tagged w/ Medical Marijuana
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Toddler, one of 51 kids using medical cannabis.
Montana has over 28,000 medical cannabis card holders with 51 of them are under the age of 18.
"When I see the number 51 and we're in a state of a million people that's a fraction of a percentage and even with the 28,000 people that are on the program, it's still a fraction not even 1%, so the number is really really small," explained Montana Medical Growers Association Missoula Chapter Director Tayln Lang.
"That's one of the things that I think is one of the biggest misperceptions, is that there's a ton of kids that are out there that have cards that are in high school and junior high, and that are buying this medical cannabis and giving it to their friends and that's just simply not true," Lang added.
The Medical Marijuana Act says in order for children to get a card, they have to follow specific guidelines. It says they "shall issue a registry identification card to a minor if the custodial parent or legal guardian for the minor signs and submits a written statement that the minor's physician has explained the potential risks and benefits of the medical use of marijuana; the custodial parent or legal consents to the medical use of marijuana by the minor; agrees to serve as the minor's caregiver; and agrees to control the acquisition of marijuana and the dosage and frequency of the medical use of marijuana by the minor."
"More often through the children who are under the age of 18 have very very serious medical conditions," said Lang.
One of the state's youngest medical cannabis card holders is Cash Hyde, a 2½-year old boy who battled a brain tumor and won. Cash's dad Michael Hyde says the drug helped Cash with his battle.
"I believe that you know Cashy's with us for a lot of reasons, one of them I would have to say is the power of prayer, one he's a walking miracle and the other one is he is a patient of medical cannabis, which has I think greatly benefited his battle," said Hyde.
Cash's parents were there every step through his battle and watched as drugs prescribed by his doctors made him hallucinate and stop his heart. Cash's dad says medical cannabis helped rebuild his organs that were damaged from the chemo, helped with his appetite, and helped him sleep.
"I watched Cashy not be able to eat for over 40 days, live off nothing but fluid intravenously to the point where he couldn't lift his head up off his pillow, I realized along the way in this journey that there is a quality of life that a lot of people do not have, and it's because of the drugs that they're given," said Hyde.
With medical cannabis so new to many, some are worried of the affect it may have on young developing brains.
Missoula Underage Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator Brandee Tyree spends her days trying to keep kids away from marijuana.
"The THC will interfere with concentration, learning, problem solving, short term memory, all the things that kids need especially when they're in school and trying to learn. When you have a child that's high at school basically they're not learning so everything they've learned at school is then forgotten because they were high," said Tyree.
"Our coalition is designed to keep kids from using substances illegal or otherwise, alcohol obviously is illegal for kids but not for adults, we still don't want kids using it. Marijuana we take the same stance, it's a substance that's hurtful for the brain during development, we believe it's harmful for kids and in our opinion no we don't think kids should be using marijuana," Tyree added.
Lang asks people to look into the issue before making a decision.
"I would tell people before they make a decision on this to really do their research and check the facts out," Lang told us.
"If you or someone you know has battled cancer I don't have to tell you how devastating it is to watch chemo and cancer consume your loved one and when you can actually watch something that you're doing for them actually benefit them in a way that nobody else can do, you feel empowered you feel like you can make a difference," said Hyde.
Another important fact caregivers would like people to know, is that children card holders are usually ingesting the drug, not smoking it.
They can eat it in baked goods like cookies, cakes, brownies, and muffins. Or they can take a pill or a liquid form of the medicine.Toddler, one of 51 kids using medical cannabis.
Montana has over 28,000 medical... more
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A Montana medical marijuana dispensary collected more than a ton of food by offering their members a free joint if they donated canned goods.
Robin Phillips of The Happy Pharmer’s Family in Butte, Montana, said it took the business only a month to collect more than ton of food and baby items, which will be donated to the Butte Emergency Food Bank, reports Tim Trainor of The Montana Standard.
Phillips said the dispensary has more than 340 members, making it one of the largest medical marijuana providers in Montana.
She said the Pharmer’s Phamily decided to collect food for the bank to show that cannabis businesses can be good neighbors in the Butte community.
Only members of the Happy Pharmers club, each of whom has state authorization to possess marijuana, were given free joints in exchange for donating canned goods. The food is expected to be delivered early next week.
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/02/12/pot-shop-gives-free-joints-for-canned-food-items/A Montana medical marijuana dispensary collected more than a ton of food by offering... more
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"A Colorado Springs High School teen has a new problem, in addition to fighting a rare health condition. He has to take marijuana lozenges to control his symptoms and that's causing a conflict with his school.
The teen, who asked KRDO News Channel 13 to protect his identity, is suffering from diaphragmatic and axial myoclonus. "He gets convulsions from his waist to his neck, its like hiccups on steroids," said Shan Moore, his dad. Like seizures, it comes on unexpectedly and happens about once a week.
He attends Sierra High School in the Harrison School District 2. Moore said they agreed he could leave school to take his medication and return. But on Friday, he said, he got a call saying his son couldn't come back under the influence of medical marijuana.
The district sent KRDO News Channel 13 a written statement:
1. We follow the state law regarding medical marijuana, which does not view medical marijuana as a prescription drug. State law CRS 25-1.5-106 (12) (b) (IV) States that a patient or primary caregiver shall not: Possess medical marijuana or otherwise engage in the use of medical marijuana in or on the grounds of a school or in a school bus.
2. If the student ingests medical marijuana off-campus and returns to school, then as long as the student isn’t disruptive or showing signs of impairment then they are treated just like any other student, and it isn’t an issue. If the student is disruptive or showing signs of impairment, then we will address their behavior with the appropriate discipline.
His son has returned to school this week. However, was not able to attend class Wednesday after using his marijuana lozenges in the morning to control symptoms.
"House bill 1284 didn't allow for different provisions," said Audrey Hatfield, Founder of Coloradoans for Cannabis Patients Rights. Hatfield said lawmakers need to make adjustments that allow valid medical users to be protected in places like a public school. "Their (schools) are able to keep Vicodin and other prescription drugs at school in locked cases with a nurse, there should be a provision like this. Rather than for this man to be walking home during an attack because he can't have it on school grounds," said Hatfield.
Before using medical marijuana, doctors prescribed him drugs including Morphine, Valium, and Xanax. But Moore said he wasn't responding to these medications. After being hospitalized in Denver, a neurologist prescribed medical marijuana as a better option to control his symptoms."
http://www.krdo.com/news/26814749/detail.html"A Colorado Springs High School teen has a new problem, in addition to fighting a... more
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Ganja Granny http://www.greenribbonworld.com sez LETS GET IT ON! The time is ripe with possibilities and we all have to keep up the momentum. Tuesday Night 12/14... I was a guest on " Let Them Talk" on channel 56 in NYC, along with Ken Unger calling in from Missouri. Paul DeRienzo and Joan Marie Moossy are the charming duo hosting this show. Their calming and reassuring attitude makes everyone feel at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NgAVdWxVC0Ganja Granny http://www.greenribbonworld.com sez LETS GET IT ON! The time is ripe with... more
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“Convicted felon.” What comes to mind when you read those words? Perhaps you immediately visualize a mobster, a Capone, a Gotti. Or maybe a white-collar crook, a Madoff, a Skilling, an Ebbers. Or a murderer, a rapist, a bank robber, a gangbanger.
Bernie Ellis is a convicted felon. His crime was growing medical marijuana for his own use and for the use of four terminally-ill neighbors, a service for which he took no payment.
While he avoided prison time, he received four years of probation (later reduced by half) and spent 18 months confined in a Bureau of Prisons halfway house in Nashville.
He also forfeited 25 acres of his beloved Natchez Trace farm – a parcel that netted the government a paltry $35,000 at auction – and, effectively, his consulting career (he’s a public health epidemiologist).
A piece he contributed last week to the Democrats for Progress Blog fills in more of his astonishing story, and his current efforts to secure a Presidential pardon.
Between meetings with Tennessee legislators and other errands as he prepares his pardon petition, he graciously took the time to give us an interview.
Read the interview at Democrats for Progress: http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2011/02/05/everyones-favorite-felon-an-interview-with-bernie-ellis-2/“Convicted felon.” What comes to mind when you read those words? Perhaps... more
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A teenager in Colorado Springs has been told he cannot attend school after consuming prescription THC lozenges that his doctor has turned to in order to control a rare neurological disorder. His diaphragmatic and axial myoclonus causes seizures that are only controlled by THC, but the school says that consuming the lozenges at home and then attending school violates the school's zero tolerance policy for marijuana, since the child is considered to be in "internal possession" of the banned substance after he takes it.
This isn't just stupid, it's scientifically illiterate. Surely, this kid is in possession of the metabolites of marijuana lozenges, not the lozenges themselves.
He was able to return to school in January but as the district would not allow him to possess or consume his prescribed medicine on campus, he transferred to a school closer to home so that he could walk home as needed to take his medicine.
After the district's latest salvo was delivered, the teen's father said he spoke with both the district superintendent and the district attorney and that neither were receptive to his arguments that his son needs the medicine to function, does not get high and does not smell like marijuana.
The district has refused to comment to us, other than for a spokesperson to say that the district intends to follow the letter of the law, which is that no student may possess or consume medical marijuana on school grounds.
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/08/colorado-springs-sch.htmlA teenager in Colorado Springs has been told he cannot attend school after consuming... more
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Main Findings: THC-based medicine, when used as an experimental drug of treatment, significantly reduced breast cancer tumor growth, tumor numbers, induces cancer cell suicide (called apoptosis), and stopped the breast cancer cells from spreading to the lungs.
A very specially genetically bred mouse (MMTV-neu) that makes human-like breast tissue was used. This animal is the gold standard that is used and recognized in all breast cancer research because its genes have been changed and instructed to grow the same type of aggressive breast cancer tissue.
Also, these mice/clones are all identical to each other in every way, which allows for tight experimental controls. These mouse experiments speed up research, because humans are not involved, only their diseased tissue.
The results of this study provide strong preclinical evidence for use of cannabinoid-based therapies for the number one, hard to treat, aggressive, ErbB2 driven breast cancer, which makes up 30 percent of all breast cancer cases and causes the most deaths in women.
Advanced ErbB2 driven breast cancer typically spreads to the lungs and has a poor outcome for survival with existing conventional treatments used presently. A new, novel treatment idea was desperately needed to find a (non-toxic?) effective new medicine to be a game changer.
Background:
When a lump is discovered in a breast, and a tissue biopsy sample is sent to pathology, the pathology report guides the course of the treatment. It tells the cancer tumor's size, if it has spread or is stable, if it is hormone-receptor positive or negative, and most importantly its ErbB2 receptor count.
About 30 percent of newly diagnosed breast cancer samples will come back from pathology as "ErbB2 / over expression." Over expression means that the DNA which you were born with, and which is the "build blueprint" for breast tissue, has a genetic defect in its code, and, say, instead of building 100 ErbB2 receptors, it builds 10,000 ErbB2 receptors. This means that when the signal is sent by Akt 1 to grow and build more proteins, the breast tissue is overstimulated, because there are too many ErbB2 receptors built into the cell's membrane.
Too many signals to grow are sent into the internal machinery inside the cell, the ErbB2 receptors "over-receive and over-send the signal" and may cause normal cells to form cancer or to stimulate any single cancer cells that exist also to grow and multiply out of control and form a tumor over time.
The present drug treatment for ErbB2 driven breast cancer is a drug called Herceptin. This is the trade name under which it is sold; trastuzumab is the generic pharmaceutical name.
Herceptin was originally developed in mice, as a mouse antibody. Because humans have immune reactions to mouse proteins, it was later developed into a humanized antibody. Because the antibodies were produced from one cell that was grown into a clone of identical cells, it is called a monoclonal antibody.
This drug was developed using the same MMTV-neu mouse model as THC was, as described above.
The original studies of trastuzumab showed that it improved survival in late-state (metastatic) breast cancer, but there is controversy over whether trastuzumab is effective in earlier stage breast cancer. Trastuzumab is also controversial because of its cost, as much as $100,000 per year, and while certain private insurance companies in the U.S. and government health systems in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere have refused to pay for trastuzumab for "certain patients" (code for the poor), some companies have since accepted trastuzumab treatment as covered, preventative treatment.
Think about that: $100,000 for one year of treatment per patient! Let's see: A thousand patients times $100,000 = $100 million! Ten thousand patients times $100,000 = $1 billion. It's so expensive that even the U.S. government doesn't want to pay for it. Somebody, somewhere, is making a lot of money.
Now do you know why cannabis isn't being researched as a cure? Do you see why some would have a vested interest in stopping it?
Oh, I left out one important fact: Trastuzumab only has a 25 to 30 percent successful rate of cure! And nearly 15 percent of people treated eventually develop new metastases. This drug's cure rates are no better than the effect of a placebo!
When an experiment is conducted, the new drug being tested has to outperform the "placebo effect" to show it works. The new drug should be in at least the 40 percent range to show its effectiveness. In this case, it failed to do that -- yet it is still being prescribed as a main, go-to treatment at $100,000 per year per breast cancer patient.
What happens if you have no health insurance or a job? Is this a crime? You tell me... And cannabis is still illegal?!
Note: About 10 percent of patients are unable to tolerate trastuzumab because of pre-existing heart problems. It causes the heart to pump out less blood volume, leading to congestive heart failure.
The Experiment
A colony of MMTV-neu mice was allowed to mature, and after 36 weeks, 50 percent of the females developed breast cancer.
A sample of 87 grade 3 invasive breast ductal carcinomas in which the cancer had spread to the lungs was chosen to be treated with THC. In the experimental groups, THC-treated mice had fewer and smaller (by weight and size) tumor counts after 90 days of treatment, as documented by microscopic tissue analysis.
Key Findings
"Our results show that down regulation of Akt is involved in cannabinoid anti-tumoral acteion." When THC down regulated the ArK 1 gene, this "shut down signal" to the ArK 1 gene by THC appears to trigger apoptosis in the ErbB2-driven cancer; "programmed cell death" is executed and the cancer kills itself.
Remember, this is only a phase one study. This effect still needs to be proven in humans. However:
• Akt over-activation has been detected in a significant percentage of primary human breast cancers. THC plays a role in its regulation.
• The cancer growth in humans and the mice is near identical in both cases.
• Treatment with cannabinoids significantly decreased tumor growth, size, and numbers due to the "remarkable growth-inhibitory effects of cannabinoids."
• THC reduced tumors from growing new blood vessels to feed themselves (anti-angiogenic).
• THC decreased the number of tumors spreading to nearby tissue and the lungs. This was also observed in advance cancer that had spread to the lungs already.
• "Remarkably, this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report suggesting that cannabinoids hamper not only tumor growth but also tumor generation."
• "Our data suggest that the endocannabinoid system has a physiological protective role against tumorigenesis, in line with the general idea that this system contributes to maintain homeostasis in health and disease."
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/02/evidence_cannabinoid_therapy_reduces_breast_cancer.php#more
http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/9/1/196Main Findings: THC-based medicine, when used as an experimental drug of treatment,... more
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FREE How to Grow Medical Marijuana ebook, 132 pages, no log-in, sign-up or obligations. No kidding!FREE How to Grow Medical Marijuana ebook, 132 pages, no log-in, sign-up or... more
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Two Lansing-area men face federal marijuana charges in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, yet the lawyer for one of the defendants says the men were in compliance with the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.
The lawyer, Bob Baldori, said that the number of plants that were seized was within state law because of the number of caregivers who were growing at the location.
Randall Lloyd Darling, 24, and Joseph David Johnson each face counts of growing more than 100 marijuana plants, according to court documents. Johnson is in his 20s, Baldori said.
The charges come with a five-year minimum prison sentence. Warrants were issued for Darling and Johnson on Jan. 20. Both are awaiting pretrial hearings.
Baldori, who represents Johnson, believes both defendants were within the state’s medical marijuana law. While Baldori said the DEA confiscated more than 200 plants from a grow operation in Mason, he added that Johnson and Darling are both patients and caregivers with the maximum-allowed five patients. Under state law, each can grow up to 72 plants and possess 15 ounces of usable product. It is also Baldori’s understanding that other caregivers were using the house as a growing site.
“These kids have not broken any Michigan laws,” Baldori said. “There were enough patients and caregivers to justify the plants.”
Attempts to reach Darling’s attorney, Jack Vogl, were unsuccessful.
Special Agent Rich Isaacson, a spokesman from the DEA’s Detroit offices, confirmed that the DEA is involved with the investigation, but he declined to give details.
U.S. District Attorney Rene Shekmer did not return calls for comment.
In a separate incident, the DEA raided a growing facility at 2630 Jolly Oak Road in Okemos on Nov. 30, seizing more than 400 plants. No charges have surfaced from that incident.
Growing just one cannabis plant is in violation of federal law, regardless of state law.
An Oct. 19, 2009, memo from U.S. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden offers guidance for federal prosecutors in medical marijuana states. It says a “core priority” for the U.S. Justice Department is targeting “significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana. … “
As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws,” the memo reads.
Matt Newburg, who is representing one of the growers involved with the Okemos raid, said while Johnson and Darling violated federal law, a marijuana debate will likely ensue.
“The merits (of the indictment) will be argued later on,” Newburg said. “Clearly, they (the DEA) are active.”
http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-5436-dea-strikes-again.htmlTwo Lansing-area men face federal marijuana charges in U.S. District Court in Grand... more
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Prosecutors have dropped drug dealing, cultivation and possession charges against a medical marijuana dispensary owner in which a Calaveras County sheriff's deputy used a legitimate -- but stolen -- medical marijuana card to induce the man to sell him cannabis.
Jay R. Smith, 37, pleaded no contest Friday to a single charge of aiding and abetting another person to commit a felony, according to court records, reports Dana M. Nichols at the Stockton Record.
Smith was sentenced to pay a $160 fine and serve 90 days in jail, but will not be subject to probation. The plea deal means he will be able to continue work as a medical marijuana patient advocate, Smith said.
His arrest on January 4, 2010, prompted protests by medical marijuana patients and providers. At the time, Smith was operating K Care Collective, a medicinal cannabis dispensary.
Calaveras County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Avila, also known as "that sleazy piece of shit," posed as a legitimate medical marijuana patient named Robert Shaffer of Ione, California, and contacted Smith seeking to buy cannabis.
Deputy Avila had "gained possession" (I guess that's what they call stealing when a deputy does it?) of Shaffer's medical marijuana card in late 2009 during an earlier drug case against Shaffer. Deputy Avila then proceeded to falsify the birthdate on the card to persuade Smith to sell him marijuana.
Avila claimed he obtained the medical marijuana card "from an investigation we conducted," but also claimed he "did not recall" which officer obtained it, or how it was obtained.
Smith said that when he called Shaffer's physician, Dr. Philip A. Denney of Carmichael, the card proved to be legitimate. So he agreed to sell marijuana to Avila, not knowing the officer had stolen Shaffer's identity.
Both Dr. Denney and Shaffer both later objected, saying they had not consented to Deputy Avila's use of Shaffer's medical marijuana card, and that they did not know of Avila's plans to do so.
"It just smacks of entrapment and sleaziness to me," Dr. Denney said after learning the recommendation he had written for Smith had been stolen by Deputy Avila.
Smith delivered the marijuana to the man he thought was Shaffer in the Valley Oaks Center parking lot in Valley Springs.
Then-Sheriff Dennis Downum claimed that meeting someone in a parking lot is not within the legal guidelines for selling medical marijuana. Prosecutors agreed and pressed the case.
Smith said he pleaded no contest to save money. He said he had already spent $45,000 on attorneys, and going to trial would have cost him another $12,000, far more than the $160 fine in the plea bargain.
Court documents do not indicate who the other person was who committed a felony allegedly aided by Smith.
"The charge is a trade-off," Smith said. "There was nothing discussed in there about who that person was. And Shaffer had nothing to do with my case."
According to some activists in Calaveras County, the Sheriff's Department has targeted everyone who sells medical marijuana to patients.
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/02/charges_dropped_sleazy_deputy_stole_medical_mariju.php#moreProsecutors have dropped drug dealing, cultivation and possession charges against a... more
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Chris Bartkowicz, a Colorado man who ran a medical marijuana growing operation from the basement of his home, was sentenced Friday morning to five years in federal prison.
Bartkowicz pleaded guilty in October to federal drug charges, which vengeful Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided within hours after Chris showed the grow operation to a TV news team.
Under his plea agreement, Bartkowicz and federal prosecutors settled on a prison term of five years, and federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer chose to accept that deal, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. His release will be followed by eight years of supervised probation. Under federal sentencing rules, Chris must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, which means, like the case of Marc Emery, a minimum of 51 months in prison.
"Five years is a long time," Assistant U.S. Attorney M.J. Menendez said during the hearing. "It's going to allow him time to get treatment and it's going to give him time to reflect on what brought him here today."
"Get treatment" for what, Attorney Menendez? Medical marijuana was his treatment. "Reflect on" what, Menendez? That the federal government can send you away for five years -- for attempting to help sick people? That's something worthy of reflection, for damn sure.
Chris will be forced to take part in mandatory "drug abuse" and "mental health" programs while he's in federal prison, reports William Breathes at Denver Westword.
Bartkowicz will be the first person in Colorado to serve federal prison time for actions he says were legal under the state's medical marijuana law.
Agents confiscated more than 100 plants from Bartkowicz's house. According to Chris, he was a medical marijuana caregiver to several patients and sold the rest to legal dispensaries.
"This all seems like a script written by Lewis Carroll," said Bartkowicz's attorney, Joseph Saint-Veltri, during the hearing, referring to the Alice In Wonderland author.
"Hundreds of [marijuana] plants are being cultivated within a mile radius of this building as we speak, and they will continue to be cultivated... because the people of Colorado want that to happen," Saint-Veltri added later.
Federal agents claim they targeted Bartkowicz because they claim he was growing more plants than Colorado's medical marijuana law allowed, because he had prior state-legal drug convictions, and because his operation was about two blocks from a school. Judge Brimmer, handing down the sentence, echoed those concerns.
The judge said Bartkowicz "miserably failed" to follow Colorado law because of the number of plants he had and because he never met many of the patients who used his cannabis. That, Judge Brimmer claimed, means the case is not an example of the federal government oppressively interfering with state law, but rather fits with Bartkowicz's previous marijuana convictions.
"He's choosing to violate state law again, and he's cultivating marijuana," the self-righteous Judge Brimmer said.
Bartkowicz's bid to use a medical defense in his federal court case was denied. Because marijuana is illegal for any purpose under state law, Chris had few options but a strike a deal with prosecutors. Because of his prior convictions, Bartkowicz could have gotten 40 years under the charges he faced.
"It's the best that Mr. Bartkowicz can hope to achieve under these circumstances," Saint-Veltri said of the plea deal.
About 20 medical marijuana activists gathered outside the federal courthouse to protest the sentencing before the hearing began. They held signs bearing messages including "Cannabis Is Not Criminal." According to the activists, the DEA wanted to make an example of Bartkowicz in retaliation for the TV interview, which was conducted by local station 9News.
The protest was organized by Lannette Johnson, leader of the Denver chapter of Moms For Marijuana, who said she befriended Bartkowicz after his arrest.
"I think what happened to Chris is a huge injusitce," Johnson said. "Chris is a DEA scapegoat."
When he was given the chance, Bartkowicz did not try to sway Judge Brimmer during the sentencing hearing.
"I would actually decline to make any comments to the court," Chris said.
At the end of the hearing, Chris, wearing a yellow prisoner's jumpsuit, put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed.
He looked into the audience for a moment, where a number of friends and activists had gathered to support him.
Chris gave them a sad half-smile, then the U.S. Marshal took hold his arm and he disappeared behind a door.
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/01/colorado_medical_grower_bartkowicz_gets_5_years_in.php#moreChris Bartkowicz, a Colorado man who ran a medical marijuana growing operation from... more
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Is there nothing it can’t do?
Marijuana Compound Induces Cell Death In Hard-To-Treat Brain CancerIs there nothing it can’t do?
Marijuana Compound Induces Cell Death In... more
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A Northern California entrepreneur has come up with soft drinks that feature THC, the main psychoactive substance found in marijuana, as an ingredient.A Northern California entrepreneur has come up with soft drinks that feature THC, the... more
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A conference held in Laguna Woods on Saturday advocated the use of medical cannabis for the elderly. While describing the benefits of cannabis, the speakers at the conference called for better quality control and self regulation.A conference held in Laguna Woods on Saturday advocated the use of medical cannabis... more
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A cafeteria worker at a Jefferson County high school has been arrested and charged with distributing marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to KDVR, Michelle Whitmire, the cafeteria manager at Jefferson High School, was arrested on Thursday, several days after investigators visiting her home in Golden smelled pot and found several teenagers.
According to the Denver Post, the teenagers told investigators that Whitmire had a medical marijuana card, and gave pot to neighborhood kids.
The arrest comes a week after Colorado Attorney General John Suthers argued that the arrest of an illegal pot operation that was using medical marijuana as a cover was an example of "a nexus between Colorado's booming medical marijuana industry and illegal distribution of the drug."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/michelle-whitmire-accused_n_809369.html
Whitmire posted $10,000 bond the same day she was arrested.A cafeteria worker at a Jefferson County high school has been arrested and charged... more
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Seattle Police officers brandishing submachine guns broke down the door of a 50-year-old medical marijuana patient Monday night and pushed him face down to the floor. His offense? He was legally growing two tiny cannabis plants.
Will Laudanski, a military veteran who was an Airborne Ranger in Desert Shield, wasn't even breaking the law. As an authorized medical marijuana patient in the state of Washington, he's allowed to grow up to 15 plants and possess 24 ounces of cannabis.
But Seattle Police have shown they are willing to treat the smallest of pot cases -- even in cases where the marijuana is legal -- as if they were raiding the biggest crack house or meth lab in town.
Just before 9 p.m. Monday officers at SPD's East Precinct held a briefing about a complaint of marijuana at a four-unit apartment building in the Leschi neighborhood, reports Dominic Holden at The Stranger.
A week earlier, officers had applied for a search warrant from King County Superior Court, sent an officer with a drug dog to sniff at the door, "confirmed the scent of marijuana," and started planning their big SWAT style drug raid.
A gung-ho SWAT team of officers decked out in all their Rambo-esque raid equipment -- between six and nine officers -- ran up the stairs, some carrying MP5 submachine guns, and one guy with a battering ram. They pounded on Laudanski's door and said it was the police.
"I was tying my robe," said Laudanski, who had just stepped out of the bathroom. "I said 'I am opening the door,' but before I could get my hand to the door, they busted it open and then rushed me."
Laudanski told The Stranger his door now "has cracks running right down the middle. I can't really bolt it."
"During the entry to this apartment, the locking mechanism to the front door was possibly damaged," the official incident report drily notes.
"I was trying to comply," Laudanski said. "Then they pushed me down to the ground and just basically got me positioned in a corner of the kitchen with my face on the floor."
As officers began to tear up the place while he was face down on the floor, Laudanski told them he was an authorized medical marijuana patient and directed them to his paperwork in the other room. "Do you want to see it?" he asked the officers.
Laudanski "had paperwork in the room declaring his marijuana grow was for medical purposes," the police report acknowledged.
As officers ransacked the apartment, they discovered two small marijuana plants in the bedroom, each growing in pots.
"They were able to see the full extent of my pathetic grow," Laudanski said. "There were four little nuggets of bud the size of your pinkie on one and five on the other. They're about 12 inches high."
Police didn't take the plants.
"Clearly, in this case, there was no law violation that was discovered," admitted Seattle Police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.
But Whitcomb adds, "Our mission is to enforce the law. We do that by gathering information of any evidence of any criminal violation. And I'd go on to say that had the officers known that, they would have spent their time doing something else. However, unfortunately, we don't always have that luxury."
But officers do have the luxury of speaking the English language, don't they? Couldn't they have, like, knocked on the goddamned door and asked about the marijuana, especially given the fact that Washington is a medical marijuana state?
Well, it turns out that "knock-and-talks" aren't the protocol for "drug cases" -- even small pot cases, Whitcomb said.
Well, heaven forbid you should go against your fucked-up protocol just because medical marijuana is legal, officer! By all means, feel free to break down doors, rough up sick people, and trash their homes! No need to make sure they're breaking the law first; that would violate protocol!
Laudanski said he hasn't done anything to attract the cops' attention. And he doesn't know why so much force was necessary.
"I came from a perspective that was pro-police," said Laudanski, who worked in New York as a paramedic. "But I still think this was very, very wrong what they did. I feel that higher-up people who ordered this, they are wasting our time and our money and they are putting innocent people in danger."
Every day in the United States, we have 100 to 150 paramilitary style SWAT raids on American homes, mostly in the name of the War On Drugs, according to NORML. Shouldn't we at least get the sick and dying off the battlefield?
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/10/machine-gun_toting_cops_raid_legal_pot_patient_for.phpSeattle Police officers brandishing submachine guns broke down the door of a... more
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Funny pot smoking variety show. This part includes a medical marijuana clip about cannabis laws and a Montel Williams weed quote, then the top ten stoner movies is done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5pmfeSngNwFunny pot smoking variety show. This part includes a medical marijuana clip about... more
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But suppose some scientist has just come out of the jungle with an unknown plant that holds this much promise. It would be featured in the nightly news and on the front page of every newspaper. Well, we now have before us scientific clues that seem to point toward a revolution in breast cancer treatment, yet the government still manages to bury this amazing discovery.But suppose some scientist has just come out of the jungle with an unknown plant that... more
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juicie
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1 year ago
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Huntington Beach police were investigating Friday the case of three children treated for vomiting and dizziness after eating cookies containing marijuana.
Officers were called to Huntington Beach Hospital, where an 11-year-old boy was vomiting and dizzy. Shortly afterward, two other children with the same symptoms arrived at the hospital with their parents.
Police said the parent of one of the children accepted cookies as a present from a neighbor, Jason Davis, 40, earlier that day. The parent was unaware the cookies contained marijuana and put them aside.
Later that afternoon, the boy and his friends found the cookies and ate them, then went to the park to play. They began feeling nauseous, dizzy and lethargic and returned to their homes, police said.
When he heard the children had consumed the cookies, Davis called police and went to the hospital.
Police said Davis was aware the cookies contained marijuana. He does not have a medical marijuana card. No arrests have been made, police said, but an investigation was continuing.Huntington Beach police were investigating Friday the case of three children treated... more
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ayipis
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(NEWSER) – In an effort to beat the "reefer madness" stigma of smoking weed, a Colorado company is making pot-infused soda for medical marijuana patients, writes David Teeghman at Discovery. Dixie Elixirs organic sodas look just about like anything else on the shelf, but deliver an added kick from "a carefully cultivated blend of the finest Sativa-dominant buds," the company says. They're available to anyone with a prescription.
http://www.newser.com/story/103390/marijuana-soda-on-the-market.html(NEWSER) – In an effort to beat the "reefer madness" stigma of smoking... more
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