Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 1:46 pm | By: Radical Russ
I can’t do any better than MPP’s Bruce Mirken on this one:
(LA Times) Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project, ridiculed the effort. “Let me guess, they set a record number of plant seizures and marijuana has now been eradicated from California?” he quipped.
Mirken said the campaign has caused growers to move from private lands into wilderness areas. “This is an annual exercise in futility. Not only does it not do anything meaningful, it actually makes the problem worse,” he said.
It’s all part of California’s CAMP – Campaign Against Marijuana Planting – which over 27 years has been funding law enforcement to take helicopters into the hills so police can get paid triple time to pull weeds and then fly them all over the wilderness blowing their seeds across the land so the cops can go weeding again next year. According to the report:
Los Angeles County, which has seen a whirlwind expansion in medical marijuana dispensaries this year, has notched another marijuana milestone. The county has moved to No. 5 for the amount seized in the state’s annual eradication campaign, with 340,187 pot plants uprooted — more than a fourfold increase.
Statewide, the 27-year-old effort, known as the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, found and destroyed almost 4.5 million plants in 41 counties, up from 2.9 million seized in each of the two prior years’ growing season. The amount has climbed steadily since 1996, when California voters approved the nation’s first medical marijuana law.
State officials put the wholesale value of this year’s eradicated marijuana at $17.8 billion.
Let’s see, the standard California sales tax, minus any county or local taxes, is 8.25%, so that eradication represents about $1.46 billion dollars in tax revenues. Obviously marijuana has not been completely eradicated by CAMP and I think even the cops will tell you they’re only scratching the surface. Let’s be generous and suppose they’re pulling up 10% of California’s outdoor crop. That would be $14.6 billion in taxes going uncollected. It’s even more money if we include indoor grows and figure they’re catching much less than 10% of the crops.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 am | By: Radical Russ
(Mission Local) The federal government will continue raids on medical marijuana operations in California despite guidelines issued by the Justice Department two weeks ago indicating the contrary.
“I think it’s unfortunate that people have for some reason picked up on this as a change in policy, because it’s really not a change at all,” said Joseph Russoniello, federal prosecutor for the northern district of California, who was appointed in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.
Asked if federal officials will halt investigation and prosecution of medical marijuana operations in the state, Russoniello said simply, “The short answer is no.”
Russoniello said many dispensaries in San Francisco and around California aren’t really not-for-profit, and he will prosecute any distributor fraudulently operating as a commercial enterprise in violation of state laws.
“By that I mean people who are in it as if they were running a neighborhood candy store instead of running a commune, a collective or a group club that caters only to specific identified persons,” he said.
Asked if federal agents are currently preparing to raid dispensaries suspected of illegal activities, Russoniello declined to comment.
“I cannot affirm or deny the existence of ongoing criminal investigations,” he said.
You know, I was just thinking that President Obama’s approval ratings are still way too high. What he needs to do is have his administration issue a memo that seems to remove the threat of federal raids from lawful dispensaries, and then when people are comfortable about visiting those dispensaries, send in a few DEA agents in body armor to point assault weapons at people in wheelchairs. Think of it as Obama’s “Read my lips; no new taxes” moment a la George Bush Sr. in 1988. A few stunning visuals of jack-booted thugs taking down the neighborhood dispensary in a state where 56% of the voters want not just medical marijuana but outright legalization ought to drop that approval rating a few points, huh?
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 10:34 am | By: Radical Russ
(Globe Gazette) DES MOINES — The White House’s drug czar said Monday that Iowa officials should look at the problems California has seen after allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes as they consider the idea here.
Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, specifically cited problems regulating the clinics in the Los Angeles area that dispense medical marijuana.
Kerlikowske recounted going to Venice Beach and seeing people holding signs advertising marijuana and ads in newspapers.
He also pointed to reports of robberies and assaults that have occurred in and around medical marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area.
“I would say that the recommendation for any state that’s considering moving to medical marijuana is to look very closely at what’s been occurring in California,” Kerlikowske said.
Kerlikowske, the former police chief in Seattle, reported better results for the medical marijuana law in Washington State.
“It was not as significant a problem for law enforcement as it was in, as it is in, Los Angeles,” Kerlikowske said.
We often hear the prohibitionists play the “Look at California” card when it comes to medical marijuana, ignoring the fact that the other twelve states with protection for medical users did look at California and crafted tighter regulations than the Golden State. Rarely do we hear one bring up another medical marijuana state in comparison. I’m sure Iowans looking to pass medical marijuana wouldn’t mind at all the protections of the Washington State law, which allows a patient to grow up to fifteen plants and store a pound and a half of marijuana. Though they might want to look at the Oregon law, which allows close to the same limits and establishes a patient card registry that helps the patient identify his grow to law enforcement and avoid the arrest and investigation required in Washington to verify a patient’s status.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 12:59 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Athens Banner-Herald) An extremely drunk man passed out early Sunday morning in the lobby of the Comfort Suites on North Avenue, said Athens-Clarke police.
The 32-year-old man was found at 2:35 a.m. on the floor with his pants around his ankles, asleep in a pool of his own urine, according to a police report.
When police woke him up, he became abusive and was arrested for public intoxication, the report said.
My first thought: You never read any news headlines about passed-out potheads with their pants down in public. We’ll accept as legal a drug that has this effect on people, but we must lock up the people who sit at home and fire up a bong while watching TV at 2:30am instead of passing out in hotel lobbies.
My second thought: Isn’t it interesting how the 32-year-old man’s name isn’t mentioned in this news piece. Want to bet that if it were a marijuana possession offense, we’d know his name, middle initial, and home address by now?
My third thought: The crime he’s charged with is a misdemeanor that will at most net him 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, but it’s very likely he won’t do any jail time at all. If he’d been caught with a joint in a hotel lobby, he’d lose his driver’s license for six months and be forced to complete a drug rehab program. If it wasn’t his first time caught with a joint, it’s all that plus a year in prison and $1000 fine. Which of these two people do you think should get some counseling and shouldn’t be driving – the guy with the joint, or the guy passed out piss-drunk in the hotel lobby?
My final thought: If the guy had cancer, AIDS, MS, glaucoma, or epilepsy and had been caught with over an ounce, he’d be a felon and subject to up to 10 years in prison (20 if he’s with 1000 feet of a school, plus four more if he used a cell phone.)
Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 5:57 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Union Leader) EPPING – A local police officer who claims he has been targeted because of his involvement with a group that wants to legalize drugs has been suspended from the force.
Officer Bradley Jardis said he was told Monday that he was being suspended with pay pending an investigation.
Police Chief Gregory Dodge would not comment on the suspension, but Jardis said he believes it resulted from his decision to go public with disciplinary action taken against him in July and claims that he has been ridiculed by certain Epping police personnel because he’s a member of an international organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
According to a letter from the town’s attorney, Philip Petis, the police chief adamantly disagrees that Jardis’ involvement with LEAP has anything to do with the disciplinary action.
Still, Jardis claims trouble began brewing in February when he was featured in a story in the New Hampshire Sunday News about his involvement with LEAP.
Three days after the story ran, Jardis wrote a letter to Lt. Michael Wallace asking that he be “protected from unlawful harassment” by Gallagher, who was then his supervisor. He claimed that on the day after the article came out, Gallagher referred to him as a “dark rain cloud over this place.”
I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My dad was an alcoholic and a drug addict. As I went through various “Al-Anon” type treatments as a teenager, I was taught that dysfunctional families revolve around the addict and they all try to cover for him and protect the family secret. If one family member exposes the secret, it is that family member, not the addict, who is vilified and shunned by the family.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 8:49 pm | By: Radical Russ
(WHIO) DAYTON, Ohio — A 7-year-old boy led officers to his father’s marijuana grow operation, police said.
The father in question, Oliver McGuire, was arrested and taken into custody.
According to police reports, McGuire’s son told his school counselor about marijuana growing in the basement of his home.
Officers said they went to the Stewart Street home and found four pounds of marijuana, along with two plants and grow equipment.
“Thanks for your honesty, little Joey*. You were right to tell us about those funny plants your daddy was growing. Now we’re going to take your daddy away until you’re a teenager. But it’s all for your own good, you see, because your daddy’s gardening could have seriously hurt you. It’s OK, Joey, don’t cry, you can visit your daddy every week in a big scary building. Your mommy will be fine, though she’ll probably have to take another job to keep you fed, housed, and clothed, so you might not see her as much, either. You’ll be all right, we’ll see to it that we get your mommy some Food Stamps and other public assistance to make up for your daddy’s missing paycheck. Then, in a few years, when your daddy gets out, he can go get another job to help support you and mommy, though he won’t make nearly as much money since he’ll have to put ‘ex-con drug felon’ on all his applications. Yes, Joey, I know it is sad and scary, but remember, you did the right thing, because police officers like me are here to protect you.”
The next time some prohibitionist wants to scream “What About The Children!?!” in response to marijuana legalization, bring up Joey McGuire and ask, “Yes, indeed, what about the children?” Prohibition of marijuana ruined Joey’s family life far more than marijuana ever did.
*I don’t know that the kid is named “Joey”, but it’ll do.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 4:46 pm | By: Radical Russ
(FOX 12 Oregon) OREGON CITY, Ore. — An Oregon City man was held at gunpoint and his three children were locked in a closet after three intruders invaded their home in search of medical marijuana.
At about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the man heard someone knocking on his front door and proclaiming that his girlfriend had just sideswiped their vehicle, according to Oregon City police. When the man answered the door, three masked men, at least one of them armed with a handgun, rushed through the door, police said.
The victim said the three men ransacked the home, demanded money and took about 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana. At one point, the victim’s 12-year-old daughter witnessed her father on the floor while one of the intruders held a gun to his head, police said.
No one was injured during the robbery, but police said the children were shaken up by the home invasion.
The victim told police it was the first marijuana grow he had harvested.
How do the invaders know the man has a girlfriend? If you’re a complete stranger, a criminal staking out a suspected treasure trove of medical marijuana, and you see a man, a woman, and three children living there, don’t you assume a female leaving the home around morning commute time is a wife?
Loose lips cause rips. I’m betting these criminals know someone who knows this man. Who stages a home invasion at 8:30am on a weekday? Who takes such a risk without knowing there is medical marijuana available within? I don’t mean to play “blame the victim” in this case, but to whom did the victim brag about his first marijuana harvest? Did he take precautions to eliminate the smell from harvest time? Did he make public the fact that he is a medical marijuana patient and grower?
Of course our opponents are quick to condemn the victim for having a pound and a half of marijuana in his home in the first place. They condemn the medical marijuana law that supposedly puts people like the victim and his children at risk. To them I say that the criminals are to blame, not the patient and not the marijuana. Criminals commit violent acts to steal valuable goods for resale on the black market. The victim’s home could have been invaded over a collection of fine art or gold coins; it’s the value of the theft that attracts the criminals, not the nature of the item stolen.
Marijuana prohibition is the only thing that could make it worth enough money to break into someone’s home to steal a weed. That prohibition also prevents legitimate medical patients from reliably buying small amounts of marijuana, so they tend to hoard large amounts to get through crop failures and seizures. That prohibition also creates a lucrative black market where stolen weed can be trafficked. That prohibition also prevents non-medical users from buying marijuana legitimately so they will support a black market.
Or to but it more succinctly: I’ve never heard of three masked men breaking into someone’s home at gunpoint to steal Budweiser.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm | By: Radical Russ
DENVER (CBS4) ? A marijuana investigation turned out to be just a big waste of time for a Colorado sheriff’s department but the sheriff says he’s working with the best information he’s allowed to use.
Summit County Sheriff John Minor says the problem is a lack of clear state rules on medical marijuana. The bust that went wrong used up several days of police work, but he says it was the best they could do with the information they had available. It turned out the growing operation was legal.
“We follow the law, but when the law is so ambiguous, it’s difficult,” Minor said. “Six or seven out of the last 10 in the last 6 months have all been legitimate operations.”
It’s been a perfect storm for law enforcement. Growers don’t have to register with the state, so officers don’t know what they are investigating until after they obtain a search warrant.
I think this story could’ve just begun and ended with “A marijuana investigation turned out to be just a big waste of time.” When at least 60% of your criminal investigations aren’t criminals, you know you’ve got a big problem. It used to be so easy for police: see marijuana, bust people, end of story. Now they have to go through the trouble of determining whether that grower is lawfully providing medicine for sick people, or breaking the law by providing it to healthy people.
It’s funny to me how Colorado police are freaking out about the explosion of dispensaries in Colorado, the inability to bust the plethora of Colorado grows because so many are legal, and the massive increase in registered medical marijuana cardholders. So, in essence, your problems are businessmen who used to sell pot now want to do so legally, people that grow pot now want to do so legally, and people who use pot now want to do so legally. In what other public policy arena aside from marijuana are law enforcement frustrated by more people who want to obey the law?
Maybe the people of Colorado can convince their law enforcement that the problem isn’t that the limited legalization of marijuana for medical purposes creates gray areas in the law that non-medical users can exploit with impunity. The problem is that medical marijuana is too limited to protect the majority of marijuana consumers who simply want to enjoy marijuana legally and not go to jail. The problem isn’t that medical marijuana wastes police resources, it’s that busting people for marijuana wastes police resources.
RevRayGreen: Barney Frank Present When Partner Arrested for pot-- http://bit.ly/1XpM2R
RevRayGreen: KMK 11/17/09 VAL AIR ballroom DSM
bullbog: that's crazy. I had a NORML black t-shirt on. It was hell of a show
RevRayGreen: dude I was probably 4-5 seats from you then
bullbog: 4th row center. I wish I was closer.
RevRayGreen: were in in the orchestra pit 4th row? or 4th row center, that's where I was bu slightly to the right
RevRayGreen: our show ______v'''''''
RevRayGreen: catch our chow tomorrow online Carl'sCannabis Corner
www.macswordlive.com 12-2 PM you can go there now and find archived shows
bullbog: revraygreen after looking at your pic from last nite. I'm pretty sure I seen you. I regonize you from the march in May
Just Legalize It: nothing really cool dealing with marijuana happens in massachusetts.... it sucks.... other than the boston freedom rally... but one thing a year isnt enough! i want to move to [...]
bullbog: went and seen cheech and chong last nite.My sides were hurting within the first 10 mins. Can't wait to see them in there Legalize it tour.
WakeUpDead: Just got done with an all day Bubble bag session. Stocking up for the winter dry spell. MMMM Hash!
Just Legalize It: i hear ya russ.... it sucks because the marijuana community is gaining much more ground than the hemp community.... if we combined then it would be an unstoppable force.... i [...]
Radical Russ: Wish we could, but every time we try to combine with hemp activists, they say, "stay away, you legalizers!" They don't want to be associated with psychoactive cannabis in [...]
mr reuben: hopefully everything goes well Krispy. It would be nice to see a norml chapter at my old school.
Maine: Voters To Decide Next Week On Medical Marijuana Expansion Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters To Decide Next Week On Eliminating Pot Penalties; California: Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing On Marijuana Legalization; New Hampshire: Senate Fails To Override Medical Marijuana Veto. […]
Gallup: Majority Of West Coast Voters Back Marijuana Legalization; Pot Arrests Responsible For Majority Of Marijuana Treatment Referrals; DOJ To Federal Prosecutors: Do Not Focus Resources On Medical Marijuana. […]
California: L.A. District Attorney Intends To Prosecute "100 Percent" Of County's Medical Marijuana Dispensaries; Maternal Tobacco and Alcohol Use, But Not Marijuana, Associated With Psychotic Symptoms In Offspring, Study Says; 'Hemperor' Jack Herer Released From Hospital. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
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