Quick Hits (page 2)
Medical Marijuana Users hold Meeting
By: Patricia Jiayi Ho (Visalia Times-Delta)
Jack Herer, 65, of North Fork, smokes marijuana Sunday at the Patient Education Meeting for medical marijuana awareness and defense at the PPAV Hall. Herer said that he suffers from six different ailments including headaches. He suffered a stroke in 2000.
The smell of marijuana wafted through the air Sunday afternoon as about 150 supporters of using the drug for medical purposes gathered for the first meeting of its kind in Visalia.
Those who attended heard advocates such as Jack Herer, author of numerous books about marijuana, speak.
The goal, according to Jeff Nunes, who organized the meeting, was to both inform people and to influence attitudes toward marijuana.
"It has such a stigma," said Nunes, who uses marijuana for medical purposes. "There's other aspects to smoking a joint."
In 1996, California voters passed an initiative allowing patients to smoke marijuana with approval from a doctor.
Supporters of medicinal marijuana say the herb helps alleviate chronic pain and is also beneficial in treating symptoms such as nausea and lack of appetite.
For some, marijuana is less intrusive and more effective than conventional approaches.
Luis Padilla, 44, drove up from Orange County to attend the meeting, held outdoors at the PPAV Hall. A work-related injury left him with a bulging spinal disc and chronic back pain. He said he smokes "less than a gram" once a day after work as a car detailer, and said he prefers it to drugs like Vicodin.
"They made me too drowsy, and they're bad for your kidneys," Padilla said. "I know more people hooked on Vicodin than who smoke marijuana."
Visalia resident James Holland, 42, uses marijuana to minimize the amount of other medications he takes to control his grand mal seizures.
"I was drugged up all the time," he said of his experience taking pharmaceutical drugs alone.
Nunes said he also hopes to educate patients about the choices available, such as which strain is best for them and how it is grown. He is also working on opening dispensaries in Tulare County where patients can have their marijuana grown and cultivated for them.
Click here for more Quick Hits.
Growin' Our Own (page 2)
The Kid in Action
By:Elmore Stone
It is nice, oh so nice, to find out about medical marijuana patients winning in court. Not only that, but to have the court order the return of their weed and other stuff is absolutely outstanding and damn near unheard of.
That said, here is the story of Jory, the defendant, and counsel for the defense Dennis (The Kid) Roberts. Talk about one hell of a ride!
Last year, July 23, 2003 to be exact, acting on a "tip" of a large scale grow in the Oakland Hills a task force led by one Sgt. Joyner, who by the way has surfaced in a number of medical marijuana cases, and armed with a search warrant signed by a judge who was recently arrested for solicitation of prostitution, raided a residence in the hills above Oakland, California. In the residence they found several roommates: Jory; Kevin; Brian, who were all charged, as well as Dane and his girlfriend Carrie who were not charged. Dane and Carrie, though not charged, were threatened with the fact that a warrant charging them was about to be issued. They also found, according to Sgt. Joyner, 10 pounds of very good medical weed worth in his jaded point of view approximately $250,000. I can not help but wonder where in the hell this cop learned how to affix value of things. What a jerk.
The task force totally cleaned out the house taking plants, clones, mothers, as well as about $3500.00 which had a totally legitimate explanation, a few nude pictures, and everything personal that they could carry away. It looked like the clients had hired a moving company. This despite the fact that there were medical recommendations for most of the folks prominently displayed. The attorneys who represented the other defendants were Bill Panzer and Omar Figueroa.
Dennis, bless his cold lawyer's heart, volunteered to put the Motion to Return Property and the Penal Code (PC) Section 851.8 petition together for everyone. We will get into the 851.8 later. Believe me when I write this - it is worth its weight in gold. And not fool's gold either.
The head of the narcotics unit of the Alameda County District Attorney's office, Russ Giuntini, took a while to be convinced that there were no sales taking place and that it was all personal use medical marijuana. Meetings, telephone calls and faxes were numerous and time consuming but, in the end it paid off. Giuntini ultimately dismissed all criminal charges based on the fact that he was convinced that it was medicinal. Which indeed it was.
Then came the fun part. I mean if you are going to dance with a tiger, you might as well take the lead and dance until the band quits and goes home. Dennis did just exactly that. He filed a Motion for Return of Property including the medicine that was seized. Hey, it is private property for Christ's sake and no longer needed for evidence to boot. The case was dropped ... dismissed, ya know ... therefore the cops have no, as in zero, need to hold on to it. As such, it should be returned to its rightful and legal owners. Fortunately it was mostly kept in airtight containers so the Oakland Police get a grateful nod from all concerned for aging this excellent medicine.
You really have got to understand that at first Judge Clay was not at all receptive to returning "drugs" as he kept referring to the medicine, but when he became familiar with the case law in California he not only ordered all returned but grew annoyed with the Deputy District Attorney (not Giuntini who has gone on to a more prestigious position with the San Francisco District Attorneys office) who, for reasons known only to him, kept insisting that the City Attorney's office must be noticed. Judge Clay basically gaffed him off and did not require the District Attorney's approval of the order.
Then on the 12th of May the Honorable C. Don Clay of the Alameda County Superior Court had an unusual change of heart (assuming he has one to begin with), for him at least, and reversed his previous position of "I don't give any drugs back" and signed an order returning all of the clients' medicine, bongs, cash, and every damn thing the Oakland Gestapo took from their home almost one year ago, including nude pictures of one of the defendant's girl friend. Dennis Robert's sense of honor and personal integrity forced him to return the nude photos without posting them on the web. Damn, what a bummer.
So then, armed with a judicially signed return of property order, on May 17th after a couple of false starts, such as the property room was closed, the blasted narc office was closed or everybody was out to lunch (and I thought narcs were always out to lunch), Dennis and company got all the police and their agents in one place and got everything, and I do mean everything, returned to their proper owners.
Now, according to Dennis, a special thanks needs to go out to the Property Room Clerk who worked through his lunch hour to make sure the return was complete, including the $3500.00 cash. Once the work was completed the clerk was given a "get out of jail free" card by Dennis for his exemplary services. Even the narc turned into quite a nice guy once he learned that one of the defendants was a baseball coach for a special 18 year old team in the Bay Area, as his kids also were into baseball in a big way. At the end cards and handshakes were exchanged all around.
The victory was memorialized with photos and a small celebration to welcome the return of their medicine. A bong was fired up and all of those with medical recommendations, and possibly a few who didn't have them, shared the community bong. A high time was had by all.
The fun stuff can now begin. On June 15th of this year Dennis presented a Petition for a Finding of Factual Innocence, also known in legalese as PC 851.8, to the Alameda County Superior Court Judge who previously granted one for another defendant in a medical case. What do you mean forum shopping? No forum shopping here, no way -- just the luck of the draw. Isn't it handy to be lucky once in a while?
Remember I wrote that the 851.8 is worth its weight in gold? Here is was it does: The PC 851.8 relief doesn't just "expunge" the record - meaning it sits there with a notation next to it - but PC 851.8 requires the local police agency and the Department of 'Just Us' in Sacramento to destroy every single record of this event, turning it into a non-event. The order even requires the Department of Justice to go to the feds and have them destroy their records. Like the Nazis, the Department of Justice is consumed with record keeping and there is nothing they hate more than being ordered to destroy their carefully preserved records. Oh well, life is a bitch.
The judge took the matter in hand and will issue his ruling within the next 60 days or so. All that means is either he will sign the order or he will not. Dennis fully believes the judge will sign the order because, as Dennis put it, "the only crime that these people committed was obeying the law."
And there you have it. Another bad bust by police and after a rather lengthly battle, another victory for medical marijuana. Now if we can just get police to abide by the law. . . . .
You can reach Dennis via email or through his website.
Click here for more Growin' Our Own.
Pipeline (page 2)
We're not U.S.'s biggest bud pusher says the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
By: Jim Bronskill (Canadian Press)
OTTAWA -- Canada's budding reputation as America's pot pusher is getting a shakedown from some new figures that tell a different tale.
Far from being the major exporter of marijuana to the United States as many might think, Canada accounts for only a small fraction of the American supply, a newly released report indicates.
The RCMP's annual assessment of the drug situation in Canada, citing the latest seizure statistics, points out that most U.S. marijuana is homegrown or smuggled in from Mexico.
While the amount of pot detected moving south from Canada has increased steadily since 2000, to almost 15,700 kilograms last year, it was dwarfed by the 406,000 kilograms of Mexican marijuana seized at the U.S. border in 2003. [Ed. note: As Mike Golden so precisely stated.]
In addition, American authorities continue to report that their primary source of marijuana remains the U.S., the RCMP report says.
The numbers contrast sharply with images of potent B.C. Bud stashes slipping south by the truckload or, in some cases, being tossed across the border in duffel bags.
"It's quite clear that we are only a minor supplier of cannabis to the United States," said Eugene Oscapella of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, which advocates regulated legalization of marijuana.
Still, the RCMP considers the export of marijuana to the U.S., particularly from British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, to be a "thriving industry."
Proceeds from pot sales to the U.S. are being used to purchase cocaine for importation into Canada, the RCMP notes.
Canadian marijuana production remains a persistent headache for police, with seizures of an average of 1.1 million plants annually in the last five years.
"For some police forces, investigations into marijuana grow operations represent more than half their drug cases," the report says.
"Interdictions on the highways, at bus, train and domestic airport terminals clearly indicate that B.C. is fast becoming a source of marijuana for the Prairie provinces and other eastbound destinations."
Despite the plentiful supply of domestic marijuana, nearly 755 kilograms of foreign pot were seized in or en route to Canada.
Seizures of the popular club drug Ecstasy jumped significantly to the equivalent of 5.8 million doses last year from 1.8 million in 2002.
A shift toward importation of large powder shipments from Western Europe for processing into tablet form in Canada accounted for the dramatic increase, the Mounties say.
The production, trafficking and use of methamphetamine, commonly known as speed, are "of increasing concern across the country," the report says. Surveys indicate growing use among high school students.
Thirty-seven clandestine methamphetamine labs were dismantled last year, up from 25 in 2002.
The RCMP also reported:
-- A continuing increase in the number of illicit anabolic steroid shipments entering Canada, with most originating in or passing through the U.S.
-- The importation of large quantities of cocaine into Canada mainly via sailing or fishing boats -- a new tactic aimed at avoiding the increased scrutiny of marine containers due to heightened terrorism fears.
-- War-ravaged Afghanistan remained the main source of opium last year, producing an estimated three-quarters of the world's supply. [Ed. note: Just as Elmore Stone so accurately predicted.]
Click here for more Pipeline.
Dakota Joseph Arts