Search Results: florence (9)


While his father presides over Florence Town Council meetings, Thomas J. Rankin Jr. is accused of slinging drugs in town. Rankin Jr., known in his hometown as Tom Tom, was arrested this week by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force, several local news outlets have reported. SanTanValley.com reported that on August 25, the Narcotics Task Force served two search warrants. One of them ended up in the arrest of Rankin Jr., 33, of Florence.
Rankin Jr. was in possession of 19.24 grams of marijuana, valued at $800, and 8.91 grams of methamphetamine packaged for sale, valued at $800. Drug paraphernalia related to the sale of dangerous drugs and narcotics were also located in the residence. He was arrested and charged with a series of drug-related offenses, including possession of marijuana and dangerous drugs for sale and using a building for the sale or manufacturing of dangerous drugs, the local news site reported.


The unluckiest marijuana grower of the summer had his grow house busted by authorities after a driver being chased by the California Highway Patrol inadvertently crashed into a warehouse full of weed, authorities said over the weekend.
The driver was taken to County-USC Medical center “with major injuries,” the CHP said in a statement. But first the driver had to be pulled the wreckage, which was inside the Huntington Park warehouse. Also inside, CHP officials said, were 700 to 800 marijuana plants at various stages of maturity.

Photo: BakedLife.com

​​Police in Florence, Alabama say a woman was arrested after her newborn baby tested positive for having marijuana in her system.

Jennifer Lynn Sopanos, 35, of Florence, was charged with “chemical endangerment of a child,” reports The Associated Press.
Sopanos’ baby boy was born March 16 at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital. Police claim the baby tested positive for THC, a principal psychoactive in cannabis. The mother also tested positive, according to Keith Johnson, a police detective.
Sopanos has denied using marijuana in her pregnancy, according to Johnson. She said the positive test was due to second-hand cannabis smoke.
Exactly how Sopanos would be “chemically endangering” her child is far from clear, since according to the best scientific research available, marijuana use by pregnant woman may actually reduce infant mortality.

Photo: WAFF
Scott Burgert, left, and Bradley Jones allegedly sneaked 48 pounds of pot out of the police station over a three-day period in January.

​Only Four Pounds Recovered

Two Alabama men who were working on renovations at the Florence Police Station are in jail after they were accused of taking 48 pounds of marijuana from the evidence locker.

Scott Raymond Burgert, 45, and Bradley Thomas Jones, 40, both of Florence, Alabama, are both charged with first-degree theft of property and trafficking marijuana, Florence Police Chief Rick Singleton said, reports Tom Smith at the Florence Times Daily.
The two men were part of a construction crew which was remodeling the first floor of the police department.

Photo: ENEWSPF

​Here’s a case study in how not to react to questioning. A man barricaded himself in his home after Kentucky State Police stopped by to “ask him a few questions” about growing marijuana, police said.

Deputies and state troopers working on a marijuana eradication team said they stopped by the home of Brian Marrone, 36, of Burlington, Ky., just after 2 p.m. on Thursday to ask about the possibility of pot plants being spotted on his property, reports WLWT.
At first, nobody answered the door, until a woman came out of the home and told them a man was inside threatening his own life, according to Tom Scheben, spokesman for the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, reports WCPO.

Graphic: Fathom Events
You really don’t wanna miss this, man.

​It’s going to be the best Thursday in the history of the world.

The stars of many a stoner’s favorite hit TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, will take on the legendary 1936 cult classic Reefer Madness on August 19 for an evening of live, hilarious riffing and ridicule!
RiffTrax’s own Michael J. Nelson, Kevin “Tom Servo” Murphy and Bill “Crow T. Robot” Corbett — will be reunited on the big screen for the live broadcast, sharing an evening of poking fun at the cult classic feature that warned against the horrors of smoking marijuana.




Photo: americancannabis.org
Jack Herer (1939-2010)

​Famous marijuana activist and author Jack Herer, “The Emperor of Hemp,” died Thursday morning at 11:07 Pacific time.
“Jack deserves kudos for having publicized the benefits of cannabis hemp in his classic book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” said Dale Gieringer of California NORML.
“He also labored long and hard on innumerable initiatives to re-legalize hemp in California,” Gieringer said.
Last September, Herer suffered a serious heart attack at the Portland Hempstalk Festival, just two minutes after giving his last, impassioned speech. He was taken from the site by ambulance and hospitalized, and had struggled with health problems since that time.
“No one has ever educated more people about hemp and cannabis than Jack Herer,” said Paul Stanford, organizer of Hempstalk. “Jack’s legacy will live on for generations to come.”
“I’ve known and been friends with Jack since 1982, and he wrote the first edition of his book in my home in 1985,” Stanford said. “I am going to miss you, Jack.”

Graphic: A Greener Country

​Washington state patients who qualify for medical marijuana will be able to get legal recommendations for it from a wider range of health care professionals under a bill that appears headed to Governor Christine Gregoire’s desk.

Under Senate Bill 5798, it won’t be just doctors who can get sick people access to pot, reports Mark Rahner at The Seattle Times.
The bill widens the list of licensed medical professionals who can recommend marijuana to include physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners and naturopathic physicians, according to one of its sponsors, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).
“The reason is that, especially in rural areas of the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.’s,” Kohl-Welles said. “They see nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Graphic: www.agreenercountry.com

​The Colorado State Senate has passed a bill designed to prevent recreational pot users from exploiting the law to obtain medical marijuana.

The Senate voted 34-1 on Monday to back Senate Bill 109, which will now go to the State House, reports The Associated Press.
The bill bars doctors from writing recommendations inside medical marijuana dispensaries.
It also requires that doctors review a person’s medical history and give them a full exam before recommending that they legally use medical marijuana.
Patients between 18 and 21 would be required to get the approval of two doctors, which is already required for patients under 18.