Most polled in Montana prefer to repeal marijuana regulation
A slim majority of Montanans favor repealing the law legalizing medical marijuana, but in response to another question, a much larger percentage support tightening regulations on the industry rather than terminating the law, a new Lee Newspapers poll shows.
When asked whether they would support or oppose repealing the 2004 state law legalizing medical marijuana, 52 percent said they’d support repeal and 38 percent opposed it. Ten percent were undecided.
In response to another question, however, 83 percent of voters said they favor enacting stricter regulation and licensing requirements for medical marijuana in the state. Thirteen percent opposed tightening the law, while 4 percent were undecided.
Two tonnes of cannabis seized in Greece – woah!
Greek authorities have seized nearly two tonnes of cannabis during an operation to dismantle an international ring of Greek and Albanian drug dealers in Attica and Larissa, during which they placed six suspects under arrest.
The raid was carried out on Saturday by the Attica Security drugs squad, working in collaboration with the Attica financial crimes unit (SDOE) drugs department and the U.S. Embassy's Drug Enforcement Administration bureau.
They arrested one Albanian and five Greeks, including the suspected mastermind of the ring, who were in the process of transporting the drugs to western Europe using long-haul trucks for international transport.
The police operation was based on a tip-off about the ring's activities and a three-month investigation that led detectives to the ring's mastermind, who owned a trucking company and other businesses in Larissa, and one of his closest associates.
New cannabis strain ‘Chuck Norris’ hits Los Angeles
Much like Tom Cruise a few years ago, Chuck Norris has become the latest celebrity with the dubious honor of having a new strain of marijuana named after him.
Back in April ’08, lawyers for Tom Cruise became “concerned” over licensed cannabis clubs in Northern California selling a strain of marijuana called “Tom Cruise Purple.” It reportedly featured a picture of Tom Cruise on the front laughing hysterically. Said one weed connoisseur, “I heard it’s the kind of pot that makes you hallucinate.”
Indeed, the new "Chuck Norris Black and Blue Dream" is described as having "quite the kick." Get it? Ha.
California’s Prop 19 Fuels Mexico’s Debate On Drugs
Earlier this month, Mexican soldiers stack bails of marijuana -- 134 tons of it -- to be burned near the city of Tijuana. Credit: Getty Images
When California voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana use, the ballot initiative will be closely watched in Mexico.
In California, supporters of Proposition 19 say one reason to legalize pot in the state is to help reduce the violent illegal drug trade south of the border, where Mexico's drug war has claimed some 29,000 lives over the past four years.
But in Mexico, there is no clear consensus on how the passing of Proposition 19 would affect the Mexican drug trade.
VIDEO: Polls show increased support for Prop 19 in California
The push to legalize marijuana in California is seeing increased public support.
A field poll shows likely voters support Proposition 19 by a 49-to-42 percent margin. In July Prop 19 trailed by four points.
The new field poll is similar to an exclusive Action News Poll conducted by SurveyUSA this month. It showed 47-percent of likely voters said they would vote to legalize marijuana, while 43-percent were opposed.
Iowa pharmacy board to discuss medical marijuana
Iowa likely won't be the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana any time soon, but there has been plenty of talk about the idea with two bills in the Legislature and a possible recommendation on legalization Wednesday by the state pharmacy board.
Although both legislative measures are considered dead for the session, backers said support is growing and some expect the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to add to the momentum when it discusses the issue and considers recommending whether marijuana should be allowed for medical use.
"We're supposedly the drug experts and so, I would hope that the Legislature would consider the recommendation valuable to them," said Lloyd Jessen, executive director of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.
Medical marijuana initially came before the pharmacy board in 2008 when the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and others petitioned the board to remove marijuana from the Legislature's Schedule I classification. To be classified as Schedule I, a drug must have a high potential for abuse and no safe medical use.
Four Things Not To Say To A Medical Marijuana Patient… can you get me some good pot?
Muraco Kyashna-Tocha, 49, of Seattle, has grown marijuana legally since 1999. Kyashna-Tocha has had five neck and back surgeries and said that using marijuana manages her pain enough so she can engage in daily life. Credit: Chris Joseph Taylor/The Seattle Times
If you happen to be a medical marijuana patient like me, you’re well aware that there are lots of folks who still harbor some enormous moral judgments about cannabis and those who use it medically — even in the states where it is legal.
If you aren’t a patient, chances are you may either already know one, or soon will. As the acceptance of the medical use of pot grows, so does the number of patients choosing this option.
So let’s talk about those moral judgments.
Medical marijuana patients are too often given to understand that we should somehow feel vaguely guilty about the relief that we get through using the herb.
We are given, intentionally or not, little cues which seem to carry the message “You are a little less than entirely acceptable to polite society.”
To some of us, that feels a lot like “Why don’t those people just stay at home?”
While “interacting” with a proudly ignorant Twitter user today, I was freshly reminded of this unfortunate dynamic, and it got me thinking about the same old tired, threadbare judgments and stereotypes that patients must deal with, over and over and over again.
Sometimes the attitudes manifest themselves a little more subtly.
AUDIO: Will Legalizing Pot Solve California’s Budget Woes?
By at least one estimate, California's largest cash crop is not milk, cheese, or oranges, it's marijuana. Some advocates say legalizing pot — and taxing it — could be a way out of the state's financial woes, and they recently secured enough signatures for a ballot initiative to do just that. But how much revenue a legal pot industry generates would depend on how prices are set.
And it isnt just Los Angeles having budget trouble, the whole state is in the throes of a full-blown fiscal crisis. But it looks like Californians may get the chance to vote on a novel way to help balance the books. The proposal? Legalized pot, then tax it. So, how much money would that raise? Well, that depends on complicated economic questions like what would a joint sell for on the open market?
Heres NPRs David Kestenbaum with our Planet Money team.
DAVID KESTENBAUM: Right now, the price of marijuana varies a lot. The government actually studies these things. Researchers go into holding cells or if people have been arrested and asked questions like what do you pay for marijuana?
iGrow: Walmart of weed opens in Oakland
Zeta Ceti constructs a display at the iGrow warehouse in Oakland, a one-stop shop for medicinal marijuana cultivation. Credit: Michael Macor / The Chronicle
Call it the Walmart of weed.
In a 15,000-square-foot warehouse just down the road from the Oakland Airport, an entrepreneur is opening a one-stop shop for medicinal marijuana cultivation that's believed to be the largest in the state.
Don't know the first thing about growing pot? The folks at iGrow have a doctor on site to get you a cannabis card and sell you all the necessary equipment for indoor, hydroponic cultivation - from pumps, nutrients and tubing to lights and fans.
Don't know how to set it up? For a fee, on-site technicians will show you how to build it in your home and even maintain it weekly.
Buried School Bus Full of Marijuana, sophisticated growing operation
The Lenoir County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office calls it one of the most sophisticated marijuana growing operations they’ve ever uncovered.
Three people are in custody on drug-related charges, after a growing operation was found in a buried school bus. Sheriff Major Chris Hill says digging the large hole and then getting the bus in it required both thought and effort.
AMA wants more research on medicinal pot, medical marijuana
The American Medical Association has taken a giant step by asking the federal government to take marijuana off its most restrictive list of controlled substances while the AMA conducts research into the potential medical uses of cannabis.
By listing pot on "Schedule 1,"the federal government officially labels marijuana a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, even though California law allows the use of medicinal marijuana under certain circumstances.
"The idea that cannabis has no medical use is absurd on its face, because I know every materia medica (pharmacology text) that has been written has included cannabis as a medicine. The first medical textbook, written by Sir William Osler, said marijuana relieved migraines," said Dr. David Bearman, a Goleta physician widely known for his advocacy of medical marijuana.
