Officer Who Volunteers At Tracy School Wins Program's National Award TRACY -- Officer Steve Abercrombie's obsession has earned him a nickname around his police station: the DARE man. But the dedication to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has earned him a different accolade. The veteran Hayward patrol officer has been named National DARE Officer of the Year. Abercrombie, an 18-year veteran, is a volunteer DARE officer at Wanda Hirsch Elemen-tary School in Tracy. He also works with sixth-graders at four Hayward elementary schools: Southgate, Eden Gardens, John Muir and St. Joachim's. He has worked in the DARE program for 11 years. [continues 548 words]
Cardoza targeted for medical pot vote A Northern California congressman is among 150 lawmakers nationwide who will be pressured by protesters Friday to change their votes on an amendment which would halt federal raids on medical marijuana patients, caregivers and cooperatives. Patients and caregivers plan to gather at 11:15 a.m. Friday outside Rep. Dennis Cardoza's district office at 445 West Weber Ave. in Stockton. A spokesman for Cardoza, D-Atwater, didn't return an e-mail Wednesday. Charles Pringle, Cardoza's Republican challenger in November's election, said Wednesday he supports the amendment, and called Cardoza's vote against it "an assault on the doctor-patient privilege." [continues 387 words]
Judge Cites Precedent Citing an Oakland case's precedent, a federal magistrate in San Francisco refused Monday to order drug testing for a Sonoma County man who has been freed from federal prison camp to appeal his medical marijuana conviction. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward M. Chen said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last December in Raich v. Ashcroft -- which said the federal government lacks jurisdiction over noncommercial, medical marijuana activity entirely within California's borders -- means courts must "tread very lightly" on medical marijuana issues. [continues 129 words]
50 Agencies to Arrive MANTECA -- The Manteca Police Department is gearing up for its 34th annual Western States K9 Competition, which will bring police dogs and their officer handlers to the city from all over the state and Nevada. As many as 50 agencies come to the two-day event to compete in different areas of police work that are typical of what the dogs do on patrol every day. The event opens the evening of Friday, April 30, and continues all day Saturday, May 1, at Morenzone Field on West Center Street. Only the May 1 events will be open to the public. [continues 268 words]
City Plans to Reduce Seven Medical Pot Vendors to Four Sunday, April 18, 2004 - OAKLAND -- United by the risk of a federal bust and a zealous conviction that they are helping ill people, medical marijuana purveyors always have maintained a certain level of community, watching each other's back. Now, new city rules are forcing Oakland's cannabis clubs to compete with each other for survival. Beginning in June, the city will limit the number of marijuana outlets to four. This week, operators of seven existing dispensaries, and one newcomer called Canna Bilistic RX, will make their cases to the City Manager's Office to stay in operation. [continues 741 words]
These days, amid ongoing budget slashings, local youth program leaders such as Lance Frederick aren't used to getting phone calls from people saying they want to send a check. But Frederick was grateful for the surprising news that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program he runs in Hayward would be getting a $2,500 donation from San Leandro-Hayward Elks Lodge No. 2795. The nonprofit Elks group voted in February to distribute some $25,000 worth of bingo proceeds to local youth programs. [continues 322 words]
OAKLAND -- Advocates for the legalization of marijuana plan to ask voters to adopt an initiative in November that aims to tax and regulate the sale of pot in Oakland. While the measure, to be submitted to City Attorney John Russo today, would not decriminalize pot, it would direct the Oakland Police Department to treat the private use of marijuana by adults as its lowest priority until cannabis is legalized by California officials. "It is possible to keep cannabis out of the hands of street dealers and away from children, if we tax and regulate it," said Dale Gieringer, a member of the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance. [continues 509 words]
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray Wants To Legalize Adult Use Of Marijuana Jim Gray isn't easily pigeonholed. He's a veteran of both the U.S. Navy in Vietnam and the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. He's a lifelong Republican now running for the U.S. Senate as a Libertarian while reaching out to Bay Area liberals. He's a Republican-appointed Orange County Superior Court judge whose main platform plank is drug legalization. He says he might be the only person ever to get standing ovations for giving the same speech to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Young Republicans. [continues 931 words]
Businessman Gives $11,000 HAYWARD -- A 30-year-old Hayward businessman spent $11,000 to keep Hayward Hempery owner Cheryl Adams -- someone he had never met -- from being evicted from her downtown shop. The man, a Tennyson High School graduate, said he had once visited The Hempery and its medical marijuana dispensary. A medical marijuana patient himself, he read with interest about her business' potential demise in an ANG Newspapers' publication and decided to bail her out, he said. "It's the oldest (dispensary) in town, and I thought it would be a shame to let it go," he explained. [continues 423 words]
Hempery Proprieter Booked For Possession, Transport, Intent To Sell A Hayward medical marijuana dispensary owner plans to defend herself against felony drug possession charges in a case that could be one of the first tests of a related new state law. Cheryl Adams, who owns the Hayward Hempery and its Hayward Patient Group, was arrested at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 12 in front of the TownPlace Suites hotel at 39802 Cedar Blvd., Newark, where she had been living. She allegedly was driving with 5.32 pounds of marijuana in 29 separate small plastic bags, said Newark police Sgt. Fred Zachau. [continues 650 words]
Nonprofit group raised $50,000 to rescue TRACY -- When state budget reductions forced Tracy Unified to cut the DARE program at the beginning of last summer, the Kiwanis Club of Tracy vowed to raise the $50,000 necessary to save it. After months of hard work, the efforts of the Kiwanis Club can be described in two words: Mission Accomplished. "Although we were not ready to officially hand the check over, it appears our fund-raising efforts were on track," said Dave Simpson, a Kiwanis Club member. "We really believe this is a message from the community that they want to see the DARE program working in our schools." [continues 328 words]
Debate Could Move Dispensaries To Unincorporated Areas Of Alameda County HAYWARD -- The Hayward City Council sanctioned three existing downtown medical marijuana dispensaries this week, leaving a fourth dispensary -- a newcomer to the debate -- out of the grandfathering agreement. The council's decision pretty much nips in the bud the 10-month discussion on the extent to which Hayward should allow the dispensary operations, amid conflicting state and federal laws and efforts to revive downtown. But the issue likely will remain a buzz in neighboring areas of unincorporated Alameda County, where the fourth Hayward dispensary -- now located through double doors of a Main Street coffee shop -- might relocate. [continues 781 words]
Since Aug. 1, there have been 50 shootings in East Palo Alto EAST PALO ALTO -- The city's police may have indirectly caused a recent increase in gun violence. Because the police have cracked down on drug dealing, Police Chief Wes Bowling said, they may have diminished the territory where dealers can sell dope, creating a "little war." "It was a little surprising to us that this would occur," Bowling said Thursday. "We didn't think that this would happen as a result of what we were doing. We've created another small monster by cracking down on one type of crime." [continues 539 words]
Stance On Medical Marijuana Draws Criticism From Crowd SAN FRANCISCO -- White House drug czar John Walters received a chilly welcome Monday as he brought his 25-city tour to the Bay Area -- dozens of protesters blasted his stance against medical marijuana, and even his host said he'd been disingenuous. Walters held a news conference in the drug recovery center at the Tenderloin's Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, which he praised for "a clear record of achievement" in helping addicts rebuild their lives. [continues 510 words]
Oakland Center, Which Also Helps 'Questioning Youth,' Closes Down, Claiming Safety Risks OAKLAND -- Blaming downtown street violence exacerbated by unregulated pot clubs, administrators of a youth center that offers support services for gay and "questioning" youths say they have been forced to close the facility. Claiming the Uptown area dubbed "Oaksterdam" has become too dangerous for its clients, the Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County is seeking a new home for its youth center, said Roosevelt Mosby Jr., the nonprofit's executive director. [continues 567 words]
Supreme Court Refuses To Punish Physicians For Recommending Medical Marijuana To Patients The U.S. Supreme Court handed a major victory Tuesday to the nine states that allow the medical use of marijuana, refusing to let the federal government punish doctors for recommending the drug to patients. The justices without comment declined to review last year's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that said doctors should be able to speak frankly with their patients. [continues 737 words]
City Council Rejects Proposal to Stamp Out Oakland Area Dotted With Medical Marijuana Clubs OAKLAND -- Faced with a room packed with worried medical marijuana advocates and some angry representatives of a youth center, a City Council committee Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have snuffed out the budding "Oaksterdam" district. Instead, the council will meet in closed session with its lawyers next week to discuss the legal ramifications of regulating pot clubs, reconvene a working group of city staff and medical cannabis advocates, and bring back a plan to the Public Safety Committee Oct. 28. [continues 676 words]
Regarding "Fremont Man Claims Right To Grow Pot" (Sept. 5): When will they stop killing over a plant that has never killed? Our laws must be changed to save lives. Marijuana has, unlike alcohol, been an asset to our country throughout history. Our forefathers would be in shock if they saw what we have done. Sandy Cote Toledo, Ohio [end]
Scientific Journal Intends to Publish Retraction WASHINGTON -- A prestigious scientific journal is retracting a study about the effects of the drug Ecstasy on the brain because the animals used in the research were given a different drug. The researchers blamed the error on a labeling mix-up. Previous studies had reported on the brain hazards of Ecstasy, and the researchers said the problems with their study did not call into question the earlier ones. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University reported in September 2002, that key neurons in the brains of squirrel monkeys and baboons were damaged when the animals were given doses of Ecstasy that mimicked those often taken by users of the drug during all-night dance parties. [continues 268 words]
Police Fatally Shoot Dog While Executing Search Warrant. Fremont -- A 41-year-old Fremont man whose dog was shot by police officers when they forcibly entered his house looking for marijuana plants has a prescription from his doctor to use pot and a certificate from the Oakland Cannabis Cooperative allowing him to grow and possess it, according to documents obtained by ANG Newspapers. Robert Filgo and his wife, Yvette Filgo, 38, were arrested Tuesday night after seven police officers served a search warrant at their Niles home and found 79 plants in the back yard and garage. [continues 574 words]
