I’m on my way to Los Angeles for a few days for work.
Here are a few items to get your blood boiling…
Meet Jason Westcott, your latest, needless, inexcusable drug war tragedy
On the night of May 27, as armed men streamed through his front door, Westcott grabbed his gun. But the 29-year-old didn’t have a chance to shoot before he died in a volley of gunfire. And those who killed him weren’t robbers.
They were police officers from the same agency he had enlisted to protect his home.
Imprisoning Women for Addiction
At MCI-Framingham, women committed solely under Section 35 are, in many respects, treated worse than convicted prisoners. Like other prisoners, they are strip-searched, subjected to body-cavity inspections, and deprived of their personal possessions and dignity. But unlike other prisoners, they cannot visit the library, pray at the chapel, or participate in prison programs. In fact, civilly committed women at MCI-Framingham cannot even access the addiction treatment programs available to sentenced prisoners.
As Governor Deval Patrick has acknowledged, Massachusetts is the only state that incarcerates people suffering from addiction who have not been convicted of crimes. This lawsuit seeks to end that practice.
Via Diane Goldstein, comes this from the Center for Investigative Reporting: Doctor pleads guilty to billing fraud at Los Angeles-area rehab clinic
A Southern California physician pleaded guilty to falsely identifying teenagers as drug or alcohol addicts to justify millions in bills to the government’s rehabilitation program for the poor. […]
The Redondo Beach doctor had been medical director since 1999 and was responsible for $46 million in fraudulent claims, prosecutors said. Whitson referred questions to his attorney, who declined to comment.
Four Atlantic counselors also pleaded guilty to fraud last year. They were accused of spending only a half-hour twice a week with students while fabricating the paperwork to bill for up to five 90-minute counseling sessions each week.[…]
At Atlantic, prosecutors stated that Margarita Lopez, Tamara Diaz, Cindy Leticia Ortiz and Arthur Dominguez enrolled students in substance abuse counseling even if they didn’t have an addiction problem. At the direction of their supervisors, they then fabricated counseling notes to justify billing the government for sessions that never happened. Dominguez, for example, was instructed to improve his fake paperwork if it appeared to be copied and pasted.
Terminal Cancer Patient Rushed to Hospital During Felony Trial for Medical Pot
Despite Mackenzie’s deteriorating condition, his trial is expected to be completed Friday, Linda Bowman, the judicial trial court supervisor at the Scott County Clerk’s Office, told The Huffington Post. If Mackenzie is found guilty, he faces at least three years in prison — a punishment that he’s said equates to a death sentence. […]
District Court Judge Henry Latham ruled in May that Mackenzie is barred from using his condition as a defense in court during his trial as a reason for why he was growing marijuana, the Associated Press reported.
Martha Fernback ecstasy death:
Mother calls for drugs legalisation
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27811553
https://twitter.com/5742Days
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsA0iLtCEAEaCXu.png
What happened to a person being able to use any evidence in his own defense,,the government has the right to use any evidence against a defendant but the defendant must have restrictions on his ability to defend himself against his accusers.
Take the blindfold off the bitch,,the deck is stacked.
Can you imagine being a federal judge,,that has probably smoked marijuana and knows it is a lie,having to remember doing this to people for the bucks and the “prestige”?
Being told that you can’t use your condition as a defense is the equivalent of being told you must lie and not tell the truth in this trial. That makes this trial a complete sham. He is being “railroaded”.
http://tinyurl.com/o4eg4os
RAILROAD
transitive verb
1
a : to convict with undue haste and by means of false charges or insufficient evidence
b : to push through hastily or without due consideration
More “you can’t smoke medicine!” alarm:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/medical-marijuana-as-the-new-herbalism-part-1-the-politics-of-weed-versus-science/
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How in the world has the fact that cannabis doesn’t require smoking to gain its benefits been kept such a secret from so many people? Did you know that there are people that think that edibles were invented in Colorado in the last year and a half? Oh, and it was done by the “pushers” to get “the children” “hooked” on “dope.”
What is with the resurrection of the word “pusher” anyway?
You know, that has to be the most long winded argument of form over substance in existence.
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By being denied access to marijuana, Benton Mackenzie is being offered the poisoned chalice by the federal court. To quote Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor for the United States at Nuremburg, “The record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well.” It’s doubtful District Court Judge Henry Latham would want the chalice passed to him were he in Mckenzie’s situation.
Mackenzie, women addicts in Massachusetts, and Jason Westcott are victims of a drug war aggression by an American government that lost any sense of justice long ago. These aggressive American policies are what the U.S. would impose upon the entire world if it could.
In recent article by Noam Chomsky entitled appropriately America Is the World Leader at Committing ‘Supreme International Crimes’, Chomsky cites the Nuremburg judgment of prominent Nazis: aggression is “the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
At the Nuremburg trials, the Tribunal drew its authority involving crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity:
The federal and state laws pertaining to the consumers of illicit drugs is a war of aggression that contains within itself the accumulated evil of the entire American judicial and political system.
I’ve just returned from the US Penitentiary in Tucson where I visited Leonard Pickard. He is housed with the worst of the very worst; many names you would recognize, all guilty of the most horrific crimes imaginable. And the security I went through was extraordinary. The sound of those steel doors (all three sets) closing behind you is creepier and freakier than anything on TV or the movies.
I was Leonard’s first visitor in over a year. It will take me a few days to digest the whole thing, and even then I may not write about it. It was surreal and far more emotional than I anticipated.
Leonard appreciates the fact he is loved and not forgotten. But nothing says love like a postcard. So please, take a few minutes of your freedom and send Leonard a postcard with just this simple message: We love you and will never forget you.
Leonard Pickard
FRN 82687-011
P.O. Box 24550
Tucson, AZ 85734
He is allowed nothing else through the mail, so please, a postcard only. And it goes without saying – but I will – all correspondence is read, scanned and archived.
Is Mackenzie’s case being tried in federal court? Didn’t sound like it from the article. If not, how can they bar him from a medical necessity defense?
If ever a case was likely to end in jury nullification this is it. Even the most anti-cannabis minded jurors would be hard put not to sympathize with the defendants in this case.
Yep, it’s a darn shame that the jury won’t hear any of the stuff that might make them sympathetic to the defendant. For all they know he’s just got a bad case of influenza.
Here’s something that I found interesting: CNN’s Crossfire posts a poll question daily and the question today was: “Do you support legalizing recreational marijuana?”. What was interesting is that they never disclosed the poll results on the air like Newt Gingrich clearly said they would. I checked after the show and the results were 74% yes and 26% no. Hmmm….
http://crossfire.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/08/in-the-crossfire-immigration-and-medical-marijuana/
Newt the neutered could have quashed that,,he is for taking troops into CO and WA with follow up raids on all 23 states with MMJ laws,,even the ones that were put in not to work.
newt “execute them” gingrich should have been forced to read out the result on air.
should have added this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDSNausjpTM
Media Uses Derogatory Slurs When Talking About Cannabis http://cannabistvorg.blogspot.com/2014/07/media-uses-derogatory-slurs-when.html
I thought you all could use a laugh, this made me blow coffee out of my nose this morning. The Gazette is in cahoots with this sadomoralist pilgrim, so they, (the paper) have buried this article already and would not allow comments. They also have a pay wall, but the headline says it all. http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/zabawa-anti-marijuana-initiative-likely-didn-t-get-enough-signatures/article_76d01b76-0734-5ece-a4c6-e25c07971c01.html
The paywall appears to have been removed. I was able to view the article with no problem.
Mango/marijuana munchie mania mobilizes media. In the connoisseur world of herbal marijuana terpenes and mercenes, the new rage is consuming a mango an hour before lighting up. An enhancement and elongation of the marijuana effect is reported.
The new mango/marijuana trend raises questions. Did the mango industry invent the mango/marijuana effect to boost sales? If not, will the mango industry soon be threatened by its new link to marijuana and to marijuana consumers? Will marijuana consumers become healthier by consuming mangoes? What does this mean for the pizza industry? Will the FDA and prohibitionists wage war on the ingredients found in mangoes? After all, mangoes do come from a plant.
I saw a report from Belize that says young children are now eating mangoes. US Govcorp scientists have isolated the chemical constituent in mangoes that gives consumers that “special” enjoyment. Unfortunately that process has been duplicated by the latin america cartels and the substance is hitting streets across the region. The effects are subtle but consumption leads to addiction and those crafty drug dealers have begun calling it “sugar.” Wiwy wascals.
So now they will follow me home when I buy a case of mangos? I have a serious Jones for mangos.
and another fictional character arises from the couch… Mango Jones
It has a certain ring to it.
Will we now see produce departments raided for selling drug paraphernalia?
I’ve had mango mania for years, just love ’em. I never thought of them as a cannabis enhancement. Yummy, that’s the extent of my mango analysis.
I’m doing mango dabs as we speak.
Awesome man !!! Better than sex.
you need to get out more
YOU GUYS AND GALS MAKE ME LAUGH. That was epic.
cannabis city is the place you want to be:http://tinyurl.com/ozrz8g3 exo-cannabinoids are now legal for adults in wash.
Colorado man offers Obama a toke of marijuana — a Rocky Mountain ̵
http://t.co/nXQWFnpnnD
Marijuana-smoking Colorado residents are embracing President Obama, who puffed a lot of weed in his younger days, as one of their own.
How to talk to the Police…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsIIU0QCEAAFvJj.jpg
Sent a form email to my Senator encouraging her to vote yes on defunding DEA raids against businesses which are in compliance with state law. This is her reply:
Dear Daegan,
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for House Amendment 748. I appreciate hearing from you, and welcome the opportunity to provide my perspective.
On May 29, 2014, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) offered House Amendment 748 to the House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 4660), which would prohibit the Department of Justice from using funds in a manner that would impede the implementation of state laws authorizing the use, distribution, possession, and cultivation of medical marijuana. The House agreed to the amendment on May 30th by a vote of 219-189.
Please know that I do not support this amendment for several reasons, including the impact it could have on federal efforts to investigate and prosecute rogue marijuana dispensaries. The federal government must have the ability to enforce the law as it is currently stands, and I believe this amendment goes too far in tying the federal government’s hands.
You may be interested to know that in August 2013, the Department of Justice announced that it would not block state laws legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington. It also highlighted eight areas in which the Justice Department will prioritize its marijuana enforcement efforts. This guidance for United States Attorneys across the country will help ensure that serious criminal enterprises are investigated and prosecuted in the appropriate manner.
While I support the compassionate use of medical marijuana when prescribed by a physician for certain serious illnesses, I also have concerns about youth marijuana use and rogue dispensaries. I am especially concerned about the proliferation of violence and devastating environmental impacts associated with marijuana grown on public lands and agricultural land in California, specifically in the Central Valley. For this reason I support federal efforts to investigate and prosecute the illegal dispensaries and cultivation sites – efforts that this amendment could prevent.
Again, thank you for writing. While we may not agree on this issue, I appreciate your taking the time to share your opinion. If you have any additional comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
“Please know that I do not support this amendment for several reasons, including the impact it could have on federal efforts to investigate and prosecute rogue marijuana dispensaries. The federal government must have the ability to enforce the law as it is currently stands, and I believe this amendment goes too far in tying the federal government’s hands.”
So she’s representing the Federal Government. I thought she was supposed to be representing us peeps. I wonder who it is in her constituency (those who actually voted for her) she believes herself to be supporting.
The war on pot was a racist, classist travesty when imagined, and got worse from there.
We should all be ashamed enough to stand up for ending this immediately. Â
DiFi splainin why hemp is illegal…
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/617
Diane Feinstein – the best argument for term limits
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/373
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New York State included employee protection from being sanctioned by their employers. I’ll bet it’s good news for the 3 State residents that qualify!
Five Things NY Employers Need To Know About Legal Marijuana
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One from the “res ipsa loquitur” category:
Legal marijuana is for sale in Washington. Seattle’s city attorney celebrated by making his own purchase
OT: After sending a twitter it says…
Return to twitter.com and returns to the twit I sent.
Shouldn’t it be Return to drugwarrant.com?
Med marijuana shops in Berkeley must give free pot to low-income patients, City rules: http://lat.ms/TU8Y2B â€
Seattle’s City Attorney stood in line to buy legal pot yesterday for personal use http://ow.ly/yYHA9
CelebStoner â€@CelebStoner
@MasonTvert: “The drug czar’s office is still tone deaf when it comes to marijuana policy.” http://bit.ly/1n9mTZC @MarijuanaPolicy
First man to buy legal pot in Washington fired for positive drug test:http://www.kctv5.com/story/25983307/man-televised-buying-legal-pot-in-wa-said-he-was-fired-for-drug-use
No one should have to pee in a bottle for employment’s sake; after all, what employers give breathalyzer tests to prospective new hires?
This is going to be interesting. The local Chamber of Commerce is probably involved, as they are in the CO Dish TV case.
Some employers like to think they own you. That’s what all this drug testing BS is about: social control of workers outside the workplace. (Which, when you think about it, is a hallmark of fascism.) The new re-legalization laws directly challenge that.
The new laws may also revitalize unions, who have been under attack these past 30-40 years and have lost a lot of clout. They can regain that clout by supporting re-legalization, as many are learning in Oregon.
The day is approaching where those who seek such control will face the wrath of those they sought to control, courtesy of some very expensive lawsuits. Oh, speed the day, for that will be more proof of the social pendulum swinging from far-right to the center again.
I expect that soon employers who fire employees for use of cannabis in their off the clock lives will be running short of employees. That will cause them to rethink their drug testing policies … IF they are smart business owners.
He was fired from two jobs but he did get one of them back so far.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2014/07/10/first-legal-marijuana-buyer-in-spokane-fired-but-gets-job-back/#21198101=14