Macon radio host says he’s been suspended after marijuana arrest
Macon radio talk show host Shayne McBryde said he’s been suspended indefinitely from his job at WMAC News Talk 940 pending an internal corporate investigation.

McBryde, 37, said he met with Cumulus Broadcasting representatives Wednesday morning after being arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession about noon Tuesday.

McBryde said he was “at the wrong place at the wrong time” when police knocked on the door of a Center Street residence after smelling burning marijuana Tuesday.

An officer responding to a report of a man with a gun on Center Street about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday couldn’t find the man, but the officer smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from 982 Center St., according to a Macon police report.

The officer knocked on the door, and the homeowner agreed to a search of the residence, according to the report.

Seven people inside denied having any marijuana, but when told that a drug-sniffing dog was on the way, McBryde admitted having a small bag of marijuana, according to the report.

Officers say another person there admitted to smoking marijuana.

McBryde was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, while the other six people - including the home owner - were cited for being present where drugs are kept, used or sold, according to the report.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Melanie Hofmann said McBryde had less than an ounce of marijuana.

He was released from the Bibb County jail late Tuesday afternoon on $390 bond, according to jail records.

Sigh.

OK, Stashers, let us all learn from the lesson of Shayne McBride and that stupid homeowner.  Repeat after me:

• “I’m sorry officer, I really can’t let you into my home without a valid search warrant.”
• “Officer, I do not consent to any searches.”

I know it can be intimidating when a cop knocks on your door.  But if you’ve got people inside smoking pot, letting that officer in your home is a guarantee that someone is going to jail.  You have nothing to lose by asserting your 4th Amendment rights - step outside your door, close it behind you, and politely tell them they cannot enter without a warrant.  Your refusal to allow a warrantless search is not sufficient for the probable cause they’d need to enter without it.  The smell of burning marijuana coming from your home might be enough for them to get a warrant, but that’s a big pain in the ass for them, and they may not want to wake up a judge for what may be a small misdemeanor amount of marijuana.

But suppose the homeowner lets the cops in and you’re holding the bag.  Refuse to consent to any searches.  Don’t just admit to possession and make their job easy.  They threaten to bring the drug dogs?  Fine, if they find the weed on you, you’re no more or less busted than you would have been if you voluntarily showed them your weed.  Refusal to consent to a search is not going to make your charges any worse - you’re not resisting arrest, you’re asserting your rights.

As for the radio deejay, look, if Cumulus Broadcasting wants to remove all of its employees who smoke weed, there is going to be a lot of dead air on that station…

Sometimes it’s the few bad apples that make us all look bad…

Rome News - Tribune
Rome police arrested a man at Rome Municipal Court Wednesday when he was found with a baggie of marijuana at the metal detector, reports stated.

According to Rome police reports:

Angelo Dwayne Harris Jr., 23, of 6 Porter St. was taken into custody at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday when he emptied his pockets at the metal detector and placed a baggie of marijuana on the conveyor belt for inspection.

Police charged Harris with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and he remains at the Floyd County Jail this morning.

Smoking marijuana does not make you stupid - but some stupid people do smoke marijuana.

FOXNews.com - Georgia Governor Bans Sale of Pot-Flavored Candy to Kids - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
ATLANTA — Georgia retailers soon will be banned from selling candy flavored to taste like marijuana to children.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed a measure into law Wednesday that bans the sale of “marijuana flavored products” to minors — anyone under 18 — and calls for a fine of up to $500 for each offense.

The measure takes effect July 1st.

It targets businesses that sell the candies with drug-inspired names such as “Kronic Kandy” and “Pot Suckers.”

The law says the candies promote drug use.

Vote Hemp, a national organization that promotes the use of hemp products and tracks legislation, says the measure would make Georgia the first state to ban the sale of the candy to minors.

The reefer madness has gone so far that now lawmakers feel they have to criminalize a taste?  How exactly do you enforce a law like that?  Taste is a subjective experience - a child and I may taste the same piece of black licorice, but she might like it and I think it’s the candy of Satan.  There’s a flavor that should be illegal!

Will Georgia have a state-certified tastologist to verify the sticky-ickiness of the lollipops on a case-by-case basis?  Have scientists in Atlanta come up with a Dynometric Tastometer?  What if we call the lollipop “Ganja Grape”, “Bonghittin’ Banana”, or “Cinnamon Sativa”, but they actually taste like grape, banana, or cinnamon?

How ganja-like must a confection taste before it is criminal?  Certainly the flavor of killer freshly-harvested BC Bud lollipops would be a crime, but can we lower the fine if it tastes like Mexican brick ditchweed overcooked in a poorly-made chocolate brownie?  And is there some epidemic of kids craving the mere taste of weed?  Last I checked, sour was really popular, as is chocolate.

I suppose Root Beer will still be legal, though.  That doesn’t promote any drug use by kids, does it?

Seriously, this is a little like the thought police, isn’t it?

And no, this is not another April Fools joke (and sorry if you were offended by the “marijuana is now legal” story - someday it will be a real news story, I promise!)

11Alive.com - Sen. Stoner Targets Stoner Pops
ATLANTA — A Georgia state senator with the last name “Stoner” has put his name on a bill to ban the sale of so-called “Stoner Pops” to minors. The legal lollipops taste like illegal marijuana and critics say they help hook youngsters on the real thing.

Students from Osborne High School were among those lobbying for passage of the bill. They argued that the chronic candy is sold on the street in a style that resembles the sale of real drugs. The message to children is that marijuana is cool.

The bill, which which make the sale of pot lollipops punishable by a short prison stay and fine up to $1,000, has failed to gain momentum in the Senate for three years in a row. The students say that Georgia senators are missing their real-life experience and that using chronic candy leads to the use of the real thing.

“I know several people who’s addicted to marijuana and other drugs like heroin and cocaine and I’m just tired of seeing my fellow youths suffering from stuff like this,” said Percy Broussard.

“It’s an issue I don’t think people are aware of so if by having my last name is a way to bring attention to it, by me carrying the bill, I’m more than happy to do that,” said Sen. Doug Stoner.

The measure is 36th in a line of 36 bills scheduled for a vote Tuesday. If a vote is not made before the end of the day, it will move back into committee. Sen. Stoner said he will work to push the bill back on the Senate floor Wednesday, hoping for a vote before the Legislature adjourns on Friday.

The comedian Bill Hicks once said, “Doesn’t the idea of making nature against the law seem to you a bit… unnatural?” It’s really quite surreal to me when I watch music videos and they blur out the marijuana leaf on some rapper’s hat. It’s so dangerous we can’t even be shown the leaf! Now we want to make a taste illegal?

It reminds me of when they banned candy cigarettes… remember those? That little chalky piece of sugar, with a bit of powder on it so when you breathed it made little puffs of “smoke”; I used to get those all the time. Then one time, as a child of ten, I snuck out some of my dad’s cigarettes and tried the real thing. I gagged and puked and to this day, I think I’ve smoked seven cigarettes in my lifetime.

Marijuana and cigarettes don’t really need any sort of candy advertisement to make them look cooler to kids. We’ve seen that it’s education and strict regulation that has reduced the numbers of teen cigarette smokers. I’m not sure I understand how the taste of marijuana is supposed to lead kids to smoking it; people who are smoking it now aren’t smoking it for the taste. People who use marijuana don’t take it in a lollipop form and when you’re craving a lollipop, hemp is not the tastiest flavor that comes to mind (that would be sour apple Jolly Ranchers… but I digress).

Is it the name, “Stoner Pops”? What if they were called “Cannabis-flavored confections”? What if we make marijuana-flavored bagels, will those be forbidden to sell? What if they are sold as lollipops, but they only slightly taste like marijuana and we call them “Nature Pops”?

This is how Senator Stoner wants to spend valuable Georgia taxpayer time and money, criminalizing lollipops that contain no illegal drugs? The War on Marijuana gotten so surreal that we’re banning sights and tastes.