Even as he faced his final moments, Benton Mackenzie's first thoughts were of his wife and son and their future. The 49-year-old terminal cancer patient who fought Scott County authorities over his efforts to grow marijuana for his own medicinal use died early Monday at home. "I've got a big empty pit right in the middle of my chest right now," Loretta Mackenzie told the Quad-City Times hours after her husband's death. She wants to have his remains cremated and his ashes spread in Arizona, where they met, as well as Oregon, where they made multiple trips last year seeking legal cannabis oil. [continues 838 words]
Petition Effort Seeks to Get Issue on 2016 Ballot An effort to legalize marijuana in Mississippi is growing out of DeSoto County, where petition organizer Kelly Jacobs of Hernando is planning a series of town hall meetings this month to explain the proposal. Jacobs'group, Mississippi for Cannabis, filed a petition in September at the Secretary of State's satellite office in Hernando to get the issue on the 2016 general election ballot. The office on Dec. 29 approved the measure for placement on the ballot if, by October, supporters gather 107,216 certified signatures, or a minimum of 21,443 from each of the state's five congressional districts that existed before redistricting reduced the number of districts to the current four. [continues 563 words]
Action Addresses Outdated Guidelines, Uneven Penalties WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday cut short prison time for eight drug convicts as part of his new initiative to reduce harsh sentences under outdated guidelines, a step that could lead to a vast expansion of presidential clemency in his final two years in office. The president also is pardoning 12 convicts for a variety of offenses. But the commutations are particularly significant because they are the first issued under guidelines announced this year designed to cut costs by reducing the nation's bulging prison population and grant leniency to nonviolent drug offenders sentenced to double-digit terms. [continues 512 words]
Minnesota's eight medical marijuana centers won't be conveniently located for many outside the Twin Cities. Minnesota has 87 counties, but you'll only be able to buy medical marijuana in eight of them. With half the state's proposed clinics clustered around the Twin Cities, gaps in the cannabis coverage map will leave some families hours away from the nearest clinic. Four marijuana distribution sites will open within 20 miles of the Twin Cities: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Eagan and Maple Grove. Four more will open outstate: St. Cloud, Hibbing, Moorhead and Rochester. The first clinics will open by July, when patients with serious, chronic or terminal illnesses can begin lining up to buy cannabis products legally. [continues 1103 words]
Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas, before leaving office in January, plans to issue a pardon to his son, who was convicted of a felony drug offense more than a decade ago. The governor's decision followed an October recommendation by the Arkansas Parole Board that Kyle Beebe's application for a pardon was "with merit." Mr. Beebe was convicted in 2003 of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and his sentence included three years of probation. "At the time of my arrest, I was living in a fantasy world, not reality," Kyle Beebe, now 34, wrote in a letter to his father that was included in his June 21 pardon application. "I was young and dumb. At that time in my life, I felt like I was missing something, and I tried to fill that emptiness by selling drugs." [continues 395 words]
Officials Estimate Potential Revenue But Coming Vote Is on Possession, Not Sales If D.C. residents vote to legalize marijuana possession next week, it wouldn't just mean a sea change in drug policy in the nation's capital. It could also mean big business. A study by District financial officials shared Thursday with lawmakers estimates a legal D.C. cannabis market worth $130 million a year. The ballot initiative voters will see Tuesday does not allow for the legal sale of marijuana - only the possession and home cultivation of small amounts - but D.C. Council members gathered Thursday to hear testimony about what a legal sales framework might look like. [continues 655 words]
California should strengthen its regulation of the medical marijuana industry if the state wants to avoid federal intervention, U.S. Deputy Atty. Gen. James M. Cole said in an interview with The Times. Cole, who announced Thursday that he is leaving the No. 2 job at the Justice Department, said he was proud of his efforts to take a softer approach to enforcing federal marijuana laws. A year ago, Cole sent a memo to all U.S. attorneys, including several in California who had aggressively targeted medical marijuana facilities, telling them to ease up on marijuana prosecutions in states where it was legal. [continues 288 words]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Republican Gov. Rick Scott opposes the amendment that would make medical marijuana legal in Florida. His Democratic challenger, former Gov. Charlie Crist, favors it. And then there's the Libertarian candidate in the race, Adrian Wyllie, who thinks even recreational marijuana should be legal. "Philosophically, I don't believe the government has the authority to tell peaceful adults what they can or can put into their body," said Wyllie, who is polling at about 6 percent among likely voters. [continues 462 words]
If you thought 'The Wire' made Baltimore look bleak... Drug sales in broad daylight at Lexington Market. An addict telling viewers Baltimore "is where you want to be for heroin," and then letting the camera watch her cook and shoot up in her car on a street that appears to be in Hampden after she scores. A masked drug dealer sitting at a table full of dope, pointing his gun at the camera and saying, "Coming to you live from Baltimore." An on-screen headline that says, "Baltimore is the heroin capital of America." [continues 614 words]
Legalization Has Led to an Influx of Visitors Looking to Partake of a Little Weed Crested Butte, Colorado's wildflower capital, nestles in the Elk Mountain Range of west-central Colorado, where lupine, aster, mule's ear and a host of other dazzlers dot the fields. But currently the hottest tourist attraction is weed. The resort town, population 1,600, supports four marijuana shops. The sale of medical marijuana has been legal in the state for 14 years, but since Colorado sanctioned recreational marijuana for adults in January, the cannabis shop's stubby green cross insignia has become as recognizable as a striped barber's pole - and in some towns, more common. Meanwhile, the number of visitors coming to partake has grown like a weed. [continues 1113 words]
U.S. federal prosecutors want a stiff sentence for Quebecker Jimmy Cournoyer, who they say has ties to four criminal syndicates Gone are the jet-setting days when Jimmy Cournoyer acted like a playboy businessman, dating a fashion model, vacationing in Ibiza and clubbing with his buddy and sparring partner, Georges St-Pierre. Now, having pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn court to eight criminal counts, the 34-year-old Quebec man is waiting to find out if the judge will accept his claim that he is a run-of-the-mill marijuana trafficker who had no dealings with mobsters. [continues 880 words]
Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of "drugged divers" on the state's roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we've seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. [continues 1305 words]
MD. Republican Harris, on the Rise in Congress, Often Puts His Foot Down The Maryland congressman challenging the District's new marijuana-decriminalization law is no stranger to unpopular stances, having survived a contentious 12 years as a Republican lawmaker in the state's Democratic dominated General Assembly. During last fall's budget standoff, Rep. Andy Harris was one of the last true believers, continuing to vote against the federal budget even at the risk of prolonging a government shutdown. He equates mandated insurance coverage of contraception with the burning of churches and medical use of marijuana with telling patients to chew on mold instead of taking penicillin. [continues 1070 words]
Drug Trade, Clientele Are Not What They Used to Be Women juggling espresso drinks and shopping bags bustle past a Jeep parked at a shopping center one sunny afternoon in June as a drug dealer hops into the passenger seat. He exchanges three grams of heroin for $125 from a mother of teenagers. The transaction takes 45 seconds. It's a scenario that plays out all over Albuquerque and other cities as heroin dealers catering to young, affluent suburban addicts shift their operations from backalley deals in shady parts of town to delivery on demand at downtown offices, high-end malls and suburban homes. [continues 2117 words]
Does marijuana smoking cause psychosis? Or could psychosis drive pot smoking? If you believe the panned and parodied 1936 film "Reefer Madness," smoking weed will make one crazy and drive you to a life of crime. Medical science has taken the question seriously, however, and found a strong link between schizophrenia symptoms and cannabis use in many large-scale, peer-reviewed studies. Data from four such studies suggest that cannabis use doubles the likelihood of developing a psychotic illness later in life. [continues 370 words]
California medical cannabis patients are increasingly being forced to hide behind closed doors as bans on dispensaries and home cultivation sweep through the East Bay. The pain started for Randy Barrett when he was thirteen years old. He was whipping a three-wheeled motorcycle around the hills of Martinez. Back then, riding ATVs was "just part of life," he said. "This was the Seventies and Eighties. We had dirt bikes; we had three-wheelers - - the ones with a big old front rubber tire. I was driving around in the dirt and hit a patch of concrete in the road that caught the front tire and shot me forward." [continues 4451 words]
New Program Intended to Correct Sentencing Injustices Involving Drug Convictions WASHINGTON - The Justice Department announced a federal clemency program on Wednesday, opening the door for thousands of jailed drug offenders and other convicts to seek early release as part of a new program intended to correct sentencing injustices and relieve prison overcrowding. The process is directed primarily at low-level felons imprisoned for at least 10 years who have clean records while in custody. The effort is part of a broader administration push to scale back harsh penalties in some drug-related prosecutions and to address sentencing disparities arising from the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic that yielded disproportionately tough punishment for black drug offenders. [continues 671 words]
Justice Department Officials Announce a Clemency Program to Correct Injustices and Relieve Overcrowding. WASHINGTON - The Justice Department on Wednesday unveiled the most ambitious federal clemency program in 40 years, inviting thousands of jailed drug offenders and other convicts to seek early release as part of a new program intended to correct sentencing injustices and relieve prison overcrowding. Though eligibility restrictions may limit how many prisoners are ultimately released to several hundred, experts said they had not seen such a sweeping use of presidential clemency power to achieve a policy goal since President Ford's amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers in the 1970s. [continues 671 words]
Cutting Prison Population, Fairer Sentencing Are Goals WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's administration is encouraging some nonviolent federal prisoners to apply for early release. It's an effort to deal with high costs and overcrowding in prisons, and also a matter of fairness, the government said. On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unveiled a revamped clemency process directed primarily at low-level felons imprisoned for at least 10 years who have clean records while in custody. The effort is part of a broader administration push to scale back harsh penalties in some drug-related prosecutions and to address sentencing disparities arising from the 1980s crack-cocaine epidemic that yielded disproportionately tough punishment for black drug offenders. [continues 1358 words]
U.S. Plans to Cut Sentences for Some Nonviolent Offenders WASHINGTON - The U.S Justice Department invited thousands of federal convicts on Wednesday to request their release from prison, a measure that could have an outsized effect in Baltimore, where U.S. prosecutors have worked closely with local authorities. The Obama administration's plan is intended in part to lessen harsh sentences handed down under laws enacted amid fears about crack in the mid-1980s but rolled back since then. Judges have reduced many prison terms as drug distribution laws changed, but their powers have been limited by mandatory minimum sentencing rules. [continues 1074 words]
