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Next weekend we will be bringing you live coverage of the HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup in Los Angeles.  Tune in to http://live.norml.org on Saturday, Feb 11 and Sunday, Feb 12 from Noon to 7pm Pacific Time for free live coverage of the panels, the expo floor, and interviews with cannabis culture celebrities.

If you plan on attending the event, get your tickets online NOW – they sell out fast!  Use the promo code CANORML to get a special 40% discount for supporters of The NORML Network!

We will be holding our Special “4:20 Somewhere” Raffle both days at the Cannabis Cup.  Tickets are $5 at the event or five for $20 and the proceeds benefit The NORML Network.  We’ll have six raffles each day for over $2,000 worth of prizes and your ticket is good for every raffle until you win or the last raffle ends.  You need not be present to win, but you must pick up your prizes at the event; we will not ship them or hold them after 7pm Sunday.

We will announce the winning ticket numbers at :20 after on our live coverage (which you can view on our Ustream app for your iPhone or Android), through our @NORMLNet Twitter account (so follow us!), by text message to your cell (if you write your number on your tickets), and on a whiteboard at our merch desk.

These packages may change by event time… most likely, they’ll get better as we get donations from other vendors to add!

Online viewers can also get in on a piece of the action.  At every raffle, we will randomly select one of our @NORMLNet Twitter followers to win a “Schwag” prize pack.  In the last three raffles of the day, we’ll add an autographed NORML banner signed by the whole NORML SHOW LIVE crew, HIGH TIMES crew, and other cannabis celebrities.

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Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Attorney General Holder grilled by House Republicans over testimony in Operation Fast & Furious investigation
2. Oregon case reiterates that freshly harvested marijuana is neither plant nor usable marijuana under Oregon’s medical marijuana law
3. Update on Veterans for Weed story – they’ve changed their name to Veterans for Weed United

Daily Toker Tunes

Groovin’ Thursday: Brought to you by The Ganja Jon Show

• Wiz Khalifa – “You Take Me (feat. Wale)”

Southern California Scene with Hollywood Hemptress Tere Joyce

• Dan Hanken from the Cannabis Clubs United with Community activist group

Grassroots Activism

• Cultivation legend Jorge Cervantes promoting new DVD via Skype in Barcelona, Spain

(AP / Newser) When police knocked on Josh Brewer’s door to check for marijuana, even one of the nation’s most liberal medical marijuana laws was put to the test.

Officers were fine with the two pounds 10 ounces he and a cousin had grown, harvested, and processed. That was under the pound and a half each allowed by law. And they didn’t care about the 12 plants _ six each _ growing in the backyard. Also legal.

But after they discovered the additional two pounds 11 ounces drying on coat hangers suspended from the ceiling in the living room, officers arrested Brewer, sparking a legal battle over what was enough _ in the maximum sense _ for medical use, and what crossed the line into the potential for illegal sales.

Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, each cardholder…

ORS 475.320(2)(b) May possess up to six mature plants and up to 24 ounces of usable marijuana for each cardholder or caregiver for whom marijuana is being produced.

And under the law…

ORS 475.302(11) “Usable marijuana” means the dried leaves and flowers of the plant Cannabis family Moraceae, and any mixture or preparation thereof, that are appropriate for medical use as allowed in ORS 475.300 to 475.346. “Usable marijuana” does not include the seeds, stalks and roots of the plant.

So our attorney general has informed the judge in this case that an Appeals Court ruling from 2007 had already determined that marijuana that has been freshly harvested is not “usable” in the legal definition of the term.  If it is “drying” it is not yet “dried”.  So the 42 ounces of dried marijuana the pair had was within legal limits and the 43 ounces of drying marijuana can’t count against that.  Furthermore, a branch pulled off a plant to hang and dry is itself not a plant, either, so they don’t count against the 6 mature plant limit.

Theoretically speaking, with my caregiver card, I could be sitting here with 24 ounces of dried buds and six mature plants with ten pounds of bud on them apiece.  I could chop off a branch each week and dry it and so long as I’ve gone through my dried pound-and-a-half before the pound-and-a-half on the branch dries, I’ve never broken the law.  In fact, theoretically there is no limit to how much weight in wet bud I could be drying here, so long as no more than 24 ounces of it is dry at one time.

Now, I can see how law enforcement is freaking out about this.  There is no doubt that some patients need 24 ounces of medicine in order to make edibles, tinctures, and oils, and to hedge against uncertain supply, since we have no reasonable retail access to marijuana.  However, it can also be argued that this is also a huge loophole through which commercial growers can use the medical marijuana law to shield their illegal production.

This goes to show how unworkable it is to carve out an exception to prosecution for 10% of marijuana users.  No matter what firewalls, limits, inspections, or requirements are created for the medical use of cannabis, the overwhelming market forces driving the personal use of marijuana will always find a way to exploit exceptions and thwart limits.  Then those we persuaded for exceptions say, “See, we told you legalizing a little would lead to this!” and they push for tighter restrictions and limits that do nothing to stop the personal use market, but cause huge problems for the medical user who has always been the least able to function in an illegal market.

The original "POW" logo

UPDATE:  The group formerly known as Veterans For Weed has altered their name after the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans raised objections to the use of the VFW acronym. The Veterans group will now be called Veterans For Weed United. A message on their website now reads, “We have chosen to remove all current artwork using the VFW sign. We respect the Veterans of Foreign Wars and apologize for any inconvenience this caused them with the similar abbreviation.”

A pro-marijuana group has offended the nation’s largest group of combat veterans by using the group’s modified logo on their web site, Facebook page, and on t-shirts, hats and other marijuana-related items.

The group, based in Milwaukee, is called Veterans for Weed. They borrowed the logo from the National League of POW/MIA Families that show a silhouette of a soldier and a prison tower. The group has altered the logo to show the soldier smoking a joint.  Their website and Facebook page was filling up with complaints asking them to stop using the POW/MIA logo and the VFW acronym, which also represents the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Veterans for Weed logo

The Veterans for Weed, so far, have not backed down. A representative for the group, identified as Hemp Solo and a Marine veteran, said they did now intend to offend anyone and apologize to those they did offend. But the image is not copyrighted, so they say there is no legal reason why they should stop using it.

The website had a message posted today that said, “We did not alter the POW flag lightly, or because we were high. We take it very seriously.” But they did get a cease and desist letter from legal counsel of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that said if they wanted to avoid further legal action by the VFW, that Veterans for Weed must immediately cease using VFW on communications, products, or other representations. [Update from Russ: Veterans for Weed has changed to "Veterans for Weed United", or VFWU, to avoid a lawsuit.]  The letter clearly stated that the VFW is not affiliated with and does not support Veterans for Weed or any of their initiatives.  The statement does agree that the logo, however, is not copyrighted and is in the public domain, but called terms used on the website highly offensive, such as “stoner soldier” and “semper high”.

A chairman of the National League of POW/MIA families said that offenders will usually stop using their logo when asked, or when pressured by members of POW/MIA family members. She said that all they can legally do is to keep asking them to do what is right and responsible. Hemp Solo said in a statement for the Veterans for Weed group that the usage of the logo is important to get attention to the issue of vets who are jailed and their lives are ruined because of a little pot. He says that they have also received quite a bit of positive feedback as well, so they like that he logo is stirring up the conversations. Solo said that when you are in prison because of pot, they you are a POW, a prisoner of weed.

External Links:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2012-02-01/marijuana-group-pow/52912452/1?csp=34news

New York City was the first major city to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession. What could have been a proud history of progressive and rational cannabis laws has become a history of racism, leading to New York City becoming the world capital of marijuana arrests, with the most people going to jail over small amounts of cannabis.

The stop-and-frisk practices that often leads to marijuana arrests and are done disproportionally and routinely on blacks and Hispanics in the city. Police ask citizens during these encounters to empty their pockets, then arrest them, not for having the marijuana, but having it in plain view. Citizens became outraged about the practice, and started protesting the mayor’s house and the police department this summer.

In September, a memorandum from the police commissioner reminded NYC police officers to follow the letter of the law in marijuana cases and only make arrests if they have it in plain view. The highlight on the policy, coupled with the memo has led to arrest rates for small amounts of cannabis to drop significantly. But now that the data is in for 2011, we see that New York City actually increased their arrests for low-level marijuana possession last year.

The number of low-level marijuana criminals has now risen for the seventh straight year. The year-end arrest total for cannabis possession in the city was 50,684, up just a half a percentage point from 2010, but still more arrests than the arrest total from the entire 19 year period from 1978 to 1996. Even with the decline after Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s memo, there was an increase of 6 percent in marijuana arrests during the first eight months of the year, offsetting that decline.

Once again, marijuana arrests were the largest arrest category in New York City, costing the city about $75 million to pursue those arrested in the already-overburdened New York court system. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has faced criticism because the arrests of marijuana criminals under his watch have been a staggering 87 percent black or Hispanic, and only 10 percent of those arrested for marijuana crimes have been white, even though US government studies consistently find that white people’s marijuana use rates are higher than those of minorities. There is a bill in the Senate currently that would lower decriminalize a small step more, by lowering the charge for a small amount of marijuana that is in public view to a violation, punishable only by a fine.

External Links:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/low-level-marijuana-arrests-rise-for-seventh-straight-year/

While President Obama is ignoring our calls to end adult marijuana prohibition and Google/YouTube is deeming our pleas “inappropriate” and unworthy of serious discussion like tennis, parties, and the president’s dancing ability, police in Mexico are forced to put themselves in protective custody because of the threat of assassination at the hands of the drug cartels.  For reasons that escape me, our president and congress seem to prefer that the lucrative marijuana trade is controlled by and benefits these murderous criminals.

(Los Angeles Daily News) CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Every one of the 2,500 police officers in this Mexican border city has been ordered to leave home and stay in a hotel after the killing of five officers by a local drug cartel.

The gang threatened a week ago to kill one policeman a day unless Police Chief Julian Leyzaola resigns.

Police spokesman Adrian Sanchez said officers were ordered to stay away from their houses after Monday’s shootout between assailants and policemen. That assault and previous attacks happened as officers were going to or from home.

The city’s government said it has secured 26 million pesos ($2 million) to house officers in hotels but did not specify how long that would last.

At least 10 banners bearing threats to Juarez’s police chief appeared around the city last week. The messages were signed by the New Juarez Cartel, an offshoot of the La Linea or Juarez Cartel, a major target of law enforcement actions in recent months.

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2012-XXXX.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. NYPD has 7th straight year of marijuana arrest increase, over 50,000 busted for pot
2. Veterans for Weed groups sparks outrage from POW likeness in logo, similarity to Veterans of Foreign Wars acronym
3. Fort Collins lawsuit challenges ban on dispensaries
4. FBI chainsaws through wrong apartment in raid, terrifying mother and toddler
5. Joan Rivers smokes pot on camera in her new reality show

Daily Toker Tunes

Irie Wednesday: Brought to you by NorCalPurps in the California Bay Area

• Winstrong & DJ Jacques – “Free Weed”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

• Israeli study shows promise of cannabinoids in treatment of cancer

Radical Rant

• Big Pharma’s lobbying power shows incentive to oppose medical marijuana in Washington

SB 2026 along with companion bill HB 1963 would further restrict Hawaii’s medical marijuana law. Both bills are seeking to remove chronic pain as a stand-alone condition that you can use to qualify to use marijuana medically. It would also limit the number of registered medical marijuana cards to three for any one address. Also increasing would be the charge of misrepresenting information on a medical marijuana application from a misdemeanor to a class C felony.

These bills were written by legislators in response to what they perceive to be abuses in the current system of Hawaii’s medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana advocates in Hawaii say that the passage of these bills would impact over 90% of the current patient roles in some negative way.

But it isn’t all bad in the Hawaiian tropical paradise. SB 2405 would allow the legal transfer of seeds, clones and medicine between patients, as long as it was for no compensation. SB 2406 would actually ADD a condition to the qualifying list, PTSD. And finally, SB 2262 would amend the states patients’ pain bill of rights to include medical marijuana.

Activists in Hawaii are asking voters to please contact their representatives to let them know they would support bills SB2262, SB2406 and SB2405.

Extended Links:

http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/01/hawaii-legislative-update-medical-marijuana-issues/

During the stop, the officer said he could smell marijuana coming from his car. A drug dog was called to the scene, and they were able to locate additional marijuana located in a safe in the trunk. In addition to controlled substance charges, he was charged with drug paraphernalia, operating a motor vehicle with a dangerous substance abroad along with failure to maintaining working lamps on his car and failure to exhibit his valid drivers license.

Tokers! Clean out your car once in a while.

External Links:
http://triboro.patch.com/articles/loose-marijuana-allegedly-found-scattered-on-riverdale-man-s-front-seats

Military officials, who wage much of the war against drug cartels and their products, say that the surveillance flights this year have shown large dry patches in land that is usually lush with illegal marijuana and poppy fields. Rain has been almost non-existent in the region, in a place where many marijuana crops depend on the rain for water. He said that they have moved some operations to focus near streams, where they are finding marijuana farmers trying to eke out smaller crops by diverting water with pumps and hoses.

General Ricardo Trevilla said that the drop in illegal marijuana crops may lead to what he is reporting to sharp rise in the production of synthetic drugs. Trevilla says that the powerful cartels are increasingly turning to drug production for substances like methamphetamine because it has become more profitable, can be made much faster than a marijuana or poppy crop and needs less storage and is harder to detect in transport. Mexican authorities have been seizing record amounts of the chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, and busting a record number of meth labs in Mexico City and Northern Mexico. In December alone, officials seized a staggering 675 tons of a key precursor chemical, enough to produce incredible amounts of meth.

External Links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/mexico-drought-marijuana_n_1242620.html?ref=green&ir=Green