Search Results: msnbc (33)

Photo: Hemp Beach TV

​A U.S. Border Patrol agent in western Arizona was arrested after “bundles” of marijuana were allegedly found in his patrol vehicle, authorities said on Tuesday.

The Border Patrol’s Yuma sector said the agent, whose name wasn’t released, was arrested after two colleagues found he had numerous packages of cannabis stashed inside a marked Border Patrol truck after encountering the suspect while patrolling on Monday, according to Reuters.

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Markets

​It’s no secret that medical marijuana has become a big business in the United States. Medicinal cannabis sales this year are projected to reach $1.7 billion, according to an “investment-grade report on the business of medical marijuana” released this week.

What that means is that marijuana is hard on the heels of Viagra, another of America’s favorite medications. Viagra, the anti-impotence drug, has sales of $1.9 billion a year.
The $1.7 billion figure represents estimated sales of marijuana through dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws.
The Sea Change Strategy LLC report, “The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011,” adds new levels of meaning to the term “Green Rush.” It predicts that the number of states where medical marijuana is sold will double in the next five years.
The demand for cannabis in states which already have medical marijuana will also grow, according to the report.

Photo: Nogales Police Department
Nogales, Arizona public works employees pulled two bales of marijuana connected to 900 feet of rope from this manhole on Wednesday

​Police said public works employees hauled out an estimated 39 pounds of marijuana while investigating a clogged sewer line in Nogales, Arizona on Wednesday.

Workers in the southern Arizona city, near the Mexico border, found two wet, feces-covered bales of marijuana tied to a rope feeding into the sewer system, reports Hank Stephenson at the Nogales International.
The bales, tied with about 900 feet and rope, were hauled out through a manhole on Hudgins Street. The sewer line from which the pot was removed feeds into the International Outflow Interceptor (IOI) from the Heroes neighborhood in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. A search of the Rio Rico sewer plant, where the IOI ends, “didn’t turn up any more drugs,” a Nogales Police Department spokesman said.
Police Lt. Carlos Jiminez said it’s the first time they’ve discovered bales of marijuana tied to a rope that they believe smugglers were trying to maneuver through the sewer line, reports The Associated Press.

Photo: Free Republic
Homeland Security and ICE agents found more than two tons of Jamaican pot aboard the sailboat.

​An in-law of Hardball host Chris Matthews has been charged with running a major marijuana smuggling operation which brought pot to the U.S. from Jamaica.

Local police say that the trail from a pot bust — which they claim was worth $8.1 million — leads to Dartmouth, Massachusetts and James Ormonde Staveley-O’Carroll, a shipbuilder whose daughter, Sarah, is married to Michael Matthews, son of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.
Six weeks ago when federal agents intercepted the 79-foot sailboat Sarah Moira coming from Jamaica, they seized the boat’s cargo of 4,497 pounds of marijuana, and arrested the captain and crew, reports Curt Brown at the Cape Cod Times.

Photo: MSNBC
Local voters seem not to really care much about Pennsylvania State Rep. Paul Costa’s marijuana citation.

​In a refreshing show of common sense, Pennsylvania voters are saying “So what?” after a state legislator got caught smoking marijuana at a tailgate party outside a Steelers game last month.

State Rep. Paul Costa’s citation for smoking a joint isn’t exactly a “burning issue” in his district, reports Jason Cato at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“To me, it doesn’t in any way affect his performance,” said Jim Curcio, 59, of Wilkins, Pa.
Rep. Costa (D-Wilkins) is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court on Wednesday due to allegations he smoked a joint with another man on October 3 near Heinz Field. Costa, 51, denied the accusation through his lawyer.
Pittsburgh police have charged him with “prohibited acts,” a misdemeanor.

Photo: NORML Blog
What do you do when you have a booming, very profitable marijuana tourism industry? Shut it down, of course! If you’re the conservative Dutch government and have your head up your ezel.

​There goes the tourism industry.

In a hare-brained move, the new conservative government of the Netherlands said on Wednesday it plans to ban tourists from buying cannabis in its famed “coffee shops,” where hash and marijuana are legally sold. The shops have become a very popular attraction for travelers from other countries.
The new government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents only, to curb supposed crime linked to its production and sale.
“No tourist attractions. We don’t like that,” said Ivo Opstelten, the Dutch minister for security and justice on Wednesday, reports Gilbert Kreijger of Reuters.
“The heart of the problem is crime and disturbances surrounding the sale,” Opstolten claimed. “We have to go back to what it was meant for: local use for those who would like it.”

Photo: Tomas Bravo/Reuters
Bullet-riddled patrol trucks and a pockmarked building are the aftermath of an attack at a police station in Los Ramones, about 43 miles from Monterrey, Mexico.

​Every cop in a small northern Mexican town quit Tuesday after gunmen heavily sprayed their brand new police headquarters Monday night.

All 14 members of the Los Ramones police force reportedly resigned, according to MSNBC. Nobody was answering the phone at the office of Mayor Santos Salinas, The Associated Press reported.
Gunmen fired more than 1,000 rounds at the building’s facade, reports Noroeste. Six grenades, three of which detonated, were also thrown at the building, according to the the newspaper.

Photo: Missoula Independent
Jason Christ, owner of Montana Caregivers Network, is accused of unethical business practices in a lawsuit filed by three former employees on Thursday.

​Three former employees of a Missoula, Montana medical marijuana business that has helped thousands of patients get cannabis authorizations sued its owner Thursday, claiming that he ordered hundreds of card applications to be falsified.

The wrongful-discharge lawsuit filed in state District Court in Missoula also accused Montana Caregivers Network owner Jason Christ of verbally abusing employees, using company funds for personal expenses, driving a company van while smoking marijuana and creating a “hostile work environment” that essentially forced the three workers to quit on June 18, reports Mike Dennison at the Billings Gazette.

Photo: ACLU-WA
Famed travel writer and TV host Rick Steves will be among the panelists at “Where Is Marijuana Reform Heading?”, a public forum in Seattle on September 12 sponsored by the WA ACLU.

Sure, it seems that the wind is at our backs. The tantalizing possibility of marijuana legalization looks more possible than it ever has before. But what comes next?

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington on September 12 will present a discussion on the history, current status, and future of marijuana-law reform in Washington and the United States.
The event will be Sunday, September 12, 2010, 7 pm – pm (doors open at 6:30 pm), at the Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Avenue at Seneca Street. Enter on 8th Avenue. (Directions and Parking)
Local and national panelists include travel writer Rick StevesKeith Stroup, founder of and legal counsel to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML); Washington state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-WellesRob Kampia, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP); and Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).