Another Dispensary Raided in Palm Springs
December 4th, 2006 by Alex
Looks like it’s tense times for dispensaries in the deep south of California. After San Diego’s challenge to the medical marijuana laws failed, plenty of attention is still being paid to co-ops of all shapes and sizes.
This week’s Dispensary Gets Busted article is courtesy of the Palm Desert police. On December 2nd, Narcotics Division agents served a warrant on CannaHelp, a local co-op. The reason? To discover if the dispensary is selling weed for profit.
It looks like police are using this as a loop-hole to break into any dispensaries in the area, as this was the major reasoning behind 2 other local raids. Yes, co-ops are around to help patients but it’s hard to imagine anyone starting one just for the good feeling of it all.
Running a co-op is a service, and providing that service should allow operators to earn a profit. Not just cost-of-living expenses for the owner and staff.
Good news is, no arrests have been made in connection with the warrants. Stacy Hochanadel, CannaHelp’s owner, was questioned by police but called the entire process ‘professional’. It’s a good sign that she is more than willing to work with police about her books and where the money CannaHelp generates ends up going.
Still, it’s a troubling trend that more and more police units are preemptively raiding dispensaries in order to find things wrong. I’m interested about the judge behind this all and under what basis all of these warrants were signed.
Luckily, CannaHelp is back open and deserving patients will be able to access their medicine.
[via The Desert Sun]
Marijuana Helps Hurts Memory
December 4th, 2006 by Tim
Even though this article is a little dated - March 2006 style - it has some important ramifications. We obviously show a lot of the positive sides of marijuana, but just as with any other drug, there are side-effects.
Live Science reports on a study conducted for Neurology Magazine that proves just how harmful weed can be. Especially, the affect it has on memory development when smoked at a young age.
The entire study is interesting, but let’s just skip to the major points:
- Long-time users remember 7 of 15 words compared to non-users who remember 12 of 15
- Pot seriously harms long-term memory development of people who start smoking before 17 years of age
- In a decision making test, non-smokers had impaired results only 8% of the time, while long-term smokers had it 70% of the time
Pretty scary stuff to be honest. This is why it’s important that any legalization rules prevent people under the age of 18 from smoking any marijuana. The crazy part is when you look at the numbers - 3.1 million Americans age 12 and older use marijuana daily or almost daily. That statistic should be starting at 18 and older, not 12 and older.
So, let’s close this article off with a sobering quote from Lambros Messinis, Department of Neurology staff member from Patras, Greece:
We found that the longer people used marijuana, the more deterioration they had in these cognitive abilities, especially in the ability to learn and remember new information.
Looks like moderation should be the long-time users mantra.
[via Live Science]
Olbermann on Cannabis as an ADD Treatment
December 3rd, 2006 by AlexI’m sure most people are familiar with Keith Olbermann and his show on MSNBC. Well, here’s a video about possible cannabis use to treat ADD and ADHD.
It’s not the most exciting video around, but some good points are made about ingesting cannibinoids for increased duration of effects. In this case, calmness of child hyperactivity.
Let’s hope the government evaluates this information with an open mind.
One Bad Thing That’s Good For You
December 2nd, 2006 by Alex
A lot of the topics covered by tFS are generally conceived as having negative effects. Even things that 90% of the public considers bad for you can actually be good for you - if used in moderation of course.
Here’s a cool list from Live Science that breaks down the ‘Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You’. From coffee to sex, maggots to anger - this list has some pretty interesting items on it.
So where does marijuana rank? A cool 4 out of 10. Ironically, it’s now being touted to prevent memory loss. Ah, how the tables have turned.
[via Live Science]
Drug-Running Grandma
December 2nd, 2006 by Alex
Note: This isn’t the busted granny.
There are plenty of habits that are bad for you and plenty of habits that can get you into trouble. Now we can add bingo to the list.
A 61 year old granny, Leticia Villareal, got busted with 214 pounds of marijuana in her trunk. State troopers confiscated the 10 hidden packages when she was pulled over in Bisbee, Arizona. Why did she have it on her in the first place? To pay for an extreme bingo addiction.
Prosecutor Doyle Johnstun said this:
People who play bingo almost every night of the week end up losing in the long run. The underlying issue is that she’s got a bingo problem, which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this.
I’m not sure about anyone else, but if it comes down to drug running or not playing bingo - I’m going to choose the latter. Now Leticia faces up to 12 years in federal prison.
Bingo is one hell of a drug…
[via CNN]
Compelling Testimony on Medicinal Marijuana
December 1st, 2006 by AlexIf anyone has watched the Penn & Teller: War on Drugs episode, you’ll recognize this man. His name is Ervin Rosenfeld and he is 1 of 5 people alive today who is on the federal medical marijuana program.
He suffers from a debilitating disease that causes “bone tumors to grow outwardly all throughout his body.” In this video, Ervin makes an impassioned speech to the Michigan courts for the legalization of marijuana.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and recap the entire video, but here are a few eyebrow-raising points:
- Ervin smokes 11 ounces of marijuana every 25 days
- Ervin’s marijuana is grown on the University of Mississippi campus
- The DEA conducted a 2 year study of herb and it was found to be one of the most benign substances known to man
- In a 10 year study, not one single case of lung cancer developed as a result of using marijuana
- Jail overcrowding has placed non-violent drug offenders behind bars while violent prisoners are let out early
- There isn’t a single death recorded in the history of mankind that is directly the related to an overdose on marijuana. How many substances can say that?
All in all, this is some damn powerful stuff and definitely worth nine minutes of your day.
[via SoulCast]
Whosarat.com - Informant Database
December 1st, 2006 by Alex
Mr. Orange was the ultimate rat.
Are you a paranoid drug dealer or perhaps a syndicated crime member? Worried that the guy next to you might be giving info to the feds? Well, I have the product for you. It’s called whosarat.com and it’s a website that allows you to access information about people who are undercover agents or suspected witnesses for the prosecution.
Here’s a pretty amazing quote from the site’s so-called spokesperson:
If people got hurt or killed, it’s kind of on them. They knew the dangers of becoming an informant. We’d feel bad, don’t get me wrong, but things happen to people. If they decide to become an informant, with or without the Web site, that’s a possibility.
Wow, sounds like a lot of deep thought and legal research went into that statement. The ‘kind of on them’ defense is almost as impenetrable as the Chewbacca Defense.
The site was started in 2004 by a Boston DJ named Sean Bucci. At first it was free, but now charges people a small fee to become a member. It is responsible for blowing the cover of atleast 1 documented undercover DEA agent and probably responsible for countless more false assertions.
Interestingly enough, while doing some research, it appears the site gets re-directed to a suspended landing page. Looks like law enforcement officials might have finally won the battle to take the site down after all.
Update 12-3-06: The website is up and working properly.
[via CrimeSift]
Visine and NORML, Best Friends Forever
December 1st, 2006 by Alex
Looks like the folks at NORML have been brainstorming new ways to get their message out.
I like it.
[via Politically Outspoken]
