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Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 1:02 pm | By: Radical Russ
(KETV) SAUNDERS COUNTY, Neb. — Police officers in Ashland, Neb., seized 150 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop Wednesday night on Highway 6.
The seizure was the largest in Saunders County history, said Ashland police.
He said the incident started when police stopped [a] conversion van driving erratically. When the officer approached the van and saw several bags of marijuana in plain view, he called for assistance, police said.
[Ashland Police Chief Mark] Powell said multiple agencies responded to that call. The drugs were in duffel bags found throughout the vehicle, police said.
Three men in the van were Christopher Ryan, Irvin Dana Beal and James Statzer.
All three are being held in Saunders County Jail and are suspected of drug possession with intent to deliver, officers said. They all face charges of possession with intent to deliver.
Beal is a political activist who has advocated for marijuana legalization in the U.S.
Authorities said Ryan and Statzer are being held on $100,000 bond each. Beal is being held on $500,000 bond.
Yes, it is the word of a police officer, but if indeed there were bags of marijuana “in plain view”, then add this story to our pile of Stupid Stoner Stories.
Few stories I’ve written have generated as much firestorm as this one. Check out the coverage on CelebStoner, where I’m being called “an asshole” (three times), “Smellville”, “a fool”, and being threatened with an assault-by-pie.
I even received a phone call from a New York activist who I met at the NORML CON last week. He was at least civil and explained to me that Beal has been providing very low-cost marijuana (”$3-$7 per gram”… that’s still $85 to $200 per ounce) for medical patients on the East Coast. So I apologize for any insinuation that Beal was making a luxury living as a weed dealer charging prohibition profits to average pot consumers.
What I’m upset about isn’t necessarily Beal in particular, but the general issue of a “record bust” of a prominent activist returning from NORML CON. Every day I beat back prohibitionists who say that medical marijuana, especially in California, is being abused by criminals that are hiding behind the lax statutes to cover their interstate trafficking. The average reader doesn’t know Beal has a history of altruism and support of desperately sick people; they just see “150lbs of marijuana” being trafficked by one of our own coming back from an activist conference in California. They see a “legalizer” and assume he’s getting rich by drug dealing and it taints the message we’re all trying to deliver.
Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm | By: Radical Russ
Dana Beal (immediately to right of Madeline Martinez in red) at Russ Belville's "Tools for Activists" breakout panel at NORML CON 2009
(CelebStoner) New York marijuana activist Dana Beal has been arrested again in the Midwest, this time with 150 pounds of pot. Nebraska police apprehended Beal and two others in a van on Wednesday in Ashland near Interstate 80 (just West of Omaha) after the vehicle was stopped for driving erratically. Bail was set at $500,000.
Beal was last seen in San Francisco at the NORML Conference. Presumably, he was driving back from California when the bust took place.
The Cures Not Wars founder has had numerous run-ins with the law, the most recent of which came last June when Illinois authorities confiscated a small amount of marijuana and $150,000 from him. This past May, Beal pled guilty to the pot charge and paid a fine, but the cash was not returned.
Beal organizes the annual Global Marijuana March each May.
Dana Beal was in the front row of my break-out session Saturday at NORML CON. Before we started he asked for a moment to address the attendees regarding the Worldwide Marijuana March.
It was my first opportunity to meet him and thank him personally for the march. It was at the Portland March in 2005 where I first met Madeline Martinez and this whole crazy career of mine started into motion.
One hundred fifty pounds of cannabis, huh? Unless that’s personal use for a lifetime, it looks like Dana was trying to make a living off of prohibition. When you’re a high-profile activist, a trafficking bust like this doesn’t really help the cause much. It kinda erodes the moral high ground to be rallying to end prohibition because it gives young people a criminal record on the one hand, but then profiting from the black market excise tax those young people will pay to buy marijuana on the other hand.
I hope everything goes well for Dana; he is a very nice gentleman and I’d like a chance to see him again someday.
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Jim Miller and Ken Wolski, founders of Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey and Chris Goldstein, Executive Director of NORML New Jersey, on the trial of multiple sclerosis patient John Wilson, facing 20 years for growing 17 plants for medical purposes. Wilson is not only not allowed to mention his medical use of marijuana, the judge has forbidden him from even mentioning that he has multiple sclerosis.
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Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 6:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
NORML Daily Audio Stash places #8 in the iTunes Top 10 for Government & Organizations
I sincerely want to again thank everyone who is making this podcast such a success. Chris Goldstein for founding it and choosing me to take it over, Allen St. Pierre and Keith Stroup for believing in me and trusting me to work at home from 3,000 miles away, and Paul Armentano for being the Google of marijuana science.
Of course there is also Steve Bloom from Celebstoner.com, Tere Joyce rounding up guests in SoCal, Tam Lee bringing us great new independent tunes from Marijuana Music Awards (and thanks to all the musicians who donate!), Dr. Mitch Earleywine providing our Cannabis Science, and lately, Eric Brenner with the California Marijuana Report, Danny Danko with Cultivator’s Corner, and David Bienenstock with High Times Newsstand Preview. Not to mention the hundreds of activists, authors, scientists, doctors, politicians, musicians, and plain old “unicorns” we talk to in our Cannabis Conversations.
Then there are the dedicated newshawks – Mr. Spof, Dudemaster, and Justice – who track down stories from across cyberspace and always find the budly nugs amidst all the swiggity swag. (Try typing “marijuana” into Google News sometime – it’s 95% “poor shmuck got busted for a little weed” stories and 5% “really interesting news”.) Thanks also go out to Cannabis Karri (she’s my half-half sister; she has a different mom and I have a different dad) and Less Than Radical Josh (he’s my whole brother, all 6′4″ of him) who handled the music pre-Tam.
And of course, YOU!, the dedicated Stasher who hangs out in the Fresh Stash to the one-time visitor who hit here from Google News or some random hyperlink. I come from a very friendly and vibrant online community (Pam’s House Blend) that she once described as a virtual coffee house, where folks feel comfortable talking issues. Music plays in the background, it’s “community-friendly”, big news stories about our issue are discussed but also stories outside our issue are looked at from our point of view. People contribute stories, commentray, and links and we rip a few hits and discuss. Maybe we’re a virtual coffee shop, Amsterdam style.
Anyway, I noted below how we topped 100,000 hits for April (that’s one big bowl!… or one helluva bonghittin’ woman!) down below and while I was checking up on the iTunes feed, I noticed we broke the Top Ten at #8 (the Weekly News is at #22) in the Government & Organizations category of the iTunes store. We have two podcasts in the Top 25 versus President Obama having three… and he doesn’t think we’re serious about legalization.
Let’s keep growing this corner of cyberspace! I believe this summer we’ll be ready to go into full budding stage.
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Hemp Headlines
NORML Special: Live report from Manhattan Tax Day Protest with Allen St. Pierre (Executive Director of NORML),
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RevRayGreen: MASS TWEET THIS -@ChuckGrassley Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer sadness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
RevRayGreen: @ChuckGrassley http://bit.ly/55Ejsi Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer madness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
SneakerPimp: one last thing Puff puff pass to any one who wants it
SneakerPimp: i wanna here about the imminent MiniSpof sounds like time for some
SneakerPimp: im estatic and excited for NSL today.
SneakerPimp: mountain time wake n bake
SneakerPimp: oh yea also wake n bake
SneakerPimp: its central im high as a kite everybody
SneakerPimp: ill grab that WUD
WakeUpDead: @Russ, I dont think that wireless is going to work out for the show, it was choppy and studdered just like last week. Hardline may be the only way. Puff [...]
WakeUpDead: A MINI Spof, Lock up your Weed, in 18 years that is. Really Man congrats! Greatest days of my life when my kids were born, hell yeh, great news [...]
BenJaMin: Late night Stash!!!
SneakerPimp: heres a bong rip for spof
RevRayGreen: errr test over....
RevRayGreen: on hold..
RevRayGreen: @RR I'll try and lob a call to you.....
SneakerPimp: where is the first field of cannabis gonna be?
SneakerPimp: !
Radical Russ: Breaking News: MrSpof's wife's water just broke! A MiniSpof is imminent!
SneakerPimp: oh russ its not my fault that i dont understand choppy word:stoned:
SneakerPimp: @Mrspof congratulations tell us all about it tommrow
Radical Russ: OK, test over. Sorry. Only needed a half hour. Be back tomorrow afternoon.
slash5city: don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west
thaistik: Local Crime Stoppers notice.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pot shop burglars sought
Crime Stoppers is looking for information on the suspects who police say burglarized a medical marijuana dispensary and stole cash, drugs [...]
Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco; California Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is A "Failed Public Health Policy"; Oregon: State NORML Affiliate Opens First 'Cannabis Café'. […]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
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. […]
Stash for Fri, Oct 16, 2009
sounds like time for some 
mountain time wake n bake 
don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west 
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