See also Cake’s Gummy Blog with pictures.
If you know of an event that you feel should be listed on our calendar, please send details to info@mjdispensaries.com ~Thank You
Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Cookin' WIth Cake: Medicated Gummies Demo Video.
I’ve been asked to please demonstrate on video how to make some of my tasty recipes. So, since I’ve got no video or editing skillz, bear with me while I pick some up. Meantime, here’s a demo of the gummies to show how super simple they are to whip up! ~YellowJuanaCake
See also Cake’s Gummy Blog with pictures.
See also Cake’s Gummy Blog with pictures.
Friday, September 23, 2011
NEWS: Rights of All Medical Marijuana Patients at Risk in Long Beach Case
As medical marijuana patients poured out of the courtroom, another group pounded the pavement, as protests errupted for a second straight week as The People of the State of California VS. Joe Byron and Joe Grumbine unfolds.
The People vs. Joe, one of whom is a Long Beach business owner, the other an Executive Director of the non-profit group The Human Solution, is Los Angeles County’s DA Steve Cooley’s Flagship Case in his efforts to silence the two community leaders with his premise that “All Sales Are Illegal.”
Unfortunately, it’s working on Judge Charles Sheldon (who has a record of sentencing 3-strikes cases to the fullest, even on non-violent cases), as prosecutors got their way today in their motion to suppress the same rights the will of the people voted awarded people like Byron and Grumbine fifteen years ago.
“The law is clear, but Judge Sheldon, citing no reasons, is not allowing the defendents to exericise their rights to an Affirmative Defense, which the voters have clearly voted on,” reiterates Allison Margolin, one of the attorneys for one of the Joes.
This could be bad news for patients and dispensaries, providers and caregivers, and anyone who believes in the fundamental right to choose from the form of medicine, natural or synthetic, a patient finds to be most effective.
Kamala Harris inched her way to victory over Cooley largely due to the efficacy of the Americans for Safe Access ‘Not Cooley’ campaign in last year’s California Attorney General’s race because of this very issue.
The same population that could’ve turned Prop 19, which would’ve made California the first state to create regulations for marijuana use by adults, from a loss to a victory but did not, are the same group of people that didn’t want Steve Cooley making his “ALL Sales Are Illegal” perspective a state-wide stance.
Now that Cooley has set his sights on a target closer to the Los Angeles DA’s radar, the ‘Cooley’s Not Cool’ hat is back, as Joe and Joe both lost their right to their Affirmative Defense as medical marijuana patients directing a collective.
Most Federal medical marijuana cases do not allow patient’s rights to be shown to the jury, and this form of information censorship and manipulation tactics is being replicated in Cooley’s current case against the two men who had dotted all I’s and crossed all T’s while providing medical marijuana to qualified medical cannabis patients.
Even the rules they were following will not be allowed to be introduced to the Jury, once the trial begins. Long Beach’s current Congressman is even a Co-sponsor of the Truth in Trials Act, to ensure that the truth be a part of a blind Justice System.
While our Congressman, who recently endorsed the “Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” Initiative, to be a Co-sponsor on a bill that ensures transparency in medical cannabis cases, are we to assume that there is a clear need for such transparancy?
We don’t have to assume any longer, now that the lies to build the laws are being dismantled one by one, as right-leaning groups like the RAND Corporation are even publishing studies to prove than medical cannabis dispensaries make areas more safe because crime goes down, not up, like our ‘leaders’ would like us to believe.
Even elected officials in Long Beach, like Councilmembers DeLong, O’Donnell, and Schipske, who were buying the lie and perpetuating it tenfold, throwing the entire permitting process back several steps (as if their process wasn’t already flawed enough).
It’s not that Justice in Blind, however, it’s that for the prosecution to win this case, they need the Jury to be.
Unfortunately for the lead prosecutor in the case, Jodi Castano, who has admitted to not fully understanding the Endogenous Cannabinoid Signaling System (eCBss), which regulates the human body systems that keep us all alive, and doesn’t want the Jury to understand it either.
In fact, she is quoted as saying, “I’ve never even heard of it,” underscoring a larger problem.
Unless local Long Beach residents have been living under a rock these past few years, the jury pool will fully understand that this is a medical marijuana case, and they may follow Montana residents, where Jury Nullification has come up, and where Missoula couldn’t even seat a jury.
If they understand science and have access to a smart-phone or computer, and if they live in Long Beach, they most likely understand marijuana IS a medicine also, even if they know even less than Castano about the eCBss, who is prosecuting a case that is the clearest representation of wasteful spending as California reaches a second recession and resources become more scarce.
Many innocent people every day are victims of violent crimes, and many of those crimes go unsolved. Perhaps our law enforcement and court systems could be less controlled by politics, which is the driving force behind the perpetually-flawed perspective the war-mongering in the War on Drugs provides.
Long Beach is even in the process of providing permits for the same thing Joe Byron and Joe Grumbine are being accused of doing.
Twelve charges of sales occurred by undercover officers and informants who obtained legal medical cannabis recommendation by physicians, and then went into the medical marijuana dispensary to get the medicine their doctors deemed worthy of introduction to their own body’s marijuana system it makes.
Sounds like normal medical cannabis dispensing center (MCDC) protocol: a qualified patient comes in, gets what they were unable to grow for themselves, and pay for it.
As a matter of fact, it sounds like America to me too. Not that a California MCDC can earn a profit, but I do notice that health care delivery in America is for profit.
Health care insurance is for profit, the medicine is for profit, health care delivery is for profit (which is why 50 millions Americans don’t even have it), and even marijuana in a pill, Marinol, is FOR PROFIT!
Joe Byron and Joe Grumbine were operating a MCDC, and for those that found it too difficult to even go to a safe access point like their dispensary, they would set up and teach patients how to grow their own.
The whole plant is also much more effective than a synthetic, isolated, pathetic attempt to replicate the safe and natural substance in the first place. So natural in fact, we make it ourselves naturally.
One such natural body chemical, called Anandamide, Sanskrit for ‘Bliss’, is like Delta-9 THC, which is the psychoactive property. It only becomes psychoactive when THCA is heated up and turns into Delta 9.
Our body also has receptors that link with the cannabis plant’s properties that bind to each other like a key in a lock, many keys and many locks really, as our body’s cannabis system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis and regulating every other body system we have.
So it’s rather important that elected officials and appointed persons understand what they are trying to regulate, let alone restrict, which is what will happen if Cooley’s case is made by manipulation, omission, and censorship.
If Castano is forced to finish fighting Cooley’s War, more than one Braggart Soldier will ride away, taking marijuana prohibition with them, going quietly into their watermark, swept away by mandate.
Source: MedicalMarijuana411.com
Thursday, September 22, 2011
NEWS: Study: Crime in surrounding area increased after closure of LA medical marijuana dispensaries
The report by the nonprofit RAND Corp. reviewed crime reports for the 10 days prior to and the 10 days after city officials shuttered the clinics last summer after a new ordinance went into effect. The analysis revealed that crime increased about 60 percent within three blocks of a closed dispensary compared to the same parameters for those that remained open.
“If medical marijuana dispensaries are causing crime, then there should be a drop in crime when they close,” said Mireille Jacobson, a RAND senior economist and the study’s lead author. “Individual dispensaries may attract crime or create a neighborhood nuisance, but we found no evidence that medical marijuana dispensaries in general cause crime to rise.”
Crime was among the concerns that prompted the City Council to pass the ordinance that put strict guidelines on the pot clinics and forced many of them to close. Law enforcement authorities have long argued collectives attract crime because they often handle large amounts of cash and thieves can resell marijuana.
Two workers at different dispensaries were killed during robberies in June 2010.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca went one step further last September when he said nearly all dispensaries operate as criminal enterprises, a claim that infuriated medical marijuana supporters who have said law enforcement officials have resorted to scare tactics to advance their agenda.
“They have perpetuated this myth that there is more crime associated with collectives,” said James Shaw of the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, an advocacy group for medicinal marijuana users. “This council should be emboldened to revise the ordinance so it’s not so draconian to the patients and their associations.”
Researchers looked at crime reports for 600 dispensaries in Los Angeles County — 170 that remained open and 430 ordered to close. They found that the further away from the clinics the less crime there was: within six blocks of a closed dispensary crime rose by 25 percent and by 10 blocks there was no perceptible change in crime.
The study said some of the factor for the increase may be because the storefronts had security cameras and guards, there was less foot traffic and fewer police patrols.
The city attorney’s office called the study “deeply flawed.”
“It relies exclusively upon faulty assumptions, conjecture, irrelevant data, untested measurement and incomplete results. The conclusions are therefore highly suspect and unreliable,” the city attorney’s office said in a statement.
Councilman Ed Reyes called the report an “eye-opener” but said it was limited in its findings because it was conducted over a short period of time.
“I think the study needs to continue because it’s a snapshot,” Reyes said. “It verifies how complex this issue is.”
Legal challenges still remain over whether city officials have the right to close dispensaries since state law allows medical marijuana collectives. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
A judge in December ruled certain portions of the city ordinance were unconstitutional. Council members amended the ordinance but a lottery that would allow 100 collectives to remain open has yet to be conducted.
Source: The Washington Post
Monday, August 22, 2011
Reseda Dispensaries, Collectives and Cooperatives
« Back
We encourage you to call the collectives prior to making the trip, in case the hours have changed or the facility has been closed.
KlubMed
18119 Saticoy St. [map]
Reseda, CA 91335
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 10pm
Phone: 818-996-5874
Reseda Discount Caregivers
18448 Oxnard St. [map]
Reseda, CA 91356
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 9pm
Phone: 818-757-0434
True Healing Collective
7329 Reseda Blvd. [map]
Reseda, CA 91335
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 9pm
Phone: 818-605-5495
We encourage you to call the collectives prior to making the trip, in case the hours have changed or the facility has been closed.
KlubMed
18119 Saticoy St. [map]
Reseda, CA 91335
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 10pm
Phone: 818-996-5874
Reseda Discount Caregivers
18448 Oxnard St. [map]
Reseda, CA 91356
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 9pm
Phone: 818-757-0434
True Healing Collective
7329 Reseda Blvd. [map]
Reseda, CA 91335
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am to 9pm
Phone: 818-605-5495
Friday, July 1, 2011
Garden Grove Dispensaries, Collectives and Cooperatives
3.6 Collective
7351 Garden Grove Blvd, Suite B [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 7pm
Phone: 714-650-4000
Email: 36collective@gmail.com
Euclid Medical Center
12079 Euclid Street (Ralphs shopping center) [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92840
Hours: Sun-Thu 10am to 10pm, Fri-Sat 10am to 11pm
Phone: 714-650-0228
Website: http://euclidmedical.com/
Golden Nug
13631 Harbor Blvd. Unit A (Front Unit) [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Hours: Mon-Sun 9am to 12am
Phone: 714-610-1641
Website: http://thegoldennug.com/
Natures Holistic Alternative Patients Association (NHAPA)
13862 A Better Way Unit 9D [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Phone: 714-741-3989
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am to 8pm, Sun 11am to 5pm
Website: naturesalternativepa.org
New Age Canna
9758 Chapman Ave. [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-9p
Phone: 714-539-KUSH (5874)
Website: http://www.newagecanna.com
7351 Garden Grove Blvd, Suite B [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 7pm
Phone: 714-650-4000
Email: 36collective@gmail.com
Euclid Medical Center
12079 Euclid Street (Ralphs shopping center) [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92840
Hours: Sun-Thu 10am to 10pm, Fri-Sat 10am to 11pm
Phone: 714-650-0228
Website: http://euclidmedical.com/
Golden Nug
13631 Harbor Blvd. Unit A (Front Unit) [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Hours: Mon-Sun 9am to 12am
Phone: 714-610-1641
Website: http://thegoldennug.com/
Natures Holistic Alternative Patients Association (NHAPA)
13862 A Better Way Unit 9D [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Phone: 714-741-3989
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am to 8pm, Sun 11am to 5pm
Website: naturesalternativepa.org
New Age Canna
9758 Chapman Ave. [map]
Garden Grove, CA 92841
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-9p
Phone: 714-539-KUSH (5874)
Website: http://www.newagecanna.com
Saturday, June 25, 2011
NEWS: Petition to Obama: Time to Say Yes to Marijuana
The petition seeks to recognize cannabis as a drug with acceptable medical uses - and demands a speedy response in 60 days or less.
The administration has unreasonably delayed this issue for nine years since it was first filed, argues the lawsuit. A coalition of groups that include NORML and Cal NORML (Coalition to Reschedule Cannibis) argue that marijuana has "accepted medical use" and should be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The Schedule I status indicates that medical pot is not federally accepted.
The petition was filed following the passage of Prop. 215 and half a dozen other state medical marijuana laws. Marijuana's schedule one status is the fundamental cause of ongoing conflict between state and federal marijiana laws.
Since the rescheduling petition was filed to the Drug Enforcement Administration on October 9, 2002, nine more states moved to remove the Schedule I status. California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research completed five FDA studies showing marijuana to be medically effective for neuropathic pain and multiple sclerosis.
The DEA has since acted to further frustrate FDA development of marijuana by refusing to issue a license to the University of Massachusetts to establish a garden towards FDA-approved medical marijuana research.
"It is unacceptable for seriously ill Americans to wait a decade for their government to even respond to their petition for legal access to medicine to relieve their pain and suffering," remarked California NORML director Dale Gieringer.
"The government's unreasonable delay seriously impugns its competence to oversee Americans' health care. The administration should act promptly to address its obsolete and bankrupt policy in accordance with President Obama's pledge to put science above politics."
According to the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, both Bush and Obama's administration never responded to its 2002 petition to reschedule marijuana despite a formal recommendation in 2006 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Joe Elford, lead counsel on the writ and Americans for Safe Access' top attorney, says "The federal government's strategy has been delay, delay, delay. It is far past time for the government to answer our rescheduling petition, but unfortunately we've been forced to go to court in order to get resolution."
Source: International Business Times
Monday, May 23, 2011
Silverlake Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Collectives and Co-operatives
Sunset Junction Organic Medicine
4017 W. Sunset Blvd. [map]
Silverlake, CA 90029
Hours: Mon-Sun 11am to 8pm
Phone: 323-660-0655
Website: sunsetjunctionmeds.com
4017 W. Sunset Blvd. [map]
Silverlake, CA 90029
Hours: Mon-Sun 11am to 8pm
Phone: 323-660-0655
Website: sunsetjunctionmeds.com
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
NEWS: Jamaica Government Officials To Review Marijuana Decriminalization
By Jamaal Greenidge
...ministerial review of the 2001 report was first announced on Monday.
Jamaica Government officials are set to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and religious use.The Bruce Golding Cabinet has appointed a ministerial committee to review the recommendations of the report of the national commission on ganja. The report also recommended the Government launches a national education programme aimed at reducing the number of young people who use ganja; the security forces intensify their interdiction of large scale cultivation of ganja and the trafficking of all illegal drugs; the establishment of a cannabis research agency; and that the Government ensures international support for these actions.
Any change in existing drug laws would have to be approved by Jamaica’s Parliament. The ministerial review of the 2001 report was first announced on Monday.
Source: i95.5 FM
...ministerial review of the 2001 report was first announced on Monday.
Jamaica Government officials are set to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and religious use.The Bruce Golding Cabinet has appointed a ministerial committee to review the recommendations of the report of the national commission on ganja. The report also recommended the Government launches a national education programme aimed at reducing the number of young people who use ganja; the security forces intensify their interdiction of large scale cultivation of ganja and the trafficking of all illegal drugs; the establishment of a cannabis research agency; and that the Government ensures international support for these actions.
Any change in existing drug laws would have to be approved by Jamaica’s Parliament. The ministerial review of the 2001 report was first announced on Monday.
Source: i95.5 FM
Friday, December 17, 2010
NEWS: Armed robbers hit marijuana clinic in Northridge
The three males made off with an undetermined amount of cash during the violent robbery Wednesday at about 9:25 p.m., said Officer Gary Shanahan of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Station.
He said the trio then fled into a gold sport utility vehicle.
Two men at the business were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where one was in critical condition with several shots to the head, arm and legs, police said. The other man was in stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds in the back and legs.
The dispensary, at 8244 White Oak Ave., appeared to be operating illegally. There was no business sign at the location and nobody answered doors on Thursday.
Employees from neighboring businesses said the dispensary had been operating there for only a few months - apparently set up after the city's new law regulating dispensaries went into effect this summer.
No business at that address was among those listed at the City Clerk's Office as giving "notice of intent to register" as a medical marijuana dispensary.
"These kinds of bandit dispensaries don't comply with any of the requirements set out by the city, and they usually have terrible security, which is probably why this happened," said Marc Kent, a Woodland Hills medical marijuana consultant who helps businesses become legitimate under the city ordinance.
City officials attempting to enforce a crackdown against so-called "rogue" dispensaries acknowledge that an unknown number of clinics that have been told to close remain open.
"This was not the first violent crime associated with marijuana distribution sites in Los Angeles," Councilman Greig Smith said in a statement. The dispensary was located in Smith's council district.
"Drugs, whether legalized or not, attract a seedy crowd and the amount of cash and allure of drugs associated with these locations historically breed crime."
Last summer, a robbery at a dispensary in Hollywood resulted in the shooting death of one employee.
Last Friday a Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a ruling invalidating large portions of a medical marijuana ordinance adopted by the City Council last January.
The Los Angeles City Council heard a motion Tuesday requesting the City Attorney to prepare and present to the council an "interim control ordinance" aimed at regulating medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Anyone with information about the robbery was urged to call the West Valley Station at 818-374-7611.
Source: Contra Cost Times
Thursday, December 16, 2010
NEWS: Two-month probe into marijuana sales in Winchester nets five arrests
Five people whom authorities contend operated an illegal marijuana selling business in Winchester have been arrested following a two-month investigation, said Sgt. Joe Borja.
The illegal business was operating in the 28000 block of Winchester Road and investigators began looking into the matter after receiving reports from nearby residents who were concerned because the business was located close to an elementary school and a church, Borja said in a news release.
Members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Riverside County Code Enforcement conducted a two-month investigation due to the complaints.
The investigation revealed that the operators of the business were selling marijuana and operating outside of the medical marijuana laws due to the business operating for profit, Borja said. Over ten pounds of marijuana and 96 marijuana plants were confiscated during the operation as evidence.
The operators of the business were identified as Ryan Jacobson, 26, Scott Buffington, 25, both of Lake Elsinore; Gary Riddle, 28, of Temecula, Isaac Morton, 25, of Winchester and David Juliano, 25, of Menifee.
All five of the suspects were booked on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale. Investigators are will also request an additional charge of cultivation of marijuana be filed against Juliano and Jacobson.
Anyone having information regarding the investigation can contact Investigator K. Thurm at 951-955-1700.
Source: Southwest Riverside News Network
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
NEWS: Scientists Grapple Over Marijuana’s Effect on Immune System
USC Researcher, Medical Marijuana Movement At Odds
Don’t Bogart that joint, my friend — particularly if you’re susceptible to certain cancers, have a compromised immune system and are a mouse.
At first blush, that seems to be the takeaway from a study conducted by Prakash Nagarkatti, a professor of pathology and microbiology at the USC School of Medicine who has been injecting mice with THC (the main psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant) and studying the cannabinoid’s effects on their immune systems for the past two years.
The results of Nagarkatti’s study, which was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), appear in the December issue of The European Journal of Immunology and have recently generated something of a buzz — both among the medical marijuana community and the mainstream media.
According to Nagarkatti, marijuana cannabinoids affect the body through two types of receptors. The first, called CB1 receptors, are found in the brain. It is through these that marijuana users experience the psychotropic effects associated with smoking pot. CB2 receptors, however, are present only in our immune systems. It is these receptors that fascinate Nagarkatti and his colleagues.
“We were interested in finding out, basically, what are these receptors doing on the immune cells and what happens to these cells if they are exposed to these cannabinoids,” Nagarkatti explains.
Previously, Nagarkatti had conducted research suggesting that cannabinoids might be effective for fighting cancers of the immune system such as leukemia and lymphoma. He says he was therefore “surprised” to discover that when those same cannabinoids are injected into mice they also trigger the production of immunosuppressive cells of the same type typically triggered by cancer growth and metastasis.
These cells — called myeloid-derived suppressive cells, or MDSCs — are normally produced by the body in very small numbers as a way of regulating the far greater number of infection-fighting immune cells present in a healthy individual, but a sudden flood of such cells could potentially overwhelm the immune systems of cancer patients or of people susceptible to certain cancers. That means cancer patients receiving medical marijuana or marijuana users genetically susceptible to certain cancers could be at an elevated risk, according to Nagarkatti.
Still, Nagarkatti is not completely dismissive of medical marijuana, calling his recent THC findings “a double-edge sword” and noting that there is often a therapeutic benefit to suppressing the immune system.
“There are about 18 different autoimmune diseases like arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, certain types of diabetes, in which our immune system goes haywire and starts killing our own cells and our own tissues,” Nagarkatti says. “In such cases, the only way you can treat those diseases is to suppress the immune system.”
“So, now we have discovered a new method where the cannabinoids might be able to suppress the immune system by inducing these MDSCs,” he continues.
Despite having demonstrated potential therapeutic benefits of THC alongside its possible drawbacks, Nagarkatti has generated some criticism among advocates of medical marijuana, including Donald I. Abrams, president of the Society for Integrative Oncology.
Abrams, who is also chief of Hematology/Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and a professor of medicine at UCSF, is familiar with Nagarkatti’s study but skeptical of its findings because it was conducted on mice rather than humans, and because it used only THC, which is just one of many chemicals found in marijuana.
“Out of 400 compounds, some are going to be immune-suppressing, some are going to be immune-enhancing,” Abrams contended. “But the overall effect, I think, is that cannabis in people is not immune-suppressive. These things work together in concert. That’s why nature gave it to us this way.”
Abrams went on to cite a number of studies, including a highly publicized, large-scale study conducted in 2006 by Donald Tashkin, a doctor of pulmonary medicine at UCLA, which demonstrated that smoking marijuana, even habitually, does not seem to heighten the risk of developing lung cancer. Abrams also cited his own study on the effects of marijuana on HIV-AIDS patients, the results of which were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“We measured a huge amount of immune parameters in patients with HIV … and we were not able to find that any damage to the immune system had occurred with exposure to cannabis three times a day over the 21 days of our experiment. In fact, if anything, it boosted the immune function in these patients who were immune-compromised.”
“I take issue with mouse studies,” Abrams added. “I think there’s always a risk when doing studies on animals when you’re trying to find out what the impact is on man.”
Abrams is also suspicious of Nagarkatti’s study because it was funded by NIDA, which he says has a “mandate … only to study substances of abuse only as substances of abuse … you can’t get their funds or their marijuana unless you’re trying to prove harm.”
Nagarkatti freely admits that studying mice and isolating THC cannot generate a complete picture. Still, he says his study is an important first step, not leastwise because pure THC is already being prescribed.
“In fact, that’s what we’re saying — that this clearly warrants human studies because THC is used in cancer patients and HIV-AIDS patients and certain glaucoma patients to do different things,” Nagarkatti explains. “How it impacts the immune system is critical to find out.”
Source: Columbia Free Times
At first blush, that seems to be the takeaway from a study conducted by Prakash Nagarkatti, a professor of pathology and microbiology at the USC School of Medicine who has been injecting mice with THC (the main psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant) and studying the cannabinoid’s effects on their immune systems for the past two years.
The results of Nagarkatti’s study, which was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), appear in the December issue of The European Journal of Immunology and have recently generated something of a buzz — both among the medical marijuana community and the mainstream media.
According to Nagarkatti, marijuana cannabinoids affect the body through two types of receptors. The first, called CB1 receptors, are found in the brain. It is through these that marijuana users experience the psychotropic effects associated with smoking pot. CB2 receptors, however, are present only in our immune systems. It is these receptors that fascinate Nagarkatti and his colleagues.
“We were interested in finding out, basically, what are these receptors doing on the immune cells and what happens to these cells if they are exposed to these cannabinoids,” Nagarkatti explains.
Previously, Nagarkatti had conducted research suggesting that cannabinoids might be effective for fighting cancers of the immune system such as leukemia and lymphoma. He says he was therefore “surprised” to discover that when those same cannabinoids are injected into mice they also trigger the production of immunosuppressive cells of the same type typically triggered by cancer growth and metastasis.
These cells — called myeloid-derived suppressive cells, or MDSCs — are normally produced by the body in very small numbers as a way of regulating the far greater number of infection-fighting immune cells present in a healthy individual, but a sudden flood of such cells could potentially overwhelm the immune systems of cancer patients or of people susceptible to certain cancers. That means cancer patients receiving medical marijuana or marijuana users genetically susceptible to certain cancers could be at an elevated risk, according to Nagarkatti.
Still, Nagarkatti is not completely dismissive of medical marijuana, calling his recent THC findings “a double-edge sword” and noting that there is often a therapeutic benefit to suppressing the immune system.
“There are about 18 different autoimmune diseases like arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, certain types of diabetes, in which our immune system goes haywire and starts killing our own cells and our own tissues,” Nagarkatti says. “In such cases, the only way you can treat those diseases is to suppress the immune system.”
“So, now we have discovered a new method where the cannabinoids might be able to suppress the immune system by inducing these MDSCs,” he continues.
Despite having demonstrated potential therapeutic benefits of THC alongside its possible drawbacks, Nagarkatti has generated some criticism among advocates of medical marijuana, including Donald I. Abrams, president of the Society for Integrative Oncology.
Abrams, who is also chief of Hematology/Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and a professor of medicine at UCSF, is familiar with Nagarkatti’s study but skeptical of its findings because it was conducted on mice rather than humans, and because it used only THC, which is just one of many chemicals found in marijuana.
“Out of 400 compounds, some are going to be immune-suppressing, some are going to be immune-enhancing,” Abrams contended. “But the overall effect, I think, is that cannabis in people is not immune-suppressive. These things work together in concert. That’s why nature gave it to us this way.”
Abrams went on to cite a number of studies, including a highly publicized, large-scale study conducted in 2006 by Donald Tashkin, a doctor of pulmonary medicine at UCLA, which demonstrated that smoking marijuana, even habitually, does not seem to heighten the risk of developing lung cancer. Abrams also cited his own study on the effects of marijuana on HIV-AIDS patients, the results of which were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“We measured a huge amount of immune parameters in patients with HIV … and we were not able to find that any damage to the immune system had occurred with exposure to cannabis three times a day over the 21 days of our experiment. In fact, if anything, it boosted the immune function in these patients who were immune-compromised.”
“I take issue with mouse studies,” Abrams added. “I think there’s always a risk when doing studies on animals when you’re trying to find out what the impact is on man.”
Abrams is also suspicious of Nagarkatti’s study because it was funded by NIDA, which he says has a “mandate … only to study substances of abuse only as substances of abuse … you can’t get their funds or their marijuana unless you’re trying to prove harm.”
Nagarkatti freely admits that studying mice and isolating THC cannot generate a complete picture. Still, he says his study is an important first step, not leastwise because pure THC is already being prescribed.
“In fact, that’s what we’re saying — that this clearly warrants human studies because THC is used in cancer patients and HIV-AIDS patients and certain glaucoma patients to do different things,” Nagarkatti explains. “How it impacts the immune system is critical to find out.”
Source: Columbia Free Times
Saturday, November 6, 2010
NEWS: S.D. marijuana magazine still growing
On the day after California voters rejected the legalization of marijuana, the editor and co-founder of NUG magazine was too busy working to grieve. News on the marijuana front was bad, but business for “San Diego’s original cannabis publication” was booming.
“I’m collecting money and selling ads,” Dion Markgraaff said on Wednesday. “The beat goes on.”
Serving San Diego’s cannabis community since July of 2009, the Santee-based NUG (which stands for nuggets of pot and nuggets of information) is the rare expansion story in the ever-shrinking print-media universe. It is also the ad-filled and shadow-plagued reflection of the conflicted portrait that is San Diego’s pot profile.
In San Diego, NUG and other purveyors of the cannabis-friendly lifestyle face a splintered civic personality that can’t decide if it wants to join them for a Creamsicle Spiked Shake (recipe in the August 2010 issue) or send them and their hydroponics off to greener pastures in other parts of the state.
“It’s a mesh of personalities here,” said the 41-year-old Markgraaff, who grew up in Oceanside and attended Vista High School and San Diego State University. “We have our lovable qualities, but we’ve got a hard edge. We’re like a mutt that has all these different traits.”
Long before San Diego voted to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state 14 years ago, we were open to the idea of different strokes for different folks. The utopian-minded Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society settled in Point Loma in late 1896, the pioneering Golden Door Spa began welcoming sun-worshippers and fitness nuts in 1958, and the UFO-watching members of the Unarius Academy of Science have been doing their cosmic thing in El Cajon since 1954.
“The notion of alternative therapies, alternative approaches to health, that is deep in our history,” said UCSD sociologist Mary Walshok. “Chinese herbal medicine, massage, acupuncture and meditation, all of that has a long history in San Diego.”
Then again, we are also a community with deep military roots and a long history of conservative voting patterns. So while we were progressive enough to become the largest city in the country to adopt medical-marijuana guidelines in 2003, we were not quite comfy enough to support the legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana earlier this week.
At NUG, the natural-remedy-embracing, alternative-lifestyle-appreciating side of San Diego is alive and well and loving its organic marijuana, edible marijuana and water pipes. All of this interest from medical-marijuana patients and — let’s not kid ourselves — enterprising recreational smokers has turned NUG into a totally ad-supported success story.
In less than two years, it has grown from a 48-page bimonthly distributed in clinics and dispensaries to a 98-page monthly magazine that is also available for free at local 7-Eleven stores.
“What this says about San Diego is there is a huge cannabis community here and there is a huge market that is unaddressed by society,” Markgraaff said during a break from sales calls, which he makes wearing shorts, flip-flops and a NUG T-shirt. “Our biggest problem is we don’t print enough copies.”
Actually, their problems are bigger than that. Because the other side of San Diego’s public consciousness — the side with the serious border-related drug worries and the staunchly anti-marijuana District Attorney’s office — is also living large at NUG.
It was there in the first issue, which was dedicated to longtime local medical-marijuana activist Steven McWilliams, who committed suicide in 2005. It is there in the ads the magazine lost when the Kush Lounge dispensary was raided last July. And it is there in the masthead, where many of the staffers don’t use their real names. That includes publisher and medical-marijuana patient Ben G. Rowen, a native San Diegan who became an activist after his home was raided by federal authorities two years ago.
Then again, that masthead is also on the latest issue of NUG, in all its fat, healthy glory. With his San Diego cannabis magazine growing, editor Markgraaff is letting his hopes grow, too.
“Did you see the exit numbers for Prop. 19?,” Markgraaff said via e-mail yesterday. “San Diego voted Yes at 47 percent, which was as big as L.A., the state average, and most of Northern California. I think that shows the cannabis community and NUG magazine are doing a good job in helping people evolve here in San Diego.”
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
“I’m collecting money and selling ads,” Dion Markgraaff said on Wednesday. “The beat goes on.”
Serving San Diego’s cannabis community since July of 2009, the Santee-based NUG (which stands for nuggets of pot and nuggets of information) is the rare expansion story in the ever-shrinking print-media universe. It is also the ad-filled and shadow-plagued reflection of the conflicted portrait that is San Diego’s pot profile.
In San Diego, NUG and other purveyors of the cannabis-friendly lifestyle face a splintered civic personality that can’t decide if it wants to join them for a Creamsicle Spiked Shake (recipe in the August 2010 issue) or send them and their hydroponics off to greener pastures in other parts of the state.
“It’s a mesh of personalities here,” said the 41-year-old Markgraaff, who grew up in Oceanside and attended Vista High School and San Diego State University. “We have our lovable qualities, but we’ve got a hard edge. We’re like a mutt that has all these different traits.”
Long before San Diego voted to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state 14 years ago, we were open to the idea of different strokes for different folks. The utopian-minded Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society settled in Point Loma in late 1896, the pioneering Golden Door Spa began welcoming sun-worshippers and fitness nuts in 1958, and the UFO-watching members of the Unarius Academy of Science have been doing their cosmic thing in El Cajon since 1954.
“The notion of alternative therapies, alternative approaches to health, that is deep in our history,” said UCSD sociologist Mary Walshok. “Chinese herbal medicine, massage, acupuncture and meditation, all of that has a long history in San Diego.”
Then again, we are also a community with deep military roots and a long history of conservative voting patterns. So while we were progressive enough to become the largest city in the country to adopt medical-marijuana guidelines in 2003, we were not quite comfy enough to support the legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana earlier this week.
At NUG, the natural-remedy-embracing, alternative-lifestyle-appreciating side of San Diego is alive and well and loving its organic marijuana, edible marijuana and water pipes. All of this interest from medical-marijuana patients and — let’s not kid ourselves — enterprising recreational smokers has turned NUG into a totally ad-supported success story.
In less than two years, it has grown from a 48-page bimonthly distributed in clinics and dispensaries to a 98-page monthly magazine that is also available for free at local 7-Eleven stores.
“What this says about San Diego is there is a huge cannabis community here and there is a huge market that is unaddressed by society,” Markgraaff said during a break from sales calls, which he makes wearing shorts, flip-flops and a NUG T-shirt. “Our biggest problem is we don’t print enough copies.”
Actually, their problems are bigger than that. Because the other side of San Diego’s public consciousness — the side with the serious border-related drug worries and the staunchly anti-marijuana District Attorney’s office — is also living large at NUG.
It was there in the first issue, which was dedicated to longtime local medical-marijuana activist Steven McWilliams, who committed suicide in 2005. It is there in the ads the magazine lost when the Kush Lounge dispensary was raided last July. And it is there in the masthead, where many of the staffers don’t use their real names. That includes publisher and medical-marijuana patient Ben G. Rowen, a native San Diegan who became an activist after his home was raided by federal authorities two years ago.
Then again, that masthead is also on the latest issue of NUG, in all its fat, healthy glory. With his San Diego cannabis magazine growing, editor Markgraaff is letting his hopes grow, too.
“Did you see the exit numbers for Prop. 19?,” Markgraaff said via e-mail yesterday. “San Diego voted Yes at 47 percent, which was as big as L.A., the state average, and most of Northern California. I think that shows the cannabis community and NUG magazine are doing a good job in helping people evolve here in San Diego.”
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
MERCHANT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
New or Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Best Rates Available
Contact Tony Mosqueda
anthonymosqueda@sbcglobal.net
818.397.1078 (24 hours a day)
New or Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Best Rates Available
Contact Tony Mosqueda
anthonymosqueda@sbcglobal.net
818.397.1078 (24 hours a day)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
NEWS: Marijuana Cooperative Files Suit Against City
The Conejo Wellness Center, Agoura Hills' sole medical marijuana collective, filed a lawsuit Friday against the city of Agoura Hills, its various agencies and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, alleging they violated its due process rights and infringed its constitutional right to operate lawfully. Seeking a temporary restraining order, the Center aims to prevent the city of Agoura Hills from taking any action to disallow Conejo Wellness from operating as a medical marijuana collective.
The suit alleges that the city of Agoura Hills overstepped its use of muncipal law enforcement by working cooperatively with the Sheriff's Department in thwarting the collective's operations, according to the Conejo Wellness Center's attorney, Arthur D. Hodge.
The Sheriff's Department Narcotics Strike Force raided the dispensary on Oct. 14, alleging it cultivated and distributed medical marijuana for profit.
"They weren't there to arrest anybody, just harass us," Mike Brown, a co-owner of the dispensary, told Patch the day after the raid. "They told us we are not allowed back there."
Assistant City Manager Louis Celaya contends that the city has been conducting a separate investigation into whether the Center was operating without the required business permit.
"The owner of the dispensary elected to open its non-conforming business in violation of municipal code," he said. "The Sheriff's Department does not handle matters of code enforcement."
The collective registered as an entity with the California secretary of state's office on June 8, 2006, according to Hodge, to provide medicinal marijuana to those patients in need. A tax registration certificate from the city of Los Angeles indicates that the business opened in Agoura Hills on Apr. 1, 2006.
Agoura Hills officials established a moratorium banning medicinal marijuana dispensaries after one such operation on Agoura Court, posing as a copier company, was evicted for lease violations in 2006. The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2008 making the ban permanent.
On Sept. 22, 2010, the City Council amended the ordinance, changing the definition of the word "business" from the original language to include not-for-profit cooperatives, such as the Conejo Wellness Center.
The lawsuit alleges that the enforcement of the amended ordinance, which disqualifies the Center from obtaining a business registration permit while at the same time mandating that it have one, is in violation of California and U.S. constitutional due process of rights.
Due process can be applied to persons as well as corporate entities, according to both California and US constitutions. Due process rights guarantee that the government cannot thwart a person's basic rights to life, liberty or property, without due process of law.
Hodge said the Conejo Wellness Center applied for a registration permit with the city on Dec. 14, 2009, despite the fact that it was not a profit-seeking entity. The Center was never verbally or otherwise told it was denied a business registration permit or had its $35 fee returned, he said.
Celaya said several attempts were made to contact the applicant by telephone. The application was denied, because it did not clearly state the nature of the business. "The property owner essentially disregarded concerns from the city," Celaya said.
The Conejo Wellness Center maintains that it is a collective of patients lawfully organized under the laws of the state of California, and that the city violated the Center's right to privacy and association. The collective's patients have a right to cultivate and distribute marijuana under California law, Hodge said.
The owners of the Conejo Wellness Center feel confident that they may be able to reopen its doors as early as next week, based on statements on its Facebook page.
A court date has been set for Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court at 600 S. Commonwealth Ave.
Source: Agoura Hills Patch
The suit alleges that the city of Agoura Hills overstepped its use of muncipal law enforcement by working cooperatively with the Sheriff's Department in thwarting the collective's operations, according to the Conejo Wellness Center's attorney, Arthur D. Hodge.
The Sheriff's Department Narcotics Strike Force raided the dispensary on Oct. 14, alleging it cultivated and distributed medical marijuana for profit.
"They weren't there to arrest anybody, just harass us," Mike Brown, a co-owner of the dispensary, told Patch the day after the raid. "They told us we are not allowed back there."
Assistant City Manager Louis Celaya contends that the city has been conducting a separate investigation into whether the Center was operating without the required business permit.
"The owner of the dispensary elected to open its non-conforming business in violation of municipal code," he said. "The Sheriff's Department does not handle matters of code enforcement."
The collective registered as an entity with the California secretary of state's office on June 8, 2006, according to Hodge, to provide medicinal marijuana to those patients in need. A tax registration certificate from the city of Los Angeles indicates that the business opened in Agoura Hills on Apr. 1, 2006.
Agoura Hills officials established a moratorium banning medicinal marijuana dispensaries after one such operation on Agoura Court, posing as a copier company, was evicted for lease violations in 2006. The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2008 making the ban permanent.
On Sept. 22, 2010, the City Council amended the ordinance, changing the definition of the word "business" from the original language to include not-for-profit cooperatives, such as the Conejo Wellness Center.
The lawsuit alleges that the enforcement of the amended ordinance, which disqualifies the Center from obtaining a business registration permit while at the same time mandating that it have one, is in violation of California and U.S. constitutional due process of rights.
Due process can be applied to persons as well as corporate entities, according to both California and US constitutions. Due process rights guarantee that the government cannot thwart a person's basic rights to life, liberty or property, without due process of law.
Hodge said the Conejo Wellness Center applied for a registration permit with the city on Dec. 14, 2009, despite the fact that it was not a profit-seeking entity. The Center was never verbally or otherwise told it was denied a business registration permit or had its $35 fee returned, he said.
Celaya said several attempts were made to contact the applicant by telephone. The application was denied, because it did not clearly state the nature of the business. "The property owner essentially disregarded concerns from the city," Celaya said.
The Conejo Wellness Center maintains that it is a collective of patients lawfully organized under the laws of the state of California, and that the city violated the Center's right to privacy and association. The collective's patients have a right to cultivate and distribute marijuana under California law, Hodge said.
The owners of the Conejo Wellness Center feel confident that they may be able to reopen its doors as early as next week, based on statements on its Facebook page.
A court date has been set for Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court at 600 S. Commonwealth Ave.
Source: Agoura Hills Patch
Friday, October 15, 2010
NEWS: License or not, man busted for marijuana possession
Juan A. Santana told a police officer he had a license from California that entitled him to possess medical marijuana. Nevertheless, he was arrested by an Ocala police officer and charged with drug possession.
Late Thursday, Officer David Vale was heading south on South Pine Avenue approaching the Southwest 10th Street intersection when he saw a red Chevy pickup run the stoplight.
The officer stopped the vehicle, which Santana, 30, was driving. While approaching the vehicle, the officer noticed Santana tossing what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette out the window, according to the officer’s report.
The officer said he smelled a strong odor of marijuana inside the pickup. A K-9 unit alerted on the driver’s side door, and the officer saw a small bag of marijuana, the report said. The officer said he found several more bags of marijuana in the man’s pants pocket.
Searching the vehicle, officials found three blue bottles that contained marijuana. The label on the bottles read “Hooked on Chronic,” the report said.
Santana later told the officer he had a medical marijuana license from California, and received all his supply from a doctor. He also told the officer that he purchased the drug for personal use from the Internet.
The marijuana weighed 20.5 grams. Santana was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail.
Source: OCALA.com
Late Thursday, Officer David Vale was heading south on South Pine Avenue approaching the Southwest 10th Street intersection when he saw a red Chevy pickup run the stoplight.
The officer stopped the vehicle, which Santana, 30, was driving. While approaching the vehicle, the officer noticed Santana tossing what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette out the window, according to the officer’s report.
The officer said he smelled a strong odor of marijuana inside the pickup. A K-9 unit alerted on the driver’s side door, and the officer saw a small bag of marijuana, the report said. The officer said he found several more bags of marijuana in the man’s pants pocket.
Searching the vehicle, officials found three blue bottles that contained marijuana. The label on the bottles read “Hooked on Chronic,” the report said.
Santana later told the officer he had a medical marijuana license from California, and received all his supply from a doctor. He also told the officer that he purchased the drug for personal use from the Internet.
The marijuana weighed 20.5 grams. Santana was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail.
Source: OCALA.com
MERCHANT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
New or Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.
Best Rates Available.
Contact Tony Mosqueda
anthonymosqueda@sbcglobal.net
818.397.1078 (24 hours a day)
New or Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.
Best Rates Available.
Contact Tony Mosqueda
anthonymosqueda@sbcglobal.net
818.397.1078 (24 hours a day)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
NEWS: Measure B would tax marijuana if voters approve Proposition 19
LONG BEACH — If California voters approve Proposition 19 on Nov. 2 to legalize recreational marijuana, Long Beach officials want to be ready to capitalize on it.
Long Beach's Measure B would create a new category of "marijuana business" and would tax the drug.
The measure would impose a tax of $150 per $1,000 of gross receipts for marijuana sales, and a tax of $25 per square foot on all improvements to a site used by a marijuana business to cultivate or grow marijuana.
Marijuana businesses that qualify as nonprofits under state law would pay $10 per square foot of improvements instead of paying a tax based on gross receipts.
The tax would be adjusted each year for inflation.
However, the tax wouldn't affect any marijuana facility that has a valid medical marijuana permit.
Medical marijuana is already legal in California, and Long Beach has created new regulations for medical marijuana collectives. City officials are in the process of granting permits to collectives that meet all of the qualifications, although some collectives have filed lawsuits challenging Long Beach's law.
Long Beach Director of Finance Lori Ann Farrell says that Measure C has the potential to produce millions of dollars in revenue for Long Beach, which has faced years of budget deficits and has more to come.
The revenue from the marijuana tax could be used to pay for police, firefighters, libraries, parks and other services, Farrell says.
The measure has no official opposition, though it is dependent on Proposition 19 passing. That state measure has plenty of advocates and opponents.
See the full text of the measure at the Long Beach City Clerk's website.
Source: Contra Costa Times
Long Beach's Measure B would create a new category of "marijuana business" and would tax the drug.
The measure would impose a tax of $150 per $1,000 of gross receipts for marijuana sales, and a tax of $25 per square foot on all improvements to a site used by a marijuana business to cultivate or grow marijuana.
Marijuana businesses that qualify as nonprofits under state law would pay $10 per square foot of improvements instead of paying a tax based on gross receipts.
The tax would be adjusted each year for inflation.
However, the tax wouldn't affect any marijuana facility that has a valid medical marijuana permit.
Medical marijuana is already legal in California, and Long Beach has created new regulations for medical marijuana collectives. City officials are in the process of granting permits to collectives that meet all of the qualifications, although some collectives have filed lawsuits challenging Long Beach's law.
Long Beach Director of Finance Lori Ann Farrell says that Measure C has the potential to produce millions of dollars in revenue for Long Beach, which has faced years of budget deficits and has more to come.
The revenue from the marijuana tax could be used to pay for police, firefighters, libraries, parks and other services, Farrell says.
The measure has no official opposition, though it is dependent on Proposition 19 passing. That state measure has plenty of advocates and opponents.
See the full text of the measure at the Long Beach City Clerk's website.
Source: Contra Costa Times
Friday, October 1, 2010
NEWS: Update: 20 more arrests in Round Valley marijuana raids
Ongoing marijuana raids in the Round Valley area netted 11,148 plants and at least 20 more arrests Wednesday, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported, including seven people from Seattle and eight from the state of New York.
The MCSO announced the arrests Thursday, on the heels of 17 arrests and the seizure of more than 3,000 plants Tuesday in Round Valley, a remote community nestled among forested mountains and checkered with land belonging to members of seven tribes in the area.
Sheriff Tom Allman said in addition to the 20 people arrested and booked on suspicion of cultivating and selling marijuana Wednesday, "many" more were arrested and released with citations to appear in court.
The raids began in the Covelo area Tuesday, when the MCSO helped state and federal agents serve five warrants at sites throughout Round Valley, some on tribal land, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the MCSO.
The state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement is leading the raids, which Smallcomb said continued Thursday and could continue today.
"Our focus is not on medical (marijuana), but there's no need for profiteering," he said.
Authorities served seven warrants Tuesday and continued "open-field raids," throughout the valley, seizing six guns, cash totaling $12,485 and processed marijuana estimated as high as 2,000 pounds.
Smallcomb said open-field searches don't require search warrants because they are on land with no curtilage - common living area.
At a home in the 28500 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 101 marijuana plants, about a pound of processed marijuana and $9,985 in cash.
The eight people arrested at the site include: Gordon Wittrock, 49, of Covelo, and Seattle residents Michael Daravong, 28, Sage Framanu, 36, Ritha Van, 29, Phy Run Sun, 26, Manassah Seang, 53, and Tok Kim, 29, and transient Sarhovda Lain, 24.
At a home in the 28900 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 86 marijuana plants, "hundreds of pounds" of processed marijuana, according to Smallcomb, and five rifles, and arrested Kelseyville resident Ethan Smith, 20, and Ukiah resident Jose Corona Pulido, 24.
At a home in the 29000 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 68 marijuana plants between 12 feet and 15 feet tall and more than 106 pounds of processed marijuana.
Authorities arrested 10 people at the site, including David Luff, 30, of Los Angeles; Sebastian Rogers, 31, of Costa Mesa; Joshua Abbate, 36, of Middletown, NY; Reynaldo Rivera, 35, of Deer Park, NY; Carl Weyant, 26, of Deer Park, NY; Hans Haaland, 27, of Stanfordville, NY; Noel Goluering, 26, of Milan, NY; Joseph Cort, 27, of Hudson, NY; Michael Vincent, 24, of Pine Plains, NY; and Bethany Bonneville, 22, of Pine Plains, NY.
Meanwhile, October court dates are set for arraignments, preliminary hearings and plea entries for at least 12 of the 17 people arrested Tuesday in illegal marijuana garden raids throughout Round Valley.
Round Valley Tribal Police Chief Carlos Rabano said at least one member of a Round Valley tribe had hundreds of marijuana plants growing on his property in plain sight.
Illicit gardens in tribal members' backyards is an increasingly common trend he's seen since the warring tribal and Hispanic communities in the valley started cooperating during the last two years.
"Typically, Hispanic workers get the gardens started for them (tribal members), and they'll often want half of the garden, or they'll give the member a car," Rabano said.
His investigation points to the Mexican mafia, which he believes pays or trades with the members of Round Valley's tribes for the use of their yards for growing marijuana.
Rabano told of a recent incident where sheriff's deputies investigating an unrelated report were shot at when they inadvertently "got too close to a member's garden."
His office tries to stay out of the issue, he said, because of conflict between the Round Valley Tribal Council, which passed an ordinance allowing members to grow 33 plants per person, and his own position, shared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that marijuana cultivation is illegal on all federal land.
"This is a problem for the local sheriff's office because they run into guards," he said. "The Mexican mafia threatens the workers' families back in Mexico if they don't keep the gardens safe. That's why they're shooting back at deputies."
Rabano said many Round Valley residents are speculating about why authorities are focusing on Covelo, but added that the marijuana harvest season is young for law enforcement, and he's aware of plans to raid gardens in other Mendocino County communities.
"It's not just Covelo; it's everywhere in Mendocino County," Smallcomb said.
Source: The Ukiah Daily Journal
The MCSO announced the arrests Thursday, on the heels of 17 arrests and the seizure of more than 3,000 plants Tuesday in Round Valley, a remote community nestled among forested mountains and checkered with land belonging to members of seven tribes in the area.
Sheriff Tom Allman said in addition to the 20 people arrested and booked on suspicion of cultivating and selling marijuana Wednesday, "many" more were arrested and released with citations to appear in court.
The raids began in the Covelo area Tuesday, when the MCSO helped state and federal agents serve five warrants at sites throughout Round Valley, some on tribal land, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the MCSO.
The state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement is leading the raids, which Smallcomb said continued Thursday and could continue today.
"Our focus is not on medical (marijuana), but there's no need for profiteering," he said.
Authorities served seven warrants Tuesday and continued "open-field raids," throughout the valley, seizing six guns, cash totaling $12,485 and processed marijuana estimated as high as 2,000 pounds.
Smallcomb said open-field searches don't require search warrants because they are on land with no curtilage - common living area.
At a home in the 28500 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 101 marijuana plants, about a pound of processed marijuana and $9,985 in cash.
The eight people arrested at the site include: Gordon Wittrock, 49, of Covelo, and Seattle residents Michael Daravong, 28, Sage Framanu, 36, Ritha Van, 29, Phy Run Sun, 26, Manassah Seang, 53, and Tok Kim, 29, and transient Sarhovda Lain, 24.
At a home in the 28900 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 86 marijuana plants, "hundreds of pounds" of processed marijuana, according to Smallcomb, and five rifles, and arrested Kelseyville resident Ethan Smith, 20, and Ukiah resident Jose Corona Pulido, 24.
At a home in the 29000 block of Eel River Road, authorities served a search warrant and seized 68 marijuana plants between 12 feet and 15 feet tall and more than 106 pounds of processed marijuana.
Authorities arrested 10 people at the site, including David Luff, 30, of Los Angeles; Sebastian Rogers, 31, of Costa Mesa; Joshua Abbate, 36, of Middletown, NY; Reynaldo Rivera, 35, of Deer Park, NY; Carl Weyant, 26, of Deer Park, NY; Hans Haaland, 27, of Stanfordville, NY; Noel Goluering, 26, of Milan, NY; Joseph Cort, 27, of Hudson, NY; Michael Vincent, 24, of Pine Plains, NY; and Bethany Bonneville, 22, of Pine Plains, NY.
Meanwhile, October court dates are set for arraignments, preliminary hearings and plea entries for at least 12 of the 17 people arrested Tuesday in illegal marijuana garden raids throughout Round Valley.
Round Valley Tribal Police Chief Carlos Rabano said at least one member of a Round Valley tribe had hundreds of marijuana plants growing on his property in plain sight.
Illicit gardens in tribal members' backyards is an increasingly common trend he's seen since the warring tribal and Hispanic communities in the valley started cooperating during the last two years.
"Typically, Hispanic workers get the gardens started for them (tribal members), and they'll often want half of the garden, or they'll give the member a car," Rabano said.
His investigation points to the Mexican mafia, which he believes pays or trades with the members of Round Valley's tribes for the use of their yards for growing marijuana.
Rabano told of a recent incident where sheriff's deputies investigating an unrelated report were shot at when they inadvertently "got too close to a member's garden."
His office tries to stay out of the issue, he said, because of conflict between the Round Valley Tribal Council, which passed an ordinance allowing members to grow 33 plants per person, and his own position, shared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that marijuana cultivation is illegal on all federal land.
"This is a problem for the local sheriff's office because they run into guards," he said. "The Mexican mafia threatens the workers' families back in Mexico if they don't keep the gardens safe. That's why they're shooting back at deputies."
Rabano said many Round Valley residents are speculating about why authorities are focusing on Covelo, but added that the marijuana harvest season is young for law enforcement, and he's aware of plans to raid gardens in other Mendocino County communities.
"It's not just Covelo; it's everywhere in Mendocino County," Smallcomb said.
Source: The Ukiah Daily Journal
OP-ED: Marijuana legalization offers far more than meets the eye
Legally getting high is not the only reason to support marijuana legalization.
True, this may be the sole incentive for some voters to support Proposition 19, which will be featured on November's ballot. (See theusdvista.com for news coverage of this law).If enacted, the bill will legalize the use and cultivation of cannabis (more commonly known as marijuana) in California. However, if I were a California resident, I would cast my vote for Proposition 19 based on reasons beyond recreation.
Let's be honest with each other. Marijuana is a part of California culture. Even the text of Prop 19 acknowledges that "cannabis consumption is simply a fact of life for a large percentage of Americans." According to surveys cited by Prop 19, more than 15 million Americans have used cannabis in the past month. Some may be concerned that this high number may increase if marijuana is legalized. However, according to a recent study by the National Research Council, in the 11 states where marijuana is decriminalized, one step below full legalization, usage has not increased. In short, the people that want to use marijuana probably already do.
Now, some may throw up their arms and say, "There is a war against drugs in this country! Since marijuana is a harmful drug, it should be illegal!"
If this were the argument that drove our country's drug policy, then alcohol should still be illegal, as it was during the Prohibition. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 23,199 alcohol-induced deaths in 2007. There has never been a marijuana-induced death (both of these figures leave out drug/alcohol related accidents).
Alcoholism is a major problem in this country, and we shouldn't forget about it just because it has been a legalized drug for the past century. Similarly, there will be people who abuse marijuana under this law, but the majority will not. Under Prop 19, marijuana use will be limited to those over 21 and it will be a punishable crime for them to smoke in front of minors or in public.
Also, it is no secret that California is in major trouble financially. The state's budget deficit is more than $24 billion. Taxing marijuana could generate $1.4 billion in tax revenue, according to the Los Angeles Times, more than many of the other proposed budget cuts, including closing state parks and removing medical insurance coverage for impoverished children. This is money our state needs in order to continue providing such wonderful programs to its residents.
The state would also save a tremendous amount of money by ignoring marijuana-related crimes. According to the Los Angeles Times, there were 61,000 arrests in California due to marijuana last year. This would also allow law enforcements to tackle some of our state's more troubling issues, like illegal immigration and gangs. The government would also be taking the power over marijuana away from the gangs, which would be a massive hit against their influence.
According to the text of Prop 19, illegal marijuana transactions generate $15 billion each year. The government will have the opportunity to stop this trend and create a safe access environment.
Prop 19 would also provide increased legal protection for medical marijuana patients adhering to Prop 215 as it would not undercut or override the patients' rights, as some have said. In fact, Prop 19 directly references Prop 215 in multiple areas of the bill and notes that it would not undercut those provisions.
Legalizing marijuana would also allow it to be studied for scientific research, which could amount to medical breakthroughs in the near future. New jobs and (legal) entrepreneurial opportunities may be on the horizon too, depending on how the new regulation system is implemented.
Marijuana is not a big scary monster living under California's bed. It is a substance that has been proven to be less toxic than alcohol, medically beneficial and has the potential to help save governmental programs that have benefited citizens here for years. Even if you don't think you'll choose to use cannabis once it is legal, consider the positive implications for our state. There are many more than may meet the eye.
Source: The Vista
True, this may be the sole incentive for some voters to support Proposition 19, which will be featured on November's ballot. (See theusdvista.com for news coverage of this law).If enacted, the bill will legalize the use and cultivation of cannabis (more commonly known as marijuana) in California. However, if I were a California resident, I would cast my vote for Proposition 19 based on reasons beyond recreation.
Let's be honest with each other. Marijuana is a part of California culture. Even the text of Prop 19 acknowledges that "cannabis consumption is simply a fact of life for a large percentage of Americans." According to surveys cited by Prop 19, more than 15 million Americans have used cannabis in the past month. Some may be concerned that this high number may increase if marijuana is legalized. However, according to a recent study by the National Research Council, in the 11 states where marijuana is decriminalized, one step below full legalization, usage has not increased. In short, the people that want to use marijuana probably already do.
Now, some may throw up their arms and say, "There is a war against drugs in this country! Since marijuana is a harmful drug, it should be illegal!"
If this were the argument that drove our country's drug policy, then alcohol should still be illegal, as it was during the Prohibition. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 23,199 alcohol-induced deaths in 2007. There has never been a marijuana-induced death (both of these figures leave out drug/alcohol related accidents).
Alcoholism is a major problem in this country, and we shouldn't forget about it just because it has been a legalized drug for the past century. Similarly, there will be people who abuse marijuana under this law, but the majority will not. Under Prop 19, marijuana use will be limited to those over 21 and it will be a punishable crime for them to smoke in front of minors or in public.
Also, it is no secret that California is in major trouble financially. The state's budget deficit is more than $24 billion. Taxing marijuana could generate $1.4 billion in tax revenue, according to the Los Angeles Times, more than many of the other proposed budget cuts, including closing state parks and removing medical insurance coverage for impoverished children. This is money our state needs in order to continue providing such wonderful programs to its residents.
The state would also save a tremendous amount of money by ignoring marijuana-related crimes. According to the Los Angeles Times, there were 61,000 arrests in California due to marijuana last year. This would also allow law enforcements to tackle some of our state's more troubling issues, like illegal immigration and gangs. The government would also be taking the power over marijuana away from the gangs, which would be a massive hit against their influence.
According to the text of Prop 19, illegal marijuana transactions generate $15 billion each year. The government will have the opportunity to stop this trend and create a safe access environment.
Prop 19 would also provide increased legal protection for medical marijuana patients adhering to Prop 215 as it would not undercut or override the patients' rights, as some have said. In fact, Prop 19 directly references Prop 215 in multiple areas of the bill and notes that it would not undercut those provisions.
Legalizing marijuana would also allow it to be studied for scientific research, which could amount to medical breakthroughs in the near future. New jobs and (legal) entrepreneurial opportunities may be on the horizon too, depending on how the new regulation system is implemented.
Marijuana is not a big scary monster living under California's bed. It is a substance that has been proven to be less toxic than alcohol, medically beneficial and has the potential to help save governmental programs that have benefited citizens here for years. Even if you don't think you'll choose to use cannabis once it is legal, consider the positive implications for our state. There are many more than may meet the eye.
Source: The Vista
Thursday, September 23, 2010
NEWS: Authorities seize 65,000 marijuana plants in Tulare County
Seven individuals are being sought for federal arrest warrants for the cultivation of 65,000 marijuana plants found on illegal grow sites in Tulare County and for attempting to use the state’s medical marijuana laws as a cover for drug trafficking, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department reported.
The drug trafficking organization was responsible for grow sites on public lands near Badger, Eshom, Kennedy Meadows, Three Rivers and Springville as well as a private land grow site in an okra field near Ivanhoe, the Sheriff’s Department reported.
Authorities are investigating the possibility of falsified medical marijuana referrals used by the organization to grow marijuana in backyards of residences throughout Tulare County — all backyard medical marijuana grow sites associated with the group are being seized, officials reported.
Additional public land grow sites were located within Monterey, Riverside and Santa Clara counties and federal search warrants were also served in Fresno and Riverside counties.
Authorities served federal search warrants at six locations in Tulare County and multiple additional subjects involved will face state charges.
Source: South County Recorder Online
The drug trafficking organization was responsible for grow sites on public lands near Badger, Eshom, Kennedy Meadows, Three Rivers and Springville as well as a private land grow site in an okra field near Ivanhoe, the Sheriff’s Department reported.
Authorities are investigating the possibility of falsified medical marijuana referrals used by the organization to grow marijuana in backyards of residences throughout Tulare County — all backyard medical marijuana grow sites associated with the group are being seized, officials reported.
Additional public land grow sites were located within Monterey, Riverside and Santa Clara counties and federal search warrants were also served in Fresno and Riverside counties.
Authorities served federal search warrants at six locations in Tulare County and multiple additional subjects involved will face state charges.
Source: South County Recorder Online
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
NEWS: SD Board of Supervisors condem ballot measure on marijuana
County supervisors recently passed an ordinance regulation how and where medical marijuana exchanges can operate.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously condemned a statewide ballot measure to legalize small amounts of marijuana, calling Proposition 19 poorly written and dangerous.
“It raises many health and safety issues,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said.
County supervisors recently passed an ordinance regulation how and where medical marijuana exchanges can operate, and the city is considering a similar set of rules.
A county resolution against Proposition 19 states that implementing the act would worsen the budget strain of state and local governments because of the need to create regulations and oversight.
The quasi-legal weed, however, could bring in a mother lode of new tax dollars.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said passage would lead to an increase of people driving under the influence of the drug, something prosecutors are seeing more of already.
“It’s not smart to legalize a mind-altering substance,” Dumanis said.
Even the title of the initiative, the “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannibis Act of 2010,” is misleading because it does none of those things, she said.
“By passing on responsibility to local governments to regulate marijuana use, there is the strong possibility that we will see a patchwork of conflicting local laws and regulations developed with no unified state standards,” the supervisors’ resolution states.
A handful of people involved in anti-drug abuse organizations spoke in support of the board’s action, while the only opponent was not allowed to speak because she was late.
Source: Southwest Riverside News Network
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously condemned a statewide ballot measure to legalize small amounts of marijuana, calling Proposition 19 poorly written and dangerous.
“It raises many health and safety issues,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said.
County supervisors recently passed an ordinance regulation how and where medical marijuana exchanges can operate, and the city is considering a similar set of rules.
A county resolution against Proposition 19 states that implementing the act would worsen the budget strain of state and local governments because of the need to create regulations and oversight.
The quasi-legal weed, however, could bring in a mother lode of new tax dollars.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said passage would lead to an increase of people driving under the influence of the drug, something prosecutors are seeing more of already.
“It’s not smart to legalize a mind-altering substance,” Dumanis said.
Even the title of the initiative, the “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannibis Act of 2010,” is misleading because it does none of those things, she said.
“By passing on responsibility to local governments to regulate marijuana use, there is the strong possibility that we will see a patchwork of conflicting local laws and regulations developed with no unified state standards,” the supervisors’ resolution states.
A handful of people involved in anti-drug abuse organizations spoke in support of the board’s action, while the only opponent was not allowed to speak because she was late.
Source: Southwest Riverside News Network
Monday, August 30, 2010
NEWS: Smoking even low doses of cannabis helps patients, study shows
LOS ANGELES -- Stick to the pipe, medical marijuana users: that's the message from Canadian researchers who found that smoking even relatively low doses of cannabis can help reduce chronic pain, ease sleep and reduce anxiety.
The findings were published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
For the study, 21 participants experiencing chronic neuropathic pain for at least three months smoked different preparations of marijuana three times a day for five days each, and stayed smoke-free for nine days as a buffer in between treatments. The most potent concentration was 9.4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (the active ingredient in cannabis), followed by one of 6 percent, one of 2.5 percent and one with no THC at all.
Patients who inhaled the highest THC concentration felt pain less intensely and slept better than patients who did not inhale THC-laced smoke. Those taking the highest dose reported a pain level of 5.4 on a scale of 1 to 11 - lower than the 6.1 reported by those taking the THC-free dose.
The study's authors concede that a 0.7-point reduction in pain is pretty modest compared with the improvements seen from other drugs - but they also point out that the patients they were testing had suffered from pain that had resisted other forms of treatment. Smoking cannabis, then, could provide at least some relief to those who can find none.
As University of Oxford professor Henry McQuay wrote in a commentary accompanying the study, "Existing treatments are far from perfect. In the meantime, the current trial adds to the trickle of evidence that cannabis may help some of the patients who are struggling at present."
Source: Kentucky.com
The findings were published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
For the study, 21 participants experiencing chronic neuropathic pain for at least three months smoked different preparations of marijuana three times a day for five days each, and stayed smoke-free for nine days as a buffer in between treatments. The most potent concentration was 9.4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (the active ingredient in cannabis), followed by one of 6 percent, one of 2.5 percent and one with no THC at all.
Patients who inhaled the highest THC concentration felt pain less intensely and slept better than patients who did not inhale THC-laced smoke. Those taking the highest dose reported a pain level of 5.4 on a scale of 1 to 11 - lower than the 6.1 reported by those taking the THC-free dose.
The study's authors concede that a 0.7-point reduction in pain is pretty modest compared with the improvements seen from other drugs - but they also point out that the patients they were testing had suffered from pain that had resisted other forms of treatment. Smoking cannabis, then, could provide at least some relief to those who can find none.
As University of Oxford professor Henry McQuay wrote in a commentary accompanying the study, "Existing treatments are far from perfect. In the meantime, the current trial adds to the trickle of evidence that cannabis may help some of the patients who are struggling at present."
Source: Kentucky.com
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