Archive for the ‘News’ Category

$20 million pot bust, one of largest in Cook County

Frederico Moreno, 35, of Lyons, has been charged with manufacturing and delivery of cannabis, a Class X felony. (Cook County sheriff's office)

Describing it as one of the largest marijuana busts in its history, the Cook County sheriff’s police has seized 5,525 pounds of the drug with an estimated street value of more than $20 million.

Charged with manufacturing and delivering cannabis, a Class X felony, is 35-year-old Frederico Moreno, whom authorities described as a “high-level importer” and part of a drug-trafficking organization.

The sheriff’s police, acting on a tip, conducted surveillance on Moreno at a house in the 7800 block of West 47th Street in west suburban Lyons, the agency said. Officers saw Moreno meet with various people, at one point exchanging a package “indicative of drug dealing,” the sheriff’s office said.

Police followed Moreno back to the home on 47th Street, then saw him leaving in his car with a Tupperware container, the office said. Investigators stopped Moreno and arrested him, allegedly finding marijuana in his car.

Officers returned to the house, where they saw another person flee out the back, the office stated, leaving the door ajar.

The officers saw 224 taped bales of marijuana stacked inside the home, the office stated. Moreno allegedly loaded the marijuana at the 47th Street house at night through a printing company warehouse attached to the back of the home.

An associate of Moreno had access to the warehouse after hours and rented the house from the printing company. Neither that associate nor anyone from the printing company is charged in this case.

The marijuana came from Mexico, the office said. The packages were to be sold wholesale to mid-level distributors before being broken down for street-level sales.

If convicted of the Class X felony, Moreno faces between 6 to 30 years in prison. He will appear for a bond hearing Saturday in Cook County Criminal Court in Bridgeview.

Source

Oregon and Detroit Both to have Marijuana on the Ballot in Fall

A campaign for a system of medical marijuana supply systems in Oregon turned in enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot – if the signatures are valid. According to an early turn-in, the initiative for a medical marijuana supply system has gathered 115,404 signatures. It needs 82,769 verified names of registered voters to make the ballot.

The preliminary total only reflects the signatures gathered by paid petitioners through May. The campaign will continue to gather signatures up to the July 2 deadline to give them a cushion for names that have to be thrown out.

Also, a Detroit City Council committee passed today on amending a city ordinance to allow adults in the city to legally possess a small amount of marijuana. Instead voters will get to decide in November.

Brought to you by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit – the same group that successfully got medical marijuana placed on the ballot in 2004 which passed – the ordinance amendment would allow anyone 21-years-old or older to legally possess less than an ounce of marijuana on private property, amending Chapter 38 of the city code regulating controlled substances.

Tim Beck, a registered medical marijuana user who filed the petitions, says the amended ordinance would “free up the police department to pursue crimes with actual victims.”

Dennis Mazurek, assistant corporation counsel with the city Law Department, told the council’s Internal Operations Committee that the ordinance amendment violates state law, specifically, the Michigan Public Health Code, and cannot be enacted. The state only allows registered medical marijuana use.

According to the City Clerk’s Office, the Coalition submitted 5,750 signatures in May; 3,895 were required and 4,598 were validated.

Beck is confident voters will pass the ordinance, as they passed the medical marijuana ordinance in 2004.

“It’s going to win,” he said. “I have no doubt about that.”

Written by: The Weed Blog

Jodie Emery Condemns Conservative Spokesman Kory Teneycke for Prison Rape Comments

The wife of Canadian cannabis activist and BC Marijuana Party Leader Marc Emery expressed disgust and shock upon finding Twitter comments from Prime Minister Harper’s ex-communications director Kory Teneycke implying her husband should be raped in US prison.

The first post, made on May 11th (the day after Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ordered Emery extradited to the US) reads: “Bon Voyage, Marc Emery. May your vacation at Club Fed be a lengthy one.”

The next one, which was re-published in the June 14th Canadian Press article “Tory insiders and behind-scenes lobbying pave path to new ‘Fox North’ launch”, was posted on May 14th and reads: “To the pot heads who keep sending me crazy, profane emails: I hope Marc Emery enjoys group showers as much as he enjoys pot. Three cheers for the DEA.”

Jodie Emery condemns these comments as grossly inappropriate and offensive.

“My husband has never hurt another human being, yet our Prime Minister’s ex-communications director openly hopes for Marc to be physically harmed while in US prison,” she said. “It’s a common perception that prison rape happens in ‘group showers’, so this suggestion that Marc should enjoy being subjected to sexual abuse and humiliation is absolutely disgusting and offensive, and should be condemned by any decent, civilized person. Teneycke should apologize to me and Marc for this horrendously cruel comment.”

Written by CANNABIS CULTURE. Read more on their site.

Loophole in LA’s New Marijuana Ordinance

Written by myFOXla – Los Angeles’s new medical marijuana ordinance has a loophole that allows dealers to sell pot over the internet and deliver it to their customers, and a city council member wants to put a stop to that.

Councilman Jose Huizar filed a motion on Tuesday that would ban so-called mobile dispensaries.

“The city has received dozens of complaints regarding this new ruse that has arisen in an attempt to circumvent city and state regulations governing the city’s collectives,” Huizar said in the motion.

“As such, it will be in the best interest of the city, and provide clarification to the public, if the council were to explicitly prohibit any delivery service unless it operates in full compliance with the (ordinance) and existing state law, both of which prohibit the transportation of medical marijuana to a qualified patient except by his/her primary caregiver.”

Huizar urged the council to have the city attorney amend the ordinance “on an emergency basis,” so it can be enacted quickly.

“If we remain silent, who knows? This booming business can get out of control,” Huizar said.

Under the new ordinance, only the 186 dispensaries that were operating when the moratorium was imposed on Nov. 13, 2007 can remain open. Because some of those have ceased operating, the City Attorney’s office estimates there are about 130 pot shops that are “grandfathered” and not banned by the new ordinance.

The operators of 439 pot shops were issued cease-and-desist letters a month ago, instructing them to shut down by June 7. Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney, warned those who defy that order could face jail time, fines or eviction.

He said criminal charges could carry penalties of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, while civil penalties could include fines up to $2,500.

Activist Assaulted by Police at ‘Free Marc’ Protest [video]

Written by CANNABIS CULTURE – A “Free Marc” campaign organizer was arrested Thursday, June 10th at the Niagara Falls office of Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson in what activists are calling “assault and police intimidation.”

Jacob Hunter, Policy Director of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation and organizer of recent Conservative MP office occupation protests, was accosted by a police officer while attempting to walk through the front door of the Member of Parliament’s constituency office in Ontario. Hunter was there as part of a continuing series of protests being held at the offices of Conservative Members of Parliament by supporters of Marc Emery, and was joined by a group of activists including Jodie Emery.

Hunter was reportedly arrested for “assaulting a police officer”. Activists said another individual was also arrested at the scene.

Several other activists gathered around Hunter as officers prepared to put him in a police vehicle. Activist Eric Compton attempted to use the “hug power” technique by wrapping his arms around Hunter, but police aggressively grabbed him and slammed him on the hood of one of their cars.”

Shocking video after the break. Read more at Cannabis Culture Continue reading

Marc Emery has been locked up in solitary confinement since Thursday!

Written by Jodie Emery:

On Thursday night, June 3rd, Marc was put into solitary confinement, or “SHU”, (Security Housing Unit) at SeaTac Federal Detention Centre (SeaTac FDC) while he awaits his sentencing in September. The reason? For unknowingly breaking an unwritten rule. I haven’t heard from him since… Here’s what happened.

On Thursday afternoon, Marc had me record a phone call that was meant as his first US Prison Podcast, similar to the ones he did last fall while imprisoned here in BC and posted on iTunes and our website. That evening, as he was writing me an “email” through the Corrlinks prison messaging system, he mentioned that a guard had just given him a citation, said his phone access was suspended for “at least three days” and that there would be a disciplinary hearing in “a few days”.

Read more at Cannabis Culture and FREE MARC EMERY!

Police Seize a Ton of Pot in Boston Apartment

"That's a Lot of Pot" (CBS/WBZ)

Wouldn’t it be great to have a ton of pot (literally)? High Times reports on a police investigation:

“Police found 2,000 pounds of pot in a Boston-area apartment earlier this week. Prosecutors are calling the ton of cannabis “the single largest seizure of marijuana in Boston’s recent memory.”

However, despite the 40 plastic wrapped packages stacked to the ceiling of a third floor apartment, Edgar Gonzalez, the man accused of possessing all the pot, claims he had no idea it was there.

Police originally came to the building to execute an unrelated search warrant. However, when Gonzalez saw the officers, he ran. After being caught, Gonzalez explained to the police that he ran because “he thought they were looking for him.”

This aroused officers’ suspicion and a search warrant for Gonzalez’s apartment was obtained. Inside, cops found the stash with an estimated street value of $4 million.

More @ cbsnews.com

Man Chooses 30 Days In Jail Instead Of Quitting Marijuana

Meet the latest marijuana martyr. ​A 30-year-old Nevada man on Wednesday chose a month in jail instead of probation which would have meant he couldn’t use medical marijuana for one year.

Charles Ray Balzer of Gardnerville, Nev., told East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl he was unwilling to give up pot for a year, and he would do 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment, reports The Record-Courier.

Balzer has a legal medical marijuana card from the Nevada State Health Division. He told EnEarl he smokes cannabis and takes a prescription painkiller for a back injury.

If Balzer had accepted probation, he could have avoided the jail term, but one condition would have been that he not use “drugs or alcohol” for one year.

In an unaccountable quirk of the law, use of doctor-recommended medical marijuana is considered violation of probation, despite the fact that it is legal in Nevada.

​After serving 30 days in jail, hemp hero Balzer won’t have any probation restrictions.

Judge EnEarl seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that Balzer’s marijuana use is legal; beyond that, the judge seemed completely unsympathetic to the patient’s medical plight.

“You’d rather do 30 days in jail than have me tell you you can’t smoke dope?” the ignorant judge fumed. “Doesn’t that sound a little sick?” the judge asked, seemingly too dumb to get the irony of his dumbassery.

“No, sir,” Balzer said. “It’s what the marijuana does for me.”

“I think if I sat around smoking dope all day, it would probably help me out, too,” the proudly ignorant judge replied.

Balzer said he only smoked marijuana at night, to ease his pain.

Balzer’s lawyer, Richard Davies, reasonably pointed out that his client was legally entitled to have the medical marijuana card.

“It’s the will of the people and the Legislature recognizes that,” Davies said.

“Some people marijuana probably does help,” Judge EnEarl said, not bothering to mention how he suddenly became a medical expert. “I am not necessarily convinced Mr. Balzer is one of them.”

Balzer agreed to turn himself in at 8 a.m. on June 11. EnEarl advised him he could have no alcohol or drugs in his system when he checks in. (Or what — they’ll put him in jail? Sheesh.)

When Balzer was arrested for harassing an acquaintance, officers discovered a marijuana grow system in his home, but he produced his Nevada medical marijuana card.

How much longer must seriously ill and suffering medical marijuana patients suffer indignities and insults from dim-witted, self-righteous judges like EnEarl who make medical decisions for which they are completely unqualified? Stay tuned.

Written by Toke of the Town

Measure to legalize marijuana will be on California’s November ballot

An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation’s debate over whether to soften drug laws.

The number of valid signatures reported by Los Angeles County, submitted minutes before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, put the measure well beyond the 433,971 it needed to be certified. Supporters turned in 694,248 signatures, collecting them in every county except Alpine. County election officials estimated that 523,531 were valid.

The measure’s main advocate, Richard Lee, an Oakland marijuana entrepreneur, savored the chance to press his case with voters that the state’s decades-old ban on marijuana is a failed policy.

“We’re one step closer to ending cannabis prohibition and the unjust laws that lock people up for cannabis while alcohol is not only sold openly but advertised on television to kids every day,” he said. Continue reading

90-Year-Old Granny Arrested For Dealing Pot; Had 170 Pounds

​A 90-year-old grandmother suspected of selling cannabis was arrested Friday after police raided her home and found more than 170 pounds of marijuana.

A squad of armed South African police officers with drug dogs stormed the elderly woman’s home and discovered the pot stashed in multiple bags, according to the Daily Mail.

“This lady was quiet, old and looked like an angel sent from God,” said the rather poetically inclined Police Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng.

“But we received a tip-off two weeks ago that a lot of people were going into her house and coming out looking happy,” Mokheseng said.

Wow, happy people? That will not do! Obviously, law enforcement was called for, don’t you think?

“We sent in a drugs team who were prepared for a shootout, but they soon realized there was nobody to fight,” Mokheseng said.

Police found three types of marijuana, locally known as dagga, stashed in the pensioner’s garden shed.

The elderly lady, who said she lived alone in the four-room home east of Johnannesburg, South Africa, was arrested and taken into custody.

“She will spend the weekend behind bars, educating the police officers on what she was doing,” Inspector Mokheseng said.

“This was quite an extensive operation going on, with three types of the drug — called Swazi, Local and Skans,” Mokheseng said.

Wow, three separate strains? Granny’s got it goin’ on.

“We found money in plastic bags ready for the bank,” Mokheseng said. “She was making quite a lot of cash.”

“We understand she has many children and grandchildren, and we are trying to contact them,” the police inspector said.

The woman is scheduld to appear before Alberton Magistrates’ Court on Monday. She is charged with possession of illegal substances and selling cannabis.

Written by Steve Elliot

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