

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: intellectual vanities

Next time someone says “there’s no reliable research,” call BS. The results are in. Medical marijuana works.

The evidence is in. In a landmark report to the Legislature, the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced that its studies have shown marijuana to have therapeutic value.

CMCR researchers, in a decade-long project, found “reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment” for some specific, pain-related medical conditions.

These long-awaited findings are the first results in 20 years from clinical trials of smoked cannabis in the United States.

“We focused on illnesses where current medical treatment does not provide adequate relief or coverage of symptoms,” said CMCR Director Igor Grant, M.D., executive vice-chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine.

Marijuana Grower Who Bragged For TV Cameras Faces 40 Years

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: 9News

Chris Bartkowicz bragged about his $500,000 basement grow operation and expected $400,000 profits. Hours later, he was busted.

Federal prosecutors Tuesday filed drug-distribution charges against a Colorado man who operated a large marijuana garden in his basement that he said legally served medical marijuana patients.

Chris Bartkowicz, charged with a single count, could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Bartkowicz’s suburban home in Highlands Ranch, Colo., last week and seized 224 marijuana plants after he boasted in a television news report about his basement garden, predicting $400,000 profits this year.

ACLU To City: Give That Man His Marijuana Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: David N. Posavetz/Macomb Daily

This is the amount of marijuana — seven grams, or a quarter ounce — Royal Oak police seized from registered patient Christopher Frizzo.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan is asking the city of Royal Oak to return medical marijuana that it says was illegally confiscated from a man during a traffic stop last month.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the police chief and city attorney, the ACLU said Royal Oak isn’t abiding by the law passed by 60 percent of Michigan’s voters in 2008, reports Catherine Kavanaugh at the Oakland County Daily Tribune.

Dan Korobkin, staff attorney with ACLU of Michigan, said the actions of the Royal Oak Police Department show a misunderstanding of the new law.

Iowa Pharmacy Board Opens Door To Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Patients for Medical Cannabis

One of Iowa’s biggest crops may be headed towards becoming one of its best medicines

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to recommend that the Legislature reclassify marijuana in a way that would open the door to medical uses.

The board recommended that Iowa lawmakers move cannabis from Schedule I, for which there are no permitted uses, to Schedule II, which allows medical uses, reports Tony Leys at the Des Moines Register.

Also recommended by the board was the creation of a state task force, including patients, medical professionals and law enforcement officers, to devise a way to safely implement a medical marijuana program in Iowa.

Washington Legislature Drops The Ball (Again) On Marijuana Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 17, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: Reality Catcher

Never mind what the people of Washington want. The Legislature thinks pot is just too scary.

Cowardly career politicians, out of touch with their own constituents and terrified of being branded “soft on drugs,” have once again dropped the ball on decriminalizing marijuana.

Senate Bill 5615, which would have freed up Washington’s criminal justice resources by making adult possession of small amounts of marijuana an infraction carrying a fine, rather than a misdemeanor carrying mandatory jail time, failed to get a vote in the Washington State Senate Tuesday.

“This means efforts to address adult marijuana use through a civil, public health approach, rather than a failed criminalization approach, have died for the 2010 legislative session,” said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director, ACLU of Washington.

“The ACLU of Washington is disappointed by the Legislature’s failure to pass this bill despite strong and consistent public support for it,” Holcomb said.