Agents to Seek Warrants Before Using Secretive Equipment WASHINGTON - The Justice Department will regularly require federal agents to seek warrants before using secretive equipment that can locate and track cellphones, the agency announced Thursday, the first regulations on an increasingly controversial technology. The new policy, which also limits what information may be collected and how long it can be stored, puts a measure of judicial oversight on a technology that was designed to hunt terrorists overseas but has become a popular tool among federal agents and local police officers for fighting crime. [continues 410 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - An organization that ran anti-cigarette smoking ads during the Video Music Awards has complained to MTV's parent company about the program's multiple references to marijuana and said it sent the wrong message to young viewers. Show host Miley Cyrus was responsible for most of them. She even came backstage with a lit joint after the show and passed it around to photographers. "It is entirely understandable for viewers to be confused, after hearing so much about marijuana during the VMA broadcast, to see a powerful advertisement about the dangers of tobacco," said Eric Asche, chief marketing officer of the Truth Initiative, which sponsored two anti-cigarette ads. [continues 279 words]
Activists who decided to withdraw a proposed ballot initiative in Denver that would have allowed pot use in bars and other businesses seem to have awakened to reality. The public wasn't ready for such a proposal. There was a high probability it would have been defeated at the polls, even in liberal Denver where Amendment 64 passed with ease. At the very least, proponents need to narrow the measure's focus and secure wider support for whatever they propose next time. [continues 89 words]
Garduno, Benton to Introduce Plan; Mayor May Oppose the Idea Two Albuquerque city councilors plan to introduce legislation next week that would make it a civil offense - not a criminal violation - under city law to possess an ounce or less of marijuana. Their proposal would also declare marijuana as the lowest law-enforcement priority for city police. Officers, however, would still have discretion to cite people under the state law for marijuana possession - the penalties for which can include up to 15 days in jail and fines up to $100 as a criminal petty misdemeanor. [continues 377 words]
The report out of Sacramento this week that Gov. Jerry Brown has engaged in a new effort to develop statewide regulation of medical marijuana is qualified good news. It's good because the Legislature has been unable to do it on its own for nearly two decades since California voters decriminalized pot for medical purposes in 1996. But it's qualified because it's still publicly unknown just what the governor is proposing. Among many sticking points in the contentious issue is the question of how to develop statewide regulations acceptable to all local communities, which over the years have shown gaping differences in how they approach the problem. Some prohibit marijuana dispensaries completely. Some, like San Diego, allow them only in certain areas. Some allow cultivation of medical pot and some don't. Another issue is the bureaucratic question of which state agency should be responsible for monitoring and enforcement of the regulations. And still another is the scientific question of measurable standards that law enforcement officers can use to detect drugged drivers. Whether all - or any - of these issues can be resolved in the short time left before legislators leave town at the end of next week is uncertain. But the governor's direct involvement offers some hope for a break in the 19-year logjam. [end]
BROCKTON - The state's second medical marijuana dispensary opened Friday morning, receiving what its president described as brisk but orderly business. "Overall, our patients are very happy today," said David B. Noble, president of In Good Health, which was granted a 90-day waiver on Wednesday that allows it to sell marijuana that has not been fully tested for pesticides and other contaminants. Noble said that by midday Friday, his dispensary had seen 100 to 150 customers at its 1200 W. Chestnut St. facility, a sprawling one-story building in the city's southeastern corner, near the Easton line. Each patient spent about an hour and 15 minutes waiting in line and making their purchase, he said. [continues 349 words]
We start our federal election weekly series on the issue of marijuana legalization, a hotly debated topic in B.C Who doesn't like B.C. bud? It's a big deal in the province, home to a significant number of both legal and illegal growers, and to people like the Prince of Pot himself, Marc Emery. In a poll earlier this summer, Insights West found 67% of British Columbians supported the legalization of marijuana in Canada - only 7% thought pot should always be illegal without exception. [continues 586 words]
Coderre Says Move Is About 'Public Safety' Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre didn't hold back during a joint news conference with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau on Thursday, promising to ensure proposed drug-injection sites open in the city - even over federal objections. The mayor, who met Trudeau to discuss issues including safe injection sites, has previously said he would give the federal government until the end of the summer to approve four locations in Montreal. Coderre made it clear he will move ahead regardless. [continues 401 words]
Re "Marijuana harm ignored in push for legalization" (Commentary, Aug. 14): It has become obvious that Thomas Elias has drunk the government's Kool-Aid of lies. When he asserts that medicinal cannabis is used by folks with no discernible medical problems, what medical degree does he hold to make that assessment? It's the same myth extolled by law enforcement also practicing medicine without licenses - a crime in all 50 states. Elias stirs fears of parents by playing the "children card." However, numerous studies show that teen use and traffic fatalities actually decrease when marijuana is legalized/decriminalized. [continues 75 words]
