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Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Canadian poll shows 2/3rds majority of British Columbians oppose marijuana criminalization
2. Denver issues first state medical marijuana business license
3. Trucker suicides after being pulled over with 600lbs of marijuana in his sleeper
4. Teen found chained up inside trailer grow op in Florida

Daily Toker Tunes

Groovin’ Thursday: Brought to you by John Doe Radio.com

• Wiz Khalifa – “Still Blazin’”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speaker’s Corner

• James Gierach, former Cook County prosecutor

Radical Rant

• So you want me to focus more on Ron Paul, eh?

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Hemp Headlines

1. Iowa Representative lies to get medical marijuana in California to prove why they shouldn’t have it in Iowa
2. British Columbia suspending grow-op inspections and fines after many non-cannabis growers are caught
3. Mexican officials catch drug traffickers with weed-bale-launching catapult to breach border fence

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by John Doe Radio.com

• Groovin’ Thursday: Ultimate Rage & Sugga Dogg – “High Above It”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speaker’s Corner

• SSgt John Darker USAF Military Police

Radical Rant – Special Hour Two on Obama YouTube Question

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Hemp Headlines

1. Oregon man gets ten days in jail for shooting at and missing medical marijuana rippers
2. Michigan drug task force raids dispensary, seizes $20,000 in cash, but arrests and charges nobody
3. Proposed new regulations for medical marijuana would impose 10% tax
4. Supreme Court discussing rights of cops to enter without a warrant if they hear sounds (like flushing) that may indicate evidence is being destroyed

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by John Doe Radio.com

• Groovin’ Thursday: Chuuwee – “French Inhale”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speaker’s Corner

• Dr. John Anderson Ph.D., chair of criminology at Vancouver Island University, British Columbia, Canada

Radical Rant

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• Washington’s SB 5073 and HB 1100 would greatly improve state’s medical marijuana law

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Hemp Headlines

1. Canada’s newly adopted civil asset forfeiture laws netting $15 million in British Columbia
2. Texas lawmakers introduce decriminalization bill for marijuana
3. Fresno man convicted of manslaughter for shooting medical marijuana thief
4. Washington lawmakers introduce bills to protect patients and provide dispensaries

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Grateful Dread Public Radio at http://gdreadradio.net, a 24-hour community service Internet radio station proud to carry NORML SHOW LIVE

• Irie Wednesday: Pato Banton – “Sensimilla”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

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• Addressing Jared Loughner, the Arizona shooter, and his use of cannabis and whether that contributed to his psychoses

Radical Rant

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• Cliff Kincaid’s Reefer Madness about Jared Loughner, marijuana and schizophrenia, and NORML


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• The Top Ten Drugs in 2010 That Were More Harmful Than Cannabis

(Nanaimo Daily News) VANCOUVER – Len Gratto says there’s no way he is paying a $5,200 fine to Mission, B.C., for growing cucumbers in his basement.

How is it that our Canadian cucumber cultivating friends are being fined for growing a legal plant in their basements?  Because our neighbors to the north have adopted “grow op bylaws” to combat the conversion of residential properties into marijuana grow houses.  These laws make me very happy we still have enough of our 4th Amendment here in America that we don’t have mandatory inspections by the electric company.

In a move that could potentially alter the landscape of drug enforcement in B.C., the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says it will join the battle against Mission, widening the focus into a region-wide challenge to “home grow-op bylaws.”

Grow-op bylaw programs, which are based on provincial legislation, allow municipal inspectors to enter homes with abnormally high hydro[-electric] usage – about 93 kilowatts per day or more – and look for evidence of illegal marijuana grow-ops for public safety reasons.

Inspectors don’t have to find grow-ops, but if they find residual evidence, such as high mould readings, they levy search fees and order repairs. If homeowners don’t comply, homes are tagged under the bylaw and effectively condemned as unsafe, and unsellable.

According to proponents, the bylaws have been phenomenally successful in driving pot production out of B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

Well, sure, if you allow inspectors to run roughshod through people’s homes you’re going to drive out grow houses.  The problem is that you also impact a lot of innocent people like the cucumber grower.  The report explain how there were 362 searches but only 177 of those found to be breaking the law.  More than half of those cases, then, involved someone who simply used a lot of electricity.  Those people have to deal with the embarrassment of being searched and the whispers of neighbors.

Oh, the lengths to which governments will go to avoid taking the simple and sensible step of legalization of cannabis…

(Winnipeg Free Press) COBURN GORE, Maine – A Canadian man is in a Maine jail after his GPS directed him to a remote U.S. border crossing where agents found about a half kilogram of marijuana in his car.

Officials say 54-year-old Darrell Fudge was driving from British Columbia back to his home in Newfoundland on Sunday and he did not intend to enter the United States, but his GPS gave him the shortest route, which led through northern Maine.

The Sun Journal newspaper says Fudge is being held on $5,000 bail. He’s expected to appear in court again Wednesday.

“Aw, fudge!  I forgot to set the ‘Avoid International Borders’ checkbox in the GPS options!  Dammit, I knew I shoulda taken that left in Montreal!”

View Larger Map

This poor guy drives all the way across Canada, Calgary, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Montreal, a trip that takes 4,434 miles or four days driving time (if you don’t sleep). By avoiding American roads he only adds 57 miles to the journey and the international checkpoint at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. All for a pound of BC Bud.

I almost felt this wouldn’t count as a Stupid Stoner Story. The guy’s on the last leg of a week’s worth of driving and the GPS, set for “shortest route”, decided to take a shortcut through Maine to get to Newfoundland. Could happen to anybody, right?

Except that this was his return trip. If he’d cut through Maine on the way there he would have had to show a passport, which he admitted he did not have. So he had to have taken the route that runs along the St. Lawrence River over Maine and through Quebec City on the way to Montreal. So on your way back, when you’re outside Montreal, not seeing a major river or any sign saying “Quebec City – 260km”, don’t you begin to doubt your GPS? It does take over three hours to get from Montreal to Coburn Gore, Maine.

The poor guy is now facing a felony charge, spent $5,000 in bail, and lost the pound of BC Bud after two weeks of driving across Canada. The over 1lb in Maine can get him 5 years in prison and another $5,000 in fines. Let this be a lesson to weed smugglers everywhere: plan your route carefully… using a paper map.

Hey, I have a glass grenade-shaped pipe that would go great with this grinder! I just won't TAKE THEM ON AIRPLANES!

Vancouver Island airport was completely closed down for four hours on Wednesday morning after airport officials discovered what first looked like a hand grenade in a passenger’s luggage. The passenger terminal at Campbell River Airport was evacuated shortly after 6:30am, when an X-Ray scan revealed the suspicious metal item inside a green bag.

Read the original post:
Marijuana Grinder Made to Look Like Replica Grenade Shuts Down Airport

Today’s feature is a mix of politics and music from north of the border.  I first heard this song at the beginning (and end) of a video from Jodie Emery, when she interviewed her husband from jail, and knew instantly that I must share it with my fellow stashers!

The song, “Free Marc Emery” by The Ground Luminosity delivers a critical message in an entertaining style.  Hailing from Roberts Creek, BC, The four member band is, according to their MySpace page, “Roberts Creek premier party band, bringing rootsy and tribal beats mixed with ska and a modern sounding funk element, bridged by a rock energy that just won’t quit.”  Their influences range from Leadbelly to the Red Hot Chili Peppers with some Pink Floyd and Bob Marley thrown in.  Take that unique sound and add lyrics demanding Marc Emery’s freedom, and you have got one hell of a toker tune.

Find more about The Ground Luminosity on their Facebook page or on MySpace

To keep up on the latest news and find out how you can help Marc visit cannabisculture.com or pot.tv.

Download audio file (The Ground Luminosity – Free Marc Emery.mp3)

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First, from FOX Freedom Watch’s excellent Judge Napolitano:

Click here to view the embedded video.

"Maybe if someone tried to make a coat out of me, then PETA would protest my death."

Second, from one of our loyal followers who contacted PETA about the Missouri SWAT Dog Shooting:

Thank you for contacting PETA.

We share your concern about the circumstances under which these dogs were shot. We understand that the responsible agency is conducting a thorough internal review of the incident, and we sincerely hope that this review will lead to policy changes that will ensure that it is never repeated.

These tragedies happen more often than one would imagine. It seems we’re inundated with calls every week from people whose dogs were shot by law-enforcement personnel. Officers appropriately resort to deadly force when they believe that their lives, or the lives of others, are in danger. But sometimes officials draw their guns unnecessarily or too quickly. Regardless, it’s important that all officials whose work brings them in contact with animals be trained to deal with animal situations effectively and humanely. We often recommend that agencies take advantage of the National Animal Control Association’s training programs (http://www.nacanet.org) for that reason.

If, after reviewing state law (http://www.animallaw.com) and local law (http://www.municode.com), it is believed that a government agency wrongfully injured or killed a companion animal, the shooter could face prosecution, and the animal’s guardians may be able to sue.

It is important for any companion-animal guardian to be familiar with the laws that afford their loved ones protection from every kind of abuse. For more information at your fingertips, you may wish to read Dog Law: A Legal Guide for Dog Owners and Their Neighbors, by Mary Randolph.

Thank you again for writing and for your concern for animals.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff

…but PETA’s not going to do jack about it by publicizing this as much as they’d protest some actress wearing a fur coat or a biker wearing a leather jacket.

Third, as the video is close to topping 1,000,000 views, the Columbia Police apologists have come out in force on the blogs, including this one, to put a rest to all the “misinformation” out there:

Kinloch Court Search Warrant Update

Columbia Police officers served a search warrant at 1501 Kinloch Court, in Columbia, at 8:27 p.m., on February 11, 2010. The search warrant entry team consisted of eight SWAT members and the perimeter team consisted of three officers, one of whom is a SWAT member.

Upon entry, the officers immediately encountered two dogs. During the search warrant, one of the dogs was shot and killed. This dog was a breed commonly referred to as a “pit bull”.

According to the search warrant affidavit, this is what the officers knew as they were barging in late at night in full body armor and toting automatic weapons:

There is reason to believe the crime of “MARIJUANA, A SCHEDULE I CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE and the evidence of the crime of drug trafficking to include records, phone numbers, cash, and apparatuses to facilitate the use and distribution of controlled substances” is being committed at the residence.

“[A] cooperating citizen with a history of truthfulness and reliability… advised Jonathan Whitworth is selling large amounts of high grade marijuana in the Columbia area.”

“[A]nother cooperating citizen who has proven reliable and truthful on numerous occasions… has observed a large amount of high grade marijuana inside Whitworth’s residence within the past 10 days.”

“During an examination of the contents ofthese trash bags, I found… a baggy containing [THC] residue and numerous items of drug paraphemalia with [THC] residue on them.”

“Jonathan Whitworth has numerous previous arrests including resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, delivery, manufacturing controlled substance prior/persistent offender and DWI. The Columbia Police Department has received information dating back to 2003 indicating Whitworth’ s involvement in the sales and distribution of controlled substances.”

Notably absent from this crack detective work and plea to a judge to allow Detective Dogkiller and his stormtrooper buddies free reign to bust in Whitworth’s door and start discharging automatic weapons…

• Whitworth is living in the home with his wife and 7-year-old son.
• Whitworth has two dogs, a pit bull and a corgi, in the residence.

Do you think a judge would be so quick to sign that warrant with that information?  (Don’t answer, because he probably would.)  So this entire invasion was based on pot that wasn’t there with no knowledge of children and pets that were there?  Didn’t your garbage snoop turn up any kids juice boxes, baggies of dog poop, or anything other than discarded pot baggies and pipes?  Did you not observe anything at the home over eight days between warrant and raid to indicate there were dogs and a child present?

The defendant, Jonathon Whitworth, was arrested.

The police department has received numerous inquiries from citizens who have received misinformation. While the investigation is still ongoing, the department recognizes the need to provide information prior to its conclusion to clarify some specific questions, many of which are based on misinformation.

* The pit-bull type breed dog was not confined; it was not in a cage and it was not behind a gate.
* The other dog, described as a Corgi, was not killed. This dog is believed to have been struck once.

“Believed to have been struck”?  What, we need further investigation to determine whether the audible yelping in the video and the visible damage to a corgi’s paw was the result of your officer’s gunfire?  And oh, it was a pit bull that was killed, not the corgi?  Well, then, that makes it all OK, now, doesn’t it?  Pit bulls deserve to be killed, is that it?

* The defendant’s wife and child were at the residence. However, neither was in the presence of the officers or dogs when the dogs were shot.

Oh, so the child didn’t actually see Detective Dogkiller shoot his pets, he only had to hear gunshots, his pets yelping in agony and terror, and only saw one of his pets’ corpses as a body-armor-and-mask-clad stranger with a still-smoking weapon led him and mom out of the house while others were manhandling and screaming at his daddy.  Sure, there were seven bullets flying around the home, but none of them pierced the paper-thin walls to harm the child, so it’s all good, right?

* The officers did not force entry into the home. The door was unlocked and an officer opened it.

So, you’re telling me this big time drug dealer goes to bed at night without locking his front door?  A guy you presume to have large amounts of high-grade marijuana and cash related to drug trafficking in the home, a guy by your accounts is a repeat offender well versed in the drug trade, leaves his front door unlocked.

* The search warrant was not served for a misdemeanor amount of marijuana. The Columbia Police Department does not pursue search warrants for misdemeanor amounts of marijuana. The search warrant was for Marijuana, A Schedule I Controlled Substance and the evidence of the crime of drug trafficking. A copy of the affidavit is attached.

In other words, we only go to the trouble of bursting into homes at night, terrorizing women and children, and killing family pets if there’s more than 35 grams of marijuana involved and the suspect is selling it to other willing purchasers.

* A diversionary device or “flash bang” was not deployed during this incident

Police Chief Ken Burton requested the Internal Affairs Unit conduct an investigation into the uses of force involved in the incident. A total of seven shots were fired.

The investigative review also examines training practices, and the department’s current practices in general with regard to the service of search warrants. Since that time, the department has received inquiries from individuals expressing a desire to know if an investigation is being completed.

Upon being briefed about the incident Chief Burton concluded that this search warrant should not have been served in the delayed fashion that it was, but rather should have been disregarded when the department was not able to serve it within a reasonable time. He has made members of his department aware that policy changes with regard to search warrant service are underway. In the interim, he will personally be responsible for approving search warrants in which forced entry may be required.

See, the problem isn’t that we’re bursting into homes at night, terrorizing women and children, and killing family pets over marijuana.  The problem is timing.

When the internal investigation is complete, a news release will be issued with its results.

Many phone calls and e-mails are being received by the members of the police department, as well as other City departments, regarding this incident. The department is doing its best to reply with a statement to the inquiries that contain a legitimate e-mail address or phone numbers, and which include questions that we can answer at this time.

Chief Burton has proposed changes to the department’s Narcotic Search Warrant Service Protocol. View those changes here.
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Police/Documents/NarcoticsSearchWarrantProtocolChanges.pdf

View a copy of the search warrant affidavit here.
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Police/Documents/AffidavitKinlochCourtsearchwarrant.pdf

Make all the excuses you like, Chief, but it still boils down to this:

• Cops broke into a man’s home over marijuana.
• Cops fired seven bullets in a home where a child was sleeping.
• Cops killed one family pet and wounded another.
• Cops didn’t find any evidence of the felonies for which the warrant was served.

All these explanations are meaningless until you accept the premise that this level of force is appropriate to keep people from using marijuana. The proposed changes by the Columbia Police still allow for “dynamic entry” to bust into people’s homes to keep them from using marijuana. All this document represents is embarrassment that the cops were caught on video executing these commonplace tactics and promises to make sure that the next time they burst into a home late at night guns blazing to catch someone with marijuana, they’ll try to be sure there are no kids around.

Or as Pete Guither at DrugWarRant so eloquently puts it:

The proof of this failure is evident in the statement by Deputy Police Chief Tom Dresner:

“If we were searching for stolen televisions in his house, there is no reason for SWAT,” he said. “He can’t flush televisions.”

He doesn’t even get the wrongness underlying his statement.

The entire philosophy behind SWAT-style drug raids is that the death of a mother, a child, or the family pet is an acceptable risk to prevent flushing. (Deep Thoughts)

What makes it worse is that you can’t actually flush large amounts of marijuana.

Remember, folks, this isn’t just Columbia, Missouri, this is commonplace all across the United States and comes straight from the top.  Federal funds are abundantly distributed to local law enforcement agencies through mechanisms like Byrne Grants to buy military-style hardware and conduct aggressive anti-drug efforts.  This raid is the expected result of our national War on Marijuana Users.