Judge Allows Evidence that Trayvon Martin was Suffering from Reefer Madness

 Yahoo News

In a defeat for the prosecution, Judge Debra Nelson ruled that defense lawyers can introduce evidence that Martin had the active ingredient of marijuana in his system when he was killed.

Toxicology tests showed a THC in Martin's system, and Zimmerman told a police operator just before the shooting that Martin "looks like he's on drugs."

The prosecution argued the evidence was prejudicial, and the defense countered that it was relevant given Zimmerman's observation that Martin could be on drugs.

Medical Examiner Shiping Bao initially reported the THC level was too slight to affect Martin, but Bao testified outside the jury's hearing last week that his further research in preparation for the trial indicated the drug might have had a slight but unknown effect.

United Nations Agency Demands U.S. Government Sue States over marijuana Decriminalization Laws

 


From the Trenches

Americans have differing opinions about the wisdom of marijuana legalization but most of us would agree that no matter what we think about it personally, it is an issue for Americans to decide.

So, an admonishment by a United Nations agency urging the U.S. government to sue the states of Colorado and Washington, whose citizens recently voted to support pot legalization in their states, should be dismissed out of hand as the carnival sideshow that it is, right?


If only it were that easy.

You see, while such decisions should be left for Americans and states to decide on their own, decades of allowing our leaders to strike bargains (otherwise known as “treaties”) with the UN has created an impediment to liberty, thus allowing an unelected global body a say in our country’s political processes. Some call that “civilized” and “reasonable;” George Washington called such arrangements an “entangling alliance” we should strive to avoid.

Then there is that federal law regarding marijuana…

Nevertheless, the International Narcotics Control Board is now prodding the U.S. government to challenge Colorado and Washington in court over pot legalization for recreational use in those states because the agency says the laws violate international drug treaties, The Seattle Times reported.

In Colorado Marijuana is More Popular than Obama

Young Turks

Legalized Pot - What Will the Fed Do?

The Huffington Post

First came marijuana as medicine. Now comes legal pot for the people.

Those who have argued for decades that legalizing and taxing weed would be better than a costly, failed U.S. drug war have their chance to prove it, as Colorado and Washington became the first states to allow pot for recreational use.

While the measures earned support from broad swaths of the electorate in both states Tuesday, they are likely to face resistance from federal drug warriors. As of Wednesday, authorities did not say whether they would challenge the new laws.

Pot advocates say a fight is exactly what they want.

"I think we are at a tipping point on marijuana policy," said Brian Vicente, co-author of Colorado's marijuana measure. "We are going to see whether marijuana prohibition survives, or whether we should try a new and more sensible approach."

Will the federal government continue to resist this movement?  How could they justify such a thing? The people have spoken.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Legslized Marijuana and Gun Ownership in Washington State

The Examiner reports

If Evergreen State voters pass a ballot measure to legalize marijuana, as currently appears likely, that doesn’t mean pot smokers will be legally able to buy or possess firearms, Examiner has learned.

A source with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C. Friday confirmed what had been explained in a Sept., 21, 2011 letter from Arthur Herbert, assistant director for enforcement programs and services to firearms retailers regarding gun purchases by medical marijuana patients. This column discussed the issue then, and as the pot vote looms, Washington State gun owners need to know they cannot get stoned and head for the gun range or hunting camp if voters approve Initiative 502.

It's hard to imagine a more irresponsible activity for gun owners than smoking pot, well, other than drinking alcohol, that is. Getting loaded has no place in the life of the responsible gun owner.  The gun-rights folks love to talk about situational awareness and perpetual readiness.  How can getting high possibly fit into that?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Cenk Interviews Penn

I still don't understand how he could have gotten through his whole life without ever having taken a drink or a toke. But I like what he has to say about this.

Penn Jillette on the Marijuana Laws

via Under the Lobster Scope 

How is it possible that Penn Jillette never tried pot or, even more difficult to believe, never had a sip of alcohol? To me that sounds even more bizarre than Obama admitting what he did in the book or Clinton's famous "didn't inhale" remark.

Other than that, I'm in total agreement with releasing the folks in jail for pot.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Lionel on the Drug Laws

via Fuck Conservatives

Good Move - Smart Cop

The Oroville Mercury Register reports

A man suspected of tending an illegal marijuana grow Tuesday morning near Highway 70 reportedly tried to remove a handgun from the holster of a deputy taking him into custody.

The suspect, Humberto Lepe-Cervantes, 25, of Jalisco, Mexico, grabbed the firearm, but was quickly subdued, a press release stated.

No other suspects were located. The deputy wasn't immediately identified.

A total of 6,018 mature marijuana plants and 550 pounds of processed marijuana was removed.

We've certainly seen cases in which "grabbing for the cops gun" received a harsher treatment than being "subdued." Congratulations to the unidentified officer for doing the right thing.

Or, I should say for not killing the stupid gun grabber (you see, this is the proper use of that expression). Being involved in a marijuana raid, of course, is not the right thing. This is waste of everybody's time and money.

What's your opinion?  Why do some cops subdue the criminals and get their hands dirty, so to speak, while others just blow them away?  Does it depend more on the circumstances or the temperment of the police involved?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Medical Marijuana and Guns in Rhode Island

The Providence reports on a case which is being closely watched by Robert Farago. Let's face it, we're all getting older, we're all going to need that medical marijuana sooner or later. Will we have to give up our guns?

A recent Cranston case that tested the state’s medical-marijuana law raises a question about whether people with the right to grow or possess marijuana to treat illnesses risk being jailed for owning a gun, even if they own it lawfully.

The issue grew from Dean Derobbio’s arrest in January 2010 for allegedly conspiring with his roommate to possess marijuana with the intent to sell it. He was also charged with carrying a dangerous weapon while committing a crime of violence. The crime of violence was growing marijuana, according to prosecutors and the police, and the charge carries a mandatory three years in prison for a defendant convicted of a first offense.

The police charged Derobbio’s roommate, Joseph Joubert, with conspiracy and possessing marijuana with the intent to deliver.

Derobbio held a patient card issued by the state Department of Health to use marijuana to treat severe pain caused by ruptured disks in his back, and he legally owned a 9mm pistol he kept in his nightstand, according to his lawyer, Michael F. Campopiano. Joubert had a primary-caregiver card, allowing him under the state’s medical-marijuana act passed by lawmakers in 2006 to grow marijuana for Derobbio.

What do you think? Does Derobbio sound like a back trauma patient or a pot dealer?  Does it matter?  What should be the rule about this?  Wouldn't it increase the risk of mistakes for gun owners to take mood-altering drugs?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

a/k/a Tommy Chong

Mary Beth Buchanan was the genius behind the whole thing, guess where she's from.  Of course, this all happened on the Bush / Ashcroft watch.

Legalize Drugs

LEAP is a wonderful site. William Cooke over there highlighted a news item about Willie Nelson pushing for marijuana legalization, adding a suggestion of his own.

Good for Willie Nelson. However, he ought to consider the wisdom of legalizing, taxing, and regulating all drugs. Also, I think he would be wiser to include people in his proposed party who lean to the right as well. Many conservatives want to end the drug war too. 

Those are two very interesting points. One, it should be all drugs and not just pot. And two, it's not only the lefty types who support this.

Do you agree? Please leave a comment.

Pot Smoker Killed by Meteorite

DrugWarRant published a fascinating report which brings together two of our favorite topics, meteorite strikes and marijuana reform.

San Hoyo, California: A coroner’s report released yesterday by police confirmed the presence of marijuana compounds in the system of Jonah Ellis, a 23-year-old man who was killed last Thursday just outside the town limits when struck by a meteorite.

Police Chief Dirk Jackson refused to speculate whether this news would have an impact on the upcoming referendum on the legalization of marijuana in California this November, but noted that, “In the 10 years I’ve been in San Hoyo, 100% of meteorite fatalities have been marijuana-related, demonstrating a clear link. It’s certainly got to make you think.”

Calvina Califano, spokesperson for Citizens Resisting Against Pot, had harsher words to say about the referendum. “If legalization passes,” she said, “you can absolutely count on an increase in meteorite strikes. And we won’t be as lucky the next time. People will be smoking pot outside day-care centers, and when that meteorite strikes, the collateral damage will be measured in mothers sifting through the rubble for the mangled corpses of their infant children. Marijuana: harmless? Let those legalizers tell that to the grieving mothers.”

A representative of the Coalition to Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in California claimed that the meteorite strike was unrelated to marijuana use, but was unable to precisely explain why Jonah Ellis was hit.

Scientists note that meteorites are formed from the debris of asteroids, and that there are literally millions upon millions of asteroids. If marijuana is legalized, it could take many years to exhaust the supply, and some say the damage to society could be permanent.

Recreational Marijuana in California

The Humble Libertarian wrote a wonderful article for CAIVN about the ramifications of legalizing marijuana in California.

In all likelihood, California could be the very first state in the union to legalize the recreational use of marijuana this November. After legalization activists submitted nearly 700,000 signatures for a proposition to legalize marijuana, California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified a ballot initiative earlier this week to legalize the cultivation, possession, and sale of marijuana in the state of California for recreational purposes.

The initiative will go on the ballot this November, and it needs only a simple majority to pass and become law (just as if the legislature had passed it and the governor had signed it), which should be a breeze considering that state-wide polling shows that 56% of California's registered voters support legalizing and taxing marijuana.

I love California. They are certainly ahead of the curve on this one. I thought it would take years of our getting used to the medical marijuana situation before anything like this happened.

What do you think? Is this good for California and for the country at large?

It brings up another issue which we often talk about, States' Rights vs. the Fed.

Only time will tell if the new California ballot initiative to legalize marijuana will pass into law, but if it does, the controversy over drug legalization will merely give way to a much larger, much older, much more contentious controversy- that of the proper relation between the States and Federal government.

I sometimes get a little confused when we talk about this. In the gun debate for example, pro-gun folks say it's bad for cities like Chicago and Seattle to have their own gun restrictions. They say the States must outline the gun policies. But these same voices oppose uniform federal restrictions on guns.

What is the right way to view this power struggle between state and federal government? If the least possible power should sit with the fed, why then should the states have such power over the cities and municipalities?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More Texas Justice

Tobaccoland.us reports on the latest law-and-order initiative in the Lone Star State.

Texas jury jails man 35 years for marijuana possession | Raw Story: "For being caught with just over a quarter pound of pot, 54-year-old Henry Walter Wooten will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, thanks to a jury in Tyler, Texas.

His prosecutor, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance, originally sought a sentence of 99 years over the 4.6 ounces of marijuana police found in Wooten's vehicle, according to published reports."

Texas (except for the 14th Congressional District) please hurray up and leave the Union.

What do you think? Is there any excuse for this?

Please leave a comment.

The First Cannabis Café

Reason.com published a fascinating article about the first medical marijuana restaurant in America.

On November 13, a clot of journalists stands in a hailstorm outside a Portland, Oregon, business called Rumpspankers Beyond Broth. We’re awaiting a press conference rechristening the business the Cannabis Café, the first restaurant where patients licensed by the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) can publicly use marijuana.

“Welcome to freedom!” says Madeline Martinez, all good cheer as she finally presents the café, a cavernous room of dinged-up furniture and paper lanterns. As the executive director of Oregon NORML, Martinez previously hosted bimonthly socials for marijuana patients in the ballroom above Rumpspankers, but a seven-day-a-week place to congregate and medicate? That is her dream come true.

It sounds like a wonderful idea. I would imagine some folks who require marijuana for their conditions also suffer from loneliness. Their caregivers could deliver them here once in a while.

But those who show up on Cannabis Café’s inaugural day seem relatively hale. A 20-year-old says he uses pot “because I tore a muscle in my hamstring.” A 48-year-old woman with fibromyalgia is here as much for the social aspect as for pain relief. “It’s really nice to know you’re not alone,” she says, smiling at a 39-year-old man with a pacemaker, who smiles back.

The only person not smiling is the one who appears the sickest. Outside, the hail has changed to rain, and at a table at the end of the stairwell sits a man, visibly ravaged by illness, thin and out of breath and leaning on a cane. He is looking at the line of people waiting to get in, nearly all of them young men, joking and laughing. Asked whether he wants some help up the stairs, he shakes his head, too weak to answer.

What's your opinion? Is this burgeoning movement going to be ruined by fakers like the guys on line for the first day's action? Should that ruin it? Would it be a bad thing if we allowed marijuana cafés like they do in Amsterdam?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Reefer Madness in L.A.

PJTV never fails to provide wonderful examples of the conservative mind set. In this video about the medical marijuana "problem" in Los Angeles, we have a fantastic example. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley seems like a caricature of the stereotypical right wing character that we love to make fun of. There were times during the interview that I thought he was really a comedian poking fun.

Sadly, he was quite serious. What do you think? Is this something that law enforcement people should be concerned with? Did you hear how many times he used the word "cartels." I thought any minute there he was going to say "we estimate that 90% of the medical marijuana comes from Mexico."

No questions were asked about the taxes these dispensaries must pay to the State, but I imagine that's part of the deal. The big concern seemed to be the overwhelmingly high percentage of healthy customers. Is that a big problem, in your opinion? Isn't that a benefit, even though it wasn't the intention of the law, isn't it good if otherwise law abiding people get their pot from one of these legal outlets in stead of off the street?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Califfornia and Marijuana Reform

Just like California is a leader in the gun control movement, they are also spearheading the way in marijuana reform. What's your opinion? (Via Tobaccoland)

Are We Ready to Reform Marijuana Laws?

According to NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) the country is ready for a change. Writing on the NORML Blog, Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director has this to say:

I believe, there is a palpable zeitgeist in America right now favoring reform; the Obama administration appears amenable to some cannabis law reforms in ways that no prior president since Jimmy Carter has embraced; and lastly, with NORML’s nearly 600,000 ‘friends’ on Facebook and nearly 67,000 MySpace, more Americans than ever before who are keen on cannabis can create a viral effect that benefits reform.

Here in Boulder between 10,000-15,000 students and activists are expected to celebrate in what has become the biggest 4/20 event in the world.

A New York Times article expresses agreement:

Long stigmatized as political poison, the marijuana movement has found new allies in prominent politicians, including Representatives Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, who co-wrote a bill last year to decrease federal penalties for possession and to give medical users new protections.

I agree wholeheartedly that penalizing marijuana possession and personal use is wrong. I absolutely favor legalization. Whatever expense would be involved in the transition could easily be recouped in taxes, probably in a very short time. The letterhead, envelopes and business cards of the ATF would all have to be reprinted, of course. Would it be ATMF or AMTF?

What's your opinion? Is there a moral question in legalizing pot? Do you think it sends the wrong message to kids? Might it not improve the message by separating marijuana from the other drugs which are sometimes more harmful?

Please leave a comment.

Obama's Pot Comments

On Daisy's post yesterday I read about the latest town hall meeting in which Obama disappointed everyone who wants marijuana reform.

Here's the video from The Young Turks site.




Cenk Uygur, at The Young Turks, as well as the others to whom Daisy linked, all agree that the comments were disappointing. I agree with that, but take a slightly different impression from what I saw. It seems to me the live audience laughed first, this triggered Obama to laugh and make a silly joke, and then to dismiss the whole thing. To his credit, he gave a fairly clear "no," which is better than a wishy-washy non-answer. It was the laughter and the shrugging it off lightly that seems to have upset people.

I put this one in the same category as that unfortunate comment he made on Jay Leno. These are the risks of speaking without a teleprompter.

We've also got the point raised by Uygur about the rephrasing of the question. Even that, I'm OK with. Obviously the President is not ready to make a big move on marijuana reform yet. I think the baby steps that have been made are good ones and over the next couple years we'll see bigger changes.

What's your opinion? Would marijuana reform be good for the country? One thing I keep wondering is, isn't most of the problems and violence and cost associated with heroin and cocaine and not marijuana? Although I'm all for reform of the pot laws, I'm afraid it would only resolve a small percentage of the problems. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.