Archive for September, 2009
American Governors are asked the question
September 28th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
It’s good to see that more and more, public figures are willing to support legalization.
“SCARFIES ON THE PISS”
September 26th, 2009
Dakta Green
Part 7 of a 12 Part documentary. September 11, 2009: The Otago Norml 4:20 celebrates their 5th birthday by smoking out the Union Lawn as part of their civil disobedience protest, on the same day that the carnage of the annual Undie 500 riot hits the streets of Dunedin. A no-holds-barred clash between alcohol-fueled students and armored riot squads ensues…
Happy Birthday to all our friends at Otago Norml. We have already won this fight. They just haven’t realised it yet.
Scandalous Waste of Police Resources
September 26th, 2009
Dakta Green
More than 50 arrested in drug raids
25-Sep 16:36
More than 50 people have been arrested in two separate operations targeting drugs in the North Island, police said today.
Northland police arrested 32 people during a two-day operation, while their Hawke’s Bay counterparts arrested 22 during raids today.
In Northland, 25 addresses were searched in Kaitaia, Kaikohe, Kawakawa, Kerikeri, Paihia, Cable Bay and Whangarei.
More than 40 police staff were involved in the seizure of 149 cannabis tinnies, 900 cannabis seeds, 15 cannabis clone plants, three bags of methamphetamine and $4000 cash.
Those arrested would appear in Kaitaia, Kaikohe and Whangarei district courts. Read the rest of this entry »
Conference 2009: Yes We Cannabis!
September 23rd, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7877
The 2009 NORML Conference will be held Thursday, September 24 through Saturday, September 26 at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, CA. Join NORML’s staff and Board of Directors – and over 500 policy activists, medical patients, cultivators, doctors, politicians, and clinical investigators – as we congregate and celebrate in one of America’s most ‘cannabis friendly’ cities.
Panel Topics for this year’s conference include:
- The Zeitgeist of Legalization: Why and How Did This Happen?
- Pot Politics 2009 and Beyond
- Has Support For Legalization Reached The Tipping Point?
Missed Ganja Granny? Watch it online!
September 22nd, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Head over to http://www.tv3.co.nz/60-Minutes—Ganja-Granny/tabid/905/articleID/61586/cat/631/Default.aspx if you missed last night’s 60 minutes article on a 71 year old pensioner, who smoked and grew cannabis, till she got caught…
Mark Emery, last week of freedom
September 22nd, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
One of the world’s most famous stoners is off to serve time in the US.
Marc Emery says he’s spending his last few days of freedom tying up loose ends with his business before being sent south of the border to begin serving a drugs-related sentence.
“You typically miss fresh air and good food, two things that are not available inside federal prisons,” said Emery.
This will be his second time behind bars after spending three months in a Saskatoon jail in 2004. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Minister, I have a suggestion
September 21st, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Drug related offenses as a whole count for around 5% of all New Zealand court convictions, though some of these can carry heavy jail time. With our prisons becoming over populated, legalization offers itself to be an inexpensive fix to a tax payer funded problem.
Taken from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10598722
The number of prisoners in New Zealand is at the highest level ever, two weeks after breaking the previous record.
Corrections Minister Judith Collins said today there were 8509 people in prisons or police stations nationwide – 16 higher than the previous peak of 8493 prisoners on September 7.
In 1996/97 the average prison population was about 5000.
“This underlines the urgent need to ensure there are enough beds to accommodate forecast numbers of prisoners,” Ms Collins said.
In August the Government announced it would build a container cell block at Rimutaka prison.
Ms Collins said that would now not be enough and said double bunking was also necessary to manage the “serious capacity crisis”.
- NZPA
Is the end of prohibition upon us?
September 21st, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Fortune Magazine’s article about how Medical Marijuana is giving activists in the United States a platform to show that as a legalized business marijuana can work, and how the end of prohibition may be upon us.
Reposted from http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/11/magazines/fortune/medical_marijuana_legalizing.fortune/?postversion=2009091116
(Fortune Magazine) — When Irvin Rosenfeld, 56, picks me up at the Fort Lauderdale airport, his SUV reeks of marijuana. The vice president for sales at a local brokerage firm, Rosenfeld has been smoking 10 to 12 marijuana cigarettes a day for 38 years, he says.
That’s probably unusual in itself, but what makes Rosenfeld exceptional is that for the past 27 years, he has been copping his weed directly from the United States government.
Every 25 days Rosenfeld goes to a pharmacy and picks up a tin of 300 federally grown and rolled cigarettes that have been sent there for him by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), acting with approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read the rest of this entry »
Ganja Granny on 60 Minutes Tonight
September 21st, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Tonight at 7.30pm on TV3′s 60 minutes, there is an article titled ‘Ganja Granny’. Awesomely enough, it appears to be the headline story, and is advertised on TV3′s Homepage.
Taken from http://www.3news.co.nz/Ganja-Granny/tabid/755/articleID/121563/cat/923/Default.aspx
She’s 71-years-old and looks like everyone’s perfect grandmother. But she’s been found guilty of drug dealing – masterminding a criminal operation.
Did the police get it right? And if so, what made this otherwise blameless grandmother break the law?
60 Minutes reporter Karen McCarthy investigates.
Some Potent Arguments For Legalizing Marijuana
September 19th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
As Maryland in the United States weighs up legalizing medicinal marijuana Robert McCartney, a Washington Post journalist interviews students at Montgomery College’s Rockville campus. Worth a read.
taken from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202441_2.html
As Maryland weighs legalizing medical marijuana, it should consider my experience when I visited the student lounge at Montgomery College’s Rockville campus at lunchtime last week and began interviewing randomly selected students about their views on weed.
Among the first group I approached, one of the four young men volunteered within minutes that he not only smoked marijuana but also sold it. He told me his price list: $10 a gram for “middies,” the least potent and most readily available variety; $20 a gram for “headies” with more THC; $35 for the strongest, “exotic” types, like “white widow.” Read the rest of this entry »