With Federal Law Making Possession, Growing or Selling of Marijuana Illegal, It's Likely the Government Will Take Action. If Washington voters approve an initiative legalizing marijuana in November it will set national precedent, ending the decades-long era of drug busts and prosecutions for possessing limited amounts of the drug. The question is: Will voters really decide the issue? Federal law makes it illegal to possess, grow or sell any amount of marijuana. If voters in Colorado and Oregon also approve similar measures this November, it is unlikely the federal government will simply sit on its hands and watch the drug be sold from storefront businesses. [continues 769 words]
If you heard a drug dealer denigrate his competitor's product as unsafe, would you trust his criticism? Or would you think he's a hypocrite with ulterior motives? Last week, thanks to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper (CO), these became the central political questions in the fight over whether to continue America's destructive War on Marijuana. The frontline in that war is Colorado, where the federal government has interfered with its system of state-regulated medical marijuana businesses, despite President Obama's promise to refrain from doing so. Countering that crackdown is a 2012 ballot initiative that would make Colorado the first state to fully legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol. [continues 532 words]
Legalized Marijuana Might Be a Lucrative Revenue Source for the State - -- If the Federal Government Were to Permit It. OLYMPIA -- If voters pass Initiative 502 this fall allowing adults to legally grow, sell and smoke marijuana, it could spur an economic boon generating a half-billion dollars a year for the state coffers. Or it could wind up a financial bust and not bring in a dime. It all depends on what federal authorities decide to do, because just about everything the measure seeks to achieve will still violate federal law. [continues 655 words]
The Everett City Council voted today to extend a moratorium on medical marijuana gardens until January 20. The city needs more time to figure out how to effectively zone the gardens, assistant city attorney Ramsey Ramerman told the council before the vote. The city also hopes to have additional legal clarification on how to handle the conflicts between state and federal law, he said. He warned the council that allowing the gardens now could get city employees and the council in trouble with the federal government by making them "accomplices to federal drug crimes." [continues 109 words]
MUKILTEO -- Within a few weeks, it might be permanently legal to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in Mukilteo. City officials are considering removing the temporary label from a law first passed last August allowing medicinal cannabis gardens in the city. A public hearing and possible decision by the council are scheduled for as early as May 7. A state law approved last year allows qualified patients to create community gardens for growing medicinal marijuana. "I believe that what we're trying to do is support state law," City Councilman Randy Lord said. "If we don't do something like this, they can go wherever they want. As far as medicinal gardens are concerned, I look at it as a zoning issue." [continues 310 words]
What you are seeing with Initiative 502 is an attempt to end medical marijuana in Washington. I have been running Green Hope Patient Network in Shoreline for over two years. We still don't have safe access points for patients to get their medicine. Yes, there are some places in King County, but even they are holding their breath. Now, this might sound good to legalize marijuana for those 21 years or older, with DUI provisions. For those who don't understand cannabis, you can ingest it and the active ingredient, THC, can stay in your blood from a week to 30 days. The effects normally last around 1-2 hours. [continues 142 words]
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Twice in the past two years, Gary Storck has boarded Amtrak's Empire Builder outside his hometown of Madison, Wis., and headed west to Oregon. The trip takes about 40 hours and costs more than $1,000 -- all for something that makes the illegal legal. He pays a visit to one of the state's 15 or so medical marijuana clinics, fills out an application and sees a doctor. Storck walks out an hour later, the proud holder of an Oregon-issued medical marijuana card. It's a process he'll have to go through each year to keep the card. [continues 965 words]
Meanwhile, Community Survey Shows Need for Improvement, Education About Civic Center MOUNTLAKE TERRACE -- The City Council voted 7-0 on Feb. 6 to renew a moratorium on collective gardens for medical marijuana. A new state law allows qualified patients to create community gardens for growing medicinal marijuana. But a number of cities, including Mountlake Terrace, are using moratoriums to buy time as they determine how legalizing medical marijuana would affect local laws and zoning, and how state rules might conflict with federal rules. [continues 487 words]
I must respond to the letter concerning marijuana, the last line being "live and let live." (Thursday, "If unsure, be sure to get the facts.") As someone who daily works with and counsels medical marijuana users, drug addicts and alcoholics, I think that I have a realistic understanding of this issue. Addicts (including alcoholics), when trying to clean up, simply shift their addictions from one drug to another. The end result is they are still addicted, still dependent, and still unproductive members of society. Legalizing marijuana will only make it easier for them to stay high all day, every day. Marijuana is now two to three times more potent than it was back in the '60s, and, thus, more addictive. Drug and alcohol treatment centers are now treating people for marijuana addiction. It is my observation, too, that most addicts got to that point through the use of marijuana! [continues 55 words]
In regard to the letter, "Marijuana: Complete lunacy to legalize drug": I must refute, out of frustration toward ignorance. Though I feel sympathy for the writer's losses from those ruined or killed by alcohol and drugs, I beg him to realize that no records show that marijuana was the cause of any death. Whether someone moves on to harder drugs or not is up to them and their individual addictive personality, as with drinking alcohol. [continues 53 words]
The molten glass came alive as it was pulled from the red-hot furnace on the end of a steel pole, oozing like honey from a hive. Gravity pulled it toward the floor, as the air outside the furnace began cooling it, promising to freeze the piece before it could be shaped into what it was meant to be. A young woman's untrained hands, steadied by determination, gently spun the steel pole, changing the shape of the blob with each rotation. Her movements were guided by the words of a teacher she'd just met. She coaxed the glass into a delicate globe. With that, she, too, was transformed. [continues 2032 words]
The legalization of marijuana will probably have its day; corrupt politicians will see to it. In the last 50 years marijuana has become the party drug of middle-class America. Unfortunately, it also became the gateway drug to LSD, mescaline and cocaine. Science is just beginning to document information on its powerfully subtle influence on the human mind, and despite this, we want to legalize it as a recreational drug. Complete, whack-job lunacy! Of course, politicians will smile at the potential for increasing revenue. They will replace the pushers and will line their own pockets, but they will persuade us to reason, "increased revenue will fund education." This will define absolute insanity. [continues 83 words]
In response to the Thursday letter writer who asks for common sense ("Don't replace state booze biz with pot"): This is exactly what we want. We are not asking for it to be legal to drive under the influence or smoke at work or while operating heavy equipment. We are saying that you should not be faced with prison time for possessing or smoking pot. If someone takes a gun and robs someone to support their pot habit it would still be just as illegal as someone robbing someone to support their alcohol habit. It's a lot less likely, and will not become more so if pot is legalized. [continues 71 words]
Recently Washington citizens voted the state out of the sale and promotion of liquor. Many citizens and state legislators are working toward harsher penalties for driving under the influence (DUI) and its consequences. This is commendable. Now comes the insanity. Many citizens now want to legalize marijuana and are working to place the issue on the ballot. Marijuana, with all of its documented controversies, which include damage to the brain and other organs, chemical addiction and as much or more damage to the lungs than cigarettes, is being looked at by many as a way to raise state revenue. The use of marijuana, whether by infrequent or frequent users, has lasting effects which may include hallucinations and can last between 1 1/2 and up to 10 days or more depending on the THC level in the marijuana. Other issues affected are work, social, medical and intellectual and the cost of treatment when the use causes serious life problems. [continues 92 words]
Initiative 502 is an initiative to the Legislature that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana under Washington state law. It would authorize the Liquor Control Board to license Washington businesses to produce and sell limited quantities of marijuana to adults 21 and over. It would also impose a new excise tax and earmark revenues for substance abuse prevention, research, education, and health care. Retail sales tax, and part of the excise tax, would go to the state general fund and local budgets. [continues 1409 words]
Regarding the editorial, "Industrial hemp: A better way to make paper": The United States is one of the few countries in the world that denies farmers the right to grow industrial hemp. Apparently drug war bureaucrats can't tell the difference between a tall hemp stalk and a squat marijuana bush. Prior to passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, few Americans had even heard of marijuana, despite widespread cultivation of industrial hemp. The first anti-marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. Decades later, marijuana use is now mainstream. [continues 78 words]
It's particularly frustrating that the sale of the Kimberly-Clark paper plant apparently fell through over environmental clean-up concerns, after the company spent $300 million since 1995 upgrading its wastewater and pulp-making systems. Now, the company plans to raze the waterfront site and sell it for development. The Kimberly-Clark website has pages and pages devoted to explaining the company's commitment to sustainable business practices worldwide. The company states, "The wood pulp we use is mainly sourced from forests in the U.S., Canada and Brazil. We buy more than 90 percent of our virgin fiber from external suppliers, and make the rest from purchased wood chips in our two pulp mills in Everett, Washington, U.S., and Tantanoola, Australia." [continues 322 words]
Regarding David Sirota's Sept. 18 online column, "University of Hypocrisy": The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. [continues 84 words]
In the firmament of celebrated Americana, there is Mom, apple pie, football and beer -- but there most certainly is not marijuana. As it relates to drugs, this bizarre culture has us implicitly accepting that people will inevitably use mind-altering substances. But through our statutes, we allow law-abiding citizens to use only one recreational substance -- alcohol -- that just happens to be way more hazardous than pot. Such idiocy is the product of many variables. There's been interest-group maneuvering and temperance-movement hypocrisy. There's been hippie-hating rage and reefer-madness paranoia. And, most invisibly, there's been college. [continues 521 words]
The federal government is a mishmash of belated contradictions when it comes to the regulation of medicine. Its various stances aren't helping prevent drug abuse or overdoses, and they aren't helping ease patients' pain. In April, White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske unhelpfully suggested Congress require special training for doctors before they can prescribe powerful pain-fighting medication such as OxyContin. People at the forefront of addiction are aware that the rising culprit at the center of overdose deaths, abuse and crime these days is hydrocodone, since oxycodone is more difficult to get. [continues 343 words]
Regarding the Monday article, "Medical marijuana shop leaves Everett, hoping to make a home in Mukilteo": Mr. Kelsey must have done his research well when he selected Mukilteo for his marijuana operation, as we had to tolerate three different sets of illegal drug users/dealers here for several years with no help from the local police. One committed a murder during one of his drug deals and is finally in prison. They all had in common: open garbage piled high, vicious dogs, guns, fights, noise and erratic behavior. Despite a neighborhood meeting with the then Mukilteo police chief, we could not get any help from the local police. I finally threatened to sue because of the lack of protection we were receiving. A few days later a SWAT team arrived and we were relieved of their overt activities. [continues 81 words]
MUKILTEO -- The Mukilteo City Council on Monday approved interim zoning regulations for medical marijuana collective gardens. The council at its last meeting July 18 rejected an emergency temporary ban on the gardens. "We are aware of the need, we are aware of the interest," Council President Richard Emery said Monday. "We are also aware of the concern over how we manage our city. I think we will be better served as a community if we have some kind of rules." The rules are effective immediately and valid for six months. City employees are expected to prepare permanent regulations by the time the issue is before the council again. [continues 234 words]
The Proprietor of a Medical Marijuana Patients Collective WHO Closed His Everett Location Seeks New Digs for His Operation. EVERETT -- A hand-written sign posted Friday at 2212 Broadway read: "Sorry to all our patients. Sadly we are closed. See you in Mukilteo." The modest building housed the Medical Marijuana Patients Network, a collective started by Jeremy Kelsey. Kelsey, 33, had to close shop last week after the Everett City Council voted to enact an emergency one-year ban on medical marijuana collective gardens. In doing so, Everett followed three other Snohomish County cities trying to stay ahead of a new state law that allows the gardens. [continues 735 words]
It's inhumane to put a moratorium on marijuana dispensaries. It is denying people the right to access their legal medicine. People who use and need this drug have cancer, wasting syndrome, Crohn's disease, terminal illness, or are dealing with a reaction to chemo -- among other things. Not all of these people can grow their own supply for many reasons: cost of growing supplies, space to grow in, knowledge of growing, health restrictions, etc. There were a couple of dispensaries in Everett prior to this moratorium, yet the public never saw anything like a "pot farm" such as was mentioned in a recent article. There are no open fields of weed, valleys full of pot, not even backyards sporting the plant alongside the tomatoes. Sure, the plants are being grown to supply the dispensaries, but there are no signs of the activity as far as the public can see. [continues 108 words]
Two more cities have banned collective gardens for medical marijuana for now. The Lake Stevens and Marysville city councils unanimously adopted six-month moratoriums on the gardens on Monday. Snohomish did the same last week. And Mukilteo is looking at doing the same next week. "With the new legislation that's going into effect we need to be prepared because we don't currently have land use ordinances on the books to deal with (medical marijuana)," said Lake Stevens city administrator Jan Berg. "We need time to look at the issue." [continues 443 words]
Everett police are taking a proactive approach to warn about the dangers of synthetics, which mimic hard drugs but can be more toxic. They won't scent a steamy tub with lavender, but they could cause organ failure and profuse bleeding. That's right -- bath salts have come to Snohomish County. An Everett man was named in federal court last month as the suspected ringleader in the mass distribution of "bath salts," a street name for chemical compounds that mimic hard drugs. Bath salts also were linked to a homicide and suicide during a police chase near Olympia in April. [continues 420 words]
In response to the comment in the Friday letter that nobody has ever died from marijuana. ("Time to move past misinformation"). This statement is totally false. My sister was killed by a so-called harmless marijuana user (who tested positive for marijuana) that crossed two lanes of traffic as well as the median and hit her head-on, killing her. The person never spent a day in jail because the only test for marijauna intoxication can only pin down that the user has smoked marijauna in the past 12 hours. This means that a clever lawyer will get the drug user off because they will say their client is a drug user but there is no way to tell if the drug user was impaired at the time of the accident. [continues 55 words]
To say that marijuana is not a "gateway" drug for more powerful drug usage is absurd. History clearly reveals that absurdity. Alcohol too, was a doorway. Its flagrant use rationalized, in many people's minds, the approval of weed. Now, the proponents of marijuana consistently point to its medical benefits. Fine, but the medical benefits of cannabis, in the majority of cases, does not require smoke inhalation. It can be taken orally in pill form by all ages who receive a doctor's prescription. It is also very important for patients to understand that the smoke of marijuana is more harmful to their respiratory system than that of cigarettes. What makes cigarette smoke so deadly is in the amount of its daily inhalation. Marijuana smoke contains far more harmful tars than tobacco. Both are destructive to health. [continues 90 words]
Misinformation about marijuana is still rampant in society. In a Thursday letter to The Herald, a writer claims marijuana is a gateway drug which causes more harm than good yet doesn't cite one example. The writer also claims that marijuana is detrimental to one's health. Easy to say but very untrue. Here are the facts derived from years of research that can be looked up online: Most people who use marijuana do not use harder drugs. Marijuana is not harmful to one's health; in fact, a recent study by a laboratory hired by the DEA to prove that marijuana causes cancer released results stating that marijuana prevents lung cancer. [continues 132 words]
OLYMPIA -- Eight Democratic and Republican senators Tuesday introduced a revamped medical marijuana law. Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5955. The bill would create a statewide registry of qualified patients, which would be available to law enforcement during criminal investigations. The bill also would allow pot to be grown in collectively run gardens. And it would let cities and counties decide whether to issue permits to dispensaries, which are referred to as nonprofit patient cooperatives in the bill. [continues 265 words]
Count Edmonds Mayor Mike Cooper among those frustrated that Gov. Chris Gregoire didn't better defog the rules surrounding medical marijuana in Washington. He, like many city and county leaders in the state, had been hoping the governor and lawmakers would clarify the law on how marijuana can be grown and distributed to qualified patients. It would make life simpler when operators of those marijuana dispensaries show up at City Hall to get a business license or open up a storefront without one. [continues 466 words]
The Governor Struck Sections Legalizing Dispensaries and Imposing Standards on the Quality of Medical Cannabis. OLYMPIA - Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most of a ground-breaking expansion of the state's medical marijuana law Friday, saying the bill would have put state workers at risk of arrest by federal authorities. Gregoire crossed out sections that would have legalized marijuana dispensaries and had state health and agricultural employees regulating the quality and potency of cannabis produced for patients. What she left in the bill and signed will expand protections for patients and, for the first time, spell out the amount of marijuana that patients can grow on their own or collectively with others. [continues 821 words]
Regarding the Saturday article, "Lynnwood medical pot dispensary shut down by police": I have been a patient of BZB Medical Group for over a year. I suffer from multiple, documented illnesses, including cancer. I am not blind to the indiscretions that occur at some dispensaries around the state. However, BZB is a law-abiding business. Their sole concern is the welfare of their patients. It is outrageous that the Lynnwood police would use such strong-arm methods to in essence burglarize these giving people. [continues 220 words]
The Monday letter, "Hemp fiber holds key opportunity" hit the bulls-eye. It's time to re-introduce hemp as a component of American agriculture. I've been purchasing hemp seeds and oil from my local health food store for many years, but it's imported from foreign nations and I'd rather purchase those products grown by U.S. farmers. It's just plain wrong that free American farmers may not grow hemp but communist Chinese farmers are allowed to grow hemp. And America's largest foreign debt is with China. The list of reasons to legalize cannabis (marijuana) is growing faster than the plant itself. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
I have to wonder at this Democratic-controlled Legislature. Last year, the Democratic contingent came out quite vocally in support of the Marijuana Legalization Initiative, and yet to date, not one of them has even broached the idea of legalization for the purposes of freeing up the hemp industry. The new jobs created in the cloth/textiles, paper, food, bio-diesel and farming industries would create new revenue streams for the anemic state coffers, finally putting Washington farmers back into the position where they can make a healthy profit again (as opposed to subsidizing foreign farmers to grow it) and putting thousands to work across our beleaguered state. [continues 157 words]
Profound thanks are due televangelist Pat Robertson for stating so clearly what many of us have been screaming in the wilderness for years - that the criminalization of marijuana is a plague on young people. May he lend courage to politicians who know better but won't do the right thing for fear of seeming "soft" on drugs. "We're locking up people who take a couple of puffs of marijuana, and the next thing they know, they've got 10 years," Robertson said on his Christian Broadcasting Network show, "The 700 Club." These are mandatory sentences, he adds, that absurd laws force on judges. [continues 521 words]
Regarding the Friday editorial, "Conundrum won't go away": The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the U.S. -- almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. [continues 84 words]
On the same day that California voters rejected a measure to legalize marijuana, federal, state and Mexican authorities launched an operation that led to the confiscation of more than 20 tons of pot and the discovery of a smuggler's tunnel between Mexico and California. That's a lot of pot. The marijuana is worth more than $20 million if sold on the streets of San Diego, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton. The bust, and the vote (and the rejection of three other marijuana measures on Tuesday) reflect the multi-layered marijuana conundrum: [continues 348 words]
Supporters Of The Effort Are Short 40,000 Signatures But Say They Will Try Again. MARYSVILLE - Count Donna Messick of Marysville among the disappointed Thursday at learning an initiative to legalize marijuana won't be on the ballot. She signed a petition for Initiative 1068 but not enough others did as sponsors said they came up roughly 40,000 signatures shy of the 241,000 needed to qualify. Today is the deadline for initiative petitions to be filed. "It was a disappointment because I think it is something we should address in this state," she said. "We're tying up our courts with enforcement of something that I feel isn't that much different than alcohol." [continues 490 words]
MARYSVILLE -- Those who run a medical marijuana dispensary here have one more chance to convince city officials to let them operate in Marysville. Elevated Medical Treatment, which began operating out of a house on Smokey Point Boulevard in March and later voluntarily shut down, was denied a business license by the city in May. The group has filed an appeal with the city's hearing examiner. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at City Hall, 1049 State Ave. The hearing examiner is expected to make a decision at the meeting, city administrator Gloria Hirashima said. [continues 283 words]
Marysville Tries To Sort Truth From Fiction In What, Exactly, Elevated Medical Treatment Provides To Its Customers. MARYSVILLE -- City officials are treading lightly in investigating what is advertised as a medical marijuana dispensary in the city. Elevated Medical Treatment opened in Smokey Point in March. Dispensaries are illegal in this state. Still, enforcement of medical marijuana laws is tricky, officials say, and they want to make sure they're not infringing on anyone's rights if they take action to close the shop. [continues 591 words]
MARYSVILLE -- A robbery where two suitcases stuffed with $50,000 worth of pot were taken at gunpoint has led to the discovery of a medical marijuana dispensary here. The holdup occurred Tuesday in Skagit County and involved 12 pounds of cannabis reportedly intended for distribution at a new store operating within Marysville city limits. City officials had no idea that the business had set up shop at Smokey Point. "We were not aware of it," said Marysville chief administrative officer Gloria Hirashima on Friday. "We're going to be sending someone out there right now to take a look." [continues 627 words]
I am in control here in the White House." -- Secretary of State Alexander Haig, 1981 Ah, the good old days when even a big shot like Gen. Al Haig could get in trouble for such mavericky declarations that defy basic constitutional precedents. In the 21st century, that's ancient history. We've so idealized cowboy-style rebellion in matters of war and law enforcement that "going Haig" is today honored as "going rogue." Defiance, irreverence, contempt -- these are the moment's most venerated postures, no matter how destructive or lawless. [continues 551 words]
I found the relationship between two Nov. 24 letters most intriguing. The letter, "Legalizing drugs is not the answer," stated that "no country anywhere that allowed the widespread and unchecked use of drugs has prospered," That's just not true. The United States, Great Britain, Japan, China, Brazil and so on are prosperous even though the drugs of alcohol and nicotine are legal within their borders. The ways that children are convinced that nicotine and alcohol are unhealthy are through education, control and parental example. The debate should be, "Will marijuana do the same?" It is illogical to compare the decriminalization of thieves and embezzlers. [continues 56 words]
With Mountlake Terrace Officials Chilly to the Idea, the Proponents Threaten to Sue After the City Rejects Their Business Application to Sell Medical Marijuana From a Storefront Office. MOUNTLAKE TERRACE -- Two men may file a lawsuit if city officials don't allow them to open a medical marijuana dispensary. Todd Madison, 56 and Aaron Panagos, 29, applied in September for a business license to open Botanical Urban Dispensary Service in a 1,700-square-foot commercial office at I-5 and 220th Street SW in Mountlake Terrace. [continues 533 words]
Responding to the Aug. 24 letter, "Mellow gathering goes all corporate," it seems as if the writer knows nothing of Seattle Hempfest at all and makes us wonder if he even attended the event. It also makes us question his motivation for his letter. Seattle Hempfest's production organization is a federal 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. It is not something from which individuals could profit. The board of directors takes no financial remuneration whatever. We are an all-volunteer organization. Water was sold at $2, not $6. Hempfest controls water sales partially for the reason of keeping the cost of it low to encourage hydration. Water was also given away for free to attendees by us at our expense. Booth spaces were not $600. We had a variety of booth spaces as low as $210 and blanket spaces and strolling vendor passes were significantly lower than that. [continues 129 words]
As a retired police officer, I was distressed to read of all the hours my colleagues spent chasing marijuana grow operations (Sunday article, "Snohomish County a marijuana hotbed"). Investigations, searches and related administrative tasks take time away from the deadly DUI, child molesters and other crimes where there is a clearly defined victim. During my 18 years of service, I was sent to zero calls generated by the use of marijuana. Marijuana is no play toy and that is why the government should begin to regulate, control and tax it just like it does the very deadly drug alcohol. Having my profession chase marijuana is a horrific waste of good police time. Howard Wooldridge Co-Founder, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Washington, D.C. [end]
The popular TV series "Weeds" is about a widowed suburban mother who deals pot to preserve her family's cushy California dream. Not a few Californians would like to see the theme writ large for their state. California has legalized medical marijuana, its cannabis crop is valued at $17 billion a year, and people there smoke pot openly. But the state can't collect a penny of revenues from the enormous enterprise. As California faced budget Armageddon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for "a debate" on the potential of tapping marijuana as a source of tax revenues. That's all he can do, because federal law still criminalizes marijuana use. [continues 526 words]
Large Growing Operations Spread in Suburban Houses EVERETT -- From the outside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the big gray house next to Jackson Elementary School. The lawn was growing a little tall and the white picket fence needed a fresh coat of paint, but the three-story house didn't raise any eyebrows along Federal Avenue in Everett. Until the police showed up. Investigators recently found signs of a dismantled indoor marijuana growing operation hidden inside the $500,000 house. Police believe they interrupted the growers as they were removing equipment used to produce hundreds of plants. [continues 1514 words]
If federal law trumps state law, how is it that brothels and gambling are legal in the state of Nevada? Isn't prostitution illegal under federal "white slavery" laws? And doesn't the federal law oppose gambling as goes on in Nevada or even online? I have recently seen correspondence from Gov. Chris Gregoire where she tells medical marijuana patients that even though the voters of our state approved medical marijuana that it is still against federal law. [continues 101 words]
