TRENTON - Facing an 11-count indictment on drug charges, Ed Forchion, aka NJ Weedman, is not breaking a sweat. In fact, the pro-marijuana activist has challenged acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri to take the lead on the case. "I'm ready for it," Forchion said Tuesday shortly after learning of the indictment. "I really hope that Prosecutor Onofri presents this case and takes this ass whooping himself." Onofri announced Tuesday in a press release that a grand jury returned the indictment charging the 52-year-old with numerous drug offenses stemming from a raid on April 27 at his restaurant and pot temple directly across from City Hall on East State Street. [continues 630 words]
The New President of the Philippines Unleashes a Surge of Extrajudicial Killings of Drug Dealers and Users. RODRIGO DUTERTE, the new president of the Philippines, is overseeing exactly what he pledged in his campaign: a terrifying surge of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers, users and criminals. From the day after he was elected, May 10, to Aug. 4, by a local account, there had been 571 killings, most of them simple executions by police and vigilante groups. Mr. Duterte promised to "shoot to kill" and eliminate drug dealing in the country in six months. In fact, he is killing the rule of law, and that could undermine Philippine democracy. [continues 407 words]
Nevada City - Faced with furious protests by marijuana advocates, Nevada County supervisors on Tuesday approved a restrictive plan to allow limited outdoor marijuana growing in a Sierra Nevada county long known for its cannabis culture. In June, voters in the county of 100,000 residents roundly rejected a sweeping ban imposed by supervisors on outdoor marijuana farms and commercial cultivation. Measure W, which would have reinforced an ordinance passed by the board in June, went down by a 59 to 41 percent margin. [continues 994 words]
The state's highest court said Wednesday that people convicted on drug charges in cases that involved a disgraced state chemist, Annie Dookhan, can seek new trials. Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court gave special permission to people to undo their pleas if they had pleaded guilty to drug charges in Dookhan-related cases. On Wednesday, it ruled that the same protection must be extended to some defendants who went to trial. "Regardless whether a defendant pleads guilty to a drug offense or is found guilty at trial . . . the evidence is still potentially tainted by Dookhan's misconduct," Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants wrote for the court. "The taint is still attributable to the government [because] it may be impossible for the defendant to prove [their] case . . . was actually tainted by Dookhan's misconduct." [continues 609 words]
In states that have legalized the sale of medical and recreational cannabis, the industry is flourishing. State and local laws have done great work in creating policies and laws that give such businesses a sense of stability that allow them to make business decisions with some confidence. But federal laws still regard cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic and have not only closed access to reliable banking, the U.S. Postal Service, and fair tax laws, but there is also the constant threat of law enforcement raids, lengthy and expensive court battles, and prison sentences. [continues 731 words]
Union leaders are talking about normal union concerns in a dimly lit Arcata bar. There are cocktails all around. They talk about safety, protecting jobs, keeping wages high, changing laws and providing training and education for workers and employers. Although these sound like run-of-the-mill union concerns, this is not your typical union. This is the Humboldt Medical Cannabis Union (HMCU), a group working to protect cannabis jobs in Humboldt County and bring farmers and workers out from the underground and into legitimacy. [continues 1226 words]
Like many Americans, I want to know how we got to the point that nearly 30,000 of our fellow countrymen and women died last year from overdosing on opioids. Many answers can be found in a report written by staff working in the US Senate. But the senators overseeing the report have failed to release it. As a former investigator on the Senate Finance Committee, I have professional reasons for wanting to see the report made public. I also have personal reasons - I lost two cousins to opioids, and my father unwittingly became briefly addicted to fentanyl when he was prescribed the drug for back pain. [continues 618 words]
If there was ever a time when we should restore the fourth amendment to the constitution, this is it. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches ans seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation..." This month a federal appeals court ruled that law enforcement agencies can scan credit, debit and gift cards without running afoul of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches. [continues 870 words]
A new digital system unveiled by Oklahoma government police is just the latest example of civil asset forfeiture laws encouraging cops to become the robbers they're supposed to be catching. Since May, the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol has been deploying "Electronic Recovery and Access to Data" systems. ERADs allow highway patrolmen to use civil asset forfeiture laws to seize individuals' assets stored in bank accounts or on prepaid debit cards at the press of a button. Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process by which government law enforcement agents seize private property, including money, believed to have been used in the commission of a crime, even if no criminal conviction has occurred. [continues 423 words]
After Grant Scott-Goforth's parting shot last week debunking the racist connotations of the word "marijuana," it seemed only fitting to follow up with another column blatantly pandering to the etymology nerds in our readership. We were initially intrigued by the word "bong," which, according to an online etymology dictionary, comes from the Thai word "baung," meaning "cylindrical wooden tube," and came to the United States along with returning Vietnam War veterans. As we dug deeper into the words that surround cannabis connoisseurship, a pattern developed. [continues 680 words]
Whether you are for or against medical cannabis, you must stand for wise decisions that can be enforced. Unnecessary laws which cannot be modified for decades serve no one in Nevada County on either side of this issue. The board of supervisors finds themselves caught up in a controversy of their own making. No one has been able to quantify the number of complaints made about cannabis. This board of supervisors has taken a position to punish cannabis growers who didn't comply with Measure S guidelines, according to Dan Miller. [continues 438 words]
A group of men met among the tombstones of a Paso Robles cemetery sometime in 2014. Two of them were lawmen from the SLO County Narcotics Unit, a multiagency group dedicated to tackling drug crime in the county. The third was a civilian. A man with a wife and kids and a past checkered by drug use and criminal charges. They were there for different reasons. The lawmen knew drugs were flowing into the county. They wanted to root out the criminals responsible for selling them and put the dealers behind bars. The third man was just looking to stay away from the wrong side of those same bars. [continues 3166 words]
His left hand was pressed firmly into his temple as he leaned in and whispered, "Okay, once I finish this goddamn computer science project I'm going to make some Amsterdam tea." I muffled my naturally thunderous laughter as we we sat in the center of the Engineering Library. A moment of comfortable silence between friends followed, with only keyboard sounds filling the space. I didn't resume studying, for I was distracted by his plans, and it wasn't because of his choice of euphemism. [continues 792 words]
What Five Years in Prison Taught California Former Dispensary Owner Dale Schafer, and Why He's Thinking About Getting Back into the Marijuana Biz A judge sentenced Dale Schafer to 60 months federal prison in 2008, but now the attorney and celebrity drug-war is out - and getting back into marijuana. The 62-year-old resident of Roseville, a suburb just east of Sacramento, and his wife, Dr. Marion "Mollie" Fry, became a poster couple for outrage over the federal crackdown on medical pot when federal prosecutors indicted them for operating a clinic in the Northern California foothills. [continues 786 words]
A veteran Lawrence police officer was arrested late Thursday on charges that he used his power as a police officer to take cocaine from a drug dealer for personal use, then threatened the dealer with arrest if he notified authorities. John R. Desantis Jr., 44, of Methuen, was charged with unlawfully obtaining property by extortion under color of official right, and threatened force and fear. He did not enter a plea during a Friday court appearance, but his lawyer says he denies the allegations. Desantis is being held until a hearing Tuesday. [continues 352 words]
Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Eugene Monroe missed most of the 2015 National Football League season after he tore a shoulder ligament against the Arizona Cardinals last October. After having the torn labrum surgically repaired in December, doctors prescribed Monroe the usual gamut of opioid painkillers like oxycodone to manage his pain. Pain is an accepted part of the profession for Monroe and other athletes. Before NFL games even start, players are shot up with the drug Toradol, which helps numb the body and relieve pain, he said. But Monroe said those numbing effects can be so strong that players often get seriously injured without knowing, sometimes not discovering the injury until days later. [continues 550 words]
A prison guard at Goose Creek Correctional Center has been arrested on federal drug charges after the FBI says the guard admitted he tried to smuggle heroin and marijuana into the prison for inmates this week. Court records show Adam Jason Spindler, 32, is charged with possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, as well as conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and to possess it with the intent to distribute. According to a criminal complaint against Spindler written by FBI Special Agent Richard Fuller, the state Department of Corrections earlier this month asked the bureau to investigate suspicions that Spindler - a night-shift guard at Goose Creek since April 2013 - was "smuggling drugs into GCCC for distribution to inmates." [continues 795 words]
Mexico City - WHEN the Mexican Army actually allows journalists to watch its soldiers in action, it's often to see them burning marijuana crops. It's strictly for show, but it's fun. You get to fly in a military helicopter over the Sierra Madre, then touch down to see troops posing with their rifles as they walk into green marijuana fields. And the highlight: You watch hundreds of pounds of grass go up in flames. Mexican soldiers have been conducting this ritual for decades, and the photos have come to define the country's war on drugs. But amid a wave of drug policy reform, those photos may soon disappear from news pages and be relegated to historical archives. [continues 777 words]
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A Montana State Prison guard has been accused smuggling methamphetamine and marijuana into the prison in exchange for cash. A federal grand jury indicted Martin Reap on conspiracy, drug possession, drug distribution and bribery charges earlier this month. The case against him was unsealed on Thursday. The indictment alleges that Reap conspired with unnamed inmates to smuggle the drugs into the Deer Lodge prison for distribution to other inmates between February 2015 and last month. In return, Reap allegedly received more than $5,000 from others who participated in the drug-smuggling conspiracy. Federal Public Defender Michael Donahoe, Reap's attorney, was traveling and did not immediately return a call or email request for comment. Reap does not have a home phone listing. Montana Department of Corrections officials did not immediately return a call for comment. [end]
To the Times: "Today is a beautiful day in Darby." I read these words from Mayor Helen Thomas and it brought back memories of all my favorite Darby traditions; the Memorial Day parade rich with culture, music, and a collective sense of Darby pride, the BVM carnival where I overstuffed myself on funnel cake and "wooder" ice, and the annual Community Day at the old Darby Police station in which I received my first license to ride a bike! That is truly what a beautiful day in Darby means to me, but these memories came flooding back amongst a statement that was made on a very tragic day. A statement that brutally confirms that Darby has seen its best days. I write this in frustration and through tears because I am a young woman who was born and raised in Darby to two wonderful parents who were also born and raised here as well. The faces in those mug shots staring back at me are my family, my friends, my first crush, and my last connection to a small town I left many years ago in search of better opportunities. [continues 320 words]
