Supporters of a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Alabama are tweaking the legislation to make it more palatable to lawmakers. The changes may not be enough to address local law enforcement concerns, however. Rep. K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, filed a bill this legislative session to legalize marijuana for medicinal uses only. The Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition, which composed the bill, is working on amendments to address concerns from other lawmakers. One amendment would add a 5 percent tax to medical marijuana sales that would be distributed to city and county law enforcement agencies in the state to combat the trafficking and production of illegal drugs. Another would define the relationship between patients and doctors to curb possible abuse of the system. [continues 954 words]
The hallucinogen salvia divinorum is legal and available in Alabama, but that may soon change. Deborah Soule, executive director for the Huntsville-based Partnership for a Drug Free Community, said efforts are currently under way to outlaw the drug once and for all. Since 2007, Soule has personally contacted many of Alabama's legislators and Gov. Bob Riley to bring attention to the drug. She had limited success during the last legislative session, when Sen. Roger Bedford Jr. sponsored a bill to make salvia a controlled substance. However, the bill never made it made it out of committee. [continues 561 words]
After years of court battles, U.S. Marijuana Party founder Loretta Nall of Alexander City was cleared Friday of drug possession charges in a Tallapoosa County circuit court. "I'm almost speechless," Nall said. "It's been a long time coming." The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force arrested Nall in a November 2002 raid on her house where 0.87 grams of marijuana was discovered. She was convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia in district court in February 2004. Nall appealed the conviction to circuit court, seeking to suppress the evidence used to obtain the search warrant for the raid on her house. [continues 248 words]
Loretta Nall was officially recognized as the Libertarian Party's candidate for governor of Alabama Saturday, two days before her court appearance to appeal a 2004 drug conviction. The announcement was made at the party's annual convention in Montgomery. Although others were nominated at the convention, Nall was the only person who was officially vying for the nomination, she said. Nall, who is the founder of the Alabama Marijuana Party, appeared in the Tallapoosa County Circuit Court Monday to continue her appeal. The day was a chance for her to accept a plea offer by the state. [continues 346 words]
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force had a record year in 2005 with an 85 percent arrest rate and 11 drug trafficking cases. "This is one of our biggest years," said narcotics task force investigator Jay Turner. The task force consists mainly of members from the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department and the Alexander City and Dadeville Police Departments. "It's a cooperative effort ... to address illegal drug activities in the county," said Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett. Recently, the narcotics team released statistics on their operations for the last 10 years. This is the first time the task force has ever released such statistics, Turner said. [continues 421 words]
Marie Antoinette Gascot could face a maximum of five years in state prison. Marie Antoinette Gascot pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Thursday for the drug overdose death of a friend. Dena Seibert was found by police in the 400 block of East Princess Street on Sept. 3, 2004. York City Police confirmed she died from an overdose of heroin and determined that Gascot, also known as Toni Jones, had injected Seibert with it. Before charges were filed in May, Gascot left for Las Vegas. She was arrested there June 7 on York County warrants for homicide, drug delivery resulting in death, possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. [continues 302 words]
