Justices Agree That Seriously Ill Patients and the Doctors Are Protected SAN FRANCISCO - State Supreme Court justices unanimously agreed Thursday that California law provides protection for seriously ill patients who use marijuana and the doctors who provide it. In a decision that cleared out some legal fog created with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 -- which said those who use the drug on a doctor's recommendation are not subject to criminal prosecution -- the justices agreed that some can fight marijuana charges with a necessity defense. [continues 539 words]
A Judge Raises The Bond For Joseph Ratto, 66, To $150,000 For Marijuana Cultivation Charges PLEASANTON -- A Dublin man who police arrested with help from a San Ramon Valley teacher and a tipster was jailed Wednesday after a judge upped his bail on charges accusing him of growing nearly a dozen marijuana plants. Joseph Ratto, 66, was taken to Santa Rita Jail after Judge Ronald Hyde raised his bail to $150,000 from $25,000, citing two felony charges of cultivating marijuana and possession of the drug for sale. [continues 369 words]
Kevin Lee Davis, 32, Was Named As A Major West Coast Cocaine Supplier OAKLAND -- A Walnut Creek father who lived life as a family man in an upscale suburban neighborhood was convicted Friday of heading a multimillion-dollar drug ring that trafficked in hundreds of pounds of cocaine. Kevin Lee Davis shook his head slightly as the clerk for U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen read through verdict after verdict fingering the 32-year-old man as a major West Coast cocaine supplier. [continues 393 words]
The nation's nine justices will consider whether the drug should be available to critically ill patients, as an Oakland co-op contends. Granting the federal government's request that could decide the fate of an Oakland marijuana club, U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed Monday to review whether cannabis should be legalized for the critically ill. The decision was the latest victory for government lawyers, who have wrestled with marijuana advocates for nearly three years in federal courtrooms since the passage of California's Proposition 215. [continues 873 words]
Local Narcotics Task Force Finds Hard Work, Not Much 'Hollywood Glamour' In Job The walls of Cal Luedke's tiny office near downtown Waco are covered with photographs of drug busts gone by the smiling faces of happy narcotics officers posed over heaps of confiscated drugs and mounds of seized money. Luedke, project director of the Agriplex Drug Task Force, has spent more than 15 of his 27 years in law enforcement as a soldier in the drug war. 'It's not cut out like the TV portrays it. There are a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of time that nothing happens. It's hours of sitting and looking.' [continues 698 words]
By Brian Anderson, TribuneHerald staff writer An old drug is making a new comeback on the streets of Texas, pushing up profits for dealers and leaving a trail of death in its wake. Heroin has reemerged as an alternative to cocaine, the drug that has all but dominated the narcotics trade for years. "The people dealing cocaine have discovered they can make as much money or more selling heroin," said Cal Luedke, commander of the Agriplex Drug Task Force, an interagency group of law officers that targets narcotics activity in a sixcounty Central Texas area. [continues 539 words]
