The entire short post from 9News in Colorado:

DENVER – 9Wants to Know has learned federal authorities including the FBI are raiding multiple medical marijuana establishments in Colorado, as part of a separate criminal investigation.

• 9Wants to Know has confirmed search warrants are being served at multiple locations, including CannaMed on Leetsdale Drive in Denver.
• Jeff Dorschner, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver, says the search warrants being served are “part of an ongoing criminal investigation.”

FBI Spokesperson Kathy Wright told 9NEWS they are not after the medical marijuana. Instead, Wright said, “Our purpose is not to get the marijuana. We are there for another reason.”

Wright continued, “We have the legal authority for a criminal investigation. We were not specifically targeting the marijuana.”

If you have more information about this story e-mail the 9Wants to Know investigative team at blowthewhistle@9news.com

Please let us know here at the Stash if you have more details.

For photos of the raid, click here:

http://www.colorado420.com/news/cannamed/index.html

UPDATE: THE bill passed Thursday evening 219-208.

The House began debating a bill (The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill) Thursday that dances on almost every nerve in the social conservative body politic, touching on everything from abortion to needle exchange, gay and lesbian rights, charter schools and medical marijuana.

“We strongly oppose these changes,” declares the Republican committee report. “We do not believe increasing the availability of abortions or medical marijuana will improve the District of Columbia.”

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting delegate from the District, took GOP members of Congress to task in their presumption to assert authority over D.C. home rule.

“Your lip service to local control, the time for that has run out,” she said. “We have profound disagreements on some issues, from abortion to vouchers. Go home and deal with them there. Allow us to deal with these issues in our own way as a local jurisdiction. I appreciate that the Rules Committee has indeed respected our citizenship and I demand that other members of Congress do so as well.” – The Huffington Post

So, is medical marijuana coming to the District? Stay tuned ..

Do you support legalization?

No. I’ve never advocated legalization and certainly the president has made it clear that’s his position.

Where did the perception come from that you are permissive in drug enforcement?

The perception is that Seattle is this very tolerant city, but when I talk to my colleagues around the country and they look at what are your resources for law enforcement, targeting adults for small, personal amounts of marijuana, it isn’t high on the radar screen when you have X amount of bodies. You can look at most prosecutors across the country and they have filing standards. Police departments aren’t going to say no, don’t arrest, but are you going to take an officer off the street for four hours or are they going to choose to take themselves off the street for four hours to book somebody for a small amount of marijuana? It’s less about tolerance.

via – The wall Street Journal “Q&A With the New Drug Czar“

I believe we need to give Director Kerlikowske a chance to get moved into his office and a few months to get on his feet before we can start screaming, “What are you doing?!?!” at him. I like his tone and the 50/50 split between enforcement and treatment is refreshing. I’m not happy that any drug use is still seen as abuse. It is my hope that Director Kerlikowske is the bridge between a law enforcement official and a medical professional holding the office. Time will tell.

One thing to remember: it is just as irrelevant that the Director does not favor legalization as President Obama holding the same opinion. The People will change the law on a state by state basis. What we require from the federal government is to not interfere with process.

If this wasn’t so damned chilling, it would be laughable:

A new Homeland Security document that received little attention during last week’s swine flu coverage shockingly lists the “alternative media” with other radical extremist groups and implies that people who disagree with the mass media’s version of events are potential domestic terrorists.

The “official use only” document is entitled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon” and was released on March 26, two weeks before the infamous “right-wing extremists” report that generated so much media attention throughout April.

According to World Net Daily, the DHS document was almost immediately rescinded, but the groups listed alongside Neo-Nazis, Aryan prison gangs and black power extremists again prove that the federal government is targeting American citizens who are merely knowledgeable about their rights and up on current issues as potential domestic terrorists to be treated as a “threat” to law enforcement.

via – PrisonPlanet.com “DHS Document Lists “Alternative Media” As Potential Terrorists “

Wow, what the hell happened to our First Amendment rights? They’re pretty short and to the point:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So, Homeland Security is above the Congress of the United States and the laws that govern this country? This isn’t just about weed, it’s about EVERYTHING. That the document was immediately withdrawn is irrelevant; it shows the mindset of ‘them against us’, it is systemic and endemic, and it comes from the top. I thought Vice President Biden had the most pressing case of foot in mouth disease but DHS Secretary Napolitano takes the cake. Our movement places us in four of the categories outlined by the document:

(U) single-issue extremist groups
(U//FOUO) Groups or individuals who focus on a single issue or cause—such as animal rights, environmental or anti-abortion extremism—and often employ criminal acts. Group members may be associated with more than one issue. (also: special interest extremists)

(U) direct action
(U//FOUO) Lawful or unlawful acts of civil disobedience ranging from protests to property destruction or acts of violence. This term is most often used by single-issue or anarchist extremists to describe their activities.

(U) aboveground
(U//FOUO) A term used to describe extremist groups or individuals who operate overtly and portray themselves as law-abiding.

(U) alternative media
(U//FOUO) A term used to describe various information sources that provide a forum for interpretations of events and issues that differ radically from those presented in mass media products and outlets.

The only piece of good news about this is the report was ordered by the Bush administration. Perhaps the Obama administration will stop this before the Night of Long Knives happens here?

On Monday, somewhere in New York City, 420 people will gather for High Times magazine’s annual beauty pageant, a secretly located and sold-out event that its sponsor says will “turn the Big Apple into the Baked Apple and help us usher in a new era of marijuana freedom in America.”

They will not be the only ones partaking: April 20 has long been an unofficial day of celebration for marijuana fans, an occasion for campus smoke-outs, concerts and cannabis festivals. But some advocates of legal marijuana say this year’s “high holiday” carries extra significance as they sense increasing momentum toward acceptance of the drug, either as medicine or entertainment.

“We’ve been on national cable news more in the first three months than we typically are in an entire year,” said Bruce Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a reform group based in Washington. “And any time you’ve got Glenn Beck and Barney Frank agreeing on something, it’s either a sign that change is impending or that the end times are here.”

Beneficiaries of the moment include NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates legalization, and other groups like it. NORML says that its Web traffic and donations (sometimes in $4.20 increments) have surged, and that it will begin a television advertising campaign on Monday, which concludes with a plea, and an homage, to President Obama.

“Legalization,” the advertisement says, “yes we can!”

via – The New York Times “For Marijuana Advocates, Not-So-Secret Holiday Hints at Change“

The University of Georgia NORML chapter should take note of a picture in the article that shows David Perleberg selling t-shirts featuring, among other things, the Colorado University mascot smoking a joint. This means one of two things: either Colorado University is unaware of it (doubtful) or they have chosen not to be assholes like the University of Georgia by not understanding the tradition of political satire in this country.

An initiative planned for the 2010 ballot would ask Arizona voters to legalize medical marijuana, setting up a California-style network of cannabis clubs and even allow some patients to grow their own drug supply.

It’s the fourth time since 1996 that state voters have been asked to decriminalize marijuana as a medical treatment. Local supporters, backed by the national Marijuana Policy Project, have their sights set on the 2010 general election and plan to submit ballot language to the Secretary of State’s Office as early as next week.

The initiative would allow individuals with illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV/AIDS or glaucoma to seek a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana, according to draft ballot language obtained by The Arizona Republic.

Eligible individuals would be able to purchase up to 2 1/2 ounces of the drug every 14 days from a series of non-profit outlets, known as dispensaries. Patients in rural areas of the state could cultivate a limited number of their own marijuana plants.

via – The Arizona Republic “New push in Ariz. for medical marijuana“

[What is with these medical marijuana bills and initiatives lately that eliminate the right of patients to grow their own medicine? This initiative states that a person who lives within 25 miles of dispensary would be forbidden from growing their own, which essentially sets up a government monopoly. I too want to see more medical marijuana states, but capitulating to the fear mongering of law enforcement regarding home cultivation is a step in the wrong direction. Go ahead with the dispensaries, but don't eliminate the patient's right to produce their own medicine at a far lower cost and with complete control over strain type, growing methods, and pest control.

This is that "box canyon" trap of medical marijuana that I fear. As people become more accustomed to the medicalization of cannabis, it will become more and more restricted like a prescription drug. There won't be concepts of "medical marijuana" vs. "recreational or social marijuana", it will become "cannabis medicine" vs. "abuse of cannabis medicine". Legalization has to happen now before medicalization becomes the only way people think of marijuana. -- "R"R]

A former Miss New Jersey has put down her tiara and is ready to fight for the legalization of medical marijuana.

Georgine DiMaria, 24, said as a child her asthma was so severe that it left her bedridden, forcing her to be homeschooled. “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters,” she said.

When DiMaria learned that her uncle in South Carolina had used marijuana as part of his treatment for cancer, DiMaria investigated it herself. It helped her immensely, she said. Because of law enforcement taken against people that have used marijuana for medicinal purposes, DiMaria would not say when she used marijuana or how she obtained it, but she did say it was medically beneficial to her.

DiMaria also said she kept her usage under wraps while serving as Miss New Jersey, due to the controversy surrounding the drug and its potential to be abused.

DiMaria became Miss New Jersey pageant and competed in the Miss America pageant in 2006. Since then, she has served as a national spokeswoman for the American Lung Association. DiMaria emphasized that she does not condone smoking.

via – The Press of Atlantic City “Former Miss New Jersey makes marijuana her platform“

Catch our interview with Georgine and her brother Fred on our Friday episode of the Stash.

A former Justice Department official who led a 1990s crackdown on illegal border crossings was named to the new U.S. post of “border czar” Wednesday to oversee efforts to end drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and to slow the tide of illegal immigration.

Alan Bersin, a former U.S. attorney who also once served as California’s education secretary, was named to the job by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The new assistant Homeland Security secretary for international affairs also rejected calls by state officials and others to place troops on the U.S. side of the Mexican border.

“The posse comitatus have served this country well,” he said, referring to laws that prevent the U.S. military from operating as law enforcement within the U.S.

via – The Associated Press “Ex-prosecutor picked for new US ‘border czar’ post“

… in Mexico City, where President Obama will travel today to confront a horrific cycle of narcotics-spurred violence, gender roles aren’t nearly as clear cut. In a culture known for its machismo, women command a startling degree of authority over the Mexican drug mafia. They run its finances, major smuggling operations, even run entire cartels.

Still at large are some of the country’s most powerful female criminals, among them, Enedina Arellano Félix, head of the Tijuana Cartel. Like most high-ranking women in the drug business, Enedina started out laundering money. Keeping a low profile, she gradually established operations across California and Northwestern Mexico. She is the sister of the notorious Arellano Félix brothers, who dominated the smuggling world throughout the 1990s. Following the arrests and murders of several of her brothers, Enedina has increasingly taken the helm of their organization. Those close to her describe her as reserved, calculating, and highly intelligent.

According to Dr. Shirk, Mexican women find it easier to enter the narcotics trade through the financial side of the business because they are perceived to be better with money. Contrary to stereotypes in America, it is Mexican men who are seen as wasteful shoppers, splurging on mansions, fancy cars, and—the latest trend—exotic animals. “In a lot of Mexican households,” explains Shirk, “despite machismo, the household and its finances are run by the mother figure.” Women are also less likely to arouse suspicion, flying below the radar of law enforcement.

Laura Zúñiga

The most famous narconovia of recent times is perhaps Laura Zúñiga. Like Sandra Beltrán, she was a queen—a beauty queen. Crowned Miss Sinaloa 2008, she went on to win the coveted Miss Hispanic America pageant later that year. She lost it all, however, when she was arrested in December along with her boyfriend and six other suspected smugglers. They were caught with several 9-millimeter pistols, semiautomatic rifles, and over $50,000 in cash. She was charged with possession of illegal weapons, drug trafficking, and money laundering, but was released a month later due to lack of evidence.

via – The Daily Beast “Queenpins of the Drug Cartels“

According to a recent preview of his trip in The Washington Post, the president is expected to promise swifter delivery of drug-war aid and increased efforts by the U.S. to stop the flow of American weapons to Mexico. But the best solution to what’s plaguing Mexico right now is the one topic that will almost assuredly be off the table: legalizing marijuana. Marijuana makes up 60 to 70 percent of the Mexican drug trade. Lifting prohibitions on it in the United States would eradicate a major source of funds for the cartels.

Another instance in which the Obama team has moved away from a fresh, realistic consideration of drug policy involves a federal program called the Byrne Grant, which ties federal funding for local police departments directly to drug arrests. During the campaign, both Obama and running mate Joe Biden pushed to revitalize this damaging program, which warps local police’s priorities, encouraging them to jack up arrest statistics by prowling for low-level offenders. In several areas, unaccountable, militaristic multi-jurisdictional drug task forces have wreaked havoc on minority and low-income communities. Byrne Grant task forces were responsible for the wrongful arrest of dozens of black residents of Tulia, Texas, in 1999, as well as a similar calamity a year later in Hearne, Texas (which is the inspiration for the upcoming movie, American Violet).

Then there’s Afghanistan. Obama’s new plan for the country is not only foolish, it may well undermine U.S. national security. The Associated Press reported last month that a major focus of Obama’s plan “will be modeled after the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s campaign against drug cartels in South America.” The problem is that the federal government’s anti-drug efforts in South America have failed. Despite America spending $6 billion on anti-drug efforts in Colombia since 2000, cocaine production increased 27 percent over that period. The situation on the continent is so bad that the three previous presidents of Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia recently wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal calling for an end to the U.S.-led drug war. Now Obama wants to use the same methods in Afghanistan.

via – The Daily Beast “Obama’s Demented Drug Policy“