Re: 'Officer finds it difficult to see 'children suffer' ( Opinion, April 9) Kudos to that B.C. police officer. I was hoping that members of the police force would speak out about decriminalization and ultimately legalization of marijuana. I, too, find it difficult to see children suffer. How does it start? Marijuana. Then it leads to more drugs and addiction. We need to have drug rehabilitation hospitals where addicts can go for help and have the best treatment possible - the best possible medical help available. But the taxpayer should not have to pay. [continues 258 words]
The mother of a man believed to have taken his own life as a result of drug addiction will stage a protest Tuesday in the hopes of getting government to provide more services for addicted Islanders. Dianne Young's son Lennon Waterman would have turned 30 on Monday. He has been missing since early November. Young believes he took his own life by leaping into the cold North River. RCMP found his clothes on the North River causeway after receiving reports of a man on the causeway the night of Nov. 8, 2013. [continues 297 words]
Changing Medical Marijuana Regulations Have Left Users in a Smoky State of Mind and Doctors Fuming With Rage. Initially, new Health Canada legislation was supposed to put an end to home grown pot productions directing nearly 40,000 medical marijuana users to buy their green from large-scale commercial operations with a prescription-like document from their doctor. But a last minute federal court injunction March 21 halted Health Canada's plan providing temporary reprieve to users - many of whom feared they wouldn't be able to afford the new system. Health Canada responded by issuing a news release stating they intend on appealing the court's order. [continues 528 words]
Your 4/20 Calendar While July 10 makes its push for relevancy - the date, "710," is the word "OIL" upside down, a reference to increasingly popular variations of butane-extracted hash oil - April 20 reigns supreme on the cannabis calendar. So with that in mind, here's where to celebrate this Sunday. (Note: All events are 21 and up.) Starting at noon, Club 710 (1609 S. Nevada Ave., 321/626-9469) will charge members $10 and nonmembers $20 to come enjoy its "day of 420 festivities." Goers will find a free bud, vape and dab bar as well as "WAR OF THE WORLDS rap battles" showcasing 16 emcees from seven states. DJ Lay It Down will take over at 10 p.m. [continues 336 words]
Federal Tracking System Is Snaring Law-Abiding Private Pilots Ken Dobson, a retired police officer, said he received quite a welcome when he landed his single-engine Cessna in Detroit two days after leaving his home in Palm Desert. Gina Ferazzi Five sheriff 's cars surrounded the plane and deputies got out with guns drawn. Then a helicopter arrived with four federal agents and a drug-sniffing dog. They demanded to see Dobson's pilot's license, asked about the flight and mentioned that his long trip from Southern California was suspicious. [continues 996 words]
Tips for harvesting your own sustainably grown medical weed. Spring has sprung, and if you're thinking about growing some medical cannabis this year, it's time to get cracking. Growing pot organically in one's backyard can be a safe, rewarding, affordable way to obtain the botanical remedy. But coaxing decent medicine from the soil takes plenty of time and attention to detail. First off, you're going to need to get legal and learn about the plant. The California Compassionate Use Act of 1996 allows any state resident with a doctor's recommendation to grow medical cannabis for personal use. State guidelines call for a maximum of twelve immature or six mature plants (but check local cultivation ordinances). Oakland allows home-growers a maximum of twenty plants, while Berkeley allows ten. But Concord has banned all outdoor medical pot cultivation, and the City of Martinez may vote to do so this week. [continues 804 words]
In October 2012, a state investigator discovered multiple illegal, after-hours sales of medical marijuana at VIP Cannabis in Denver. Further inspections a month later and the following spring found more problems, from incomplete record-keeping to failures to track inventory and high plant counts that lacked documentation. But it wasn't until last week - in the aftermath of high-profile federal raids on VIP and related marijuana businesses in November- that state regulators moved to shut down the business, sending notices of denial to VIP and three related medical marijuana operations. [continues 677 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - A small study of casual marijuana smokers has turned up evidence of changes in the brain, a possible sign of trouble ahead, researchers say. The young adults who volunteered for the study were not dependent on pot, nor did they show any marijuana-related problems. "What we think we are seeing here is a very early indication of what becomes a problem later on with prolonged use," things like lack of focus and impaired judgment, said Dr. Hans Breiter, a study author. [continues 271 words]
A House bill that would establish equivalences between marijuana that comes from plants and marijuana concentrates in retail products passed through committee Tuesday. Another bill that deals with edible pot products also has been brought forward. Both measures come in the wake of deaths that have occurred after the ingestion of marijuana products. "Every passing day, every passing news story tells us that we have to do something about both because the public's safety is being harmed," said Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, the sponsor of the concentrates bill. [continues 102 words]
The two Ontario-bound shipments of medical-marijuana products seized by B.C. Mounties a couple of weeks ago contained unauthorized items, police said in a short statement posted on their website. The companies doing the importing, Toronto-based Mettrum Ltd. and Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Tweed Marijuana Inc., have insisted that they received the necessary approvals from federal regulators to import the products, and Health Canada confirms this. But the RCMP statement indicates that what was contained in the shipments seized at the Kelowna International Airport did not match what was outlined in the paperwork. [continues 320 words]
In what seems the natural next step to legalized pot, a Colorado company has brought forward a new vending machine that cuts out the middleman for marijuana sales and gives buyers a speedier, after-hours means of purchasing the drug. It's called the Zazz machine, and it's produced by American Green, United Press International reported. It made its debut at a dispensary in Eagle-Vail, Colo., at the Herbal Elements shop. The dispensary, in turn, set up the machine outside a local barbecue restaurant in Avon, UPI said. [continues 122 words]
Maryland Is Right to Be Cautious About Legalizing Pot, but Decriminalization Addresses Some of the Worst Problems of the War on Drugs In 2010, Baltimore police made 64,525 arrests, and more than 7,000 of them - 11 percent of the total - were for simple possession of marijuana. That represents thousands of hours by Baltimore police, Central Booking officials, prosecutors, public defenders, judges and others, all of whom had better things to do. That year, Baltimore recorded 224 homicides, ranking it among the five deadliest cities in the nation. [continues 698 words]
Re: "Marijuana edibles; New bill unwraps a safety concern," April 11 news story; and "Make pot edibles simple to ID," April 12 editorial. My suggestion for labeling THC goodies is that all of them should be individually wrapped and stamped with a large red X. Children can easily understand that you never eat anything with a red X, much as we were taught about products with skulls and crossbones. Products such as THC-infused granola should not be sold unless they are packaged for single servings and thus marked. Jimi Bernath, Englewood [end]
Wasn't so long ago police officers used to kick Ed Forchion in his nether regions before they'd arrest him. Now, they ask for his autograph. In short: Things have changed for the NJWeedman. "I was at the Statehouse a few years ago, and I had a weed shirt on," Forchion recalled. "I wasn't even there to protest or anything, I just had to run into the bill room, I wanted to read something, but I was banned from the building and I ended up getting kicked in the (groin) and going to jail." Today? "When I went to pick up my city permit for next week's rally, a Trenton cop asked me for my autograph," he said. "Basically, I'm not a wacko now, not some lone dude screaming about smoking weed. Most people agree with me." [continues 465 words]
Possession of Papers, Pipes Remains Criminal ANNAPOLIS (AP) - A new law that will decriminalize marijuana in October involves some ambiguities that police and prosecutors are just beginning to confront. Under the law, possession of rolling papers, pipes and other marijuana accessories will remain a criminal offense. This means a person caught smoking a joint technically could be arrested for the rolling paper, but not the marijuana inside. Also, fines are supposed to go up for anyone caught with the drug more than once, but Scott Shellenberger, the state's attorney of Baltimore County, says it will be hard for police to establish whether a person has been charged before. Since marijuana possession will no longer be a crime, it will not show up in the criminal database. [continues 470 words]
While 'Bootlegging' Is Still on the Radar, Illegal Drug Trade Now More of a Problem It's been about a year since a shift in the RCMP at the federal policing level came into effect. Before Apr. 1, 2013, federal units were identified and assigned to specific areas of mandate - customs and excise, drug enforcement or some other specialization. Now, however, serious organized crime, in general, is the target, irrespective of the commodity. For the Burin-based unit, in addition to how the it does business, the shift meant a name change from Customs and Excise to Federal Policing Operations West. [continues 333 words]
Medical marijuana is a bit of an oxymoron. Cannabis sativa has been on Earth longer than we. Should the day arrive that my doctor gives me a prescription for "medical marijuana," I will go to a proven & trusted source - the black market. Until a few short decades ago, the whole issue would have been ludicrous, even more so than today. Until then, there was no illegality involved. Hemp was widely used because of its durability, much better than cotton. Along came nylon, the new miracle fibre. To take over the market nylon's inventors Dupont had to get rid of hemp, and that could be done by demonizing the sister plant, marijuana. And just by co-incidence, the U.S. government passed laws banning marijuana, so convenient, and so typical of "free enterprise." [continues 139 words]
Crack Cocaine Allegedly Found in Bshouty's Car A clearly angry and frustrated Windsor police chief faced the media Monday as one of his officers sat behind bars in Detroit for allegedly trying to smuggle crack cocaine over the border. Const. David Bshouty, with only five years on the job, remains in custody in Detroit after his arraignment for felony possession of a controlled substance less than 25 grams. He allegedly tried to smuggle about three grams of crack cocaine into Detroit on Saturday. [continues 654 words]
Commercial medical marijuana grow operations will be allowed in Calgary, as long as they meet Health Canada and city regulations. City councillors voted in favour Monday of amending a bylaw to allow commercial medical grow-ops to exist in industrial areas, after new rules came into effect April 1 barring patients from growing at home. Under new rules, patients will have doctor-prescribed marijuana couriered from a commercial facility. "What it allows is there will be more control so I support the private sector getting into this and the feds getting out of it," said Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart on the new rules. [continues 318 words]
The two Ontario-bound shipments of medical-marijuana products seized by B. C. Mounties a couple of weeks ago contained unauthorized items, police said in a short statement posted on their website. The companies doing the importing, Toronto-based Mettrum Ltd. and Smiths Falls, Ont.- based Tweed Marijuana Inc., have insisted that they received the necessary approvals from federal regulators to import the products, and Health Canada confirms this. But the RCMP statement indicates that what was contained in the shipments seized at the Kelowna International Airport did not match what was outlined in the paperwork. [continues 367 words]
