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marijuana winning big at the polls. CO/MASS/wash pass (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Hipple Long Ware & Peete
- Start date
optionmaven
Footballguy
What great news. No longer will you need a medical note from a doctor in Colorado. A great breakthrough. This will bring in millions more in taxes for the state. Only a matter of time before this goes nationwide. Every state will want a piece of that money. Its about f'n time. Should have never been illegal imo. On cnbc they had the owner of the first licensed place called Annie Oakleys. I think its a gambling hall too. Should become more widespread with 138 dispensaries applying for new recreational license. Time to take a skiing trip this winter. I did hear that out of state people will be only allowed to buy a quarter ounce a day. Whereas if you are local, you can buy an ounce a day.
Wingnut
Footballguy
The local Sheriff here in Polk County FL calls medical marijuana a "sham"....this guy is such a holier than thou tool, he's always holding press conferences declaring people he arrests guilty before their day in court....I can't wait til medicinal pot is legal here, if for no other reason than to make this idiots head explode
http://www.hightimes.com/read/florida-sheriff-calls-medical-marijuana-%E2%80%9Csham%E2%80%9D
http://www.hightimes.com/read/florida-sheriff-calls-medical-marijuana-%E2%80%9Csham%E2%80%9D
RedmondLonghorn
Footballguy
I am looking forward to things being fully operative here, though anything the WSLCB has a hand in is going to be a pain in the ###.
Unfortunately I am also waiting to hear back about a job that I would really like to have and can't risk blowing a drug test. :(
Unfortunately I am also waiting to hear back about a job that I would really like to have and can't risk blowing a drug test. :(
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://norml.org/news/2013/11/22/ama-continues-opposition-to-marijuana-legalization-but-softens-language
Friday, 22 November 2013
National Harbor, MD: The House of Delegates of the American Medical Association voted Tuesday to retain an official position that "cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern," while at the same time adopting language appearing to acknowledge the changing attitudes toward marijuana among the American public.
Since 1977, the AMA has been on record urging the "modification of state law to reduce the severity of penalties for possession of marijuana." That language has now been replaced by a call for the states and the federal government to modify laws "to emphasize public health based strategies to address and reduce cannabis use"; and for the offense of possession of marijuana for personal use, they adopted new language calling for "public health based strategies, rather than incarceration."
Perhaps most promising, the Delegates determined current federal anti-marijuana policies are "ineffective" and called for a review of the "risks and benefits" of the new legalization laws adopted by the voters in Colorado and Washington.
The delegation from California had proposed amending AMA policy to reflect a "neutral stance toward cannabis legalization," but that proposal was defeated, along with a second California proposal to advocate for the "sale of cannabis to be regulated on a state-based level."
Regarding the medical use of marijuana, the group reaffirmed its position that marijuana research be expedited, and that the drug's "status as a federal schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods." However, they also left in place language making it clear their support for additional research "not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product."
These recommendations of the AMA House of Delegates must be ratified at the next biannual meeting before becoming final.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org, or, Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director at: 202-483-5500.
Friday, 22 November 2013
National Harbor, MD: The House of Delegates of the American Medical Association voted Tuesday to retain an official position that "cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern," while at the same time adopting language appearing to acknowledge the changing attitudes toward marijuana among the American public.
Since 1977, the AMA has been on record urging the "modification of state law to reduce the severity of penalties for possession of marijuana." That language has now been replaced by a call for the states and the federal government to modify laws "to emphasize public health based strategies to address and reduce cannabis use"; and for the offense of possession of marijuana for personal use, they adopted new language calling for "public health based strategies, rather than incarceration."
Perhaps most promising, the Delegates determined current federal anti-marijuana policies are "ineffective" and called for a review of the "risks and benefits" of the new legalization laws adopted by the voters in Colorado and Washington.
The delegation from California had proposed amending AMA policy to reflect a "neutral stance toward cannabis legalization," but that proposal was defeated, along with a second California proposal to advocate for the "sale of cannabis to be regulated on a state-based level."
Regarding the medical use of marijuana, the group reaffirmed its position that marijuana research be expedited, and that the drug's "status as a federal schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods." However, they also left in place language making it clear their support for additional research "not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product."
These recommendations of the AMA House of Delegates must be ratified at the next biannual meeting before becoming final.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org, or, Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director at: 202-483-5500.
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://norml.org/news/2013/11/22/poll-8-out-of-10-florida-voters-support-medical-marijuana
Tallahassee, FL: Survey data just released by Quinnipiac University revealed that 82% of Florida voters support reforming state law to allow for the medicinal use of marijuana, only16% were opposed. This poll marks the highest level of support yet for legalizing medicinal use in the Sunshine State.
Support was strongest among Independents (88%) and Democrats (87%) and weakest among Republicans (70%). Not a single demographic group supported this reform by less than 70%.
This data would suggest that if medical marijuana were put to the voters it would be overwhelmingly approved.
Floridians are still divided on their support for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. When surveyed, 48% said they would support the legalization of personal possession for any reason and 42% said they were opposed.
Full survey data can be viewed here: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute/florida/release-detail?ReleaseID=1979
Last edited by a moderator:
RedmondLonghorn
Footballguy
Washington State Liquor Control Board
Completely obnoxious state regulator that is charged with handling pot as well as alcohol.
Wingnut
Footballguy
I couldn't care less about recreational, but medicinal needs to happen here...and when it does I hope Sheriff Judd resigns and fades into obscurity.
Mile High
Footballguy
Colorado marijuana businesses raided this week by federal agents are being investigated for a possible connection to Colombian drug cartels, sources told The Denver Post on Friday.
Three sources who have knowledge of the investigation spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak.
Investigators believe the businesses that were raided are all "one big operation," a source said.
Federal agents swarmed more than a dozen dispensaries and grow warehouses in Denver, Commerce City and Boulder County, according to sources. At least two homes were targeted.
Investigators believe those targeted in the raids had been actively purchasing area dispensaries and growhouses over a sustained period of time, one of the sources said.
A search warrant obtained by The Denver Post included 10 "target subjects" who were owners of businesses or people connected to medical marijuana businesses.
One of the raided dispensaries — VIP Cannabis in Denver — had applied for state licensing in 2010 but regulators have yet to approve or reject it, said Julie Postlethwait, a spokeswoman for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, part of the Department of Revenue.
She declined to give a reason for the three-year wait.
Authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice and and Internal Revenue Service raided the businesses and homes throughout the Denver metro area on Thursday, serving search and seizure warrants.
Agents, some of them wearing black ski masks, seized boxes of records and piles of medical marijuana from six dispensaries and six grow houses in Denver.
In Englewood, a home was raided Thursday by armed SWAT team members, according to a neighbor who asked not to be identified. Two of the target subjects, Carlos Solano and Luis F. Uribe, listed the address on business records.
The home is listed by Arapahoe County property records as being assessed for $1.3 million and is near the home of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
"We didn't know them," said one neighbor. "We never saw the people. It was a huge surprise, seeing guys in full SWAT outfits carrying AK-47s. Usually you see people walking their dogs."
Federal officials wouldn't give specific reasons for the raids, other than to say one of eight federal concerns around marijuana have potentially been violated. Those concerns include trafficking marijuana outside of states where it has been legalized and money laundering.
One of the "target subjects" identified in the search warrant, Denver attorney David Furtado, denies any wrongdoing, according to Furtado's lawyer, Stanley Marks.
"He clearly denies any implication or allegation that he in any way participated in any illegal activity," Marks said Friday, declining to comment further.
Reached Friday, Furtado declined to comment and referred questions to Marks.
State business records identify Furtado as a registered agent — a role often filled by lawyers — for a number of a number of businesses related to medical marijuana.
James "Skip" Wollrab is an attorney for one of the targets, Laszlo Bagi, owner of Swiss Medical in Boulder. Wollrab said Bagi did nothing wrong and had no connection to the raided VIP dispensary.
Both VIP Cannabis and another one of the targeted subjects, Gerardo Uribe, have been involved in a contentious plan to build a large marijuana greenhouse in eastern Pueblo County.
County commissioners in July approved the project on property owned by a company controlled by Gerardo Uribe, GML LLC. Uribe told commissioners he wanted to invest $6 million in the operation, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.
The plan was for Uribe's company to lease space to a Denver dispensary called Metro Cannabis Inc. that would be involved in building the greenhouse. Nothing has been built on the property yet, county officials said Friday.
County Commissioner Sal Pace, who supported the project as a boost to economic development, said Friday the county's standard criminal background check on project applicants turned up nothing.
"From my perspective, we only want good actors in Pueblo County, and if these are bad actors, I'm glad they got busted," Pace said.
Documents related to the greenhouse plan shed light on the ownership structure of VIP Wellness, which does business as VIP Cannabis, the raided Denver dispensary.
In an application Uribe is identified as owning 90 percent of the company, with Carlos Solano owning the remaining 10 percent.
Another of the men listed in a search warrant as a target of Thursday's raids is 50-year-old Juan Guardarrama, who pleaded guilty earlier this year in Miami in a racketeering case with connections to Colombian and Cuban gangs, according to court records and published reports.
In July 2012, the Miami Herald reported that Guardarrama — who used the street name Tony Montana, after the character in the movie Scarface — was arrested on charges that he worked with gangs of Colombian and Cuban-born jewel thieves to sell diamonds that had been forcibly stolen from dealers.
As part of the investigation, Guardarrama, a Cuban immigrant with deep ties to the Miami area but who was living at the time in Denver, asked an undercover police officer to help him distribute 20 pounds of Colorado-grown marijuana a month in Miami, the Herald reported, citing police records.
Guardarrama also asked the undercover officer to have a business partner in Colorado who had "disrespected" him "taken out," the Herald reported.
Guardarrama held a valid medical-marijuana employee license in Colorado beginning in August 2011 and let it expire in August 2013, according to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division.
As part of a plea deal, Guardarrama was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Miami case, according to a court record.
When investigators raided Guardarrama's apartment, they seized $2 million in jewelry and money, according to the Herald.
Another target subject, Jared Linghurst, was formerly an owner of VIP Cannabis and other medical marijuana businesses but withdrew as an owner in January, said Postlethwait, of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24580571/fed-raids-colorado-marijuana-businesses-seek-ties-colombian
Three sources who have knowledge of the investigation spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak.
Investigators believe the businesses that were raided are all "one big operation," a source said.
Federal agents swarmed more than a dozen dispensaries and grow warehouses in Denver, Commerce City and Boulder County, according to sources. At least two homes were targeted.
Investigators believe those targeted in the raids had been actively purchasing area dispensaries and growhouses over a sustained period of time, one of the sources said.
A search warrant obtained by The Denver Post included 10 "target subjects" who were owners of businesses or people connected to medical marijuana businesses.
One of the raided dispensaries — VIP Cannabis in Denver — had applied for state licensing in 2010 but regulators have yet to approve or reject it, said Julie Postlethwait, a spokeswoman for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, part of the Department of Revenue.
She declined to give a reason for the three-year wait.
Authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice and and Internal Revenue Service raided the businesses and homes throughout the Denver metro area on Thursday, serving search and seizure warrants.
Agents, some of them wearing black ski masks, seized boxes of records and piles of medical marijuana from six dispensaries and six grow houses in Denver.
In Englewood, a home was raided Thursday by armed SWAT team members, according to a neighbor who asked not to be identified. Two of the target subjects, Carlos Solano and Luis F. Uribe, listed the address on business records.
The home is listed by Arapahoe County property records as being assessed for $1.3 million and is near the home of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
"We didn't know them," said one neighbor. "We never saw the people. It was a huge surprise, seeing guys in full SWAT outfits carrying AK-47s. Usually you see people walking their dogs."
Federal officials wouldn't give specific reasons for the raids, other than to say one of eight federal concerns around marijuana have potentially been violated. Those concerns include trafficking marijuana outside of states where it has been legalized and money laundering.
One of the "target subjects" identified in the search warrant, Denver attorney David Furtado, denies any wrongdoing, according to Furtado's lawyer, Stanley Marks.
"He clearly denies any implication or allegation that he in any way participated in any illegal activity," Marks said Friday, declining to comment further.
Reached Friday, Furtado declined to comment and referred questions to Marks.
State business records identify Furtado as a registered agent — a role often filled by lawyers — for a number of a number of businesses related to medical marijuana.
James "Skip" Wollrab is an attorney for one of the targets, Laszlo Bagi, owner of Swiss Medical in Boulder. Wollrab said Bagi did nothing wrong and had no connection to the raided VIP dispensary.
Both VIP Cannabis and another one of the targeted subjects, Gerardo Uribe, have been involved in a contentious plan to build a large marijuana greenhouse in eastern Pueblo County.
County commissioners in July approved the project on property owned by a company controlled by Gerardo Uribe, GML LLC. Uribe told commissioners he wanted to invest $6 million in the operation, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.
The plan was for Uribe's company to lease space to a Denver dispensary called Metro Cannabis Inc. that would be involved in building the greenhouse. Nothing has been built on the property yet, county officials said Friday.
County Commissioner Sal Pace, who supported the project as a boost to economic development, said Friday the county's standard criminal background check on project applicants turned up nothing.
"From my perspective, we only want good actors in Pueblo County, and if these are bad actors, I'm glad they got busted," Pace said.
Documents related to the greenhouse plan shed light on the ownership structure of VIP Wellness, which does business as VIP Cannabis, the raided Denver dispensary.
In an application Uribe is identified as owning 90 percent of the company, with Carlos Solano owning the remaining 10 percent.
Another of the men listed in a search warrant as a target of Thursday's raids is 50-year-old Juan Guardarrama, who pleaded guilty earlier this year in Miami in a racketeering case with connections to Colombian and Cuban gangs, according to court records and published reports.
In July 2012, the Miami Herald reported that Guardarrama — who used the street name Tony Montana, after the character in the movie Scarface — was arrested on charges that he worked with gangs of Colombian and Cuban-born jewel thieves to sell diamonds that had been forcibly stolen from dealers.
As part of the investigation, Guardarrama, a Cuban immigrant with deep ties to the Miami area but who was living at the time in Denver, asked an undercover police officer to help him distribute 20 pounds of Colorado-grown marijuana a month in Miami, the Herald reported, citing police records.
Guardarrama also asked the undercover officer to have a business partner in Colorado who had "disrespected" him "taken out," the Herald reported.
Guardarrama held a valid medical-marijuana employee license in Colorado beginning in August 2011 and let it expire in August 2013, according to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division.
As part of a plea deal, Guardarrama was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Miami case, according to a court record.
When investigators raided Guardarrama's apartment, they seized $2 million in jewelry and money, according to the Herald.
Another target subject, Jared Linghurst, was formerly an owner of VIP Cannabis and other medical marijuana businesses but withdrew as an owner in January, said Postlethwait, of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24580571/fed-raids-colorado-marijuana-businesses-seek-ties-colombian
Mile High
Footballguy
Federal authorities raided more than a dozen marijuana facilities in the Denver metro area, including grow operations north of Boulder and a dispensary in Nederland, on Thursday morning as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
A lawyer for one of the raid's targets near Boulder said federal agents seized more than $1 million worth of marijuana plants from a grow operation on North Foothills Highway while carrying out a search warrant.
Department of Justice spokesman Jeff Dorschner didn't provide details about the investigation, but he said he could state "unequivocally" that the actions were consistent with federal guidelines issued earlier this year that marijuana businesses operating in compliance with their states' laws and not tied to other criminal activity would not be targeted for enforcement.
Dorschner said Thursday that authorities believe the targeted businesses may have violated one or more of the federal prosecution priorities. He also confirmed that the multiple search-warrant executions and seizures were part of a single criminal investigation.
Dorschner said no one was arrested Thursday, and he could not say when federal authorities would release more information about the case.
He declined to identify the addresses of the targeted businesses in Boulder or Denver.
Officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Boulder County Sheriff's Office were seen executing warrants at the former Beech Aircraft facility at 6859 North Foothills Highway, where a large pile of snow-covered marijuana plants was visible outside for much of the morning Thursday.
By 1 p.m., the marijuana was loaded into a large truck and removed from the area.
Boulder County Assessor's Office records show three marijuana-related businesses at that address: Swiss Medical Industries, Boulder Sweet Grass and Greenhill Investments. It was not clear whether all three businesses were the target of search warrants or just one or two.
County records indicate all three hold licenses for marijuana grow operations; Greenhill also holds a license for manufacture of infused products.
A search warrant obtained by The Denver Post for the property lists 10 "targets" who are owners of marijuana facilities, including Laszlo Bagi, who owns Swiss Medical Industries.
According to the search warrant, in addition to the plants investigators were searching for weapons and ammunition "which may be used to provide protection to the narcotics trafficking operation, its members and or assets."
The warrant also said investigators were searching for records, receipts, photographs, names and correspondence related to "co-conspirators, sources of supply, customers, financial institutions and other individuals or businesses with whom a financial relationship exist."
James "Skip" Wollrab, an attorney for Bagi, said his client did nothing wrong and that he followed state regulations closely.
Wollrab said because federal agents are required to destroy any marijuana plants they see while serving warrants, the warrants were simply a "vehicle" to destroy his client's plants.
"They took $1 million worth of plants from his facility," Wollrab said. "They didn't leave any instructions, saying don't replant. There was no court order of cease and desist. No explanation."
Wollrab said the agents were also raiding Bagi's grow facilities in Commerce City and the effect will likely bankrupt his client.
The search warrant indicated that areas of the building in North Foothills not associated with Bagi were not subject to search.
According to court records, Bagi was arrested on suspicion of drug use and DUI in 1991 in Boulder and has also been involved in numerous civil suits -- many of them involving marijuana dispensaries -- in several counties in Colorado.
The raids
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said his department was also asked to provide security while the DEA served a warrant at a dispensary in Nederland. A member of the Boulder County Drug Task Force said the dispensary raided was Grateful Meds.
At the VIP Cannabis dispensary in Denver on Thursday, broken glass from a shattered front window littered the parking lot while masked agents hauled boxes of evidence into a U-Haul truck. Police turned customers away.
"The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Denver Police Department and state and local law enforcement are today executing lawfully obtained search warrants and seizure warrants," Dorschner said.
"Although we cannot at this time discuss the substance of this pending investigation, the operation under way today comports with the Department's recent guidance regarding marijuana enforcement matters," Dorschner said in an e-mailed statement.
The Department of Justice said in August that it wouldn't stand in the way of votes in Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational pot, but warned there needed to be effective controls to keep marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property.
Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project said he doesn't know what inspired the raids.
"The Justice Department said it would respect states' rights to regulate marijuana, and that it would not go after businesses as long as they are complying with state laws," he said in a statement. "We hope they are sticking to their word and not interfering with any state-regulated, law-abiding businesses. ... If a business is suspected of violating state laws, they will likely face increased scrutiny, and if they are found to be in violation, they will likely face consequences. That is how our society treats alcohol, and that is how we expect to see marijuana treated."
On Aug. 29, the Justice Department issued a memo to federal prosecutors revealing the federal government wouldn't stand in the way of marijuana legalization. The memo warned the federal government would still "aggressively enforce" eight areas of concern surrounding the drug:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24570303/feds-raiding-denver-area-marijuana-operations-including-couple?source=pkg
A lawyer for one of the raid's targets near Boulder said federal agents seized more than $1 million worth of marijuana plants from a grow operation on North Foothills Highway while carrying out a search warrant.
Department of Justice spokesman Jeff Dorschner didn't provide details about the investigation, but he said he could state "unequivocally" that the actions were consistent with federal guidelines issued earlier this year that marijuana businesses operating in compliance with their states' laws and not tied to other criminal activity would not be targeted for enforcement.
Dorschner said Thursday that authorities believe the targeted businesses may have violated one or more of the federal prosecution priorities. He also confirmed that the multiple search-warrant executions and seizures were part of a single criminal investigation.
Dorschner said no one was arrested Thursday, and he could not say when federal authorities would release more information about the case.
He declined to identify the addresses of the targeted businesses in Boulder or Denver.
Officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Boulder County Sheriff's Office were seen executing warrants at the former Beech Aircraft facility at 6859 North Foothills Highway, where a large pile of snow-covered marijuana plants was visible outside for much of the morning Thursday.
By 1 p.m., the marijuana was loaded into a large truck and removed from the area.
Boulder County Assessor's Office records show three marijuana-related businesses at that address: Swiss Medical Industries, Boulder Sweet Grass and Greenhill Investments. It was not clear whether all three businesses were the target of search warrants or just one or two.
County records indicate all three hold licenses for marijuana grow operations; Greenhill also holds a license for manufacture of infused products.
A search warrant obtained by The Denver Post for the property lists 10 "targets" who are owners of marijuana facilities, including Laszlo Bagi, who owns Swiss Medical Industries.
According to the search warrant, in addition to the plants investigators were searching for weapons and ammunition "which may be used to provide protection to the narcotics trafficking operation, its members and or assets."
The warrant also said investigators were searching for records, receipts, photographs, names and correspondence related to "co-conspirators, sources of supply, customers, financial institutions and other individuals or businesses with whom a financial relationship exist."
James "Skip" Wollrab, an attorney for Bagi, said his client did nothing wrong and that he followed state regulations closely.
Wollrab said because federal agents are required to destroy any marijuana plants they see while serving warrants, the warrants were simply a "vehicle" to destroy his client's plants.
"They took $1 million worth of plants from his facility," Wollrab said. "They didn't leave any instructions, saying don't replant. There was no court order of cease and desist. No explanation."
Wollrab said the agents were also raiding Bagi's grow facilities in Commerce City and the effect will likely bankrupt his client.
The search warrant indicated that areas of the building in North Foothills not associated with Bagi were not subject to search.
According to court records, Bagi was arrested on suspicion of drug use and DUI in 1991 in Boulder and has also been involved in numerous civil suits -- many of them involving marijuana dispensaries -- in several counties in Colorado.
The raids
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said his department was also asked to provide security while the DEA served a warrant at a dispensary in Nederland. A member of the Boulder County Drug Task Force said the dispensary raided was Grateful Meds.
At the VIP Cannabis dispensary in Denver on Thursday, broken glass from a shattered front window littered the parking lot while masked agents hauled boxes of evidence into a U-Haul truck. Police turned customers away.
"The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Denver Police Department and state and local law enforcement are today executing lawfully obtained search warrants and seizure warrants," Dorschner said.
"Although we cannot at this time discuss the substance of this pending investigation, the operation under way today comports with the Department's recent guidance regarding marijuana enforcement matters," Dorschner said in an e-mailed statement.
The Department of Justice said in August that it wouldn't stand in the way of votes in Colorado and Washington to legalize recreational pot, but warned there needed to be effective controls to keep marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property.
Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project said he doesn't know what inspired the raids.
"The Justice Department said it would respect states' rights to regulate marijuana, and that it would not go after businesses as long as they are complying with state laws," he said in a statement. "We hope they are sticking to their word and not interfering with any state-regulated, law-abiding businesses. ... If a business is suspected of violating state laws, they will likely face increased scrutiny, and if they are found to be in violation, they will likely face consequences. That is how our society treats alcohol, and that is how we expect to see marijuana treated."
On Aug. 29, the Justice Department issued a memo to federal prosecutors revealing the federal government wouldn't stand in the way of marijuana legalization. The memo warned the federal government would still "aggressively enforce" eight areas of concern surrounding the drug:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24570303/feds-raiding-denver-area-marijuana-operations-including-couple?source=pkg
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
Brixton Prison is Thunderdome: Prisoners Smoke Out, Guards Reek of Weed
BY MIKE ADAMS · FRI NOV 22, 2013
The hooligans and petty thugs residing within the confines of London’s Brixton prison are reportedlysmoking so much marijuana throughout the facility that it has caused the guards’ uniforms to reek of the reefer.
According to a report from an official prison watchdog, ever since the penitentiary was forced to make staff cutbacks, and therefore suspending random cell raids, the majority of the detention center has literally been reduced to a blinding haze of marijuana smoke.
In fact, there is apparently so much reefer chiefing going on inside the prison that the report actually goes as far as to indicate that anyone visiting the facility is almost certain to leave smelling like Tommy Chong’s beard -- our words, not theirs.
“Cannabis was sometimes being smoked so much on A and B wings that officers’ and monitoring board members’ clothes smelt of it,” states the report.
Officials say the prison has turned into a veritable hookah house because much of the staff has been laid off, making it nearly impossible to efficiently inspect the prisoners’ cells. Not to mention the jail now only has one drug-sniffing dog, which makes conducting blitzkrieg style searches of the entire wing less than practical.
The report states that the majority of the drug trafficking is believed to be the result of a small percentage of prisoners, known as the Bad Boy Bakery, that are regularly granted temporary release in order to supply baked goods to many of the Caffe Nero shops across London.
However, prison officials say they are concerned that their efforts to crack down on pothead prisoners will undoubtedly create other problems, like an increase in murderers, rapists and all-around sick bastards getting drunk on homemade hooch.
Our advice is to just allow the prisoners to continue smoking weed. After all, no good can come from a bunch of caged deviants all jacked up on toilet shine. You have been warned.
Mike Adams writes for Playboy's The Smoking Jacket, BroBible and Hustler Magazine. Follow him: @adamssoup; facebook.com/mikeadams73.
BY MIKE ADAMS · FRI NOV 22, 2013
The hooligans and petty thugs residing within the confines of London’s Brixton prison are reportedlysmoking so much marijuana throughout the facility that it has caused the guards’ uniforms to reek of the reefer.
According to a report from an official prison watchdog, ever since the penitentiary was forced to make staff cutbacks, and therefore suspending random cell raids, the majority of the detention center has literally been reduced to a blinding haze of marijuana smoke.
In fact, there is apparently so much reefer chiefing going on inside the prison that the report actually goes as far as to indicate that anyone visiting the facility is almost certain to leave smelling like Tommy Chong’s beard -- our words, not theirs.
“Cannabis was sometimes being smoked so much on A and B wings that officers’ and monitoring board members’ clothes smelt of it,” states the report.
Officials say the prison has turned into a veritable hookah house because much of the staff has been laid off, making it nearly impossible to efficiently inspect the prisoners’ cells. Not to mention the jail now only has one drug-sniffing dog, which makes conducting blitzkrieg style searches of the entire wing less than practical.
The report states that the majority of the drug trafficking is believed to be the result of a small percentage of prisoners, known as the Bad Boy Bakery, that are regularly granted temporary release in order to supply baked goods to many of the Caffe Nero shops across London.
However, prison officials say they are concerned that their efforts to crack down on pothead prisoners will undoubtedly create other problems, like an increase in murderers, rapists and all-around sick bastards getting drunk on homemade hooch.
Our advice is to just allow the prisoners to continue smoking weed. After all, no good can come from a bunch of caged deviants all jacked up on toilet shine. You have been warned.
Mike Adams writes for Playboy's The Smoking Jacket, BroBible and Hustler Magazine. Follow him: @adamssoup; facebook.com/mikeadams73.
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://www.hightimes.com/read/high-times-legislation-roundup-nov-25
Well, I can tell you where this week’s legislative roundup isn’t being written from, and that is Amsterdam. Unfortunately, while my editors are all busy this week getting stoned with the Dutch, I am still stuck here, in Southern Indiana, where my Thanksgiving festivities are off to an early start, forcing me to type out this godforsaken report while wrestling with a vicious carbohydrate hangover and a strict deadline.
What’s worse is that this week’s roundup is full of some disappointing news, like lawmakers in Maine sandbagging legalization efforts until at least 2015; an overzealous Pennsylvania governor hell bent on holding back legalization efforts as long as he is in office; and the American Medical Association’s announcement that marijuana still does not have their seal of approval.
Yet, public opinion of marijuana continues to skyrocket, even in my home state of Indiana where a recent study found that 52% of the population supports the idea of weed being taxed and regulated in a fashion similar to alcohol and tobacco.
Unfortunately, Hoosier lawmakers are not having any luck getting proposed marijuana legislation - a recent medical marijuana/ decriminalization bill was recently stopped dead in its tracks because Senator Mike Young, chairman of the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law, refused to hold a hearing on the issue.
Here is what our pot-friendly lawmakers were up to last week:
Maine: Legalization Efforts Fail By One Vote
Regardless of the substantial progress made earlier this month in Portland, the Maine State Legislature just couldn’t seem to gain enough momentum to conquer the majority of the votes needed to pass a bill aimed at legalizing recreational marijuana.
Last Thursday, the Legislative Council, comprised of 10-members responsible for reviewing the state’s proposals, voted right down the middle at five to five, which ultimately, left the bill for dead.
Now, legislators must wait until 2015 before reconsidering the bill.
Last week’s vote was state Representative Diane Russell’s third failed attempt to legalize marijuana in the state of Maine.
Supporters of the proposal said that the legislature missed a very important opportunity this time around, but as disappointing as they are to have missed legalization by one vote, they say they refuse to throw in the towel.
Those that opposed the bill said that pot transactions will remain illegal in Maine, including in Portland where voters recently passed a measure making it legal to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.
West Virginia: Medical Marijuana Legislation Being Drafted
Lawmakers in West Virginia say they are currently working on a bill aimed at legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.
Charles Roskovensky, chief counsel for the House Committee on Health and Human Resources, said last Wednesday that he is currently drafting a piece of legislation that would allow registered patients to posses up to six ounces of marijuana and up to 12 plants.
Roskovensky announced during last week’s meeting that he is currently seeking suggestions from members of the Joint Health Committee before finalizing the wording of the proposal.
There is no word when Roskovensky plans to officially introduce his proposal.
Pennsylvania: Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana Introduced
Democratic state Senator Daylin Leach and Republican Senator Mike Folmer got together in Harrisburg last week to present a piece of legislation that could serve to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.
The proposed legislation is specific to the legalization of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a powerful medicinal compound in marijuana that can be used to treat children without getting them high.
This bill marks the first time in Senate history that a bill aimed at legalizing medical marijuana has been drafted with bipartisan support.
However, regardless of their efforts, a spokesperson for Governor Tom Corbett says the bill will undoubtedly get vetoed if it finds it ways through the legislature.
Alabama: Lawmakers Support Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana
In an attempt to provide children with the treatment they need to combat seizures, state Representative Patricia Todd of Birmingham announced last week that she is sponsoring a bill geared towards the legalization of medical marijuana.
Todd says that it is time to set aside the “drug dealer” stereotypes surrounding marijuana and begin to do what is right to help those children suffering from debilitating seizures.
"A lot of these kids die from these seizures. This is a drug that we know works. Why not allow these parents access to something we know will help their child? That's all we're doing," said Todd. “It's going to be one of my top priorities in this session and we hope to get it passed."
Florida: Overwhelming Support for Legalization of Medical Marijuana
Florida may have a fighting chance at legalizing medical marijuana if the issue can somehow find its way to the ballot in 2014.
A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University shows an overwhelming 82% of registered Florida voters support the legalization of medical marijuana.
The poll marks the largest margin recorded to date.
“This poll shows yet again that Floridians overwhelmingly support a compassionate medical marijuana policy in Florida, despite the continued opposition of out-of-touch, Tallahassee politicians like Pam Bondi,” said Ben Pollara, treasurer for People United.
People United needs to obtain 683,149 verified voter signatures by February in order to make it on the ballot. So far, the initiative has garnered 200,000 – 110,000 of which were officially verified last month.
Illinois: American Medical Association Remains Enemy of Legal Marijuana
The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates made the decision last week to maintain their opposing attitude towards legalizing marijuana. However, they also labeled the War on Drugs a failure, which was at least a small victory for marijuana supporters.
“Federal drug polices over the last 40 years have not accomplished their objectives. Policies should move away from arrest and incarceration of drug users by addressing drug misuse, addiction, and overdose through a public health framework, expanding access to treatment and redirecting law enforcement resources to prevent serious and violent crime.”
Unfortunately, delegates say they will not likely change their position on marijuana until there is more data available to suggest they should. In their report, the association said they encourage researchers to study legalization efforts in states like Colorado and Washington, because until they have more evidence to warrant a change to their current policy, it will unanimously remain against marijuana.
Mike Adams writes for Playboy's The Smoking Jacket, BroBible and Hustler Magazine. Follow him: @adamssoup; facebook.com/mikeadams73.
Well, I can tell you where this week’s legislative roundup isn’t being written from, and that is Amsterdam. Unfortunately, while my editors are all busy this week getting stoned with the Dutch, I am still stuck here, in Southern Indiana, where my Thanksgiving festivities are off to an early start, forcing me to type out this godforsaken report while wrestling with a vicious carbohydrate hangover and a strict deadline.
What’s worse is that this week’s roundup is full of some disappointing news, like lawmakers in Maine sandbagging legalization efforts until at least 2015; an overzealous Pennsylvania governor hell bent on holding back legalization efforts as long as he is in office; and the American Medical Association’s announcement that marijuana still does not have their seal of approval.
Yet, public opinion of marijuana continues to skyrocket, even in my home state of Indiana where a recent study found that 52% of the population supports the idea of weed being taxed and regulated in a fashion similar to alcohol and tobacco.
Unfortunately, Hoosier lawmakers are not having any luck getting proposed marijuana legislation - a recent medical marijuana/ decriminalization bill was recently stopped dead in its tracks because Senator Mike Young, chairman of the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law, refused to hold a hearing on the issue.
Here is what our pot-friendly lawmakers were up to last week:
Maine: Legalization Efforts Fail By One Vote
Regardless of the substantial progress made earlier this month in Portland, the Maine State Legislature just couldn’t seem to gain enough momentum to conquer the majority of the votes needed to pass a bill aimed at legalizing recreational marijuana.
Last Thursday, the Legislative Council, comprised of 10-members responsible for reviewing the state’s proposals, voted right down the middle at five to five, which ultimately, left the bill for dead.
Now, legislators must wait until 2015 before reconsidering the bill.
Last week’s vote was state Representative Diane Russell’s third failed attempt to legalize marijuana in the state of Maine.
Supporters of the proposal said that the legislature missed a very important opportunity this time around, but as disappointing as they are to have missed legalization by one vote, they say they refuse to throw in the towel.
Those that opposed the bill said that pot transactions will remain illegal in Maine, including in Portland where voters recently passed a measure making it legal to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.
West Virginia: Medical Marijuana Legislation Being Drafted
Lawmakers in West Virginia say they are currently working on a bill aimed at legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.
Charles Roskovensky, chief counsel for the House Committee on Health and Human Resources, said last Wednesday that he is currently drafting a piece of legislation that would allow registered patients to posses up to six ounces of marijuana and up to 12 plants.
Roskovensky announced during last week’s meeting that he is currently seeking suggestions from members of the Joint Health Committee before finalizing the wording of the proposal.
There is no word when Roskovensky plans to officially introduce his proposal.
Pennsylvania: Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana Introduced
Democratic state Senator Daylin Leach and Republican Senator Mike Folmer got together in Harrisburg last week to present a piece of legislation that could serve to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.
The proposed legislation is specific to the legalization of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a powerful medicinal compound in marijuana that can be used to treat children without getting them high.
This bill marks the first time in Senate history that a bill aimed at legalizing medical marijuana has been drafted with bipartisan support.
However, regardless of their efforts, a spokesperson for Governor Tom Corbett says the bill will undoubtedly get vetoed if it finds it ways through the legislature.
Alabama: Lawmakers Support Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana
In an attempt to provide children with the treatment they need to combat seizures, state Representative Patricia Todd of Birmingham announced last week that she is sponsoring a bill geared towards the legalization of medical marijuana.
Todd says that it is time to set aside the “drug dealer” stereotypes surrounding marijuana and begin to do what is right to help those children suffering from debilitating seizures.
"A lot of these kids die from these seizures. This is a drug that we know works. Why not allow these parents access to something we know will help their child? That's all we're doing," said Todd. “It's going to be one of my top priorities in this session and we hope to get it passed."
Florida: Overwhelming Support for Legalization of Medical Marijuana
Florida may have a fighting chance at legalizing medical marijuana if the issue can somehow find its way to the ballot in 2014.
A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University shows an overwhelming 82% of registered Florida voters support the legalization of medical marijuana.
The poll marks the largest margin recorded to date.
“This poll shows yet again that Floridians overwhelmingly support a compassionate medical marijuana policy in Florida, despite the continued opposition of out-of-touch, Tallahassee politicians like Pam Bondi,” said Ben Pollara, treasurer for People United.
People United needs to obtain 683,149 verified voter signatures by February in order to make it on the ballot. So far, the initiative has garnered 200,000 – 110,000 of which were officially verified last month.
Illinois: American Medical Association Remains Enemy of Legal Marijuana
The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates made the decision last week to maintain their opposing attitude towards legalizing marijuana. However, they also labeled the War on Drugs a failure, which was at least a small victory for marijuana supporters.
“Federal drug polices over the last 40 years have not accomplished their objectives. Policies should move away from arrest and incarceration of drug users by addressing drug misuse, addiction, and overdose through a public health framework, expanding access to treatment and redirecting law enforcement resources to prevent serious and violent crime.”
Unfortunately, delegates say they will not likely change their position on marijuana until there is more data available to suggest they should. In their report, the association said they encourage researchers to study legalization efforts in states like Colorado and Washington, because until they have more evidence to warrant a change to their current policy, it will unanimously remain against marijuana.
Mike Adams writes for Playboy's The Smoking Jacket, BroBible and Hustler Magazine. Follow him: @adamssoup; facebook.com/mikeadams73.
roadkill1292
Footballguy
Maryland, which has been surprisingly timid in moving forward, now has a Democrat candidate for governor openly supporting legalization. However, she's running third in the polls and is probably doing it just to make a splash, observers don't give her much of a chance. There's also a strong supporter in the state legislature but he's having trouble getting people on board, too. Popular support is generally following national lines but the politicos just won't take the plunge. My suspicion continues to be that they're under orders not to (at least the Democrats) so as not to do anything that might threaten Martin O'Malley's presidential ambitions.
ffldrew
Footballguy
roadkill1292
Footballguy
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
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Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://www.businessinsider.com/legal-weed-in-colorado-and-washington-is-inspiring-governments-all-over-the-world-2013-12
In a country known for its drug war and where Bill Clinton once caught hell for admitting to smoking pot, new ground is being broken: legal marijuana markets in two states.
The pioneers of this sea change are out west, in Colorado and Washington, and grassroots support for their experiment is strong.
Marijuana consumption is legal and regulated for medical purposes in 19 US states, in some cases for the past 20 years. And in most of them, private consumption of pot is not classified as a crime.
But Colorado and Washington are taking a big jump forward. They are creating a pot market in which local authorities will oversee growing, distribution and marketing -- all of it legal -- for people to get high just for the fun of it.
In Colorado, famous for its Rocky Mountain ski resorts, at least 130 licenses have been issued for small shops which, starting January 1, will be able to sell up to 28 grams of marijuana to people aged 21 or older.
Another 300 applications for licenses are pending. The pot sold in shops will come from private, licensed growers.
In Colorado, consumption, possession and domestic growing of pot in small amounts were already allowed. But sales of it were not. This left the door open for drug dealers to operate.
In legal terms, smoking pot will be subject to the same rules and obligations as those governing alcohol. People will not be able to smoke it in public or grow it on public land.
In Washington, the framework for the new system is laid out, although the first licenses for legal sales of marijuana are not expected to be issued until mid-2014.
Other states are watching these experiments closely and pondering similar legislation.
"Two states down, 48 to go," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
He told AFP that Colorado and Washington have left behind a debate on "how do we lock people up, how do we arrest more people, how do we drug-test more people, into a much more adult and mature conversation about how do we sensibly regulate this commodity in a way that advances public safety and public health."
How the plans develop in Colorado and Washington is key because the rest of the country is watching.
"It is important that they do this right, because providing good leadership and making the transition to legalization of marijuana in a responsible way is important for how the rest of the country perceives this. There is a responsibility to do it in a smart and mature way," said Nadelmann.
All this represents not just a new approach but also a judicial problem. Although the marijuana trade will become legal in those two states, it will remain illegal at the national level.
So the possibility of Drug Enforcement Administration agents raiding licensed stores in Colorado or Washington or arresting people triggered formal debate at the Justice Department.
In the end, after intense consultations, the agency announced in August that it renounced the right to challenge the new pot laws in the two states.
Nadelmann said the US experience has big ramifications abroad. To wit, Uruguay is about to legalize marijuana altogether and become the first country to do so.
"What Uruguay is going to do next week is inspired in part by what happens in the US," he said.
Much is said of the Netherlands, whose marijuana policy is often misinterpreted and was recently amended.
Holland never formally legalized consumption of marijuana but rather adopted a policy of tolerance of low-level consumption. It is considered a public health issue, not a law enforcement one. Growing and distributing marijuana is still illegal in the Netherlands.
So the policy always relied on something impossible to hide: clandestine supplying of the country's famous hash and pot cafes.
Still, Holland is divided between those who favor formal legalization of marijuana and those who are sick of "marijuana tourists" who go to the Netherlands to get high.
So several Dutch cities have denied foreign tourists access to the free-wheeling cafes, only letting in people who can prove they live in the Netherlands.
Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.
In a country known for its drug war and where Bill Clinton once caught hell for admitting to smoking pot, new ground is being broken: legal marijuana markets in two states.
The pioneers of this sea change are out west, in Colorado and Washington, and grassroots support for their experiment is strong.
Marijuana consumption is legal and regulated for medical purposes in 19 US states, in some cases for the past 20 years. And in most of them, private consumption of pot is not classified as a crime.
But Colorado and Washington are taking a big jump forward. They are creating a pot market in which local authorities will oversee growing, distribution and marketing -- all of it legal -- for people to get high just for the fun of it.
In Colorado, famous for its Rocky Mountain ski resorts, at least 130 licenses have been issued for small shops which, starting January 1, will be able to sell up to 28 grams of marijuana to people aged 21 or older.
Another 300 applications for licenses are pending. The pot sold in shops will come from private, licensed growers.
In Colorado, consumption, possession and domestic growing of pot in small amounts were already allowed. But sales of it were not. This left the door open for drug dealers to operate.
In legal terms, smoking pot will be subject to the same rules and obligations as those governing alcohol. People will not be able to smoke it in public or grow it on public land.
In Washington, the framework for the new system is laid out, although the first licenses for legal sales of marijuana are not expected to be issued until mid-2014.
Other states are watching these experiments closely and pondering similar legislation.
"Two states down, 48 to go," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
He told AFP that Colorado and Washington have left behind a debate on "how do we lock people up, how do we arrest more people, how do we drug-test more people, into a much more adult and mature conversation about how do we sensibly regulate this commodity in a way that advances public safety and public health."
How the plans develop in Colorado and Washington is key because the rest of the country is watching.
"It is important that they do this right, because providing good leadership and making the transition to legalization of marijuana in a responsible way is important for how the rest of the country perceives this. There is a responsibility to do it in a smart and mature way," said Nadelmann.
All this represents not just a new approach but also a judicial problem. Although the marijuana trade will become legal in those two states, it will remain illegal at the national level.
So the possibility of Drug Enforcement Administration agents raiding licensed stores in Colorado or Washington or arresting people triggered formal debate at the Justice Department.
In the end, after intense consultations, the agency announced in August that it renounced the right to challenge the new pot laws in the two states.
Nadelmann said the US experience has big ramifications abroad. To wit, Uruguay is about to legalize marijuana altogether and become the first country to do so.
"What Uruguay is going to do next week is inspired in part by what happens in the US," he said.
Much is said of the Netherlands, whose marijuana policy is often misinterpreted and was recently amended.
Holland never formally legalized consumption of marijuana but rather adopted a policy of tolerance of low-level consumption. It is considered a public health issue, not a law enforcement one. Growing and distributing marijuana is still illegal in the Netherlands.
So the policy always relied on something impossible to hide: clandestine supplying of the country's famous hash and pot cafes.
Still, Holland is divided between those who favor formal legalization of marijuana and those who are sick of "marijuana tourists" who go to the Netherlands to get high.
So several Dutch cities have denied foreign tourists access to the free-wheeling cafes, only letting in people who can prove they live in the Netherlands.
Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.
Buckfast 1
Footballguy
I think Uruguay's move to legalization of marijuana is a pretty phenomenal step in world history. The United States has long been the leader of the "War on Drugs" in the Western Hemisphere and Central/South American countries have readily fallen in line behind America. Uruguay's legalization is essentially an international recognition that America's "War on Drugs" is no longer what it used to be. I imagine that Uruguay's violent drug cartels will be sucked out of a significant portion of their drug earnings, as long as Uruguay takes precautions to keep cartels out of the legal marijuana industry.
In related news, you can buy an ounce of top-shelf marijuana in Colorado for $99. That's less than you pay for a quarter of an ounce in most locales in the country. It's amazing what happens to the price of a commodity when you remove the price of paying for the risk associated with its illegality.
In related news, you can buy an ounce of top-shelf marijuana in Colorado for $99. That's less than you pay for a quarter of an ounce in most locales in the country. It's amazing what happens to the price of a commodity when you remove the price of paying for the risk associated with its illegality.
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
Jobber
Footballguy
I'm bet Mexico's tourist industry has suffered in recent years due to the violence down there. If they legalize, they just may draw the tourists back in.
BoltzNBrew
Footballguy
Problem with Colorado is all the majority of cities are opting out of allowing sales. Only 1 city near me I know that are going to allow it is Pueblo, I think 10 shops only, and possibly Manitou Springs. Colorado Springs is being run by complete morons and would rather beg the state for funding for a massive stadium project nobody wants than set the city up for life. They are too worried allowing sales within the county would push away a lot of the govt contracting. BS excuse after BS excuse is all we ever hear from these dumbarses. Yet, they need to beg the state for $400 mil for a new downtown stadium we don't need. So the sales will remain on the black market and the cities won't get a dime.
Denver has been making laws about where it can be smoked, like not on your front porch but in the back yard is OK. Small steps but steps forward.
Denver has been making laws about where it can be smoked, like not on your front porch but in the back yard is OK. Small steps but steps forward.
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
ffldrew
Footballguy
On Monday Denver City Council passed regulations that you CAN smoke on front porch. It was awesome to watch the City Council flip flop on that - they keep trying to tighten things up to make it difficult and then they hear from constituents and change their vote. You are going to have to do the same down in the Springs - good luck with that but it might be doable. Hopefully shops in Manitou will bring in money to that little city and then the Springs will realize they have to get on bandwagon.
The hard thing to watch right now is the War on Drugs machinery in it's death throes up here - cops pushing all sort of fear stories to the Denver Post. The Rehab/Court industry as well as the companies that supply the police with their war machinery - all just starting to freak out. That is why you have to stay on the elected officials and let them know they will be out if they go against the peoples wishes.
Mile High
Footballguy
I really liked one of their last gasp of "ok but not within a thousand feet of a school." Always love their "but think of the children" go to excuse.
Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
Buckfast 1
Footballguy
One of my local dispensaries, the Green Solution, had a Black Friday deal where all ounces were only $99 before 11 AM on Black Friday. It is pretty commonplace for dispensaries to advertise $99 ounces for first-time customers. You will generally pay more than that for an ounce, but there is so much competition between all the dispensaries in Denver that a lot of places will offer great special deals to get customers in the door.Wilfredo Ledezma said:
I love Green Solution's website, which lists all of their strains with HD pictures and lots information about the type of strain (sativa, indica, hybrid), the amount of different cannaboids in the strain (THC, THCV, CBD, CBG), tasting notes, and descriptions of the particular strain's effects. The pictures of the buds alone are pretty breathtaking. This place recently obtained their license to sell recreational marijuana beginning next month.
http://tgscolorado.com/strains.html
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
well when even Hoosier's are in favor of legalization, this is starting to feel inevitable, if not imminent. Indiana has to be one of the most if not the most "conservative" state in the US, no?
http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/x1636707573/Hoosiers-and-state-lawmakers-at-odds
Despite inhabiting a state with some of the harshest drug laws in the Midwest, a new poll reports thata majority – 52 percent – of Indiana residents support regulating marijuana like alcohol and tobacco. And an overwhelming number of Hoosiers – 78 percent – approve taxing weed like booze and cigarettes. Forty-five percent of those polled were against the concept of regulation, but only a scant 19 percent opposed cannabis taxation.
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Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/12/10/n-y-lawmakers-propose-legalizing-marijuana-making-it-into-a-cash-cow/#.UqfmsuF75yg.facebook
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There was a move Tuesday to legalize — and tax — marijuana use in New York.
State lawmakers want to put pot smoking on a par with drinking alcohol and let taxpayers profit, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported
Just call it taking the “high” road. State lawmakers plan on introducing a bill that would legalize pot smoking and turn it into a cash cow.
Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) signed onto a bill by state Sen. Liz Kruger (D-Manhattan) that would make New York the most populous state in the country to regulate and tax marijuana for general use.
“We really need to move beyond our totally broken prohibition model to a sensible tax and regulate model,” Gottfried said. “I think it’s widely recognized that marijuana is at most nowhere near as potentially harmful as alcohol and our law is dishonest.”
Gottfried said state lawmakers want to treat pot smoking just like having a drink, set an age limit, regulate it, and tax it. City Comptroller John Liu, who has studied the issue, said the economic impact from a pot tax is, well, mind-binding.
“We have close to a million people who use it on a regular basis. It’s a market of $1.65 billion here in New York City every year, so it makes sense, seeing as so many people are using it on a regular basis, to decriminalize it,” Liu said.
Liu estimates that a pot tax would generate $431 million in New York City alone:
* $69 million would go to the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the form of higher sales taxes
* The city would also save $31 million from reduced law enforcement and court costs
“There’s unfair enforcement, particularly against minorities and minority youth, and also people are using it. The medical experts say it is not as dangerous as alcohol. Marijuana does not get people into a violent state whereas, unfortunately, alcohol does,” Liu said.
Addiction experts disagree.
“Marijuana is a dangerous drug,” said Dr. Harris Stratyner of Carron Treatment Centers. “Why would we want to make a dangerous drug available to the public? Now, I know a lot of people will disagree with me and say alcohol is more dangerous. Alcohol is the most dangerous, but that doesn’t mean we should put another dangerous drug on the market.”
Supporters of the bill point out that since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office there have been nearly 460,000 misdemeanor marijuana arrests, largely members of the black and Hispanic communities. Comptroller Liu said that minorities represent less than half the pot users in the city, but 86 percent of the arrests.
Several New Yorkers welcomed the idea, CBS 2′s Jessica Schneider reported.
“I don’t smoke marijuana myself, but people have fun with it. There are worse things in the world that we should be worrying about,” said Maurice Glover, of Harlem.
“I think it’s not as bad as liquor. It doesn’t have the affect that liquor has,” Hells Kitchen resident Cassandra Sanchez said.
Others told Schneider they want to keep it off the streets. “I’m a mother and a grandmother and I say no,” Long Island residents Gertrude Alonzo said.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There was a move Tuesday to legalize — and tax — marijuana use in New York.
State lawmakers want to put pot smoking on a par with drinking alcohol and let taxpayers profit, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported
Just call it taking the “high” road. State lawmakers plan on introducing a bill that would legalize pot smoking and turn it into a cash cow.
Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) signed onto a bill by state Sen. Liz Kruger (D-Manhattan) that would make New York the most populous state in the country to regulate and tax marijuana for general use.
“We really need to move beyond our totally broken prohibition model to a sensible tax and regulate model,” Gottfried said. “I think it’s widely recognized that marijuana is at most nowhere near as potentially harmful as alcohol and our law is dishonest.”
Gottfried said state lawmakers want to treat pot smoking just like having a drink, set an age limit, regulate it, and tax it. City Comptroller John Liu, who has studied the issue, said the economic impact from a pot tax is, well, mind-binding.
“We have close to a million people who use it on a regular basis. It’s a market of $1.65 billion here in New York City every year, so it makes sense, seeing as so many people are using it on a regular basis, to decriminalize it,” Liu said.
Liu estimates that a pot tax would generate $431 million in New York City alone:
* $69 million would go to the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the form of higher sales taxes
* The city would also save $31 million from reduced law enforcement and court costs
“There’s unfair enforcement, particularly against minorities and minority youth, and also people are using it. The medical experts say it is not as dangerous as alcohol. Marijuana does not get people into a violent state whereas, unfortunately, alcohol does,” Liu said.
Addiction experts disagree.
“Marijuana is a dangerous drug,” said Dr. Harris Stratyner of Carron Treatment Centers. “Why would we want to make a dangerous drug available to the public? Now, I know a lot of people will disagree with me and say alcohol is more dangerous. Alcohol is the most dangerous, but that doesn’t mean we should put another dangerous drug on the market.”
Supporters of the bill point out that since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office there have been nearly 460,000 misdemeanor marijuana arrests, largely members of the black and Hispanic communities. Comptroller Liu said that minorities represent less than half the pot users in the city, but 86 percent of the arrests.
Several New Yorkers welcomed the idea, CBS 2′s Jessica Schneider reported.
“I don’t smoke marijuana myself, but people have fun with it. There are worse things in the world that we should be worrying about,” said Maurice Glover, of Harlem.
“I think it’s not as bad as liquor. It doesn’t have the affect that liquor has,” Hells Kitchen resident Cassandra Sanchez said.
Others told Schneider they want to keep it off the streets. “I’m a mother and a grandmother and I say no,” Long Island residents Gertrude Alonzo said.
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grateful zed
Footballguy
Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
http://www.hightimes.com/read/uruguay-coolest-country-earth
Uruguay: The Coolest Country on EarthBY CHRIS SIMUNEK · WED DEC 11, 2013
Despite the fact that the temperature in its capital city reached a balmy 79 degrees today, Uruguayjust became the coolest nation on the planet. The other 195 countries squatting space on the big, blue marble who are too afraid to legalize marijuana should keep their eyes trained on the 68,000 square miles contained within Uruguay’s borders, if only to assuage their fears of an impending legal-marijuana zombie apocalypse. Pot is legal in Uruguay, and HIGH TIMES is not afraid to predict that there will be no cannajunkies mainlining THC on its streets anytime soon. The tides will continue to rise and fall on Uruguay’s sovereign shores, the sun will still rise and set over its land, and life in República Oriental del Uruguay will proceed as normal.
Yesterday, Uruguay’s senate gave congressional approval to a plan that will create a legal marketplace for marijuana. The government intends to control all aspects of the new industry, from farmer to consumer. Uruguayan citizens will be able to buy up to 40 grams a month at pharmacies, and obtain licenses to cultivate up to six plants at home. Cooperatives, known as “growers clubs,” will be allowed to cultivate up to 99 plants collectively.
It’s a move that has been anticipated for some time. Last October in Denver, at the 2013 Drug Reform Policy Conference, Uruguay’s drug czar openly acknowledged Colorado’s impending legalization a model for his own country. Julio Calzada toured dispensaries and growrooms, then declared, “We have thousands of deaths, simply a product of prohibition. And here you have a very regulated market, marijuana that is produced in a controlled fashion. That is where we are going.” Last Sunday, when interviewed by the Brazilian daily, A Folha de São Paulo, Uruguay’s President José Mujica made a global plea for help in his country’s efforts.
“We ask the world to help us create this experience. It will allow us to adopt a socio-political experiment to address the serious problem of drug trafficking… the effect of the drug traffic is worse than the drug.”
What will be interesting to see is whether the other nations in South and Central America, all of whom bear the scars of the Drug War in one form or another, will follow suit. The phrase “domino theory” was used during the Cold War to describe a doomsday scenario whereby countries fall one-by-one to communism, and to justify Vietnam body counts and Latin American Death Squads. We hope the phrase will be redeemed in regards to drug policy in those countries existing south of the Rio Grande, and who bear the brunt of the violence associated with America’s unquenchable thirst for narcotics. There is plenty of evidence to believe that Uruguay might only be the first in a succession of countries to defy Washington’s militaristic model for confronting the western hemisphere’s drug problem. Last June, a coalition of 160 civil rights groups sent an open letter to the Organization of American States General Assembly Meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, calling on, “Our governments to acknowledge the failed security policies that have militarized citizen security and only exacerbated the problem, and are directly contributing to increased human suffering in the region.” The OAS itself issued a report indicating, “A willingness to explore nontraditional approaches to the subject.”
Just days before the historic vote in Uruguay an unlikely supporter weighed in on the subject of legal marijuana in the Americas. William Jefferson Clinton, America’s inhalation-impaired 42nd Presidentcommented to Fusion TV, “The drug issue should be decided by people in each country, based on what they think is right… We have a process in America for doing it that’s being revisited state by state. And Latin America is free to do the same thing….It’s obvious that attitudes are changing and opening up.”
As to Slick Willy’s change of heart, HIGH TIMES says, “Better late than never.” According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, marijuana arrests during the Clinton administration rose annually from 342,314 in 1992, when he was elected, to 734,498 in 2000, his last full year in office -- a record high at the time.
Uruguay: The Coolest Country on EarthBY CHRIS SIMUNEK · WED DEC 11, 2013
Despite the fact that the temperature in its capital city reached a balmy 79 degrees today, Uruguayjust became the coolest nation on the planet. The other 195 countries squatting space on the big, blue marble who are too afraid to legalize marijuana should keep their eyes trained on the 68,000 square miles contained within Uruguay’s borders, if only to assuage their fears of an impending legal-marijuana zombie apocalypse. Pot is legal in Uruguay, and HIGH TIMES is not afraid to predict that there will be no cannajunkies mainlining THC on its streets anytime soon. The tides will continue to rise and fall on Uruguay’s sovereign shores, the sun will still rise and set over its land, and life in República Oriental del Uruguay will proceed as normal.
Yesterday, Uruguay’s senate gave congressional approval to a plan that will create a legal marketplace for marijuana. The government intends to control all aspects of the new industry, from farmer to consumer. Uruguayan citizens will be able to buy up to 40 grams a month at pharmacies, and obtain licenses to cultivate up to six plants at home. Cooperatives, known as “growers clubs,” will be allowed to cultivate up to 99 plants collectively.
It’s a move that has been anticipated for some time. Last October in Denver, at the 2013 Drug Reform Policy Conference, Uruguay’s drug czar openly acknowledged Colorado’s impending legalization a model for his own country. Julio Calzada toured dispensaries and growrooms, then declared, “We have thousands of deaths, simply a product of prohibition. And here you have a very regulated market, marijuana that is produced in a controlled fashion. That is where we are going.” Last Sunday, when interviewed by the Brazilian daily, A Folha de São Paulo, Uruguay’s President José Mujica made a global plea for help in his country’s efforts.
“We ask the world to help us create this experience. It will allow us to adopt a socio-political experiment to address the serious problem of drug trafficking… the effect of the drug traffic is worse than the drug.”
What will be interesting to see is whether the other nations in South and Central America, all of whom bear the scars of the Drug War in one form or another, will follow suit. The phrase “domino theory” was used during the Cold War to describe a doomsday scenario whereby countries fall one-by-one to communism, and to justify Vietnam body counts and Latin American Death Squads. We hope the phrase will be redeemed in regards to drug policy in those countries existing south of the Rio Grande, and who bear the brunt of the violence associated with America’s unquenchable thirst for narcotics. There is plenty of evidence to believe that Uruguay might only be the first in a succession of countries to defy Washington’s militaristic model for confronting the western hemisphere’s drug problem. Last June, a coalition of 160 civil rights groups sent an open letter to the Organization of American States General Assembly Meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, calling on, “Our governments to acknowledge the failed security policies that have militarized citizen security and only exacerbated the problem, and are directly contributing to increased human suffering in the region.” The OAS itself issued a report indicating, “A willingness to explore nontraditional approaches to the subject.”
Just days before the historic vote in Uruguay an unlikely supporter weighed in on the subject of legal marijuana in the Americas. William Jefferson Clinton, America’s inhalation-impaired 42nd Presidentcommented to Fusion TV, “The drug issue should be decided by people in each country, based on what they think is right… We have a process in America for doing it that’s being revisited state by state. And Latin America is free to do the same thing….It’s obvious that attitudes are changing and opening up.”
As to Slick Willy’s change of heart, HIGH TIMES says, “Better late than never.” According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, marijuana arrests during the Clinton administration rose annually from 342,314 in 1992, when he was elected, to 734,498 in 2000, his last full year in office -- a record high at the time.
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Wilfredo Ledezma
Footballguy
NutterButter
Footballguy
What's the tax on top of that? That's a great price. I've cut back to almost nothing b/c there's just too much going on in my life with kids and work, but I'm really looking forward to the day when I can regularly, legally just sit back and sample all the different strains that our out there.Buckfast 1 said:
ffldrew
Footballguy
Henry Ford
Footballguy
"No way I'm paying $130 an ounce for medical grade marijuana" said no pot smoker ever.
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
How is an eighth of an ounce in any way equivalent to a 12 pack of beer? I can get high many many times on an eighth of an ounce.
Rich Conway
Footballguy
E Street Brat
Footballguy
It's been a long time since I've done any smoking, but who is buying only an 1/8 oz at a time?
That's more like buying a 32oz beer, or at least it was.
Rich Conway
Footballguy
roadkill1292
Footballguy
For much the same way that Johnny Manziel's behavior makes me happy by worrying and upsetting the people in power in college football, Uruguay (whose senate didn't even enjoy large popular support on this issue) makes me happy because they've upset so many people in power around the world, not the least of which is our own power structure which requires a drug war to keep the money rolling in. I apparently have quite the thing for the rebellious types.
ffldrew
Footballguy
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roadkill1292
Footballguy
Cartels, your days are numbered in this business.Similar threads
