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With Legal Marijuana Near, Zoning Concerns Researcher

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 26, 2012 Dispensaries, News

Under Washington state’s I-502, the Liquor Control Board will not license cannabis businesses that are within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, libraries, child care centers, recreation centers, public transit centers, and game arcades

Tuesday Lecture In Seattle Will Cover I-502 Prohibited Zones

In the wake of the historic voter decision to legalize cannabis in Washington state, licensed marijuana retailers may become a reality by December 2013. But good luck getting such a license in Seattle, said one researcher, with the zoning requirements put in place by Initiative 502.

“Nowhere will it be more difficult to site a licensed cannabis business than in urban areas, particularly in the Seattle metropolitan area,” said Ben Livingston with the Center for Legal Cannabis, a newly formed “think tank and project incubator.”

Livingston started mapping federal “school zones” two months ago after the DEA sent letters to dozens of medical cannabis businesses and their landlords, warning them to shut down.

Emery Supporter Sent Death Threats To Federal Prosecutors

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 22, 2012 Global, News

Huffington Post

A fanatical supporter of “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery has been arrested for repeated death threats to Emery’s federal prosecutors

An unhinged Canadian man with a diaper obsession has been charged with sending a series of death threats to federal prosecutors in Seattle just before “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery’s extradition to the United States to face marijuana charges.

Paul George Cartier, 50, has “a history of other threats,” according to the U.S. Secret Service, reports Keegan Hamilton at the Seattle Weekly, including once having mailed a letter to the White House containing white power labeled “anthrax.”

Emery, the B.C.-based marijuana seed millionaire, pleaded guilty in 2008 to exporting cannabis seeds to the U.S. After having been indicted in Seattle, Emery almost worked out a deal under which he could have served his time in a Canadian prison, but when that fell through, the feds were busily working to get the Prince of Pot on the American side of the border.

DEA Sweeps Across Western Washington With Dispensary Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 15, 2011 Dispensaries, News

KOMO News

DEA agent Tuesday morning at Seattle Cannabis Co-op’s location in the Rainier neighborhood

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided medical marijuana collectives in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup, Rochester, and Lacey, Washington, as a coordinated raid swept across the Puget Sound region on Tuesday.

Patient advocates and legal defense groups report that at least nine dispensaries have been raided, according to The Seattle Times. Ben Livingston of the patient advocacy group Cannabis Defense Coalition said he’s spoken with several dispensary owners and defense attorney Aaron Pelley, who confirmed raids were occurring.

“I’m in shock because now I have no pain medicine,” said patient Cameron Christenson outside of Seattle Cannabis Co-op on Rainer Avenue, reports David Rose at Q13 Fox News. “I can think of 100 crack houses in town — why don’t you go raid those?”

NAW’s Thorny Rose: Legalization Measure Gets $300K Infusion

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 2, 2011 Legislation, News

Profile Kiss

Washington state medical marijuana patients and advocates find themselves in an odd position this year. New Approach Washington’s I-502, a legalization initiative, is doing quite well gathering voter signatures, and just received a major cash infusion. But every rose has its thorn: The happiness activists would otherwise feel about expanded access to cannabis is tempered by concern at the harsh DUI provisions contained in the measure, as well as the prohibitions on home cultivation and on possession of more than one ounce at the time.

The ACLU-backed initiative is getting $100,000 this week from philanthropist Harriet Bullitt, and it expects to have $200,000 more from Progressive Insurance Chairman Peter Lewis, who has already given $50,000 to NAW, reports Gene Johnson at The Associated Press.

I-502 would remove criminal penalties for possession of up to an ounce for people 21 and older. Marijuana would be sold in state-licensed stores under the auspices of the Washington Liquor Control Board, and taxed at 25 percent.

NAW has two months left in which to collect enough signatures to qualify for the November 2012 ballot, but seems to be sitting pretty in that regard. With more than 180,000 signatures already gathered, principally by paid workers from California, I-502 needs 241,000 valid voter sigs to qualify, reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly.

Jailed Marijuana Dispensary Owner Goes On Hunger Strike

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 29, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: MHP of Spokane

Jerry Laberdee in happier days at his dispensary, Medical Herb Providers, in Spokane.

There are two ways to look at the federal government’s war on medical marijuana patients and providers. One is the theoretical, statistical way of looking at things — where it’s all numbers — and another is looking at the pot war’s impact on actual human beings.

The second way is a lot more difficult.

A medical marijuana patient and dispensary owner in Washington state has been on a hunger strike ever since he was jailed six days ago on federal charges.

Jerry Laberdee, 56, has been in Spokane County Jail since last Tuesday, after he refused to take his court-ordered drug test, reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly. Laberdee says he won’t eat until he’s released and allowed to use medicinal cannabis, as he is legally authorized to do under Washington law.

His daughter, Jessica Vogel, 28, told the Weekly that she hasn’t been able to talk much with her dad since he was jailed, but she hopes his hunger strike will “wake people up.”

‘Toke Signals’ Forum To Discuss Future of Marijuana in WA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 17, 2011 Culture, News

Graphic: Seattle Weekly

Tomorrow night at 7, I’ll be onstage in Seattle with seven other panelists to discuss what’s next for marijuana in Washington State.

The event, sponsored by Seattle Weekly and KCTS 9, is called “Toke Signals: The Future of Marijuana in Washington State.”

And there’s still time to submit questions for the panel, reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly.

The forum will be at KCTS 9’s studio near Seattle Center and will feature:

• John McKay: Former U.S. Attorney and Seattle University Law Professor who prosecuted Marc Emery

• Rick Steves: Author, PBS travel correspondent and marijuana law reform advocate

• Steve Elliott: Seattle Weekly’s “Toke Signals” medical marijuana dispensary review columnist and Toke of the Town blog editor

Ex-Mayor Gets 3 Months In Jail For Dealing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2011 News

Photo: Everett Herald

Floyd “Butch” DeRosia, pictured not long before he resigned as mayor in 2003

The former mayor of Granite Falls, Washington was sentenced on Thursday to three months in jail for dealing marijuana.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Halley Hupp recommended a four-month sentence, but Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent knocked a month off that, plus agreed to let former Mayor Floyd “Butch” DeRosia serve his time on work release.

A jury last month convicted DeRosia of two counts of delivery of a controlled substance after a two-day trial. He had faced up to six months in jail.

DEA, Police Raid More Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 19, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jessica Nuna

This photo was taken by an employee inside Medical Herb Providers dispensary in Spokane, Washington during the raid

One Drug Enforcement Administration agent, accompanied by about a dozen Spokane Police officers, on Wednesday raided at least three medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington state.

Medical Herb Providers (MHP), Essence of Mother Earth and Alternative MMD were all raided separately, reports Curtis Cartier at the Seattle Weekly.

According to Jessica Nuna of MHP, by the time law enforcement left that shop, they had taken about 32 cannabis plants, $1,400 in cash, several ounces of dried marijuana flowers and several laptop computers, cellphones and other electronic devices.

Lawmaker To AG: Why Isn’t Medical Pot A States’ Rights Issue?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: KOMO News

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna thinks fighting health care reform is a states’ rights issue — but he seems completely unwilling to defend the state’s medical marijuana law against the feds

When 15 Democratic lawmakers in the Washington Legislature on Monday asked state Attorney General Rob McKenna for his opinion on several cannabis-related issues, his non-response only proved that the long-winded AG is capable of blathering on meaninglessly for six pages without ever actually saying anything.

McKenna’s office released an informal opinion which, Chris Grygiel of the Seattle P.I. reports, “largely declined to answer the questions the legislators previous posed to him. Those centered around how the federal government, which does not recognize state medical cannabis laws, might react to changes in Washington’s rules.”

WA Senate OKs Marijuana Dispensary Bill, But…

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Smashed Frog

One amendment to SB 5073 would ban print advertising by medical marijuana dispensaries.

Version Passed By Senate Would Ban Print Advertising By Dispensaries; Law Prof Calls That ‘Clearly Unconstitutional’

The Washington Senate approved a bill Wednesday night which, if approved by the House, would legalize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.

The bill, intended to bring the medical marijuana supply chain out of a legal gray area, was approved by senators on a 29-20 vote after lengthy debate, reports Manuel Valdes of The Associated Press. The measure now moves to the House.

Senators approved several amendments to the bill which are opposed by the medical marijuana community, including a troublesome ban on print advertising which would strip dispensaries of their First Amendment right to advertise. Distressingly, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), author of the bill, introduced that change.

One University of Washington law professor and First Amendment expert called the proposed ban on print advertising by dispensaries “clearly unconstitutional,” reports Curtis Cartier at Seattle Weekly.

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