Prime Minister Stephen Harper is getting tougher on pot growers than he is on rapists of children. Under the Tories’ omnibus crime legislation tabled Tuesday, a person growing 201 pot plants in a rental unit would receive a longer mandatory sentence than someone who rapes a toddler or forces a five-year-old to have sex with an animal.

Producing six to 200 pot plants nets an automatic six-month sentence, with an extra three months if it’s done in a rental or is deemed a public-safety hazard. Growing 201 to 500 plants brings a one-year sentence, or 1½ years if it’s in a rental or poses a safety risk.

The omnibus legislation imposes one-year mandatory minimums for sexually assaulting a child, luring a child via the Internet or involving a child in bestiality. All three of these offences carry lighter automatic sentences than those for people running medium-sized grow-ops in rental property or on someone else’s land.

A pedophile who gets a child to watch pornography with him, or a pervert exposing himself to kids at a playground, would receive a minimum 90-day sentence, half the term of a man convicted of growing six pot plants in his own home.

The maximum sentence for growing marijuana would double from seven to 14 years, the same maximum applied to someone using a weapon during a child rape, and four years more than for someone sexually assaulting a kid without using a weapon.

Read more @ The Province

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Greeson holds up a jar of marijuana obtained from defendant Joel Castle’s hotel room ore than a year ago. Castle, left, was ultimately found guilty of possession and sale of marijuana. He chose nine months in prison rather than three years’ probation.​

A California medical marijuana patient said he prefers being behind bars to being told he can’t use cannabis. Joel Castle is going to prison for nine months rather than spending the next three years on probation, because a condition of the probation a judge offered him was that he quit smoking pot.Castle, the former Chico Cannabis Club operator who was found guilty last month of two felonies associated with a guitar-for-pot trade in January 2010, was sentenced earlier this month, reports Meredith J. Graham at the Chico News Review.Judge Robert Glusman at first offered Castle three years’ probation. But the medical marijuana patient refused, and was sentenced instead to two years, eight months in state prison.”It was the first time I really spoke my mind to that judge,” Castle said.

Castle ended up being ejected from the courtroom during his sentencing, never a good sign.

Source (Toke of the Town)

A judge in Grand Rapids has postponed a hearing to determine if the state should cooperate with a federal subpoena seeking medical marijuana records. The delay was due to a last-minute request to intervene by a group called “the Michigan association of compassion clubs.” The Drug Enforcement Administration won’t talk about the Lansing-area probe, but will say they’re not cracking down on medical marijuana users.

More than 45,000 people in Michigan are registered to use marijuana legally. The postponement of that scheduled hearing almost foiled the plans of medical marijuana advocates. Members of “Americans for safe access” coordinated nationwide rallies in Las Vegas, Grand Rapids and Lansing to coincide with the hearing. The Grand Rapids rally was canceled, but the Las Vegas and Lansing ones went off without a hitch.

Medical marijuana advocates from the Lansing area made some noise. They’re raising their voices against what they call increasing federal involvement in states where medical marijuana is legal. Many have personal ties to the issue.

John Roberts, protestor: “I’ve been raided twice. First time they raided me they didn’t even take the plants, they took all the medicine we made for the patients.”

John Roberts is a medical marijuana user, caregiver and advocate. He says the feds need to stay out of the confidential records of medical marijuana users. Americans for safe access spokesperson Robin Schneider says the bigger issue at play here is state’s rights.

Robin Schneider, spkprsn Americans for safe access: “63 percent of Michiganders voted to allow for the use of medicinal marijuana and it’s time for the federal government to take a step back and allow us to engage of the use of medical marijuana peacefully and privately.”

The protestors called on State Attorney General Bill Schuette to stand up for their rights. Schuette could not be reached for comment. There were only a couple of dozen people who attended the rally in Lansing. Organizers attribute that to the cold weather. They expect more people to come to rallies they may hold in the summer months.

Starting this Saturday, January 1, the penalty for possession with as much as an ounce of marijuana in California will be same as if you had received a parking ticket.

Proponents of legalized marijuana say the relaxed state law is simply a sign that attitudes are changing. With possession being put on the same level as a parking ticket, it is going to be more difficult to make major crimes out of selling, distributing or growing marijuana, said Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University, an Oakland school that specializes in marijuana issues.

Possession of an ounce of marijuana has been a misdemeanor crime punishable with a $100 fine. Under the new state law, the fine is the same but the charge is downgraded to an infraction.

State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill making the change. He said the state could no longer afford to go after people who had committed a crime that carries the same punishment as parking tickets.

Carla Lowe, founder of Citizens against Legalized Marijuana, said the change was the worst new law passed by lawmakers in 2010.

“I believe this has knocked out one of the key pillars of prevention to help kids say we’re not doing drugs,” she said.

Law enforcement groups have also come out against the law, but it has gotten support from some law enforcement officials.

“I think it’s a good thing because it is calling the offense what it has always been, which is an infraction,” said San Mateo District Attorney Jim Fox.

According to the California attorney general, there were an estimated 78,500 arrests in 2008 and 74,000 in 2007 for felony and misdemeanor related charges associated to marijuana.

In November, California pushed a vote for legalizing the use of marijuana under Proposition 19 that would have legalized the plant. There were 53% voting against to 46% voting “yes” in defeat of the “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act”.

Snoop Dogg is no stranger to touting his love for marijuana, and he’s not pleased that his weed-toking buddy, Willie Nelson was pinched for possessing the green stuff. The Doggfather recently spoke on the country legend’s arrest after border patrol at Sierra Blanca, Texas detained him for possessing six ounces of the sticky icky.

“They better leave Willie the f— alone!” a heated Snoop told TMZ. “Willie Nelson is a legend, man. Really, sometimes you gotta back off certain people and have a certain amount of respect for your elders. Willie Nelson is our elder. He’s somebody who lived through many decades of music and hard times and whatnot and living good and going up and down. So give him that respect.”

The Cali rapper continued his tirade by going after the police officer who put him behind bars. ‘Who’s the motherf—er that arrested him? I want to know who’s the police officer that said ‘You’re under arrest. You’ve got a right to remain silent.’ You dumb motherf–ker, you. You stupid motherf—er you. What you think you going to gain by arresting Willie Nelson? He got out and he back smoking right now!”

Snoop collaborated with his toke buddy on ‘My Medicine,’ a track dedicated to pot that was included on his 2008 album ‘Ego Trippin’.’ He capped his diatribe by cementing his love for Nelson and issuing a warning: “If you got a problem with Willie Nelson, you got a problem with me!”

Source

Three active duty soldiers stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado are being held on $10,000 bond while facing second degree burglary charges for breaking into Rocky Road Remedies – a medical cannabis dispensary located in Colorado Springs. The soldiers broke in around 2 a.m. by smashing a lock on the establishment’s back door.

Unfortunately for the suspects, police officers happened to be right next door responding to an unrelated call. While the soldiers attempted to go out the way they came in, they realized the back door was jammed. When they tried to use the front door, they realized it was reenforced with iron bars. In short, they were trapped inside the dispensary.

Soon enough police noticed the soldier/burglars and placed them under arrest.

According to the owner of Rock Road Remedies, “It’s definitely humorous because in the videotape you see them running back and forth, back and forth, kind of realizing that they’re trapped and they are going to get caught.”

To make matters even worse, the pot and cash were locked away in a safe, so even if the soldier/burglars weren’t reenacting a Three Stooges routine, it is unlikely they would have made off with anything valuable.

Source

Despite what the nation’s “Drug Czar” Gil Kerlikowske might say and what his office might promote, it’s being proven that driving under the influence of marijuana does not make you a dangerous driver. In fact, a new study shows that it makes virtually no difference in the driving abilities of most drivers.

Of course, that may not be saying much given the state of some highways in this nation, but at least the road hogs and blind spot lurkers don’t drive any worse while high.

Most of the studies for stoned and drunk driving were conducted in the 1970s. Driving simulators, measurement tools, and even drug potency were different then. Although studies into drunk driving have continued to the present, studies of marijuana’s effects on driving have not. A new study from researchers at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center has found that marijuana’s effects on driving – including separating data between men and women – is negligible.1

The research is legitimate, double-blind, placebo-controlled and used 85 subjects (50 men, 35 women) on driving simulators. Subjects were tested sober and then shortly after having smoked either a 2.9% THC marijuana joint or an identical placebo.

The only measurable difference in driving between those who were sober when stoned was that they tended to slow down and drive slower than otherwise. Which any safety advocate will tell you is almost always a good thing.

Other studies conducted overseas, including one in Israel published in 2008,2 showed similar results.

These studies and their findings should call into question every “impaired driving” law in which marijuana is treated the same as alcohol and hard drugs.

Of course, as marijuana becomes more and more socially acceptable and laws regarding its use loosen or are eliminated, a review of laws that lump it in with other, much more impairing drugs should be conducted as well.

References:
1 – Sex differences in the effects of marijuana on simulated driving performance. by BM Anderson, M Rizzo, et al, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, March 2010

2 – Effects of THC on driving performance, physiological state and subjective feelings relative to alcohol. by A Ronen, P Gershon, et al, Accident; analysis and prevention, May 2008

Photos courtesy of  asylum.com

Ralphie May is an “idiot” — his word, not ours — because he got caught carrying pot through customs in Guam … after he approached a drug-sniffing dog because he thought it was cute.

May was busted for weed last week, but only had to pay a small fine because he was carrying less than an ounce. The comedian tells us he didn’t realize the pot was in his bag when, on his way through customs, he went up to the dog and started petting it.

May, who has a medical marijuana card, explains: “When I got to baggage claim, I actually walked up to the dog. I love dogs and petted Nickey, the beautiful shepherd mix, and she sat down. That indicates to the handler that I had marijuana on me. I didn’t know that, I just thought that dog loved me. Then another dog came over and it sat down as well and I petted that dog too. I was thinking these dogs love me they can tell I’m a dog person.”

May dealt with some very nice customs agents and he explained the mix-up. May says, “The customs agents said they knew I didn’t mean to smuggle drugs into Guam cause no drug smuggler would be stupid enough to walk up to the dogs and pet them.”

Source

A Sacramento man who fired a 12 gauge shotgun at a home intruder says he won’t hesitate to use that gun again.

“It’s loaded. All I have to do is cock it and rock it,” said D’Andre Pendarvis.

Pendarvis knows exactly what the home invader, who kicked in the back door of his Oak Park home Monday night, was after, medical marijuana.

In a daring display of defiance, Pendarvis grabbed a recently borrowed shotgun and blasted it loud and clear. His message, “don’t take what’s not yours, including my medical marijuana.”

He called police just before 9:00 p.m. to report the robbery. He said someone, first kicked his door, then kicked it in. The intruder fired two shots from a 9mm gun and Pendarvis fired four shots back.

It doesn’t appear he hit the intruder who took off running. Inside Pendarvis’ home, a bullet blasted through a mirror and a couch. Shards of glass flew across his living room like bullets themselves, piercing his television.

He had just borrowed a shotgun from a friend last week, knowing that marijuana is a hot commodity among crooks. They have said that it is actually green gold. It’s worth almost as much as gold is, ounce for ounce, pound for pound.”

So why put himself at risk by growing plants in his backyard and inside his home? Pendarvis says he uses it to help with insomnia, and admits, what he doesn’t personally use himself, he could possibly sell. He said he’s more fearful of Child Protective Services than the police and that’s why his daughter doesn’t live with him. He said his grow is perfectly legal and so is shooting at someone that you fear is about to hurt you. His message to anyone who comes at him for his pot, “There’s a 12 gauge slug waiting for you.”

Sacramento police say they will likely respond to more of these calls as more people begin to grow pot legally. One officer said, “the odor of pot plants coming from a home or yard, is like a jewelry box sitting right next to a window. “

Police say a Richmond couple bought a three-storey house on a four-hectare property near Clearwater a year ago for the sole purpose of growing marijuana.

Clearwater RCMP officials say they executed a search warrant on the property on Thursday, netting more than 1,300 marijuana plants on site. Police also found 8 kilograms of dried bud.

Police say the rural property, located in a rural area on Clearwater Valley Road, had a three-storey house and small shed, all of which were used to for the grow-op. In addition, police say the couple also built an additional outbuilding to increase production capacity.

The suspects have been released and will appear in court on Dec. 15, police say.

Article via The Vancouver Sun

A disposable drugs test that allows parents to check if their children have been taking cannabis or cocaine by analysing a droplet of saliva has been developed by British scientists.

The handheld device, which resembles a pregnancy testing kit, costs just £1.50 and produces an accurate result within five minutes.Its creators say it could be available within two years.

The Vantix sensor was developed to help police carry out speedy roadside drug-driving tests, but it could just as easily be used by parents who are worried their children are taking drugs.

News of the breakthrough comes just days after the conviction and jailing of singer George Michael for possessing cannabis and drug driving.

Kevin Auton, of Universal Sensors, has admitted that the test would be controversial and could have ‘huge implications for society’.

He said: ‘In America, parents are taking samples of their children’s saliva and hair and sending them off to labs to see if their children are taking drugs. If there is demand for it here, it would be an interesting market.

‘It is controversial but the test can be used in the home for worried parents to test if their children are taking drugs.
‘We are very focused on getting the test out of the laboratory and on to other platforms. It is as simple to use as a pregnancy test.’

The devices are designed to be used at the roadside, in a police station or in the home.

Currently, officers perform ‘field impairment tests’, which look at pupil dilation, balance and coordination.
However, these are not solid proof of illegal driving and police are often reluctant to carry out time consuming blood tests.

The breakthrough means police would be able to identify drugs by taking a swab from a driver’s mouth.
The sensor works by using a disposable 5mm wide chip printed on a piece of plastic.

On the surface of the chip are antibodies that respond to particular chemicals in drugs – such as the THC molecule found in cannabis.

If an antibody on the chip comes into contact with its ‘target’ chemical, a tiny electrical current flows in the chip. The current is amplified by a larger, handheld device which lights up a warning lamp.

The chip can be adapted to detect a range of chemicals – including those only found in drugs or explosives.

Mr Auton added: ‘I’m not sure if parents are ready in this country and the test raises privacy issues.’

Article via Cannabis Culture

Written by Jodie Emery. Read the full article here.

Today Marc was punished with two months of no commissary (food, shampoo, soap, envelopes, stamps, etc.) and his cellmate for one month because I gave his cellmate money! Apparently it’s against the rules even though it’s not in the rule book. Marc was staying healthy eating nuts, trail mix, and tuna and turkey packets from commissary, now he has to “survive” on meals like peanut butter, bread, and rice.

I’m so disappointed and angry. I have sent money and books to different inmates before, there’s no rule against it. Marc had two hearings with the Lieutenants of the prison and one was really mean, while the second was less so, but they decided that the appropriate punishment for Marc was two months of no commissary.

When Marc was first called to see the Lieutenant last week, the Lt. was being extremely rude, aggressive, and even threatening. He said that he reads all of Marc’s emails and letters and listens to all of his phone calls, and that he didn’t approve of the chapter Marc wrote about what it’s like going to prison (for Barry Cooper’s upcoming book) and that he thought it was “bullshit”. Marc didn’t even criticize the prison! He just objectively wrote about the process of it, and of course he said the food was dismal, but that’s the truth!

So the Lt. was pissed off about what Marc was writing, but that’s not against the rules. So he said that it was against the rules for me to send money into Marc’s cellmate’s account, even though that’s not in the rule book either! They decided to ensure that they both suffer because of my generosity, which I pass on from the people who give it to me.

(CNN) — U.S. Border Patrol agents fired gunshots into Mexico over the weekend after being attacked during a marijuana seizure in Mission, Texas, the agency told CNN on Monday.

The incident between border patrol agents and alleged drug traffickers took place around 7:40 a.m. Saturday, Border Patrol spokeswoman Rosalinda Huey said.

“Our agents were being fired upon and they did respond with fire back into Mexico,” she said. “I don’t have the number of how many people were involved. But none of our agents were injured.”

Agents seized over 1,000 pounds of marijuana during the incident, according to Huey. The incident is under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Mexican government, Huey said.

“At this point we don’t know what cartel it’s tied to or if it’s just an unaffiliated source. We’re not attributing it to anybody right now,” she said.

Although attacks against border patrol agents are not uncommon, assaults against agents have decreased in the last fiscal year, she said.

Mission is a small border town in the Rio Grande Valley near McAllen, Texas.

Border patrol agents this year have seized more than 800,000 pounds of marijuana in this area, Huey said.

In June, a border patrol agent in El Paso, Texas, fired into Mexico killing a 15-year-old from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Surveillance video of the incident showed the teen throwing rocks at the agent before being shot.

This just in: Marc Emery has been sentenced to 5 years in jail minus time served. The Judge in the case has recomended Marc be transfered back to Canada as soon as the Canadian government requests it.

Let everyone know about the Free Marc Emery World-Wide Rallies on September 18! These are the best way to let the Conservatives know we want Marc home!

Sentenced to five years behind bars, Canada’s Prince of Pot Marc Emery was led off to an American penitentiary Friday repenting his seed-selling sins and professing love for his wife.

“I love you Jodie!” he mouthed silently to her as he was led away.

There may be a place for and time for a debate over the legalization of marijuana the judge told him, but this is not the time or the place — marijuana is illegal.

In a beige prisoner’s jumpsuit, Emery sat throughout the 15-minute hearing with his hands folded under his chin.

His wife Jodie Emery sat stoically the public gallery with about 40 supporters, press and undercover law-enforcement officers.

Seeds traced to grow houses in every region of the U.S. were linked to Emery according to the prosecution, and the original DEA press release called Emery one of the “most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets — one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.”

Judge Ricardo Martinez, of the western Washington district court, told the 52-year-old Vancouver businessman that he had grown up along the Canadian border and was saddened by what illegal drugs have done to both countries.

“I regret the example we set,” Emery told him, “and I won’t be doing that again.

“I’d like to point out though that it made it sound like I’m a bad guy . . . but I had very good intentions and wanted to be considered a proper participant in our society. I do believe that these prohibition laws create a lot of problems and create organized crime.”

It was a sad emotional end to a 30-year public career by the staunch libertarian most Canadians considered a benign and charismatic political prankster.

The U.S. prosecutors said he was the “largest [pot seed] distributor in North America and at least the largest into the United States . . . .no doubt he sold millions of marijuana seeds that produced millions of marijuana plants in the U.S.”

Outside the federal courthouse, a small group protested his sentence.

Read the rest of the article at FreeMarc.ca. Video after the jump.

Video from Newsy

Seattle area marijuana activists will gather outside the Federal Courthouse at 700 Stewart Street on Friday, September 10, to protest the sentencing of Marc Emery, the so-called Prince of Pot, who faces five years in federal prison for selling marijuana seeds by mail order to Americans and to call on President Barack Obama to pardon him. The controversial Canadian faced federal charges after DEA agents entered Canada and arrested Emery in 2005. Emery is expected to be sentenced to five years in federal prison under a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.

“The Emery case is a prime example of the overreach of the federal government and the need for marijuana laws that match social reality in America,” said Philip Dawdy, Sensible Washington’s co-founder and vice-chair. “It’s crazy that he’s going to prison for selling seeds and that the federal government is willing to spend millions of dollars prosecuting and imprisoning him. President Obama should pardon Emery and get busy with reforming America’s outdated marijuana laws.”

When Emery was arrested in 2005, federal officials described his arrest as a blow to efforts to legalize marijuana in the US. Emery was the publisher of the Vancouver-based Cannabis Culture magazine and planned to use his seed-selling profits to fund legalization efforts in the US.

Activists will gather outside the US Courthouse from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday while Emery, already in federal detention in SeaTac, is being sentenced.

It’s ironic that only last week John McKay, the former US Attorney for Western Washington who originally charged Emery, wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times in which he noted that marijuana prohibition has failed and that it’s time for new marijuana laws on the federal level.

Sensible Washington is an all-volunteer, grassroots organization dedicated to the repeal of marijuana prohibition in Washington State. The group was sponsor of this year’s I-1068, which failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, and plans to file a new legalization initiative in January 2011. Since June, Sensible Washington has tripled its volunteer network to some 6,000 citizens committed to ending marijuana prohibition.

More information about Sensible Washington can be found at www.sensiblewashington.org.

Article is from Sensible Washington

420Tribune states that there are ‘Narcotic Checkpoints’ on one of the most trafficked interstates of the United States, I-20. But rather than having the checkpoint on the interstate, they set it up on the first exit ramp ahead of the sign. Now that is some bullshit.

The local sheriff’s office had established the signs as a “ruse” to direct motorists to exit off the highway after viewing the warning of the upcoming DUI/Narcotics checkpoint.  In fact, there was no checkpoint further down I-40.  Instead, the sheriff set up a checkpoint at the end of the ramp of the first exit available to motorists after the posted signs, an exit not frequently used since no services were offered at the exit.

Read more at the source.

Seattle Times posts an article by John McKay, former US Attorney for the Western District of Washington. John McKay defected to the other side. As the federal prosecutor in Seattle, McKay oversaw the indictment and prosecution of Canadian marijuana seed seller and pot advocate Marc Emery, who now sits in an American federal detention facility awaiting the formal handing down of a five-year prison sentence later this month.

I DON’T smoke pot. And I pretty much think people who do are idiots.

This certainly includes Marc Emery, the self-styled “Prince of Pot” from Canada whom I indicted in 2005 for peddling marijuana seeds to every man, woman and child with an envelope and a stamp. Emery recently pleaded guilty and will be sentenced this month in Seattle, where he faces five years in federal prison. If changing U.S. marijuana policy was ever Emery’s goal, the best that can be said is that he took the wrong path.

As Emery’s prosecutor and a former federal law-enforcement official, however, I’m not afraid to say out loud what most of my former colleagues know is true: Our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong and should be changed through the legislative process to better protect the public safety.

Congress has failed to recognize what many already know about our policy of criminal prohibition of marijuana — it has utterly failed. Listed by the U.S. government as a “Schedule One” drug alongside heroin, the demand for marijuana in this country for decades has outpaced the ability of law enforcement to eliminate it. Perhaps this is because millions of Americans smoke pot regularly and international drug cartels, violent gangs and street pushers work hard to reap the profits.

Read more at the source.

Free Marc Worldwide Rally - September 18th

A Montana teen looking to buy marijuana tried to text a drug dealer but hit the wrong number and instead hooked up with the county sheriff.

The message:

“Hey Dawg, do you have a $20 I can buy right now?”

The Independent Record of Helena reports that Sheriff Leo Dutton initially suspected a prank, but quickly realized it was the real deal and messaged back: “How much we talking?”

The sheriff then helped set up a meeting with an undercover drug officer who busted the buyer and a teen-age friend.

The newspaper said the teens “turned white and their knees began to wobble” when the detective showed his badge.

The officers decided not to issue a citation, the newspaper says, but instead got the teens’ parents involved.

“Trying to buy drugs is a crime, but it’s probably worse that they had to face their parents,” Dutton tells the paper.

For years prohibitionists, including our own Drug Enforcement Administration, have claimed — falsely — that the tolerant marijuana policies of the Netherlands have made that nation a nest of crime and drug abuse. They may have trouble wrapping their little brains around this:

The Dutch government is getting ready to close eight prisons because they don’t have enough criminals to fill them. Officials attribute the shortage of prisoners to a declining crime rate.

Just for fun, let’s compare the Netherlands to California. With a population of 16.6 million, the Dutch prison population is about 12,000. With itspopulation of 36.7 million, California should have a bit more than double the Dutch prison population. California’s actual prison population is 171,000.

So, whose drug policies are keeping the streets safer?