NIMBIN'S 22nd annual Mardi Grass - a festival supporting the legalisation of cannabis that includes a bong-throwing competition, joint rolling events and a hemp rope tug of war - has been blitzed by police. A total of 86 people were nabbed for driving under the influence of a prohibited drug and five people were caught drink driving The annual festival, which attracted up to 10,000 people over the weekend and offers visitors tips about what to do if you get pulled over by police, was closely watched by Richmond local area command police. [continues 100 words]
Over the past few weeks, The Recorder as done an admirable job bringing to light the drug epidemic facing our community, however time and time again the people in charge of curing this epidemic are given a pass. The biggest failure on the "War on Drugs" has been focusing on ending the supply, while ignoring the demand curve, with the most recent headline being "We can't arrest our way out of this" (May 6). That cannot be further from the truth. [continues 218 words]
The Cariboo Region Integrated Marijuana Enforcement team (CRIME) is nearing the end of its year-long pilot project run and will not end on its one-year anniversary, Sept. 4. Cpl. Annie Linteau with the federal RCMP media relations, says the team will carry on beyond that date to help advance a second "community phase" initiative. That is currently underway and consists of a long-term community phase in which the marijuana grow operation provincial working group, the province and stakeholders "explore other solutions to the marijuana grow operation problem in the Cariboo region besides enforcement." [continues 310 words]
If the Supreme Court of Canada decides Insite, a Vancouver-based health-care facility in the city's downtown eastside, falls under provincial jurisdiction, similar 'safe' injection sites could become a reality in cities across the country. And soon would begin the downward spiral further blurring the lines between right and wrong, legal and illegal in this country. Insite offers, among other things, the option for drug users to shoot up under the watchful eye of a nurse. Forget for a moment the ongoing war on drugs, and forget for a moment that selling drugs is illegal, using drugs is illegal, and there is a facility in existence in this country that not only turns a blind eye to both of these facts. Insite chooses to not only condone the use of injection drugs but offers medical supervision so as to ensure that the users can continue to break the law -- safely. [continues 258 words]
If the Supreme Court of Canada decides Insite, a Vancouver-based health-care facility in the city's downtown eastside, falls under provincial jurisdiction, similar 'safe' injection sites could become a reality in cities across the country. And soon would begin the downward spiral further blurring the lines between right and wrong, legal and illegal in this country. Insite offers, among other things, the option for drug users to shoot up under the watchful eye of a nurse. Forget for a moment the ongoing war on drugs, and forget for a moment that selling drugs is illegal, using drugs is illegal, and there is a facility in existence in this country that not only turns a blind eye to both of these facts. Insite chooses to not only condone the use of injection drugs but offers medical supervision so as to ensure that the users can continue to break the law --safely. [continues 258 words]
While the RCMP's Cariboo Region Integrated Marijuana Enforcement task force (CRIME) may be adept at taking down marijuana grow operations, it has uncovered an ugly environmental side to the operations that, for now, seems to be without a solution. According to Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson, after a grow operation is taken down the RCMP are left to deal with the collection, transportation and storage of the operation's equipment as well as the "toxic remains" for which they neither have a budget nor the skills to handle. [continues 373 words]
Enforcement of State Law Leaves Cities, Defendants Confused Several showdowns over Michigan's medical marijuana law are slated for courtrooms across the state this year as users and law enforcement officials clash over the drug's legality. Oakland County prosecutors have until Friday to file legal arguments stating why nine people arrested in a medical marijuana raid should be tried on felony drug charges in a Ferndale court. In a Wayne County courtroom Jan. 21, attorneys for Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills will ask to have a lawsuit against their cities moved to Oakland County, where prosecutors and law enforcement have declared medical marijuana dispensaries illegal. [continues 760 words]
Undercover Cop Testifies at Hearing Phony ID Approved by Prosecutor, Sheriff's Offices Ferndale - A phony Michigan medical marijuana identity card used by an undercover narcotics officer to make purchases came under attack Friday by a group of defense lawyers representing nine employees of a Ferndale dispensary. Derek Myers, an undercover detective for the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, testified during a probable cause hearing about six visits he made to Clinical Relief in Ferndale in July and August. Myers acknowledged he made the phony card, told the staff at Clinical Relief he had back pain and made several purchases of marijuana. During one visit, he said he sold marijuana to the staff for $140. For the sale, he was given a receipt. [continues 271 words]
To the editor: I first tried marijuana like many people in college. By the time I graduated I had long realized that "reefer madness" and the idea of pot as a "gateway drug" was a myth invented by people who had either never tried pot, who stood to profit from its prohibition, or who had misdiagnosed social problems rooted in the more complex issues of social inequality, cycles of poverty, and the environmental conditions that create addictive personalities. This failed logic has been on brilliant display this last week on the Daily Sun's op/ed page, where the prospect of legalizing medical marijuana has been mischaracterized (once again) as a scourge worse than the seven plagues of Egypt. [continues 144 words]
Lawmakers Urged to Act Against Backdrop of Recent Clinic Raids A Michigan Court of Appeals judge urged lawmakers Wednesday to clarify the state's medical marijuana law, saying the "inartfully drafted" measure has resulted in confusion and arrests. Judge Peter O'Connell issued his call Wednesday in a 30-page opinion on an Oakland County case in which the court upheld marijuana possession charges against two Madison Heights residents. The judge said the law is so confusing that users "who proceed without due caution" could "lose both their property and their liberty." [continues 984 words]
Charges Stem From Arrests at Three Medical Marijuana Facilities The legal face-off over Michigan's medical marijuana law continued Friday as 16 people arrested during raids of three medical marijuana facilities were arraigned in court. It took more than an hour to read charges against each of 16 suspects who were arraigned in two Oakland County courtrooms on felony charges including conspiracy to deliver marijuana and delivery of marijuana. Raids were conducted this week at Everybody's Cafe and Herbal Remedies in Waterford Township and Clinical Relief in Ferndale by the Oakland County narcotics enforcement team. [continues 458 words]
Marijuana goes Mainstream in Amaerica The casual use of marijuana is becoming increasingly accepted, or at least tolerated, in the United States. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, 100 million Americans have used weed, with 15 million smoking in the last month and two million more people trying it each year. According to The New York Times, citing Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, Americans spend about $25 billion a year on weed. Medical marijuana has created what amounts to the legalization of weed in 14 states so far, including California. Fortune magazine calls it "the greening of America." [continues 700 words]
Since the events of Sept. 10 that precipitated the death of Rev. Ayers, a swirling rage has engulfed the majority of the populace like an inferno never imagined by Dante. Ninety-nine percent of the people who have written to The Record are totally against the Drug Task Force and police in general. The common thought seems to be that, regardless of any actions taken by Ayers, he should have been ignored just because he was a preacher and could do no wrong. [continues 484 words]
It seems that some people's ignorance is exceeded only by their stupidity. Frank Whittle's current letter (The Toccoa Record Dec. 3) not only calls everyone who is against the epidemic of drugs and the war on drugs a bunch of liars (even accusing the police and D.A. of making up "facts"), but continues to decry the black community as the reason for the "so-called drug problem." He then concludes the drug task force and or police are using the citizens of Stephens County as target practice dummies! [continues 389 words]
The business of medical marijuana is rapidly evolving in Michigan, with Royal Oak preparing to pass the state's first zoning law to cluster professional growers and the opening in Southfield of a trade school teaching plant cultivation. On Tuesday, Royal Oak city leaders are expected to debate a proposed zoning ordinance requiring all licensed medical marijuana caregivers to grow pot in a dispensary in the city's general business district, which encompasses the retail and commercial strip along Woodward Avenue. [continues 621 words]
In response to Frank Whittle's letter in the 9/24/09 edition, are you serious? Are you on medication? This guy goes off on a tirade about something he obviously has no idea about! Man, drugs are the No. 1 trade and recreation here in Toccoa, whether you want to believe it or not. How can you not know about the problem of drugs in Toccoa? Did you reside in Never-Never Land when the news came on and when the papers came out? [continues 329 words]
Madison Heights -- Declaring Michigan's medical marijuana act the "worst piece of legislation" he has ever seen, an Oakland County judge on Wednesday dismissed felony drug charges against a couple who say they grew pot for medical reasons. Torey Clark and Bob Redden jubilantly walked out of the Madison Heights courtroom of 43rd District Court Judge Robert Turner . The judge had heard testimony from the physician who qualified the couple to use medical marijuana under the state's new law. Clark and Redden were charged with growing marijuana after Madison Heights police raided their home March 30 -- days before the medical pot law took effect -- and found 21 plants. With prior drug convictions, they faced up to 14 years in prison. [continues 191 words]
Madison Heights -- An attorney for a Madison Heights woman who is physician-certified to use medical marijuana plans to ask a judge today to dismiss felony drug charges against her. Torey Alison Clark, along with her co-defendant, Robert Redden, is scheduled to appear in Madison Heights 43rd District Court in a case being widely watched by legal observers and community leaders who are trying to understand the parameters of Michigan's new medical marijuana law. Clark and Redden, who live together, say they are physician-certified to grow and use medical marijuana, yet 21 marijuana plants were seized from their home March 30. Madison Heights Police used a battering ram to knock down their front door. [continues 261 words]
Royal Oak Weighs Letting Growers Set Up in Business District Royal Oak -- Woodward Avenue has been a magnet for car enthusiasts and shoppers for decades, but the boulevard soon may earn a new reputation as Michigan's first pot zone. Royal Oak's leaders are contemplating a zoning ordinance that would require medical marijuana growers to set up shop in the city's general business district, which encompasses the retail and commercial business strip along the byway. The proposal, to be discussed Tuesday by the city's Plan Commission, targets growers who are state registered caregivers of medical marijuana patients. It would not apply to qualified patients who are physician-certified to grow the drug. [continues 291 words]
Couple Who Say They Have Permission to Use Plants for Illnesses Are Charged With Felonies Madison Heights --A legal test of Michigan's new medical marijuana law is brewing in Oakland County, where a man and woman vow to fight felony charges of manufacturing plants in their home. Robert Lee Redden and Torey Allison Clark appeared before a Madison Heights magistrate Tuesday afternoon to be arraigned on charges that could send them to prison for up to 14 years and cost them up to $1 million. [continues 507 words]
