The Motherlode's Cannabis Information Headquarters. Calaveras Cannabis actively supports expanded Medicinal Marijuana use as a safe holistic alternative to countless ailments and supports the legalization of marijuana for all adults. Why do we drive people to drink when a safe natural non addictive substance is available? more
LOS ANGELES --- Federal District Court Judge George H. Wu issued a 41-page written sentencing order yesterday, stating that medical marijuana provider Charles C. Lynch was "caught in the middle of the shifting positions" on the issue and that, "Much of the problems could be ameliorated...by the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I." Lynch gained notoriety as a federal medical marijuana defendant, who was prosecuted and convicted in 2008, under the Bush Administration, then sentenced after President Obama signaled a change in federal enforcement policy.
Judge Wu's call for the reclassification of marijuana comes as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering a petition, filed in 2002 by the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis. After a years-long review by the Department of Health and Human Services, the petition was recently sent to DEA, the final stage of the process. Acting DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, who still must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, has the authority to grant or deny the rescheduling petition.
Notably, the judge also said he believed that marijuana should be downgraded from its current federal status as a Schedule 1 drug - an illegal substance with no accepted medical use.
Steele Smith Case Continued The Smith's issued the following statement on Monday May 3: "Our case has been continued until July 27, 2010 @ 8:00 am, Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, Santa Ana, California. "
For those that don't know, this ground breaking case could change federal law.
Judge Carney in an unprecedented and landmark decision has allowed an affirmative medical defense for the first time is a United States Federal Court. This ruling was made despite marijuana remaining on the DEA’s schedule 1 narcotic list, which states in part that schedule 1 drugs have no medical value. While the prosecution has been granted 10 continuances, it would seem they are worried about the outcome of this case.
It's been awful serious of late, and no doubt these issues are serious. But a brief interlude is needed to remember what its all about.
Good people, relaxing, having fun, enjoying a natural safe high...
BongTVLIVE—May 03, 2010 — Smokey and Bong go to the THC Expose and see PonyBoy of Los Marijuanos, Zach Ward of A Christmas Story, Warren G and many more... come join us on BongTvLive.com
The Global Marijuana March Kicks Off! The 2010 Global Marijuana March, also known as the Worldwide Marijuana March kicked off May 1, 2010 from San Francisco to Austin, Texas, to Canada, tens of thousands marched to legalize the therapeutic plant. In Austin, Texas, where strict southern justice is still doled out for even simple possession, hundreds rallied. "It's not a war against drugs it's a war against people, it's a war against your personal liberties and personal freedom," shouted one supporter.
Cannabis Culture is providing full coverage and numerous other video and photos.
CANNABIS CULTURE : The 2010 Global Marijuana march, also known as the Worldwide Marijuana March, was recorded on video by media organizations and thousands of viewers like you - here are the videos.
Sacramento City Hall is wondering whether medical marijuana could help ease its budget pains. Faced with a $43 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, city officials are exploring a local sales tax or business operations tax on medical marijuana dispensaries, interim City Manager Gus Vina said. More Here>>
Medical Marijuana: NJ Patient John Wilson Freed on Appeal Bond, Lawmakers Call for Pardon
New Jersey medical marijuana patient John Wilson walked out of prison freed on bond while he appeals his five-year prison sentence for growing his own medicine. Wilson, a 37-year-old with multiple sclerosis, had served five weeks of his prison sentence in a succession of local and state jails and prison when a court ruled Monday he could be freed on bond pending appeal. More on this sad story:> and Here
Check this out, published this week - an amazing infographic Are marijuana users treated unfairly?Click Here
Dispensaries Sue Costa Mesa over ban More dispensaries sue local governments over dispensary bans. How long until the tax payers wake up and legalize and regulate this market? Costa Mesa Lawsuit Great OpEd in Sign On San Diego Legalizing marijuana not really a dopey idea By Michael Stetz, UNION-TRIBUNE COLUMNIST
Who knows, in the near future, on a Friday night after a tough week of work, those so inclined could legally fire up a joint.
And who knows, by California allowing that, some of this might happen:
A) The tax base gets a much-needed bump.
B) Cops can chase real bad guys, not recreational pot smokers.
C) The medical marijuana farce goes up in smoke because the drug can be had legally. (A lot of bad backs? Mysteriously cured!)
D) And another possible consequence: Prisons would have more room to house society’s worst criminals, particularly violent sex offenders.
The proposed Chelsea’s Law includes a one-strike penalty against those who commit forcible sex crimes against children. It’s named for Poway teenager Chelsea King, killed by convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III.
There’s one problem, though. Prisons are jammed.
So is it time to take the bold step and legalize marijuana, which might help ease the problem? Momentum for it is growing.
A referendum will be on the November ballot, permitting personal use of the drug for those 21 and over. Cities or counties could allow for its sale and tax it. (Or not, it’ll be up to them.) It’ll also be OK for people to grow small amounts of it.
“It would free up prison spaces for really, really bad guys,” said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project.
BUSINESS BOOMING FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA DOCTORS by Toni Scott, (Source:Chico Enterprise-Record)
28 Apr 2010
CHICO -- Every Tuesday, Nikki Koons is reminded that the demand for medical marijuana is great in Chico. Koons is the office manager for Chico Natural Care For Wellness, a doctor's office that specializes in recommending medical marijuana for qualified patients.
Tuesdays are the days that Dr. Cristal Speller takes in new patients, and the days Koons said are the busiest of the week.
"It's pretty packed," Koons said. "Every week we probably see 40 to 60 new patients."
The East Avenue office has been open for about three years, Koons said, and in that time, the practice has built to approximately 4,000 patients, mostly from Butte County.
Although Koons said she sees a "wide variety" of people with a multitude of ailments, she said the top two conditions people come in with are anxiety and chronic pain. She noted some patients have mentioned obtaining medical marijuana from dispensaries that have popped up in the city.
She said she sees patients come in to Natural Care for Wellness in wheelchairs and carrying bags full of pills, often looking for a medical option that doesn't include the side effects prescription medications can bring. Although there is a stigma associated with medicating with marijuana, Koons says the people she encounters simply want an alternative to ease their pain.
"A lot of it has nothing to do with smoking pot," Koons said.
As part of a series, I would like to clear up some myths and provide information as a guide to assist you in researching medical marijuana law in California. This article is geared towards a legal medical marijuana patient who may legally possesses or cultivate marijuana for the personal medical purposes with the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician (I will refer to this as the common term: a "Prop 215 Card").*
My series will include your rights and immunities, police powers, eligibility for Prop 215 and delve into the legal issues surrounding collectives and cooperatives, including storefront dispensaries. My first article in the series will guide you on how to act during a police contact.
I've been stopped by cops! Possession of Marijuana and Prop 215
Marijuana is in illegal substance in California. Prop 215, among other things, immunized qualified persons from penalties for marijuana possession and cultivation; however, it did not "legalize" marijuana for those with their Prop 215 card. The courts later affirmed that Prop 215 protections did extend to transportation of marijuana for personal use. People.v.Wright
SB420, a subsequent bill and attempt at clarifying Prop 215 provided that a qualified patient may, among other things possess and/or transport up to 8 oz. of marijuana for personal use without being arrested or having their medicine seized if that patient produces either a state issued Medical Marijuana ID card or a verifiable physician's recommendation. Despite the fact, that this 8 oz. measure has been ruled a minimum, anticipate law enforcement will generally follow the guideline when determining whether to arrest you and/or seize your medicine. Likewise, if you do not have your Prop 215 card with you or it cannot be verified, officers can and probably will arrest and/or cite you to appear in court. In that case, your Prop 215 card is an affirmative defense that may be used at your court date. You need not formally file a motion to dismiss, you may informally suggest it.
And now a pause for a little small town election gossip..
Earning Sheriff of Calaveras County The Ballard vs. Kuntz battle heated up. ThePineTree.net (TPT) weed war turned into a battle of words between the Ballard camp and the Kuntz camp when both parties began accusing each other of tampering with "vote for me" signs and foul play in debate scheduling.
If you caught it, an announcement was made (and removed) on TPT that a debate between Kuntz and Ballard had been scheduled and Judge Mewhinney would moderate it. Apparently, Kuntz had not accepted the invitation and the announcement was removed by TPT.
A "Letter to the editor" written by Jeanie Middleton, a county employee and Ballard election committee member was posted on TPT and the Enterprise. The letter offered an apology for the premature announcement; however, as the discussion degraded, it was clear that this was an actually an accusation that Kuntz was afraid to face Ballard in debate. The Kuntz camp responded that the Ballard camp was scheduling debates and announcing them without coordinating them and that the two had already agreed to a debate that was still scheduled. The camps sparred back and forth eventually going so far as to accuse each other of candidate sign tampering and accusing Middleton of "ruining the [sheriff's] department."
Some of the battles boiled over into coverage by KCRA. Middleton, representing Ballard, appeared on TV challenging that Kuntz used the school under false pretenses for a fund raise, coordinating with the school and the foodbank. You can view this video here and decide for yourselves: http://www.kcra.com/video/23285302/index.html
Overall, a sad state of affairs for the top spot in the county... Lead me not into hemptation...
There I was driving through San Andreas to get to an appointment and low and behold, what did I see? Eddie Ballard was standing outside Hemptation apparently.. talking to people? For those that don't know, Hemptation is a smoke shop, skate shop, and hydroponic store in San Andreas. I highly recommend it, by the way.
Anyway, Ballard is either arresting people or .. could this be an overture?
I've sent an email to Middleton, maybe she can tell us what Captain Ballard has to say. She seems to have a finger on the pulse of that campaign.
FT Worth Police officer Wesley Lamb was arrested for marijuana related charges.
A local resident called in a tip that Lamb was smoking marijuana in uniform. An investigation and undercover sting or was triggered resulting in the arrest. Monday, and Officer Wesley Lamb was arrested 48 hours later.
The merits of Marijuana treatment of autism are becoming more and more well known. Cannabis can quite literally be a miracle drug for the Autistic.
The enlightening series "Why I give my 9 year old pot" by Marie Myung-Ok Lee shed's new light on the story and deserves wider exposure.
Why I Give My 9-Year-Old Pot
Last summer, we reached the six-month mark in our cannabis experiment. We'd been using medical marijuana to help quell our autistic son's gut pain and anxiety, and we were seeing some huge changes in his behavior and, presumably, his happiness. J was smiling, interacting (one of home-based therapists said she'd never encountered such an affectionate autistic child), even putting his dirty dishes in the dishwasher—rinsing and everything!—not only without being told, but without ever having been asked to do such a thing. The more I'd been reading, along with J's doctor, about the effects of cannabis—analgesic, anti-anxiety, safe—the more it seemed a logical choice. I've also heard from other parents who've decided to try cannabis for their children. One of the kids has Smith-Magenis, a genetic disorder that includes autismlike behavioral symptoms including self-injury. Another is an autistic child who'd refused to eat and was near death. Post-marijuana, he is thriving. The Smith-Magenis boy, who'd been about to start court-ordered medication, is also doing well.
Then, after all this affirmative news and a beautiful summer, we hit a snag. But from it, we learned an awful lot about what the cannabis is doing for J.
Our mj farmer, Organic Guy, needs to make a living while he grows medical cannabis for his three patients. Being an illegal street drug dealer is lucrative; being a supplier of medical cannabis is not. By the law of our state, Rhode Island, Organic Guy is paid only for expenses. Growing J his medicine takes a lot of daily labor and infrastructure, but if Organic Guy has any extra harvest, he can only donate it, not sell it, to another licensed patient. Some states, such as Colorado, set up and regulate retail outlets for medical marijuana. In California, for instance, cannabis buyers' clubs, as they're called, actually outnumber Starbucks. But in Rhode Island, there are no such options for growers.
The war on drugs will be on the ballot in California this November. The nation will watch the state decide whether to tax and regulate marijuana or continue to arrest adults for possession of this plant.
The vote on the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 will impact many of the most important issues in the country today. Californians will express how they want police resources used, if adults who consume marijuana should be criminalized, how best to deal with the tragic violence in Mexico, and what our priorities should be in tough economic times. It's no wonder that seven months out, this issue has already generated thousands of news stories around the world.
Opposition to this reform has crystallized within the drug war establishment, and so has their spin. Here are their top five talking points and the truth beyond them:
Drug Warrior Spin #1: Why would we authorize another harmful substance in our society?
The reality is that marijuana is already widely available in our society. Like it or not, it's a mainstream recreational drug consumed by millions, including one in ten Californians last year, according to federal data. The California ballot initiative simply acknowledges that marijuana is here and that it's more sensible to regulate this massive market, like we do with even more harmful drugs like cigarettes and alcohol. Prohibition of highly popular substances never works and brings terrible collateral damage. Alcohol prohibition didn't keep people from drinking, but it did give us Al Capone and gun battles in the streets. No one dies over sales of Budweiser today.
Drug Warrior Spin #2: Regulation will cause marijuana consumption to skyrocket with addiction rates to match.
The truth is rates of marijuana consumption aren't determined by penalties against it. If they were, the U.S. - which arrests an astounding 750,000 people for marijuana possession every year - wouldn't have double the consumption rate of The Netherlands, where marijuana sales have been tolerated for decades. That principle holds true across this country as some states that lowered penalties against marijuana possession years ago have among the lowest rates of use while some states that retained harsh marijuana laws have among the highest. As for addiction, the risk of becoming dependent on marijuana is mild compared to most other drugs including alcohol and tobacco. In fact, most people who enter treatment for marijuana addiction in this country today are referred by the criminal justice system, but 65% don't even meet the standard criteria for dependence.
Drug Warrior Spin #3: Regulating marijuana will aid drug cartels.
It is practically Orwellian to claim that state regulation of marijuana would benefit criminal cartels. More than 20,000 Mexicans have died in the last three years thanks to prohibition.
NORML hails the passage of another milestone for the Global Marijuana March with Georgetown, Guyana and Ryebrook, NY, as the 299th and 300th cities convening a march, rally, forum or benefit for the reform of cannabis laws on the weekends of Saturday May 1st and May 8th. NORML and numerous other reform groups called for more cities this year to participate so that organizers could meet and surpass their stated goal of more than 200 cities More>>
Ottawa police Chief supports decriminalization
Ottawa police Chief Vern White says he isn’t interested in giving marijuana users criminal records, and would support discussing decriminalization — with one caveat.
“My only concern about the word ‘decriminalizing’ is the suggestion to the public that (marijuana) is not a dangerous drug,” he said. Otawa Police Chief supports decriminalization.
The Citizen asked White about decriminalization following a recent community meeting.
An Angus Reid poll released earlier this month shows a majority of Canadians remain in favour of legalizing the plant. And last Tuesday, hundreds flocked to Parliament Hill to smoke up in an annual ritual in support of decriminalization.
“If this is about, ‘we don’t want people to have a criminal record for possession of marijuana,’ that message is a good message,” White said. “Because I don’t want them to have a criminal record for possession of marijuana either.”
John Haring is a 45 year-old man from Clearwater, Florida, who has been suffering from chronic pain for more than twenty years.
As related in a feature on TampaBay.com, when he was 24, Haring suffered an accident while working as a truck driver in Ohio. His rig rolled as he tried to avoid a kid who suddenly came in the way of the 18-wheeler that he was driving. His injuries left him without the use of his fingers and his legs; he has spent time on a wheelchair since
In order to manage the pain that he suffers from arthritis, among other things, he has, over the years, been prescribed with prescription painkillers. Thus far, however, these medicines have not worked well. So he turned to marijuana, growing them in his home in Clearwater.
This would have been perfectly alright if he had been living in California, and if a doctor legally advices him to turn to pot and writes a prescription for it. The thing is, Haring lives in Florida – a state where marijuana – even when used for medical purposes – is illegal.
SANTA CRUZ — Six county men were arrested, and more than 1,000 marijuana plants were seized from three properties Thursday during an undercover operation, sheriff's deputies announced Friday.
"With that amount of plants and that many players, this is clearly a sophisticated operation," Sgt. Dan Campos said. "This is an example of many marijuana growing operations in the county. It's a subculture that thrives here."
Deputies served search warrants at several locations, including on Swanton Road and Last Chance Road near Davenport, South Rodeo Gulch in Soquel, Encina Drive in Live Oak and on Empire Grade Road in Bonny Doon, Lt. Jim Hart said in a news release.
They seized more than 1,000 plants valued between $180,000 and $300,000, along with $6,000 cash, he said.
Welcome Message: The Motherlode's Cannabis Information Headquarters. Calaveras Cannabis actively supports expanded Medicinal Marijuana use as a safe holistic alternative to countless ailments and supports the legalization of marijuana for all adults. Why do we drive people to drink when a safe natural non addictive substance is available?
Prohibition has served only to ensure that illicit business control this industry. The Tax Cannabis Act will not only end the endless Medical Marijuana debate and state wide law enforcement abuse, it will immediately provide an abundant source of local revenue and other taxes in excess of one billion dollars. The savings to the state in law enforcement is also estimated into the billions. The destructive cannabis prohibition will end in CA and will be the domino to bring about positive nationwide change; that is change we endorse.
This act will immediately empower local counties and cities the ability to control, tax, or even ban marijuana industry within their respective areas.
Personal possession and a small personal garden will be legal.
The Tax Cannabis Act 2010 allows us to take the control of the market as we did with alcohol. It is time to stop wasting our tax dollars on the futility of nearly 80 years prohibition and put this issue to work for us. Vote yes to tax and regulate cannabis in 2010.
Jack Herer, an energetic advocate for marijuana
legalization who was a mesmerizing presence on the Venice Beach
Boardwalk in California and achieved worldwide renown after he wrote a
treatise extolling the virtues of hemp, died April 15. He was 70.
Herer suffered a debilitating heart attack in September minutes after
he delivered a typically pugnacious pro-pot speech at the Hempstalk
festival in Portland, Ore., insisting that marijuana ought to be smoked
morning, noon and night. "You've got to be out of your mind not to
smoke dope," shouted Herer, dressed in a green short-sleeved shirt
and shorts made from hemp. "It is the best thing the world has ever
had."
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