Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Salem Statesman Journal) A 21-year-old Salem man reportedly called 9-1-1 that his marijuana was missing, but when deputies arrived, he was booked on drunk driving charges instead, officials said.
It began early Tuesday at 12:52 as a report of a vehicle break-in at the Freeloader Tavern at 501 Lancaster Drive SE, sheriff’s spokeswoman Lt. Sheila Lorance said.
A man told dispatchers that while he was inside the bar, someone broke into his truck, stole $400 cash, a jacket and about 3/4 of an ounce of marijuana, valued at about $180.
Deputy Ryan Clarke went to the scene, but when he was arrived, was unable to find the driver.
About an hour later, the driver called 9-1-1, angry that deputies had not arrived, and was driving.
Lorance said the dispatcher had difficulty understanding the caller because the driver was stopping several times to vomit.
Deputies eventually found the driver at 49th Avenue and Fontana Court SE where the man had parked. The driver, who was found about 100 feet from his truck, told deputies he was looking for the people who stole his “weed.”
Clarke determined that the driver was drunk.
Calvin Hoover, 21, of Salem, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
I’m not so certain that this should be classified as a Stupid Stoner Story since he exhibited this stupid behavior while drunk. In fact, if you’re so drunk that you’re puking while driving, we don’t really want your kind. But if this helps stop the next non-medical marijuana user from calling police to report stolen weed, then it was worth posting.
And for the record, isn’t it nice to once again be reminded of the parking lots at taverns that are so well guarded and patrolled that there can be a vehicle break-in that goes unnoticed and a puking drunk that’s allowed to just drive away?
Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 2:15 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Clark County Columbian) Tim Lincecum, star pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and a two-time All Star, is facing charges of misdemeanor possession of marijuana after being stopped for speeding on Interstate 5 in Vancouver last week.
A Washington State Patrol motorcycle trooper working with a laser device timed a 2006 Mercedes-Benz doing 74 mph northbound in Hazel Dell near Northeast 78th Street at 8:23 a.m. Oct. 30, WSP trooper and spokesman Steve Schatzel said.
The speed limit there is 60 mph. The trooper pulled the Mercedes over. When the driver, Lincecum, rolled down his window, the trooper smelled marijuana. He asked Lincecum to hand it over, and Lincecum reached into his dashboard console and produced a small pouch and a pipe, Schatzel said.
The amount was 3.3 grams, Schatzel said, which is considered only enough for personal use. Lincecum did not appear to be impaired behind the wheel and is not being charged with a felony crime, Schatzel said.
Another top athlete who is playing in his prime and is a current marijuana consumer. I don’t follow majorly boring ball, but even I can tell you that winning the 2008 Cy Young Award means this guy is one of the best. His stats show that over the last two years, Lincecum ranks 1st or 2nd in the National League for strikeouts, ERA, and batting average; and ranks 2nd to 4th in wins and innings pitched.
Washington places felony possession at 40 grams, so he doesn’t face much of a punishment when he’s arraigned this Monday, November 23rd, in Clark County District Court right across the river from me in Vancouver, Washington. I’ll be there getting audio for the Stash and I’m encouraging any supporters in the Vancouver area to join me. I have ideas for big picket signs reading “Another Successful Cannabis Consumer” over the huge blowup pics of Michael Phelps, Santonio Holmes, and other high profile athletes who’ve recently been busted for weed.
As I follow the coverage of the incident, one theme that repeats is that he won’t be punished much by the law or by baseball, but that “The hit to his reputation will be worse than the penalties“. Why must that be the case? Lincecum is just one of 22 million adults who will enjoy cannabis this year and still manage to have a productive and remarkable life. He plays just one of many sports that are saturated with support and advertising from a drug that kills tens of thousands and leads to violence, yet we’re supposed to look down on him for relaxing with a joint?
Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:15 pm | By: Radical Russ
(NY Times via CNBC) Among the 14 states with medical marijuana laws, Colorado has experienced particularly brisk growth in the stores. From fewer than two dozen dispensaries in the state in January, there are now more than 60 just in Denver and nearby Boulder, and more than 10,000 registered medical marijuana patients statewide, according to reports in Westword, a Denver alternative weekly.
Now a business that has nothing to do with cannabis is aiming its ads at medical marijuana patients. A new print ad — by TDA Advertising and Design of Boulder — for Hapa Sushi, a restaurant chain based in Boulder, features a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots. Four dots are red, representing the four Hapa locations, and the remaining 59 are blue, representing medical marijuana dispensaries, some of which, it turns out, are just a stone’s throw from the restaurants. The ad was to appear Thursday in the Denver/Boulder edition of The Onion and in Westword later in the month.
“We’re just kind of saying, ‘Look, these dispensaries exist and they’re becoming part of our community, so let’s welcome them in and have some fun,’ ” said Mark Van Grack, owner of Hapa Sushi, a privately held, 10-year-old chain. “If you’re going to smoke pot, you’re going to get the munchies, so come to Hapa to eat.”
And when it comes to tasty munchies, you can’t get much healthier than sushi. (Denver’s one of the few landlocked states where I’ll eat sushi, since they have a major airport just a couple of hours from the coast by air.)
Once again, the business world can’t get enough of the power of pot. There is so much economic opportunity locked up in the underground marijuana market and the money sharks can smell it.
It’s not just the revenues that could be made by taxing cannabis and the savings from not prosecuting its users. It’s also the ancillary businesses that would thrive in a legal marijuana market – glassblowers, paper mills, timber mills (for hemp pressboard), farmers, retailers, restaurants, and so on – and the jobs they would create. It’s also the extra cash freed up for other purchases; if a guy used to paying $400 an ounce is soon paying $100, even with taxes, he can afford to buy some more clothes or go out to a dinner and a movie. Or maybe some sushi.
Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am | By: Radical Russ
(Denver Post) Leo Cisneros was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for selling marijuana out of his family’s Denver apartment, nearly two months after a jury found him not guilty of child abuse resulting in the death of his daughter, Auralia.
Cisneros, 31, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and having a gun while dealing drugs.
Three men tried to force themselves into the Cisneros family home the night Auralia was killed and they exchanged gunfire with Leo Cisneros. Auralia was shot in the face in the crossfire.
The intruders — Trivi Trujillo, Joshua Rojas and Juvencio Hernandez — all pleaded guilty in the case and are serving between 16 and 24 years in prison.
I’m not saying it’s a good idea to deal a pound of weed per week out of your apartment when your little girl is living there. What I’m saying is that it is unjust to sentence a man who was selling a non-toxic substance to willing customers to one year less than a man who violates the sanctity of your home, guns blazing, and kills your child.
Of course, I’ve always had a problem with how we sentence pre-meditated violence in our country compared to other crimes. To me, there is no greater crime than assaulting or killing another human being. There should certainly be some temperance when we’re talking about spontaneous or emotional violence, but when someone coldly plans to physically harm another person, I’ve got a “one strike and you’re out” policy.
For example, take Bernie Madoff. A really rich guy suckers some other really rich people into throwing away more money than I’ll ever see on a too-good-to-be-true Ponzi scheme. The really rich people who were snookered lost a lot, but it’s not like you’re going to see Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon standing with a “Will Act for Food” sign at a freeway onramp anytime soon. And it’s not as if once this was all revealed, Bernie Madoff was going to be able to pull it off again. But for the sake of preserving society and punishing Madoff, he’s sentenced to 150 years and will never see the light of day again.
But if Bernie Madoff were just Bernie the Child Molester or Bernie the Rapist or Bernie the Murderer, depending on the circumstances he would likely be out of prison in three-to-six years. We have mandatory minimum sentences for people who sell drugs to other people who willingly buy them, but no such mandates for people who rape, assault, and kill innocent others. We have jails and prisons that are at 200% capacity, being ordered by federal courts to release tens of thousands of prisoners, but they can’t release the non-violent drug offenders because of the mandatory minimums, so thieves and violent offenders must be set free.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 3:16 pm | By: Radical Russ
VIERA (Florida Today) — A Brevard County jury today convicted a 53-year-old man, who said he uses marijuana for religious and health purposes, of illegally harvesting more than 100 of the plants in his Palm Bay home.
It took a jury 14 minutes to convict self-proclaimed minister Steven Swallick following a two-day trial.
Swallick faces up to 10 years in prison following a conviction on one count each of possession and manufacturing of marijuana. He also was convicted on one misdemeanor count of larceny with relation to a utility fixture for tampering with electrical wiring in his home.
Circuit Judge Jim Earp wouldn’t let him testify about his use of marijuana for religious purposes.
But as part of a motion asking the judge to allow the evidence, Swallick testified outside of the jury’s presence that he is affiliated with the Hawaiian Cannabis Ministries, which mandates use of the drug.
This Hawaiian Cannabis Ministry will sell to you and anyone who logs on a “Sanctuary Kit” for just $250. This kit allegedly “provides you with proof of your legitimacy as a religious practitioner of Cannabis Sacrament.” They claim it provides a “successful religious defense to prosecution”.
Looks like it didn’t work for Rev. Swallick. Even if Judge Earp did allow Swallick’s religious testimony, if wouldn’t work andhasn’tworkedforplentywhohavetried. I wonder how much of Swallick’s and others’ $250 donations to the ministry will come back in the form of legal defense funds for an appeal?
I am all for religious use of cannabis and I believe many people’s sincerity when they call it a sacrament. I don’t think anyone should be arrested or locked up for any use of cannabis, whether you think it’s holy or whether you just think it’s gnarly, dude. But all the “it’s my religion” claim is ever going to get you in an American court is a nice quiet cell and plenty of time to read your holy book. I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying that’s the facts. Point to precedents over ayahuasca and peyote all you like, but no court is going to allow cannabis as sacrament because doing so undermines government’s compelling duty to protect the citizenry from the “evils” of legal weed.
Only full legalization for all people, even healthy atheists, is going to provide patients and practitioners their right to access legal medicine and sacrament.
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.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm | By: Radical Russ
AMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) – The Dutch are among the lowest users of marijuana or cannabis in Europe despite the Netherlands’ well-known tolerance of the drug, according to a regional study published on Thursday. Among adults in the Netherlands, 5.4 percent used cannabis, compared with the European average of 6.8 percent, according to an annual report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, using latest available figures.
A higher percentage of adults in Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and France took cannabis last year, the EU agency said, with the highest being Italy at 14.6 percent. Usage in Italy used to be among the lowest at below 10 percent a decade ago.
The policy on soft drugs in the Netherlands, one of the most liberal in Europe, allows for the sale of marijuana at “coffee shops”, which the Dutch have allowed to operate for decades, and possession of less than 5 grams (0.18 oz).
The full report is available here. Some interesting stats of note:
While 41% or 102 million Americans have tried cannabis in their lifetime, only 22% or 74 million Europeans have. Interestingly, there are about the same number of Europeans as Americans who will use cannabis this year (about 22 million) and this month (12 million), but of course that represents a lower percentage of population since America has 304 million and Europe has 491 million.
While cannabis represents 49.8% of all drug law arrests in America, it represents between 55% and 85% of all drug offenses in the majority of European countries.
While 25% of American 15-16-year-olds have tried cannabis in the past year, only 15% of European 15-16-year-olds have. The same percentage of 15-16-year-olds in the Netherlands used cannabis in the past year as in the USA, 25%.
The greatest decrease among European countries in the prevalence of cannabis use among young adults aged 15-34 has occurred in the United Kingdom since 2003, where past year use has dropped by a third. Incidentally, 2003 was the year the UK downgraded cannabis to a Class C offense, essentially decriminalizing it.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 12:42 pm | By: Radical Russ
Thanks to a tip from our friends at LEAP, I reported on Tuesday about Iowa Senator Charles Grassley offering an amendment to Senator Jim Webb’s prison reform bill that forbids the commission from recommending the legalization of marijuana or even studying what effect legalization might have on society. Well, thanks once again to the Tom Angell, blogging for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, we now have audio of Senator Grassley defending this censorship of science, even as he talks about putting “all options on the table.” (Catch the audio on tonight’s Stash.)
QUESTION: I hear there was an amendment to a bill tomorrow that would legally prevent some of the government’s top advisers from — according to some of the memos we’ve seen — even discussing the idea of legalizing or decriminalizing drugs.
Can you talk a little bit about that? I understand that you pulled that amendment, but, nonetheless, I wanted to ask you what your intent is with that.
GRASSLEY: Well, my intent on that amendment isn’t any different than any other amendments that are coming up. The Congress is setting up a commission to study certain things. And the commission is a — is an arm of Congress, because Congress doesn’t have time to review some of these laws.
And — and — and the point is, for them to do what we tell them to do. And one of the things that I was anticipating telling them not to do is to — to recommend or study the legalization of drugs.
Their — their program would be what we tell it it is. …
Senator Webb wants to understand why we have 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s imprisoned. Sen. Webb understands that the War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs™ has a lot to do with it. Sen. Webb understands that discussion of marijuana legalization must be on the table. I’m not sure which concept is more misunderstood by Senator Grassley: science, democracy, free speech, or justice. Wait, maybe it’s compassion:
QUESTION: Would your amendment have even stopped the discussion of legalized marijuana for medical purposes?
GRASSLEY: I think that would not — let’s see. Yes, the extent to which it would be decriminalization, the answer is yes.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 10:28 am | By: Radical Russ
I reported yesterday on the Israeli research on THC and PTSD. TIME Magazine has a post written by the wonderful Maia Szalavitz covering the study. The post itself is fantastic, but I don’t know if Ms. Szalavitz or an editor came up with this awful headline:
I’ve got friends who are Vietnam and Gulf War vets who suffer to this day with PTSD. But they are a whole lot better off here in Oregon. While Oregon doesn’t recognize PTSD as a qualifying condition for a medical marijuana card, these fellows have plenty of chronic pain from injury to qualify for a card. To a man they tell me they just could not go out in public and function without it.
I also read day after day so many news stories and so many pot-pun headlines that I’ve become sick of them. So maybe I’m the wrong guy to judge; what do you think?
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This is the comment I left for TIME:
Congratulations, TIME, you’re my 2009 Winner for the NORML Daily Audio Stash Worst Pot-Pun Headline of the Year. An Ashton Kutcher stoner movie reference to preface a medical miracle that far too many Vietnam vets already realize and far too many Iraq and Afghanistan vets are denied now. You narrowly eked out a win over:
KTVU San Francisco: “Puff Puff Tax” (coverage of Assemblymember Tom Ammiano’s historic cannabis legalization bill in California.)
Kansas City Star: “A tiny Joplin, Mo., suburb has rolled itself a fat one” (coverage of the town passing a symbolic medical marijuana ordinance.)
The Oregonian: “Sex-for-marijuana sting in Tigard goes to pot” (coverage of police using Craigslist to lure guys into prostitution busts with girls in singles ads who will “party” for “420″.)
Willamette Week: “High-Jacked” (coverage of a rural 53-year-old medical cannabis patient in Oregon who was threatened at gunpoint and beaten with a golf club in a home invasion robbery attempt.)
Willamette Week had won last year for “Working Spliffs”, its coverage of attempts by business and law enforcement lobbyists to deny medical marijuana patients the right to work.
Seriously, the article is great, but the pot-pun headlines have got to go. The prohibition of cannabis is a serious issue, but the media continue to frame it with ridiculous double entendrés that would be completely forbidden if the topic were women, gays, race, or religion, to name a few. It is bad enough that the constraints of headlines force editors to use “pot” instead of “cannabis” and search engine optimization dictates the use of “marijuana” if there’s enough room for “cannabis”.
Medical miracles in cancer, pain, spasticity, and other treatments are being denied, even the research into them is being denied, because of the prohibition of cannabis. Supermajorities of people in every part of the country support medical access to cannabis. Yet the politicians lag behind the people, partly because they don’t take it seriously or fear ridicule in the media.
Adam: Maybe in WA, judges are starting to think about the true cost of a Drug charge...
Adam: Tim Lincecum, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants will pea to a paraphernalia charge/ Possession charges DROPPED
Adam: Add some cottage cheese to your pancake batter, replace the maple with a fruit syrup! f-ing killer, YES I was stoned...
Fidget Truittelli: Good morning from beautiful Arizona! I hope you all have a happy, fun day. Remember to 'pay-it' forward. Do something nice for someone.
BenJaMin: Go NORML!!!
BenJaMin: Russ Is Tha BEst! :smokin:
SneakerPimp: oh there it is thanx russ
SneakerPimp: so whats up with today stash?
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 [...]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
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. […]
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. […]
Puking drunk driver calls 911 to report stolen marijuana
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