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Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
Posted on December 14th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, News. No Comments »
Drugs and crime chief says $352bn in criminal proceeds was effectively laundered by financial institutions
Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations’ drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were “the only liquid investment capital” available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.
This will raise questions about crime’s influence on the economic system at times of crisis. It will also prompt further examination of the banking sector as world leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, call for new International Monetary Fund regulations. Speaking from his office in Vienna, Costa said evidence that illegal money was being absorbed into the financial system was first drawn to his attention by intelligence agencies and prosecutors around 18 months ago. “In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system’s main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
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Canadians Saved by Senate from Heavy-handed Tory Pot Law
Posted on December 14th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information. 1 Comment »
December 10, 2009 – Canada’s Senate made a sensible amendment Wednesday to a politically motivated bill that would have seen people who grew as few as five marijuana plants serve a mandatory six-month jail term.
Accepting a proposal from a Liberal-dominated Senate committee, by a 49-43 margin the Senate watered down the proposed legislation by raising the number of marijuana plants grown to more than 201 plants, which would see judges use their own discretion in sentencing those found guilty of growing fewer than 200 pot plants.
Judicial discretion is a keystone to our justice system. Read the rest of this entry »
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Marijuana Legalization Zeitgeist In America To Continue Into 2010: Federal Government Lags Behind The States
Posted on December 14th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Legalization, Medical, News. No Comments »
Already Four States Have Marijuana Legalization Bills In Play; Californians To Vote On Legalization in 2010
It can readily be said that 2009 was one of the busiest and most productive years in cannabis law reform since NORML’s founding in 1970. However, it appears as if 2010 is going to be an even busier year–notably marked by the increasing number of actual state legalization bills and a voter initiative in America’s most important state.
Currently, there is legalization legislation pending in California, Massachusetts, Vermont, and a legalization bill was just introduced this week in Washington. Frankly, most of these bills do not have a strong prospect in passing this time out, Read the rest of this entry »
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According to new poll, majority of Americans support marijuana legalization
Posted on December 11th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Legalization, News. No Comments »
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many adults in the United States are willing to legalize marijuana, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 53 per cent of respondents support this notion, while 43 per cent are opposed.
Less than 10 per cent of respondents support the legalization of other drugs, such as ecstasy, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or “crystal meth” and crack cocaine.
The use of marijuana is illegal in the U.S. except in some regulated cases of medical use. The amount allowed for such purposes varies depending on the state. Some states have passed laws to reduce law enforcement for possession of small amounts of the substance. Read the rest of this entry »
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Our America Initiative – The Gary Johnson Initiative
Posted on December 11th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Legalization. No Comments »
Gary Johnson was the Governor of New Mexico, and he wants to legalize Marijuana!
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Stay of Proceedings Application
Posted on December 10th, 2009 by Dakta Green | Filed under Cannabis on Trial, Featured, Legalization, News, The Daktory. 3 Comments »
I filed this application a few hours ago in the Auckland District Court. We go to court on December 21st 2009 to argue the merits. (I expect to win)
APPLICATION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS
May it please the Court;
1. My name is Dakta Green.
2. I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any special legal training. That said, I have chosen to represent myself in these proceedings because I seek to focus on my fundamental rights as a citizen, as opposed to any complicated legal arguments that may otherwise be advanced.
3. My application for a stay of proceedings is founded upon the following general propositions:
· Because of my pro cannabis beliefs I have been, and continue to be, subjected to “cruel or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment” in breach of section 9 of the New Zealand Bill or Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA).
· By denying me the right to possess cannabis, the State is subjecting me to “medical or scientific experimentation” without my consent in breach of section 10 of the NZBORA.
· I have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention in breach of section 22 of the NZBORA.
· Because the courts in New Zealand have not to date accepted medical necessity as a defence to any cannabis charges, my right to a fair trial under section 25(a) NZBORA has been breached.
· I contend that the current law prohibiting the personal use of cannabis is hopelessly outdated and plain wrong. This law is widely ignored and/or breached by members of our society such that the law should no longer be enforced by the courts of the land. This law is an “ass” and for the general good of the community it should be recognised as such.
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Czech Govt Allows 5 Cannabis Plants For Personal Use From 2010
Posted on December 10th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Information, Legalization. No Comments »
The interim Czech government, led by chief statistician-turned-Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Monday took another step towards making casual marijuana smoking a worry-free affair.
Fischer’s cabinet defined what constitutes “small amounts” of cannabis for personal use, clarifying the country’s new penal code that from next year decriminalizes cultivation and possession of the plant by individuals.
As of Jan. 1 ordinary Czechs can grow up to five marijuana plants or have several marijuana cigarettes in their pockets without fear of criminal prosecution. Previously what constituted a small amount was not specified and the police and courts loosely interpreted the penal code case by case, Read the rest of this entry »
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Congress allows DC to implement 1998 medical marijuana law
Posted on December 10th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Medical, News. No Comments »
From the trusted fellows at NORML.org
House and Senate negotiations for the 2010 Appropriations bill have been completed. This is the huge federal budget bill and it just so happens that Washington DC is a federal district and its spending is controlled by Congress.
In 1998, DC passed a medical marijuana bill overwhelmingly, but Congressional drug warriors led by Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia prevented DC from spending any federal money to count the votes Read the rest of this entry »
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4:20 Roughcut: “4.20 To Dunsterdam”
Posted on December 9th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Featured, The Daktory. 1 Comment »
4:20 Roughcut: “4.20 TO DUNSTERDAM” 42 Towns, 42 Days, 42 4.20 protests. In 2008 New Zealand’s most famous road vehicle, Maryjane the Cannabus, departed from Auckland after a 4.20 at Albert Park, and traveled from the top of the North Island to the tip of the South and back. Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, NZ’s most famous toker who stood for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party in the 1996 general election, was invited to the 4.20. Instead of coming down to the protest he had the law come down on the protesters…
Visit more of 420NewZealand’s video here (The Daktory’s Official YouTube Channel)
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The American Medical Association is backing medical marijuana
Posted on December 9th, 2009 by Dakta Bourbon | Filed under Blog, Medical, News. No Comments »