Apparently, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, wants stricter regulations imposed on medical marijuana dispensaries in California. He’s also not a happy camper when it comes to the Obama Administration and their change in policy of only going after those dispensaries that violate state law.

The chief told a press conference Wednesday:

I think that the policy of the federal government at this time is unfortunate. I think the policy of this state is ‘Looney Tunes.’

What is ‘Looney Tunes’ is the fact that the Chief’s main concern is the medical marijuana clinics. The Chief’s concern should be regarding the numerous criminal elements in the city that use violence to move drugs — drugs like heroin, crack and meth. It’s as if Elmer Fud, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are arguing over if it’s rabbit or duck season — obviously the Chief clearly doesn’t know either.

Bratton said:

They pass a law, then they have no regulations as to how to enforce the darn thing and, as a result, we have hundreds of these locations selling drugs to every Tom, Dick and Harry.

If Tom, Dick, and Harry have medical marijuana ID cards and are medical marijuana patients, then they have a right to be there. Is the Chief implying that people off the street are able to obtain marijuana at the dispensaries? They have enough patients coming to them legally, there’s no need to break the law. If the Chief feels that there are dispensaries distributing marijuana illegally then he needs to conduct a proper investigation.

Bratton said:

While I fully support its use for medicinal purposes, why don’t we regulate it like we do Lipitor or Viagra. You can’t buy those two without getting it through a legitimate pharmacy. If this drug is so important and so helpful, why is it not regulated like every other drug?

Marijuana is not created in a lab. Marijuana does not have side effects that require other medication to be taken. Marijuana is not a pill. Marijuana shouldn’t even be in the same building as a pharmacy.

The medical marijuana dispensaries are an ideal location to distribute marijuana. The staff that run them are knowledgeable and patients can discuss their ailments because they are all taking the same medication. If the pharmaceutical industry becomes involved with the distribution of this plant, prices will sky rocket and marijuana will disappear right back into the underground black market. Smart?

[img via yausser on flickr]

A task force (Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Bureau) including the sheriff’s department and two federal agencies (DEA and ICE) raided 38 locations Tuesday morning which led to the arrest of 48 East Los Angeles gang members and the seizure of 15 kilograms of heroin, $100,000 in small bills, five vehicles and two guns. 14 children were taken into protective custody.

That’s amazing that out of 48 gang members being arrested that only 2 guns were confiscated? That doesn’t make sense. The ring moved an estimated 15 kilograms of heroin per week, producing revenue of nearly $2 million per month. The video clip says that the ring was a family… that lived in moderate homes and drove inexpensive cars.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore says:

The source of the drugs was from the Mendoza family of Mexico. The drugs were smuggled across the border to East Los Angeles and then distributed throughout Southern California communities, including San Diego and Ventura counties. They were then distributed by 11 East Los Angeles gangs, including the Brown Brotherhood, White Fence, City Terrace, Marina Maravilla, East L.A. Rife, Barrio Locos and the Hick Boys.

Apparently an additional 88 arrests were made since the investigation began in September. With Obama working with Mexico and providing $1.7 billion to fight the drug war, Mexico should be able to arrest and bring down these cartels that are plaguing our countries with drugs and violence. I guarantee you they will have guns though and they won’t go quietly. It really will be a war but finally we’ll see the true war on drugs in action.

Timothy J. Landrum of the Drug Enforcement Administration said:

The relationship between drugs and street gangs isn’t new to the DEA.

Street gangs continue to fund their operations through the illicit drug market–in this case, preying on those vulnerable in our communities through the sale of heroin on the streets of Los Angeles. Those arrested today were responsible for bringing more than 150,000 doses of heroin onto the streets of Los Angeles every week — enough heroin to supply thousands of people, with a street value of more than half a million dollars. DEA will continue to work with our laws enforcement partners, working together to rid our neighborhoods of violent drug traffickers and street gangs.

Well good, finally something is happening in this country. It will be a tremendous start by going back to the source of the drugs, like in this case Mexico, and shutting the cartels down. This ring existed supposedly for decades… it will be a war because this is their business, their income and their way of life. Then they have to stay vigilant and know that another cartel will then takeover or a new one will be created and the circle of blood will continue. It’s the same as the gangs in the United States. Once they are shut down, they have to stay shut down… and something has to be done to prevent others from starting again.

More than a week after a string of federal dispensary raids in Los Angeles and San Diego, the MMJ community is still concerned about Obama’s federal pledge to not interfere with state marijuana laws. More specifically, that he hasn’t exactly lived up to it so far.

The Americans for Safe Access recently held a meeting in San Diego where they addressed the crowd with some fairly promising news: In response to flooding the White House switchboard, a representative contacted the ASA, and publicly addressed the issue.

The raids were a part of “Operation: Endless Summer,” an aptly named effort to eradicate drug dealing near several different communities, which also seized six pounds of marijuana from legal dispensaries.

Lee Baca, Los Angeles county’s head sheriff, said this year his officers recorded $14 billion worth of marijuana seized, which is believed to be the largest annual total ever.

The Marijuana Enforcement Team team in August found a 116,000-plant farm in mountains of the Angeles National Forest above San Dimas. [...] It took 40 people two days to chop down the crop, bundle it and fly it out by helicopter.

Officials also noted large-scale marijuana cultivation has steadily increased in recent years. In addition to the 360,000 marijuana plants seized this year by the MET team, officials made five arrests, confiscated 15 guns and removed tons of trash and chemicals from the forest, Baca said. Between the trash removal and the five arrests for almost half a million plants, I’d say the sheriff’s department is doing one helluva job.

I just want to take an opportunity to point out that in light of the several billion dollar budget deficit California is in, eight percent of $14 billion would be a nice sum of tax revenue for the state. Good thing it has as much value to the sheriffs as the trash they pick up from the fields.

Whether you’re black, brown, yellow, white, all smokers love to celebrate good news the same way… by smoking. Great clip of the newscasters’ feigning disbelief at their on-the-scene reporter getting large whiffs of the green stuff inside the Century Plaza Hotel ballroom.

C’mon, don’t look so surprised guy, it’s L.A.

That’s right, LA’s top job. No, not head valet at the Playboy Mansion, but Mayor of Los Angeles. Antonio Villaraigosa’s recent scandals while in office, including an affair with a reporter from Spanish-language network Telemundo, expect to make this an especially contentious contest in March, when voters head to the ballots.

Enter MMJ’s dark-horse contender: Craig X

The Temple 420 founder, CraigX Rubin has a platform to build desalination plants, more local growing (of mainstream agriculture, not what you’re thinking) and synchronizing traffic lights. I’m not sure how seriously the general public is taking Craig’s political ambitions, as he’s only raised $1,100 in a month of fund raising.

The video above is an 8 minute introduction to Craig, what he’s about and his lifelong goal of legalization.

While driving through LA, we spotted one sweet graffiti-filled side street. It was too good to pass up, so we stopped and got some shots of the pieces you see above.

Street art was one of the original ways to make a statement contrary to popular beliefs, and thus, is indefinitely linked to counter-culture. It’s just kept on progressing from beyond a statement to what we see today – an art form.

Lately, it looks like everyone is eyeing the shot at rolling the World’s Biggest Joint. Keeping with that theme, I’m happy to announce that a new contender has unsurfaced in pursuit of earning that crown.

With a goal of 3.95 ounces (112 grams), marijuana advocate Brett Stone of Los Angeles, sounds determined to break the previously set record at 3.53 ounces (100 grams) in early 2007. Stone, who runs the website DaBronxNews, goes on to say:

We’re probably going to do it as a fund raiser. And the mayor and police chief would be most welcome if they have a doctor’s note to consume cannabis.

[...]

I think a meter (3.3 feet) would be a good, smokable size joint. I’m not looking to make a torpedo I’m looking to make a smokable joint.

Although this attempt has a more reasonable goal than the over-zealous Dutch, it’s still impressive to think of the man-power it takes to combine 100 grams into a single joint. Brett has even taken it upon himself to contact companies and ask if they can make him custom papers.

Let’s hope this world record bid is more successful than the last one.

[via PhysOrg]