News

Genius Girl Scout Sets Up Cookie Stand Next to Pot Shop

http://www.blog.sfgate.com link

This is the true essence of entrepreneurship! If there is marijuana4sale, bring cookies.

Cypress Hill Plays Amazing Set at Rock on the Range, B-Real Smokes Joint on Stage



Saturday, May 19, 2012
Columbus, Ohio
marijuana4sale.com

Cypress Hill played an amazing set on a side stage at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio. Rock on the Range has been billed this year as the largest Rock Festival in America, with 44 bands and 3 stages. A Rap band, Cypress Hill stood out as true professionals at the exclusively “hard rock” concert. Midway through the set, front man B-Real lit up a joint and smoked the entire thing on stage. We definitely support his efforts to promote legalization! As the only non-Rock band at the festival, Cypress Hill’s performance was certainly a breath of fresh air amidst all the hard rock angst.

Marijuana a Growing Problem for Detroit Lions, NFL in General

detroitnews.com

Wiz Khalifa Cited for Marijuana Possession in Nashville

RollingStone.com

Fancy Marijuana Dinner Date



BoingBoing.net

Marijuana Rally at Colorado University on April 20, 2012

USAToday.com

Honolulu Police Arrested for medical marijuana

HawaiiNewsNow.com

More Dispensaries than Starbucks in Denver

HuffingtonPost.com

5 arrested for dumping garbage bag of pot in Civic Center and passing it out, police say

5 arrested for dumping garbage bag of pot in Civic Center and passing it out, police say

The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20181528/5-arrested-dumping-garbage-bag-pot-civic-center#ixzz1pmiqRrDZ

Denver Police officers arrested five people in Civic Center this afternoon, after a garbage bag full of marijuana was allegedly dumped out, re-bagged and passed out to park patrons.
Around 12:30 p.m., officers were called to the park, near where Occupy Denver typically holds demonstrations and marches, after they received reports of the marijuana, said Sonny Jackson, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department.
The bag was dumped on a blue tarp in the northeast corner of the park, police said. About 30 people were in the park when the marijuana a was being distributed.
“Why they were doing this we don’t know,” Jackson said. “This is a public park and we cannot have people openly distributing marijuana.”
It did not appear that anyone was paying for the marijuana.
Officers on bikes, motorcycles and on foot responded to the scene.
Several people in the park recorded the incident on cell phones and video cameras as officers loaded the bag into a car.
As officers cleared the park, one woman called the cops “pigs” and “terrorists.”
It is unknown if any of the people taken into custody have been arrested at the park before. Their names have not been released.

Pot Package sent Anonymously to Publishing House

NYDailyNews.com

Obama’s Switch to Hardline on Medical Marijuana a Mystery

MotherJones.com

Pot Smokers’ Proven to Slack at Work

MSNBC.com

Plane Carrying 20 Pounds of Marijuana Strays into Obama’s Marine One Restricted Helicopter Airspace

CNN.com

Texas Christian University Football Players Charged with Dealing Drugs, Including Marijuana

CNN.com

Suge Knight Arrested in Las Vegas for Marijuana Possession

NME.com

UFCs Nick Diaz Caught for Marijuana Use

SportsIllustrated.CNN.com

Pilot for Major Commercial Airline in Indonesia Arrested for Crystal Meth (between 2010 and 2011 Meth overtook Marijuana as the number one drug in Indonesia)

MSNBC.com

30 Marijuana Bales ($500,000.00 worth) Found Floating Off Beach in Marina del Rey, California

MSNBC.com

Medical Marijuana Questions Dominate Obama’s Online Chat

CBS.com

Snoop Dogg Busted in Texas for Minor Marijuana Offense



NYdailynews.com

Government Releases Study Saying Marijuana Does Not Damage Lung Function

LAtimes.com

Cities Seek Other Options to Costly Marijuana Cases

www.LAtimes.com

High IQ and Drug Use Linked

www.CNN.com

Purdue Pharma’s Blockbuster Drug – Oxycotin

www.CNN.com

A Deportation Officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested for Pot Smuggling

APNewsBreak: ICE officer arrested in pot smuggling
By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press
Posted: 10/19/2011 12:23:38 PM MDT
Updated: 10/19/2011 06:49:33 PM MDT

PHOENIX—A deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led Arizona state police and federal agents on a high-speed desert chase in his government vehicle, throwing bundles of marijuana out of the window as he fled, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.

The deportation officer, identified as Jason Alistair Lowery, 34, had been under surveillance for more than month after a known smuggler who had been arrested gave authorities a tip about the officer in an effort to get lenient treatment, Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook told The Associated Press.

In a criminal complaint filed late Wednesday against Lowery, who also used to be a Border Patrol agent, a Department of Homeland Security investigator wrote that he got further information about Lowery through a confidential informant on Oct. 4.

The informant, whose identity was protected, said that he or she was involved with Lowery and another man in a “rip” crew in which Lowery used his status in law enforcement to help steal marijuana from illegal immigrants, wrote Brian Gamberg-Bonilla, a special agent with the DPS’s Office of Investigations.

The informant agreed to call Lowery and arrange for him to pick up 500 pounds of pot in the desert on Tuesday, which is how authorities were able to follow him and begin to make their case, Gamberg-Bonilla wrote in the document.

DPS and federal agents tried to pull Lowery over after he picked up the marijuana with his unmarked ICE pickup truck, Cook said. Lowery then fled, leading agents on a 45-minute chase at speeds of up to 110 mph as he threw 10 of the 14 bundles of pot that he had in the truck out of the window, he said.

“He got pretty desperate,” Cook said.

The chase began in the Vekol Valley about 45 miles south of Phoenix and ended just south of Sacaton, about 20 miles as the crow flies northwest from where the chase began. It ended when Lowery’s truck rolled over and he gave himself up.

Lowery, who lives in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, appeared in federal court in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday but did not address the court. He sat quietly awaiting the hearing and at one point looked up at the ceiling and repeatedly shook his head.

Prosecutor John Lopez argued that Lowery should be detained as his court case proceeds, saying that he poses a risk to the community and could flee the state. He also said that Lowery had a non-government-issued gun on him when he was arrested.

Federal Magistrate Michelle Burns set a hearing in the matter for Tuesday.

Lowery’s court-appointed attorney, Rebecca Felmly, declined to comment. Lowery’s wife, who identified herself as Trina Lowery, also declined to speak to The Associated Press.

Mexican drug cartels have infiltrated federal law enforcement agencies along the border for years, targeting hiring initiatives with their own people or recruiting officers.

Between 2003 and early 2010, 129 U.S. customs officers and Border Patrol agents were arrested on corruption charges, according to Tom Frost, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant inspector general for investigations. The office was not immediately able to provide an updated figured to the AP.

“This is becoming all too common, in my opinion,” said Jim Dorcy, a retired Border Patrol agent who later investigated corruption among agents for the Justice Department. “Statistically it’s pretty rare, but you have to understand that as a law enforcement agency, it should be approaching zero.”

He said any amount of corruption in a police agency, let alone dozens of cases, destroys the public’s confidence and criminals’ respect. The heart of the problem lies in recent hiring booms in ICE and the Border Patrol in which the bar was lowered to meet hiring quotas, Dorcy said.

As for the corruption cases he investigated, Dorcy said it usually came down greed.

“They just want to make more money than the job offers, and they get offered a very tempting amount of money,” he said.

In one notable case, former Customs officer Margarita Crispin was arrested in El Paso, Texas, in 2007 and sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import more than 1,000 kilograms (2,204 pounds) of marijuana. Prosecutors alleged that she accepted more than $5 million in bribes over several years in exchange for letting smugglers’ vehicles pass through her checkpoint without inspection.

In a more recent case, former Border Patrol agent Michael Angelo Atondo was found guilty of trafficking marijuana in southwestern Arizona after fellow Border Patrol agents found him in a remote area along the border near San Luis—several miles outside of his patrol zone—with 745 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle.

Prosecutors say Atondo appeared to be a mole who infiltrated the agency to smuggle drugs. The 34-year-old will be sentenced Jan. 9.

In Lowery’s case, DPS believes that he was taking the 500 pounds of marijuana that he picked up in the desert to a man working for a drug cartel whose house served as the nexus of the drug distribution.

Lowery was booked into Pinal County jail on charges of smuggling and felony flight and was turned over to ICE custody Wednesday morning. The sheriff’s office also booked the man who was to receive the marijuana, identified as 33-year-old Joshua Duane Powell of Arizona City.

At Powell’s home, police found 14 rifles and guns in the trunk of his car, seven of which had been reported stolen, according to a DPS document.

The document also said that Powell had been out on a $25,000 bond stemming from a separate investigation last month in which multiple bulletproof vests, weapons, stolen night-vision equipment, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and various drugs were found in his home.

“Since his release only a few weeks ago, (Powell) has amassed a small arsenal of weapons and has proven to continue involvement in the illicit drug trade,” the document said.

Powell does not yet have an attorney and he has declined interview requests from the news media.

ICE spokesman Vinnie Picard said that Lowery worked as a deportation officer for the agency since August 2008 but declined to provide further information about Lowery.

“ICE is cooperating with federal and state authorities in this matter,” Picard said in a statement. “We hold our officers and agents to the highest levels of responsibility and are committed to supporting the agencies investigating this incident.”

Lowery worked as a deportation agent in ICE’s fugitive operations team, which goes after illegal immigrants who fail to leave the country after they’re ordered to be deported. Such officers carry weapons and have arrest powers.

Border Patrol spokesman Mario Escalante said Lowery also worked for that agency before going to ICE, but did not know for how long.

Five Arkansas Law Enforcement Officers Arrested along with 70 Others in Drug Bust

www.CNN.com LINK REMOVED BY PUBLISHER

Kevin Smith Became a Stoner because of Seth Rogen

www.nydailynews.com

Woman Pulls Out Bag of Pot Instead of ID for Police

www.miamiherald.com

Oregon Ducks Player Ticketed for Excessive Speeding with Marijuana Smell in Car

www.katu.com

Cocaine Used to be Considered Wonder Drug

CNN.com

Classic M4S Link : June 22, 2010 – Accused Jamaican drug lord akin to Robin Hood, Pablo Escobar

CNN.com

Timberlake “Absolutely” Smokes Pot

marquee.blogs.cnn.com

One Million Medical Marijuana Users in California?

the420times.com

Church Angered by Dispensary

cnn.com

Medical Marijuana Convention Ads on Denver Buses Prompt Public Outrage

DENVER – Drivers are about to start seeing ads for what is being billed as the largest-ever cannabis convention on RTD buses.

“This is merely an ad about an event being held at the Colorado Convention Center. There is nothing specific in that which is illegal per se,” RTD spokesman Scott Reed said.

After some discussion, RTD decided to allow the ads on some of the vehicles in its fleet.

The event is called KushCon.

“[It will be] 300,000 square feet of marijuana lifestyle events,” Wanda James, the KushCon II organizer, said.

James says it is the country’s largest cannabis convention ever, and it will be at the Colorado Convention Center on Dec. 17 through Dec. 19. More than 400 vendors have signed up.

James says Kush is a strain of marijuana.

“This is a legitimate industry. This is a legitimate business. This is a legitimate ad,” she said.

To James, RTD’s decision to allow the ads on 33 of its buses represents a big deal.

“The fact that RTD now has ads on the sides of its buses goes to the legitimacy of that piece and to the social acceptance here in Colorado of the marijuana industry,” she said.

Reed says hold on, downplaying the ads.

“This does not violate our advertising policy. It merely advertises an event being held at the Colorado Convention Center,” he said.

RTD still does not allow ads for medical marijuana centers on its buses.

“We have a policy in place that allows us to control things that would be extremely controversial or wouldn’t be in the best interest for RTD to advertise,” Reed said.

While some newspapers, including The Denver Post, accept ads for medical marijuana centers, many TV stations, including 9NEWS, do not.

(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)