In August 1988, a middle-aged drug counselor named David Purchase started handing out needles to junkies in Tacoma. He thus began the first needle exchange program in the U.S.-and became a criminal, since distributing drug paraphernalia was a misdemeanor under state law. As needle exchanges caught on, critics, including the first President Bush, objected that the program tacitly condoned illicit drug use. Purchase didn't care. AIDS deaths in the U.S. alone numbered in the tens of thousands. "We're going to keep doing what we do," he told The New York Times. "Our goal is to save lives," he said, even if that meant jail time. [continues 750 words]
In the Wake of the War on Drugs, State Laws and Industry Culture Are Preventing Black and Latino Folks From Entering Oakland's Burgeoning, Hugely Profitable Cannabis Market. On a Tuesday evening in January, people gathered at SoleSpace in downtown Oakland for a panel titled, "Shades of Green: The State of Cannabis in California for People of Color." Supernova Women -- a recently formed organization led by female entrepreneurs of color working in cannabis -- organized the event, and it brought out an avid, intergenerational crowd of mostly Black and brown folks with varying levels of interest and experience working in the industry. [continues 5362 words]
WICHITA (TNS) - The Garden City mother who has become a face of the medicinal marijuana legalization movement in Kansas is suing the state of Kansas and some of the agencies involved in questioning and removing her then 11-year-old son from her home last spring after he spoke up about her cannabis use at school. Shona Banda claims in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, that the state and the agencies are depriving her of her civil rights to treat a debilitating condition she suffers from and to parent her child. She also claims employees at her son's school, Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center, and the Garden City Police Department violated her constitutional rights when they questioned her son without parental permission and searched her property without a warrant. [continues 676 words]
Shona Banda Is Suing the State, Other Agencies She Claims They Violated Her Constitutional Rights to Parent Her Son, Treat Disease The Garden City mother who has become a face of the medicinal marijuana legalization movement in Kansas is suing the state and some of the agencies involved in questioning and removing her 11-year-old son from her home last spring after he spoke up about her cannabis use at school. Shona Banda claims in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, that the state and the agencies are depriving her of her civil rights to treat a debilitating condition she suffers from and to parent her child. She also claims employees at her son's school and the Garden City Police Department violated her constitutional rights when they questioned her son without parental permission and searched her property without a warrant. [continues 714 words]
Re: Toronto Needs Supervised Injection Sites, David McKeown, March 17; ' If We Weren't Here, It Would Be Even Worse,' March 21. Under the guise of social responsibility, the Liberal government will now make taxpayers become enablers for druggies who seek to destroy their lives and those of others around them. Instead of helping these people rebuild their lives, we will send them down the path of no return, all in the name of making sure they have a "safe place" to shoot up. The next step will be to provide the actual drugs because there is no stopping self-righteous do-gooders. [continues 97 words]
Proponents Say Potential Ordinance Would Refocus Police Resources WILKES-BARRE - Passage of an ordinance downgrading the offense of possession of drug paraphernalia has sparked serious discussion among city officials - on marijuana decriminalization. Marijuana decriminalization in Wilkes-Barre is largely supported among top city officials and legislators, with only one of five city council members on the "definitely not" end of the scale. Proponents say decriminalizing possession of small amounts would help refocus police resources on fighting violent and serious drug crimes, alleviate pressure on the state court system and prevent creating or worsening criminal records for low-level offenders. [continues 769 words]
Epidemic Stretches From Coast to Coast BALTIMORE - A crowd quickly gathers here on one of West Baltimore's many drug-infested street corners. But it isn't heroin they're seeking. It's a heroin antidote known as naloxone, or Narcan. Two city health department workers are holding up slim salmon-colored boxes and explaining that the medication inside can be used to stop someone from dying of a heroin overdose. Most onlookers nod solemnly in recognition. They've heard about the drug. They want to know more. [continues 1011 words]
BALTIMORE - A crowd quickly gathers here on one of West Baltimore's many drug-infested street corners. But it isn't heroin they're seeking. It's a heroin antidote known as naloxone, or Narcan. Two city health department workers are holding up slim salmon-colored boxes and explaining that the medication inside can be used to stop someone from dying of a heroin overdose. Most onlookers nod solemnly in recognition. They've heard about the drug. They want to know more. [continues 1016 words]
I'm passing this special JOINT to the Trenton Police Officers. Dear Trenton Police Officers. I am not your enemy, none of you should be mad at me for ignoring the marijuana laws. In fact I think you should ignore them as well. They do in the suburbs. You know the potheads are a peaceful bunch. You know arresting someone for marijuana ruins his/ her life more than marijuana use ever could. Some of your spouses, siblings, offspring and parents are potheads. But you continue to arrest non-family potheads here in Trenton. [continues 1255 words]
Officials Ask Public to Identify Dealers, Users As Wave Hits Northern Minn. A wave of heroin overdose deaths and hospitalizations across northern Minnesota prompted an urgent plea from authorities Wednesday for the public's help in identifying dealers and users in an effort to prevent further tragedies. Seven people have died and more than a dozen have been hospitalized in the past few weeks after ingesting heroin that in many cases was made even deadlier by the presence of added narcotics such as morphine and fentanyl, authorities said at Wednesday's news conference in Bemidji, Minn. [continues 735 words]
Businesses hope to clear haze of dated perceptions surrounding cannabis TORONTO - You won't find brightly coloured bongs or bubble gum-flavoured rolling papers displayed against the backdrop of exposed brick and modern, industrial-style furnishings at Tokyo Smoke. Instead, the shop - located in a former shipping dock nestled between two warehouses in Toronto's west end - carries high-end pot paraphernalia befitting the pages of a design magazine while also serving up cups of artisanal coffee. Pipes handcrafted by California-based ceramicist Ben Medansky sit alongside a pricey portable vaporizer; a reimagined version of the French press coffee maker launched via a Kickstarter campaign and a selection of what shop owner Alan Gertner calls "museum quality collectibles" - items such as vintage Barbies and a vintage Hermes bag. [continues 495 words]
Following Wilkes-Barre City Council's vote to decriminalize the possession of drug paraphernalia last week, city police Chief Marcella Lendacky is now studying whether the city should follow the lead of Philadelphia and some other, larger cities and do the same for small quantities of marijuana. Proponents of decriminalization say marijuana arrests clog the court system with non-violent offenders whose future career and education prospects are often ruined for doing something that is treated like a traffic ticket in some parts of the country and totally legal in others. The move would give police officers the discretion to file summary charges for possession rather than more serious misdemeanor charges. [continues 210 words]
We feel for Ron Stasynec. After hearing from both local government and the RCMP on the significant challenges involved in trying to shut down drug houses in our Cowichan Valley communities, we can't help but sympathize with the neighbours of these problem dwellings. Because one thing is clear, getting rid of these unwanted neighbours is no easy, quick or straightforward matter. At first glance it seems bizarre that the RCMP would suggest that North Cowichan, or any other municipality's bylaws, would be a way to shut down a crack house. Isn't that what our criminal code is for? [continues 255 words]
WILKES-BARRE - Starting today, adults found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia in the city might catch a break from the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department. City council at its regular meeting Thursday voted 5-0 to pass the second and final reading of a paraphernalia ordinance downgrading possession from a misdemeanor to a summary offense at the discretion of the arresting officer. Factors that police will consider include the criminal background of an offender and whether the person is going to be facing more serious charges. [continues 542 words]
WASHINGTON - Sallie Taylor was sitting in her apartment in Northeast Washington one evening in January 2015 watching "Bible Talk" when her clock fell off the wall and broke. She turned and looked up. Nine District of Columbia police officers smashed through her door, pointed a shotgun at her face and ordered her to the floor. "They came in like Rambo," said Taylor, a soft-spoken 63-year-old grandmother who was dressed in a white nightgown and said she has never had even a speeding ticket. [continues 990 words]
Dispensaries operating in grey area of the law A new medical marijuana dispensary has cropped up in Lower Lonsdale, causing concern for some parents whose kids attend martial arts classes a few doors down. "The marijuana place has no curtains, it's all bright and the lights are on and flashing. Anybody who can read can see it," said Tomasa Cruz, who walks by WeeMedical Dispensary at 109 East First St. four times a week with her 10-year-old daughter Ornella on their way to Champions martial arts academy. [continues 710 words]
There are now two medical marijuana dispensary storefronts in Sechelt that are selling cannabis products to the public - and a third set to start selling product this month - despite the fact RCMP say it's illegal. WeeMedical Dispensary Society, a dispensary chain started in Nanaimo, set up shop on the corner of Teredo Street and Inlet Avenue and opened its doors to the public on Feb. 22. Meanwhile, Weeds Glass and Gifts has been open for more than a year on Wharf Avenue and has been operating as a dispensary for a little over six months, according to manager Robin Kehler. [continues 972 words]
WASHINGTON - Sallie Taylor was sitting in her apartment in Northeast Washington one evening in January 2015 watching "Bible Talk" when her clock fell off the wall and broke. She turned and looked up. Nine District of Columbia police officers smashed through her door, pointed a shotgun at her face and ordered her to the floor. "They came in like Rambo," said Taylor, a softspoken 63-year-old grandmother who was dressed in a white nightgown and said she has never had even a speeding ticket. [continues 516 words]
Pursuing Drugs and Guns on Scant Evidence, D.C. Police Sometimes Raid Wrong Homes - Terrifying Residents Sallie Taylor was sitting in her apartment in Northeast Washington one evening in January 2015 watching "Bible Talk" when her clock fell off the wall and broke. She turned and looked up as nine D.C. police officers smashed through her door. A shotgun was pointed at her face, and she was ordered to the floor. "They came in like Rambo," said Taylor, a soft-spoken 63-year-old grandmother who was dressed in a white nightgown and said she has never had even a speeding ticket. [continues 3913 words]
Volusia on Thursday became the first county in Central Florida to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The County Council by a unanimous 7-0 vote gave law officers the discretion to ticket tokers who possess 20 grams of the drug or less. Instead of being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, violators would be fined $100. "The only thing we learned from the war on drugs is that it didn't work," County Council member Josh Wagner said. "All it did was fill the jails." [continues 574 words]
