Looks like this 1995 U.S. figure skating champion chose the wrong ice to make a career out of…

On Tuesday, Nicole Bobek, a former Olympic athlete, plead not guilty, via video from the Hudson county jail, to the charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson County, New Jersey.

The 31-year old was arrested last week, at her house in Jupiter, FL, after a year long investigation into a drug ring. Bobek waived extradition rights and was sent to the Garden City. Nineteen people have also been arrested in connection with the drug ring.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said:

She played a significant role in this operation. [...] She was actively involved in the upper echelon of this ring.

Bobek is free on bond, more than likely heading back to her other home in Manhattan, which coincidentally is in the same state where the investigation into the drug ring first began. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years and a $150,000 fine.

Suspended since May for failing a random drug test, NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield has been spinning his wheels in anticipation for his day in court to have the suspension lifted. On Wednesday, July 1st, Mayfield received his chance in federal court. NASCAR revealed that Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamines. Mayfield says he never touched the drug and contends that a mixture of taking Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Claritin-D for allergies caused him to test positive.

Mayfield’s lawyer, Bill Diehl, argued that Aegis Sciences Corporation, based in Nashville, TN, that runs the testing program for NASCAR, tested both the “A” and “B” samples. Diehl stressed the fact that Mayfield should have been given the opportunity to send the “B” sample to an independent laboratory.

Diehl said:

They say ‘We’re not bound by anything. We’re NASCAR. We can do what we want to do’. [...] If they decide to ban Coca-Cola, or coffee or orange juice, their argument is ‘We can’. That smells bad, and it stinks enough that the court should intervene.

Apparently the court felt the same way, U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen, reinstated Mayfield into NASCAR by issuing a temporary injunction. However the damage had already been done, preventing Mayfield from entering this past Saturday’s race in Daytona, FL.

Only owning a low budget team, Mayfield had to lay off ten employees, borrow money from family and sell any personal assets he had in order to keep up with living expenses. His wife, Shana, owns the #41 Toyota now, but hasn’t been having it race because of financial reasons.

Mayfield said:

Shana and I, as well as everyone at Mayfield Motorsports, will do everything in our power to race next weekend.

Unfortunately he’s not on the race entry list for next week’s race in Chicago. Mayfield has missed eight races since his suspension back in May.

If you’ve seen the 2006 movie, Alpha Dog, then you’re already familiar with the case against Jessie James Hollywood.

This Monday, he testified in his own defense saying:

My business was always first.

Obsessed with dieting and working out, Hollywood’s business was dealing marijuana. Prosecutors say Hollywood was the mastermind behind the killing of 15-year old Nicholas Markowitz, who was a kidnapped half-brother of a client that owed Hollywood on a drug debt.

Ironically enough his lawyer, James Blatt, didn’t have him talk about what happened that led up to Markowitz’s murder. His testimony continues tomorrow at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court. Four of his friends had already gone to prison for involvement in the death of Nicholas Markowitz.

Like many key players in the marijuana legalization movement, outspoken, Craig X. Rubin, Pastor of the Temple 420 Church, has a target on his back.

Rubin was arrested three years ago for running a medical marijuana dispensary through the church, Temple 420, and sentenced to five years in prison. He hasn’t served any time, with his case on appeal and moving through the courts and possibly headed to the highest court in the nation, the Supreme Court. According to Rubin, the city of Los Angeles has been spending millions in trying to bring him down.

This past weekend, Rubin attended the world’s largest marijuana convention, THC Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, an event that was funded by Rubin’s family. Rubin has long since claimed that the owner of Apothecary Travel, Bret Bouge and one of the winners of the Cannabis Cup have been working with law enforcement in an effort to entrap him and have him sent to jail.

For the two days of the event, everything was normal, Rubin preached and was there for his supporters and fans of his aspiring acting career. Bouge made an appearance and began harrassing Rubin’s wife, “Mrs. X”.

Rubin commented:

From the stage I saw Bouge acting in a hostile manner with his face less than three inches from my wife’s. I wanted to jump off stage and deal with it, but made a commitment to Oaksterdam to be positive while on their stage. [...] If I have a problem or get in any trouble I go to jail for five years because I am still on probation, so I believe Bouge was there to create a problem, but we just walked away from him.

Lead singer of Los Marijuanos, Rafael “Pony Boy” Ochoa stated:

Todd McCormick, one of the event organizers, was kicking Bouge out of the event until he offered to buy a booth for $1,500 just hours before the event was over.

According to Rubin, Bouge didn’t open his booth nor did he appear to be there to promote his company. Rubin believes that Bouge was only there to cause a scene that might lead to his arrest — right before a hearing scheduled for this month that will look into the seizure of his life savings.

Unfortunately, Judge Leslie Ann Swain will be assigned to the case, the same judge that signed Rubin’s arrest warrant and refused to recognize Rubin being a Pastor. In fact, at Rubin’s trial, the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights could not be mentioned as not to “confuse the jury” — coincidentally the same thing that happened in the Charles Lynch trial.

The irony behind this case is the fact that Rubin has since opened up another medical marijuana dispensary, The Beverly Hills Green Cross, another church that distributes medical marijuana. On May 20th, Rubin showed the judge the minute order that gave him permission to do again exactly what he was convicted for and what caused the seizure of his family’s life savings.

Rubin’s next court date is June 25th. There, his attorney, plans to solicit the court to have the money returned that was seized during Rubin’s first arrest. It seems as if they have plenty of ammunition now to clear Rubin’s name, more so than they did three years ago. The fact that Rubin has opened up another medical marijuana dispensary and has yet to serve any time from being convicted of operating a medical marijuana dispensary three years ago, will only add fuel to the fire.

Charles Lynch, a scapegoat caught in the crossfires of the continuing war on drugs, was sentenced by Federal Judge George H. Wu to one year and one day in a federal prison on Thursday.

He was convicted last summer of five federal counts connected to running a medical marijuana dispensary and selling medical marijuana to patients under 21 years of age. The truth, if anyone investigated the case was that a sheriff had a wild hair up his ass from the start of Lynch’s business. Watch the video above, you learn who the minor was that Lynch helped with his medical marijuana.

Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance, said:

That Attorney General Holder changed federal policy three months ago only makes this miscarriage of justice all the more disturbing. Charlie is like a forgotten prisoner of war, abandoned after a truce was declared.

Unfortunately, he’s right. Other medical marijuana dispensaries have been raided since Lynch’s arrest and undoubtedly more will be raided if they do not comply with the new CA state guidelines that claims all for-profit dispensaries must shut down or possibly change into a non-profit. This is done to prevent those individuals that operate such dispensaries to break the link from black market ties and market gaming.

It seems medical marijuana is having an identity crisis lately. It’s been legal in various states now for well over a decade and they are just now starting to fill the loopholes and dictate how it’s to be dispersed as well as who disperses it. More and more states are beginning to consider medial marijuana now, with most of the Northeast having legislation moving through their houses and senates.

Lynch’s lawyer, Reuven Cohen, planned to appeal. Meanwhile, somewhere in America, “Free Charlie Lynch” t-shirts are being printed up so that his memory doesn’t fade and the soldiers in the war on drugs know those who were subsequently left behind.

Prosecutors in Pittsburgh dropped the misdemeanor marijuana charges against Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receiver, Santonio Holmes on Wednesday.

Back in October 23rd of last year, Holmes had been pulled over by Pittsburgh cops looking for a car that matched his. Complying at the time, Holmes gave the police his mobile marijuana stash (three blunts) as evidence.

He wasn’t arraigned until April 30th and his lawyers planned to question the constitutionality of the traffic stop. Prosecutors agreed, when Holmes’ attorney said the scope of the search warrant was not extensive enough for the police to conduct a traffic stop on him, which in turn violated his rights.

Last Wednesday, the Croatian Supreme Court ruled in favor of a 1991-95 war veteran, overturning his jail sentence for growing marijuana plants and having in his possession ~67 grams (over two ounces). They took in account of his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the fact that marijuana relaxed him and helped him overcome any psychological issues.

The Supreme Court of Croatia believed the man’s use of marijuana “meaningless” to the law. Despite the ruling, authorities in Croatia say that drug manufacturing and trafficking will still hold strict sentences.

It’s nice to know that somewhere in the world, a country’s war veterans are watched over. It’s also rather ironic that a country like Croatia has the balls to say marijuana helps PTSD, a disorder that can affect any soldier that has seen combat.

In response to Health Canada’s recent slight change in regulations to medical marijuana use in Canada, Ron Marzel, a lawyer in Ontario, plans on launching a challenge to the courts this summer in an effort to legalize marijuana. While at the same time, he hopes to have the charges dropped against the numerous Ontario clients he has that face marijuana trafficking charges.

Marzel has been part of the successful Federal court challenge that forced Health Canada to change their regulations in regard to medical marijuana — all eight times:

This is the only way. The courts have repeatedly given the government time to come up with a workable solution. They didn’t do it. Health Canada has brought this upon itself.

Marzel is going directly for the throat, knowing that the courts have left the decision up to Health Canada and ultimately the government as they’ve consistently shown their resistance to the issue of medical marijuana. Either they need to ease the restrictions on medical marijuana or legalize it completely and let people decide what to use it for.

A positive outcome of the potential court case would offer the legalization movement in the United States and other countries a serious boost.

On the orders of a Polk County Judge in Iowa, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy was to discuss whether or not marijuana had any medicinal value to offer. The answer was an emphatic no.

The fact that a Judge asks a board that is somehow involved with the pharmaceutical industry, to decide this issue, is a farce. It’s obvious what their answer will be, after all, marijuana threatens the pharmaceutical industry — just as hemp threatens multiple industries of business. It was clear from their whole two minute discussion and their canned Twilight Zone responses that an impartial, unbiased review board is needed.

One Iowa pharmacy board member, Susan Frey had the audacity to say:

We need science-based evidence that there are acceptable uses and that those uses are within the realm of safety for the public.

Bizzaro world. There are numerous sources out there circulating that support marijuana having a medicinal value. Thankfully decisions of this magnitude aren’t just left up to one entity within the government and the plaintiff from the case and ACLU plan on continuing the fight.

U.S. drug officials call him one of the top 50 drug traffickers in the world, having been attributed to helping $2.2 billion worth of pot being grown. Marc Emery, the self-proclaimed Prince of Pot, has had a target on his back since the last days that his company, Emery Seeds, had been selling cannabis seeds via mail order to buyers world-wide.

I had a very good reason for selling those seeds. [...] I wanted to defeat the U.S. war on drugs.

Two of his employees had already plead guilty for their involvement and both are awaiting sentencing in July, where two years probation was recommended. It’s apparent that they didn’t want the little fish, just Moby Dick. 

After being arrested 21 times and going to jail another 17, you’d think Emery would lay low. Still being an activist and involving himself politically on the front of marijuana legalization, Emery, leader of the Overgrow the Government movement, is a big whale, perhaps one of the largest out there.

Emery is also ready to become a martyr to the cause:

Dying as a victim of the state’s cruelty would really help a person like me. The way you die is very important. [...] Martin Luther King was killed and that’s very important to his legacy.

Emery agreed that he would plead guilty in Seattle to one count of distributing marijuana if all other counts are dismissed. Apparently the U.S. District Attorney is gunning for a sentence of five to eight years in a U.S. prison. Emery thinks August will be the magic date and after his sentencing, he’s planning on having all his supporters rally to have him be moved to a Canadian prison.

According to a San Antonio news service, a Bexar County attorney was arrested for trying to bring two ounces of weed and a chrome pipe into the county courthouse. The attorney, Regina Criswell, said that the weed was for a client of hers.

While attorneys should generally be used to the plodding nature of court trials, one can see how some well-timed ganja could really perk up an otherwise dreary day in court. Few things are more likely to ensure that jurors pay attention to a diatribe on DNA evidence than a nice attention-intensive high.

Local Deputy and cartoon villain Ino Badillo added:

It doesn’t matter who you are. You can’t be in possession of narcotics. Period.

Well, unless you’re a prescription-toting MD, Washington DC mayor, or fun-loving DEA agent, that is.