Watching the federal pot raids is akin to watching an episode of "Cops" on TV. You've seen the action when two cops spend 30 minutes searching a suspect and then his car and finding about 5 grams of grass. The cops jubilantly give a high-five to each other and say, "Another good bust! That's more drugs off the streets!" C'mon, guys: There are much more important things to be doing with the government's (our) money. Brooks Judd, Turlock, Stanislaus County [end]
Why is the federal government under President Obama arguably tougher on medical marijuana operations than it was under George W. Bush? That's the question that antidrug-war groups have been asking themselves for months. In 2008, antiprohibitionists thought an Obama administration would not tread on medical-marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal. Obama 2008 campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief." [continues 676 words]
WOONSOCKET -- Sometimes painted as the Molly Hatchet of the Rhode Island medical marijuana movement, putting the axe to the state's three proposed compassion centers before they had a chance to open, U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha says he just wants to make sure everyone knows where his office stands on the issue so there will be "no surprises" when, and if, a dispensary opens up. Gov. Lincoln Chafee put the licensing of three compassion centers that had gone through two lengthy Department of Health application processes on hold after receiving a letter from Neronha saying the centers could be subject to raids and their employees subject to prosecution. [continues 1053 words]
Richard Lee plans to transfer Oaksterdam University and a pot dispensary to others but vows to remain an advocate for legalization. Richard Lee says: "I've been doing this for a long time. Over 20 years.... I kind of feel like I've done my time. It's time for others to take over." Richard Lee, whose bid to legalize marijuana in California brought him international attention, plans to give up ownership of his Oakland-based marijuana businesses after a federal raid this week seized many of their assets, including plants, bank accounts, records and computers. [continues 657 words]
Prohibition Tells US That Drug Use Would Skyrocket The human nervous system interacts in pleasing and addictive ways with certain molecules derived from some plants, which is why humans may have developed beer before they developed bread. Psychoactive - consciousness and addictive drugs are natural, a fact that should immunize policy makers against extravagant hopes as they cope with America's drug problem, which is convulsing some nations to our south. The costs - human, financial and social - of combating (most) drugs are prompting calls for decriminalization or legalization. America should, however, learn from the psychoactive drug used by a majorityof American adults- alcohol. [continues 654 words]
Harper pleased as Obama 'welcomes' Canada's interest in Asia-pacific free-trade plan WASHINGTON * Prime Minister Stephen Harper emerged from a "Three Amigos" summit Monday pledging to work with his counterparts on joint efforts to boost economic growth and trade, fight organized drug crime and promote energy development. And while he secured a public endorsement from U.S. President Barack Obama for Canada's aspirations to join negotiations in the proposed Trans-pacific Partnership ( TPP), there is still no guarantee the U.S. and others won't demand stiff concessions from Harper. [continues 752 words]
Fort Bragg Mobilizes in Effort to Protect Private Lands From Pot Growers With outdoor marijuana-growing season about to begin, private and public officials are invoking the memory of slain Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo to bolster their rallying cry of "take back our forests" from illicit growers they say despoil the woods and endanger the lives of honest citizens. "We must band together" to fight illegal trespass gardens, Campbell Timberland Management manager Stephen Horner told more than 300 people attending a recent forum in Fort Bragg hosted by the Jere Melo Foundation. The foundation was created to carry on Melo's work to keep the forests safe and clean. [continues 675 words]
NEW YORK -- Sales of prescription painkillers are exploding in new areas, and experts are worried that's creating a wave of addiction. Pharmacies, hospitals and physicians dispensed the equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone and 42 tons of pure hydrocodone in 2010. That's enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to every man, woman and child in the United States. An analysis by The Associated Press shows distribution of the two drugs is booming from New York's Staten Island to Santa Fe., N.M. Some places saw effective per-capita sales increase sixteenfold between 2000 and 2010. Oxycodone is the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan. Hydrocodone is in Vicodin, Lortab and Norco. [end]
The offices of Route 66 Healing and Wellness in Rancho Cucamonga. A local attorney says a recent court ruling will have significant consequences on how courts deal with medical marijuana collectives. The fallout may soon be seen in Rancho Cucamonga. The California Fourth District Court of Appeals, Division 3, ruled in February in the City of Lake Forest vs. Evergreen Holistic Collective case that cities and counties can't use zoning laws to ban medical marijuana collectives, but the marijuana must be grown on site. [continues 599 words]
