+ 27th May 2007 | Hard to just say 'No' to Marijuana Growing Tenants

Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA USA)
Author: Carol Lloyd

(CA USA) "It was a nightmare," says landlady Kyla Brooke of renting out a house in West Sonoma County. "They completely trashed the house -- they covered the floors with plastic, changed the electricity, added fans. They were pouring corrosive chemicals down the pipes. In the end, the walls were covered with mold. And then they threatened to sue us -- for mold." She pauses. "It had been a house in mint condition. If my husband hadn't been a contractor -- the damage they did would have cost us $25,000 or more."

In the pantheon of real estate nightmares, finding that your home or apartment has been turned into a marijuana "grow room" should qualify any landlord for a seat at the head of the table. Yet as medical marijuana laws have spawned a population of legitimate customers seeking respite from chronic illnesses, and police forces increasingly crack down on outdoor farms, more marijuana operations are going undercover in a residential neighborhood near you. With high-powered sun-spectrum lighting, new ventilation systems and seeds adapted to interior growth, grow rooms are springing up everywhere -- in rural country cabins, suburban tract homes and urban apartments.

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+ 25th May 2007 :: TOD H. MIKURIYA, 73; Medicinal Pioneer

Source: Los Angeles Times
Author: Valerie J. Nelson

Dr. Tod H. Mikuriya, a psychiatrist who was a leading figure in California's medical marijuana movement, died from complications of cancer Sunday at his Berkeley home, his family said. He was 73.

He helped draft Proposition 215, a state ballot measure that legalized marijuana for the seriously ill who have a doctor's recommendation. Since its passage in 1996, Mikuriya had written approvals for almost 9,000 patients, said his friend Fred Gardner.

Mikuriya had studied the drug's therapeutic potential since the 1960s and briefly directed marijuana research at the National Institute of Mental Health. He left when he realized the government only "wanted bad things found out about marijuana," he told the online newsmagazine AlterNet in 2004.

In 1999, Mikuriya founded the Society of Cannabis Clinicians to educate colleagues about the plant's medical uses. He wrote books on the subject and kept a list of medical conditions that had been eased by cannabis; among the 285 ailments were many cancers, insomnia and stuttering.

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+ 23rd May 2007 :: Marijuana and the Law (Canada)

Source: Tumbler Ridge News (BC Canada)
Author: Lesley Coates

(Canada BC) There has been lots of talk in Canada about decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. It is important to know that this has not happened to date and that possession of marijuana is still illegal. The current legislation governing cannabis use and possession is found under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. It states that a person charged with simple possession of 30 grams or less of cannabis or 1 gram or less of cannabis resin (hash or hash oil) may be prosecuted summarily and provides for a maximum term of 6 months imprisonment, a fine of $1000.00 or both and a permanent court record. For larger amounts or a second offence, the maximum penalties are $2,000 and/or 12 months in prison, and a permanent criminal record.

Most people convicted of possessing marijuana for the first time receive a fine or a discharge. Either way, you could end up with a criminal record. The maximum penalty for growing marijuana is seven years in prison. The maximum penalty for selling marijuana (called “trafficking”), or bringing it in or out of the country, is life in prison.

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+ 20th May 2007 :: Shops to face bong ban fines

Source: The Sunday Mail (Adelaide)
Author: unknown

SHOP-OWNERS who sell cannabis bongs and other drug implements will face fines of up to $50,000 under tough new laws to be introduced to State Parliament this month.

The new legislation will also cover the sale of pipes used to smoke deadly crystal methamphetamine – known as ice – hashish and kits used to cut cocaine.

Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said the new laws would ensure such paraphernalia, now freely available at many shops, could not be sold.

Existing legislation covering the sale of such objects has been ineffective against retailers because it does not refer directly to the sale of drug implements.

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+ 16th May 2007 :: Blast for state's drug policies

Source: The Age (Australia)
Author: Annabel Stafford and Carol Nader

STATE cannabis laws must be strengthened and a heroin injecting room in Sydney's Kings Cross closed down, the federal minister responsible for illicit drugs has warned, ahead of a meeting on drug policy with the states today.

Christopher Pyne has lashed out at his state counterparts for being weak when it comes to preventing illicit drug use and accused them of undermining Canberra's "Tough on Drugs" stance -- foreshadowing a fight at today's Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy.

Despite growing evidence of the contribution cannabis makes to mental health problems, "the state governments still have a soft approach to cannabis use", Mr Pyne said. "( Many of them ) still have a series of warnings before nothing much more than the equivalent of a traffic fine."

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+ 15th May 2007 :: More drivers test for drugs than drink

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Ben Cubby

ALMOST three times as many NSW drivers have tested positive to illegal drugs as those caught with alcohol in their systems, a new police random drug testing unit has found.

Of the 1600 drivers stopped and given a swab test by the unit since it was established in January, one in 46 were discovered to have taken illegal drugs.

In some areas, one in eight long haul truck drivers tested were caught using illegal drugs, chiefly amphetamines.

By comparison, random breath testing catches one driver in 130 for driving over their alcohol limit.

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+ 12th May 2007 :: Startling increase in drug seizures

Source: The Advertiser (Adelaide)
Author: TORY SHEPHERD

CANNABIS seizures have more than doubled in South Australia, but arrests have increased by only 6 per cent.

The national Illicit Drug Data Report released yesterday also shows a massive increase in the amount of amphetamines seized by police, from about 5kg in 2004-05 to more than 66kg in 2005-06.

The report from the Australian Crime Commission shows there were more than 500 cannabis seizures in the 2005-06 financial year, compared to 251 the year before.

The weight of cannabis seized has also doubled, to almost 8000kg.

However, there was only a 6 per cent increase in arrests and a 15 per cent increase in the number of cannabis expiation notices.

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+ 11th May 2007 :: Check the Store Locator!!!

The store locator has been completed, with over 1200 retailers across the country. To score your bag, visit the store locator map and select your state. Then choose your postcode and find your nearest dealer.

On another note, StickyPoint had a stand at this years Nimbin MardiGrass. The event was jam packed ful of fun for the family, attracting a wonderful audience down in Peace Park. Too all of those who didn't make it down to Peace Park, make sure you catch it next year.

Thanks to the Hemp Embassy (the Mayor did a fantastic job) and to the volunteers that helped put on an awesome event. Thanks also to those of you who stopped by and said hi, we love the support.

Secret Squirrel also wanted to pass on a message that issue 03 is on the way....^ TOP

 

+ 9th May 2007 :: Trying Medical Marijuana

Source: Monday Magazine
Author: ANDREW MacLEOD

(B.C. CANADA) If Victoria deputy police chief Bill Naughton takes the stand in a drug trial starting this week, he will testify on behalf of two men accused of growing marijuana. While it’s strange for a police officer to defend alleged pot growers in court—and it’s not yet certain he will appear—the grow-op in question was an unusual one.

West Shore RCMP officers arrested Michael Swallow and Mathew Beren during a May, 2004, raid of an East Sooke site that provided high quality cannabis to the Vancouver Island Compassion Society. The VICS, in turn, supplied the cannabis from the site to patients who were using it to treat various ailments.

“This was different from your normal grow-op,” says Philippe Lucas, VICS executive director and a former city council candidate. “We don’t deny anything we’re doing. It’s the questions of why and how that are the main issues.”

Lucas says Swallow was just visiting the facility and not actually involved. RCMP officers charged Swallow and Berens with production of marijuana and with possession of more than three kilograms of the drug for the purpose of trafficking.

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+ 7th May 2007 :: Many Arrests At Nimbin Mardi Grass

Source: The Age (Australia)
Author: Unknown

More than 100 people were arrested during the annual Mardi Grass weekend festival at Australia's cannabis capital, Nimbin, NSW police said.

The northern NSW town's 34th Mardi Grass attracted up to 7,000 people for a three-day weekend event but brought with it a raft of arrests for possession of cannabis-laced goods and offensive behaviour.

Two police officers were injured while chasing an offender on foot, requiring surgery for one of the officers.

A roadside police operation and foot patrols resulted in 109 people being arrested, with 50 charged with various offences and 62 cautioned for cannabis possession.

The majority of those charged are alleged to have possessed or supplied a prohibited drug.

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+ 5th May 2007 :: El Paso man busted with 5,000 pounds of marijuana

Source: El Paso Times (Texas, USA)
Author:Renée Ruelas-Venegas

LAS CRUCES -- An El Paso man is behind bars after the seizure of 4,910 pounds of marijuana by the Las Cruces-Doña Ana County Metro Narcotics Agency.

The marijuana has a street value $6 million, the largest bust in the agency's history, an official said.

"The seizure was part of a three- to five-week-long undercover investigation," Sgt. Joseph Gonzales said.

El Pasoan Arturo Flores, 49, was arrested Thursday at 336 Paseo Real in Chaparral, N.M.

Inside the residence and a 1998 Chevy panel truck that Flores was driving, agents found the marijuana in shrink-wrapped bags inside 125 boxes, Gonzales said.

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