weedthenews-blog

[weedthenews-blog]

A quiet, suburban neighborhood is probably the last place you would expect to find a den of druggies with an indoor marijuana farm.

But thanks to a brutal housing crisis that has driven down home prices and left foreclosures littering the streets of many once-tony neighborhoods, organized marijuana growers are moving their operations to America's suburbs to take advantage of affordable, spacious houses, according to a recent New York Times report.

Houses that fetched upwards of $1 million in pre-crisis times have been converted into "grow houses" equipped with special lights, water, and air-filtering systems required to produce quality cannabis.

Most times, the outward appearances of these suburban houses shield what's on the inside of these homes.

"They just blended right in," Stephen Snowden of Vallejo, Calif. told the Times. Snowden lived nearby a home whose residents had converted the entire second floor of a five-bedroom, 2,251-square-foot home into a marijuana cultivation operation.

"They left early for work and came back late in the afternoon. They mowed their lawn, took out their trash, and got groceries," he added.

Drug operations used to concentrate their activities in low-income areas, but that's changed as the nation's real estate market has taken a turn for the worse.

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 North Laurel man has been arrested after Howard County police said they found more than a half-million dollars in marijuana plants in his home.

Manoj P. Unni, 30, of the 9300 block of Cross Timbers Court, is facing one count each of possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, possession of equipment to produce marijuana, and drug manufacturing, according to police department spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.

Detectives were led to Unni's home by an anonymous tip, Llewellyn said, which was followed by an undercover operation, including surveillance, that gave them probable cause for a search warrant.

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Democrats in the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to the FY 2013 Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill late Tuesday that would effectively end the ability of federal agencies to enforce federal marijuana laws against individuals who are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

The amendment stated that federal agencies may not use any funds to target individuals in states with medical marijuana laws, as long as those people are following the laws of their respective states. This amendment, which was debated five times last decade, was reintroduced after an increase in federal actions against state-legal medical marijuana providers throughout the country over the last year.

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Last week saw the grand opening of Earth Dragon Edibles Restaurant & Lounge in Ashland, Oregon, a small town of 20,000 just 15 miles from the California border. While Earth Dragon serves Mongolian Barbeque just like any other Mongolian Barbeque joint, the difference is the little checkbox on the order slip: medicated or unmedicated. If that medicated box is checked, in addition to the grilled vegetables, sauces, and choices of meat, the patron receives a carefully measured dose of hash-infused grape seed oil.

Note to concerned patients and law enforcement officials, not to worry, this isn't a restaurant that anyone can walk into just to get stoned. Earth Dragon is limited to medical marijuana patients who hold a valid recommendation card under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). Additionally, you cannot purchase marijuana here. What you are purchasing is the food, the medicated oil is free to patients who request it. 

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70 percent of Americans favor legal medical marijuana, and half think the drug should just be legal. As Gallup notes, "Support for legalizing marijuana is directly and inversely proportional to age, ranging from 62% approval among those 18 to 29 down to 31% among those 65 and older." Eventually, the drug warriors are going to lose, and the country is going to win.    

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Twenty state lawmakers, all Democrats, have endorsed the marijuana-legalization initiative on the November ballot.

The group includes some of the usual suspects on marijuana policy, including Seattle Democrats Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Adam Kline. Seattle’s elected officials, including the mayor, city attorney and city council, have already endorsed.

I-502, the first marijuana initiative on the ballot since the passage in 1998 of medical marijuana, would de-criminalize possession of one ounce of marijuana and heavily tax sales at state-licensed “pot shops.” Mush of the revenue — guesstimated by the state at $560 million a year — would help fund health care.

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Marijuana use has significantly increased among teenagers in the United States, but the abuse of prescription drugs has fallen while the use of harder drugs like cocaine and meth have stabilized, indicates a new survey.

More teens are smoking pot, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month. 

The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, being released Wednesday, also said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9 through 12, but still remains high.

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Jimmy Kimmel is right... sort of. In this past weekend's schmooze-fest between media organizations and the president (and, for some inexplicable reason, Hollywood), Kimmel performed a comedy routine for the president and the assembled crowd. Toward the end Kimmel made a few marijuana jokes. He started by directly asking the president, "What is with the marijuana crackdown?" Of course, being a comedian, a few punchlines followed. But the most notable one, like all good comedic roasting, had a kernel of truth in it: "You know, pot smokers vote, too. Sometimes a week after the election, but they vote."

The 2012 election sees both political parties fighting their own separate waves of profound unenthusiasm.  On the Democratic side, there is indeed enthusiasm for holding onto the White House for four more years, but Barack Obama has disillusioned many previously enthusiastic voters, who may drag themselves to the polls and vote for him but will not be fervently volunteering in his reelection campaign (as they did four years ago).

With this political atmosphere, it is a complete mystery why President Obama and his Justice Department chose, roughly halfway through his first term, to launch a crackdown on marijuana that goes further even than his Republican predecessor.

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SEATTLE -- Conscious Care Cooperative has a solid footing in a growing industry, with three storefronts in Seattle and a loyal customer base. But for much of the last two years, the nonprofit medical-marijuana provider has lacked one business basic: steady access to a bank.

The cooperative has bounced among five financial institutions, and four others rejected the cooperative outright, said CCC's president, Nate Chrysler. In one case, a bank closed the account without notice.

"They froze our funds, and we didn't know it until the checks started bouncing," Chrysler said.

The medical-marijuana industry in Washington state, after two years of wild growth, is struggling to move out of the gray market and into business legitimacy. 

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After nearly 13 years in business, a San Pablo Avenue medical marijuana dispensary in Berkeley was set to close Monday evening under pressure from the federal government for being too close to two schools.

The 9,000 member Berkeley Patients Group has not yet found a suitable new location in Berkeley and plans to open a delivery service, dispensary management said Monday. Sixty nine employees of the dispensary will be out of work come Tuesday, but they will be paid through the end of the month.

The dispensary at 2747 San Pablo Ave. is across the street from a school called the Center for Early Intervention on Deafness and three blocks from a second school called Ecole Billingue de Berkeley. City and state laws require dispensaries to be at least 600 feet from any school. The dispensary was established before city guidelines on proximity to schools were put into law.

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The Connecticut House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to legalize the medical use of marijuana, despite concerns raised by some lawmakers that those who manufacture and distribute the drug under the new state program could risk federal prosecution.

The bill passed 96-51 following about seven hours of debate. It now moves to the Senate for further action. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he supports the concept.

Legislators who opposed the bill distributed copies of a letter sent this week to two state senators from U.S. Attorney David Fein of Connecticut. He wrote that if the state decides to legalize medical marijuana, the Department of Justice won’t go after the seriously ill patients who use the illegal drug but it will enforce federal drug laws against those who manufacture and distribute it.

Under the legislation, doctors could prescribe marijuana to patients who suffer from certain specified illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Qualifying patients and their primary caregivers would be able to possess a combined one-month supply of marijuana, but the bill does not spell out what form the drug would be.

Patients and their caretakers would need to register with the Department of Consumer Protection, which would cost up to $25 for each registration. The registration would be confidential.

Additionally, the bill would limit medical marijuana prescriptions to a one-year supply and require all drug manufacturing and distribution to be done in Connecticut. The marijuana would be banned in public places, moving vehicles, school grounds and in the presence of a minor, among other situations.

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Traditional farmers are rallying against a novel June ballot measure in Lake County, California that would extend "right to farm" protections to medical marijuana growers.

Right-to-farm laws are intended to protect agricultural operations from nuisance complaints that could threaten their viability. This is the first time an attempt is being made to apply the law to marijuana cultivation, farming and pot advocates say.

While it's not officially recognized as a farm crop by state or federal authorities, "it is a farm product," said Don Merrill, spokesman for the pro-Measure D group. The ballot measure is sponsored by the Lake County Green Farmers Association, a group of medical marijuana growers.

Measure D also would allow pot growers to cultivate up to 12 mature marijuana plants in residential backyards of less than a half acre outside city limits in Lake County. More plants could be grown on larger parcels, with a maximum of 84 plants on properties that are seven acres or more. It's opposed by county and police officials, the local Sierra Club and the Chamber of Commerce in addition to farm bureaus. Many fear it will lower property values and increase pot-related crime.

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Medical marijuana growers in Saskatchewan are preparing for a September competition that's the latest in a series of friendly contests between growers across Canada.

But organizer Jeff Lundstrom said staying within the law and organizing these "cannabis cups" is difficult.

There are a few yearly contests in Vancouver and Toronto such as the Toronto Cannabis Cup and the Treating Yourself Expo, but Lundstrom said smaller contests in other cities often have trouble finding venues and sponsors.

"It's hard to find a convention hall that will let you smoke marijuana in a closed environment," he said. "And the authorities aren't always friendly."

Lundstrom is hoping to bring together medical marijuana growers from across the province to Saskatoon for the second Prairie Harvest Medicinal Marijuana Cup.

Judges will determine the best product from different strains of marijuana submitted by Health Canada-approved growers. Lundstrom also plans to host roundtable discussions on marijuana potency and policy.

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A boy of three was found with bags of cannabis stuffed in his pocket at nursery.

Teachers were stunned when the drug-filled bag fell out of the youngster's pocket as he played with toys.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then happily showed off two more of the bags.

When asked about the drugs, which had a street value of £20, he said: 'It's my dad's for his cigs for smoking.'

Horrified staff at the nursery, based at a primary school in Salford, immediately phoned police.

Officers arrested the boy’s stepfather, who was hauled before Manchester Magistrates Court.

He pleaded guilty to drug possession and will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on May 21.

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Whether the grower is licensed or not, pot is still a risky business in states that have approved its use for medicinal purposes.

Take California. While the state has had medical marijuana dispensaries for more than 15 years, it remains a target for federal law enforcement officials, where the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested nearly 8,500 people for marijuana-related offenses between 2004 and 2010.

California's hardly alone. Several other states with dispensaries have seen an increase in both arrests and the confiscation of marijuana plants. However, a look at DEA records shows what appears to be an uneven enforcement policy among pot-friendly states over the past several years.

For example, while arrests and eradication in California climbed fairly steadily in the seven-year time frame, they remained essentially flat in Maine. Colorado, meanwhile, saw a reversal in both trends halfway through the time period.

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From the state that popularized the fast-food drive-through comes a new vending machine that dispenses marijuana like a bag of chips.

The Orange County Register reported that the Autospense, an automated dispensary, made its debut Friday -- 4/20 -- at The Dispensary Store in Santa Ana, California.

“Patients are ecstatic they can get meds when they need them instead of waiting until the location opens,” said Lera Nastri, the store’s director, the Daily reported.

Autospense Founder Joe DeRobbio doesn't like the phrase "vending machine." He told the Register that he prefers to call it a "dispensing system."

With its locks, security cameras, and sensors, he said, the Autospense, created by Dispense Labs, bears little resemblance to a break-room snack vendor.

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Regarding Steve Huntley’s April 20 column in support of legalizing marijuana, there is a middle ground between drug prohibition and full legalization. Switzerland’s clinical heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. The success of the Swiss program has inspired pilot projects in Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. If expanded, heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and sold like alcohol, only without the advertising. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

This “gateway” is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly.