November 12, 2013

(AZ) Judge to sentence U.S. border cops who made smugglers eat marijuana

Two U.S. Border Patrol agents who forced four suspected drug smugglers to chew marijuana and flee shoeless into the Arizona desert on a chilly November night are due to be sentenced on Tuesday for violating the men's civil rights.

A jury convicted Dario Castillo, 25, and Ramon Zuniga, 31, in April of depriving the Mexican men, all of whom were in the U.S. illegally, of civil rights in the incident in the borderland deserts of southern Arizona.

The 2008 incident began when a Border Patrol agent mounted on horseback discovered a group of men sleeping in a dry stream bed in the desert, which straddles a key corridor for Mexican traffickers smuggling drugs and illegally ferrying immigrants into the United States.

Castillo and Zuniga were about to end their shift after midnight, according to testimony, when they got a call for assistance from the horse patrol. They responded, but the group of about 20 suspected smugglers scattered into the night when the agents arrived.

Four men were captured and stripped of their shoes and jackets, which is normal procedure for agents maintaining control of multiple suspects. But then the men's belongings were thrown into a small fire and both agents forced them to chew handfuls of marijuana, the court heard.

The men were then told to flee into the desert, shoeless and without jackets, on a night when the temperature hovered around 50 F (10 C). They were captured the next morning by tribal police from the Tohono O'odham Nation.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-borderpatrol-sentencing-20131112,0,4756699.story

November 12, 2013

(MA) Mass. Hospitals Weigh Medical Marijuana Liability Risk

As Massachusetts lays the groundwork for medical marijuana, new clashes between the state law and a continuing federal ban on marijuana use are emerging. Hospitals, hospice care organizations and nursing homes are weighing the balance of serving their patients and protecting billions of dollars in federal funding.

Here’s the dilemma: Towards the end of long forms that authorize federal payments to hospitals, an executive has to certify that yes, the hospital is in compliance with federal law. But that statement would not be true if patients at the hospital are using marijuana for medical purposes and a doctor at that hospital is helping them.

“It’s really challenging for the practitioners,” says Larry Vernaglia, an attorney at Foley & Lardner who wrote a memo laying out the issues for the Massachusetts Hospital Association. If doctors say to themselves “‘even though we have this new pathway under state law, we’re not going to help our patients for fear of our liability,’ I think that’s a terrible position to be in,” Vernaglia says.

And hospitals face significant possible risks. Tim Gens, executive vice president at the Massachusetts Hospital Association, says violating federal law could get hospitals in trouble with the IRS over their nonprofit status. Grants through the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense fund most of the research at Boston hospitals. And there’s the billions of dollars in payments hospitals receive through Medicare and Medicaid.

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/11/mass-hospitals-medical-marijuana

November 11, 2013

(CA) Economic impact of marijuana legalization subject of presentation

Jennifer Budwig is a member of the Redwood Regional Economic Development Committee, the McLean Foundation board and the Fortuna Sunrise Rotary Club. She joined Redwood Capital Bank in mid-2006, following more than a decade with Umpqua Bank and four years at US Bank and graduated with honors in 2011 from the Pacific Coast Banking School.

Budwig was the guest speaker at last week's Garberville Rotary Club meeting at the Healy Senior Center in Redway. Her presentation examined the potential economic impact if marijuana were legalized, generating a major increase in supply and greatly reduced prices. The probability of legalization appears to be rising, she noted, and if it leads to mass production, profits to local producers might plummet.

Budwig's research confirms that marijuana has increasingly filled the economic gap in Humboldt County left by the steep decline in the timber and fishing industries. The scope and scale of the county's underground economy are powerful enough to affect “all local businesses and individuals,” she said. Once again the county finds itself overly dependent on a single resource, continuing an historical pattern that has stunted the county's economic diversification and imperiled its environment for decades.

In her research, Budwig estimates the annual gross dollar impact of county-grown marijuana, how much of the money is spent in the county and how much it contributes to the county's economy relative to the amount exported from it.

She also analyzed other variables believed likely to influence the short- and long-term impacts on Humboldt County if legalization transpires.

http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_23875645/economic-impact-marijuana-legalization-subject-presentation?source=most_viewed

Budwig said that 10 years ago Humboldt-grown marijuana brought around $4,500 to $5,000 a pound; five years ago it brought $3,500 to $4,000, and currently the price is anywhere from $1,500 a pound down to $800. She estimates that legalization will drop it down to about $300 to $400 a pound.

Although accurate figures are hard to come by, Budwig said it costs anywhere from $70 a pound to $400 a pound to grow depending on the site and other mitigating factors, with profits running as high as 506%.

Her research shows that there were approximately 800,000 plants grown in Humboldt County in 2010. The gross income from the indoor crops was $168,000,000 with outdoor at around $864,000,000 with a combined total of $1,032,000,000.

November 11, 2013

(MI) Bree Freed! Michigan Medical Marijuana Family Regains Custody of Infant

After weeks of court-ordered separation, Bree Green has finally been returned to the custody of her parents.

Things are going better for the Green family now than when we last posted about them. Steve and Maria Green’s daughter had been removed by Child Protective Services because of now-dismissed legal charges and complaints from Maria’s ex-husband about the fact that the Greens legally grow their own medical marijuana. A prosecutor in Oakland County reviewed Steve’s medical records and approved their motion for immunity under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. The felony cannabis charges have been dropped, and neither Steve nor Maria Green are facing any other criminal charges. The same judge who refused to allow Steve’s attorney to even speak about his medical necessity was forced to sign the order vacating the charges.

In a sick twist of fate, however, the end of the medical marijuana criminal case against these loving parents did not result in the immediate return of their beautiful daughter, Bree.

Although criminal charges against the Greens were dropped on October 3rd, their daughter Brielle wasn’t returned to their custody until October 25th, 2013.

http://www.ladybud.com/2013/11/11/baby-brees-return-home-blocked-by-allegedly-positive-hair-follicle-test/

November 11, 2013

(FL) Republicans fighting against legalizing medical marijuana

Republicans in our state are beginning to fight back against a bill calling for the legalization of medical marijuana.

The House Speaker and Senate President formally oppose the language of the measure aimed for the November 2014 ballot.

Attorney General Pam Bondi warns the bill is misleading and could make medical marijuana legitimate in "limitless situations".

http://www.wflx.com/story/23935279/fl-republicans-fighting-against-legalizing-medical-marijuana

November 11, 2013

(FL) Veterans show support for medical marijuana at clinic

Ex-military members from around Pasco County, the state and the nation gathered last Thursday in front of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic New Port Richey to rally in support of legalizing medical marijuana use.

Spotting signs such as “Vets for Cannabis,” several drivers honked their car horns as they zipped by on Little Road.

With some 50,000 veterans residing in Pasco County, the issue of medical marijuana often touches a nerve. Donald Land, a 20-year Army veteran from the area, showed his support to put a constitutional amendment on a ballot to let voters decide.

“Part of the reason that we’re here is the fact that there are so many veterans in this community who are being treated for post-traumatic stress,” Jodie James, Florida Cannabis Action Network executive director and 100kstrong.net Project representative, said. Some psychotropic drugs to treat PTSD can cause suicidal tendencies, James said.

- See more at: http://suncoastnews.com/su/list/news-pasco/veterans-show-support-for-medical-marijuana-at-clinic-20131111/

November 11, 2013

(National) PUBLIC OPINION: Legalization Of Marijuana More Popular

Marijuana is moving on “greased tracks” toward legalization, according to the advocacy group that’s been riding the train for more than 40 years.

The reason is a stark shift in public opinion, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. On Tuesday, Portland, Maine, followed Washington and Colorado’s lead and legalized recreational use of the drug, while the Michigan cities of Lansing, Jackson and Ferndale resoundingly voted to let people older than 21 possess an ounce of the green stuff on private property.

The municipal votes may seem like small potatoes, but St. Pierre said that 2013 isn’t just an off-year for elections, it’s an “off-off-year.”
“I absolutely pinch myself every single day, affirming that these changes are happening and they appear long-lasting,” he said.
In Colorado, where voters OK’d recreational use in last year’s election, another measure to tax marijuana — opposed by some pot proponents — also passed Tuesday.

“Here on K Street, that’s a victory,” he said, referring to the lobbyist row in Washington where NORML is headquartered. “(Not taxing marijuana) would’ve created a whole heap of mess with the federal government. Institutionally, strategically speaking, marijuana isn’t going to become legal if it’s not being taxed.”

While public opinion on legalization has changed drastically since the 1960s, St. Pierre notes there has been an unprecedented spike in approval ratings just in the past year, reaching 58%, according to a Gallup Poll last month. The number marks a 10% increase since Colorado and Washington voted to legalize it, “and the legal momentum shows no sign of abating,” according to Gallup.

http://whotv.com/2013/11/11/public-opinion-legalization-of-marijuana-more-popular/

November 11, 2013

(CA) Palm Springs to set marijuana tax rate

Measure B vote allows city to assess up to 15 percent

Operators of medical marijuana dispensaries may find out early next month how much of their bottom line will go to the city in taxes.

Palm Springs voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Measure B — a tax of up to 15 percent on the proceeds of medical marijuana dispensaries. Unofficial final results show 66.3 percent of voters supported it, while 33.7 percent opposed it.

The City Council will likely set the tax rate at its Dec. 4 meeting and discuss the future of a fourth dispensary.

The Riverside County Registrar of Voters expects to certify the results Tuesday. City Attorney Doug Holland said the city could levy the tax as soon as Dec. 4, when council reviews the election results, but expects city leaders won’t rush it.

“We hope we can start to impose it as early as Jan. 1 … and give everyone reasonable notice,” he said.

Holland said the tax could generate anywhere from $250,000 up to $1 million a year depending on the tax rate, how many dispensaries are in operation and the number of patients.

The tax will affect the three legal dispensaries and any illegal ones still operating.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20131110/NEWS01/311100018/Palm-Springs-set-marijuana-tax-rate

November 11, 2013

(VT) NH jail official backs legalizing marijuana

A jail superintendent in New Hampshire is speaking out in Vermont in support of legalizing marijuana.

Richard Van Winkler, superintendent of the Cheshire County House of Corrections, is speaking Tuesday at a town hall meeting at the Vermont Statehouse. In a recent interview, he told Vermont Public Radio that under the current system, drug money goes to bad guys and the money funds terrorism. But he says if marijuana was legal, and was taxed and regulated like alcohol, illegal drug dealers would be put out of business.

Van Winkler says about 15 percent of the inmates at his facility are non-violent drug offenders.

http://www.wcax.com/story/23934997/nh-jail-official-backs-legalizing-marijuana

November 11, 2013

'Truly shocking' that the private-school educated and affluent middle class still run Britain

Former Prime Minister criticises the dominance of private-school educated elite in “upper echelons” of British public life

The dominance of a private-school educated elite and well-heeled middle class in the “upper echelons” of public life in Britain is “truly shocking”, Sir John Major has said.

The former Conservative Prime Minister said he was appalled that “every single sphere of British influence” in society is dominated by men and women who went to private school or who are from the “affluent middle class”

More than half of the Cabinet, including David Cameron, the Prime Minister, George Osborne, the Chancellor, and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, are thought to have gone to private school and are independently very wealthy.

In the speech to Tory party grassroots activists on Friday evening, Sir John - who went to a grammar school in south London and left with three O-Levels - said: “In every single sphere of British influence, the upper echelons of power in 2013 are held overwhelmingly by the privately educated or the affluent middle class. To me from my background, I find that truly shocking.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10439303/Truly-shocking-that-the-private-school-educated-and-affluent-middle-class-still-run-Britain-says-Sir-John-Major.html

America is likewise dominated by politicians who attended Americas east coast elite schools. National politics have an north east coast bias.

In a country of 360 million, it seems like a statistical impossibility that fraternity brothers Bush and SOS Kerry would end up as opponents in a national election.