Yep, in this weak-ass economy there are plenty of people willing to accept the prestigious gig as pot clipper or trimmer. And, why not…because who the hell wouldn’t want to get paid to prep weed? You’ve got to be an idiot or a Coldplay fan to turn down a gig like that. And, boys and girls we hear you get to smoke as much herb as you want while you work just like the job you had in high school. The seasonal demand for clippers starts in just a few short months…when all that precious weed is ready for harvesting, so buy some oregano or find a few old Barbies who need a haircut and start practicing.

Get paid hourly or just rake in a fat lump sum, the choice is up to you since the government ain’t involved. Oh and don’t worry about passing a drug test. Actually maybe you should worry, because if you DON’T fail the test…that means you’re pro’lly a narc and that’ll lead to an ass-kicking!

Oh and get this…meals are often provided, if you like the Grateful Dead or Phish you won’t blow your brains out after a full-day of listening, you might be able to finagle a free place to stay for a night or two and clippers are usually allowed to pocket some of the product for personal use, plus the stuff they actually stuffed in their pockets when growers weren’t looking!

Staff Sgt. Dave Goddard up in CA’s Mendocino area said operations with between 500 and 1,000 plants generally hire extra help to clip and monitor the plants. Larger-scale operators often have up to seven different grow operations and employ larger staffs, he said.

“There’s an awful lot of unemployed people out there, and this is a way that they have of making money on a cash basis that is largely undisclosed to the government,” he said. “Obviously they aren’t being taxed on it because they’re not receiving a W2 at the end of the year, I can guarantee you that.”

In 30 years with the Sherif’s Dept., Goddard said he’s busted as many as 500 grow operations. He said clippers get charged along with everyone else involved, usually with possession of marijuana, production of marijuana or possession for the purpose of trafficking.

He strongly advises people to stay away from such employment, regardless of the scale of the operation. “(Clippers) don’t consider themselves to be criminals, quite often” he said. “It’s against the law, I shouldn’t have to advise anyone.”

Yep, in this weak-ass economy there are plenty of people willing to accept the prestigious gig as pot clipper or trimmer. That’s right…get paid to prep weed boys and girls and smoke as much as you want while you do it. The seasonal demand for clippers starts in just a few short months…when all that precious weed is ready for havesting.

Get paid hourly or just rake in a fat lump sum by weight and don’t worry about passing a drug test. Actually maybe you should worry, because if you DON’T fail…you’re pro’lly a narc! And, keep in mind the rising power of the Looney vs the Dollar and a trip to Hockey-land might be just what the pot-doc ordered. Oh and get this…meals are often provided, you might be able to finagle a place to stay  and clippers are usually allowed to keep some of the product for personal use!!!

Staff Sgt. Dave Goddard of the RCMP’s Vancouver drug unit said operations with between 500 and 1,000 plants generally hire extra help to clip and monitor the plants. Larger-scale operators often have up to seven different grow operations and employ larger staffs, he said.

“There’s an awful lot of unemployed people out there, and this is a way that they have of making money on a cash basis that is largely undisclosed to the government,” he said. “Obviously they aren’t being taxed on it because they’re not receiving a T4 (Canada’s W2) at the end of the year, I can guarantee you that.”

In 30 years with the Mounties, (you know those red-suited, goofy hat-wearin’ bastards that look like Nutcrackers and shit) Goddard said he’s busted as many as 500 grow operations. He said clippers get charged along with everyone else involved, usually with possession of marijuana, production of marijuana or possession for the purpose of trafficking.

He strongly advises people to stay away from such employment, regardless of the scale of the operation.

“(Clippers) don’t consider themselves to be criminals, quite often” he said.

“It’s against the law, I shouldn’t have to advise anyone.”

Now that California’s highest court in the land stuck down the limits to the amount of weed patient’s can possess…the question begs to be asked…just how much weed CAN patients possess without getting busted? Hold on tight…we’ll get to that.

As a result of the voter-approved Proposition 215, passed in 1996, medical marijuana patients with a doctor’s recommendation were allowed to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana. Of course law enforcement didn’t really dig the idea of pot-smokers having unspecified amounts of weed, so in 2003 they set out to change that shit. They created this Legislation to give themselves a guideline on when to make marijuana possession busts.

The Legislature decided that no matter your condition, dying of AIDS, stricken with debilitating MS or just fucking battling depression…ALL patients could only have a maximum of up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana and grow only six mature or 12 immature plants. The law did allow, however, a patient to have more if a doctor stated that amount was insufficient and individual cities had the power to allow patients to grow and possess more marijuana, but not less.

So back in January the California Supreme Court unanimously struck down that bullshit law ruling that state lawmakers were wrong to change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The high court says only voters can change amendments that they’ve added to California’s constitution through the initiative process.

According to the Harboside Health Center’s Executive Director Steve DeAngelo (pictured over there on the right), the courts didn’t really strike down the limits, however. “In my view, it was a rather narrow ruling,” he says. “What the ruling said was that prosecutors cannot use the limits as de facto evidence that somebody is in violation and is growing in excess of what they need for their own personal use.”

So basically, if you’re in court and you’re charged with growing in excess of your personal needs the prosecution can’t make their case simply by saying you have more than 12 mature plants.

“I know that there’s other people who are construing the ruling more broadly and I’m not opposed to those attempts too, I mean one of the reasons that we have the movement that we have today is because we have learned that we need to interpret the law aggressively and whenever there’s a question of interpretation that we move that interpretation in a direction that’s going to be most favorable for patient rights,” DeAngelo says. “But, at the same time it’s important that we be real about what this ruling does and does not do.”

So how much weed can a patient grow and possess?  “I think that it would be unwise and irresponsible to encourage people to exceed the limits at this stage in the game,” says DeAngelo. “I would advise all patients, if they can, to stay within the limits unless it’s absolutely impossible for them to provide for their medicinal means otherwise. The limits are a good safe harbor to have. You know that if you’re growing within the limits that you’re safe and so why go outside those limits unless it’s really critical,” says DeAngelo.

“The California Supreme Court did the right thing by abolishing limits on medical marijuana possession and cultivation,” says Joe Elford, the top lawyer for the marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. “At the same time, the Court may have left too much discretion to law enforcement in deciding what are reasonable amounts of medicine for patients to possess and cultivate.” This could possibly lead to more persecution, not less.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s recent decision to abolish those limits was the result of Patrick Kelly’s bust. Kelly, from So Cal, was a qualified medical marijuana patient who was arrested back in October of 2005 for 12 ounces of weed and seven plants when a “confidential informant” snitched on him. CA’s Second Appellate District Court overturned Kelly’s conviction saying that legislatively-imposed limits for possession and cultivation of medical herb are an unconstitutional restriction to a voter approved initiative. The decision upholds that ruling agreeing with Kelly’s attorney and the State Attorney General that medical marijuana limits should be abolished as unconstitutional.

So, Wise Owl…just how much weed can a patient possess? Like the answer to how many licks it’ll take to get to that fucking Tootsie Roll center of a fuckin’ Tootsie Roll pop…the world may never know!

Oh, and the 10 year study, compiled by researchers from the San Diego and Los Angeles University of California  campuses, only set back the cash-strapped state of California $8.7 million dollars.

10 years, $8.7 million dollars and 14 reports later (including the first clinical trials of smoked marijuana in the United States in more than two decades), researchers said “evidence suggests that “continuing clinical research on cannabis might yield important contributions to health care.”

Neuropsychiatrist and direct0t of the center, Dr. Igor Grant, said the 10-year, $8.7 million dollar findings are “pretty convincing.” Then he urged the federal government to pay for additional clinical studies.

Here’s what 10 years and $8.7 worth of weed-research gets you:

• 4 published reports in scientific journals showing cannabis can significantly reduce neuropathic pain
• 1 published report explaining vaporizers are as effective as smoking
• 6 studies of whether or not marijuana reduces neuropathic pain, the result of a damaged nervous system
• 1 study that reports 52% of patients with HIV-related pain who smoked marijuana experienced significant relief
• 1 study that highlighted weed’s promise addressing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms

Last week, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) reintroduced legislation that would  legalize weed in California for adults 21 and over. Back in January the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee approved Assembly Bill 390 to legalize and tax marijuana, marking the first time in US history that a state legislative body considered putting an end to marijuana prohibition! The bill didn’t get much further since time ran out on the legislative calendar.

Ammiano forges on, however, with the new bill– now called A.B. 2254–which would allow adults over 21 to possess, smoke, and grow weed, essentially treating marijuana the same way alcohol is currently treated under the law. The bill also calls for a $50 per ounce sold fee to be used for funding drug eradication and awareness programs. And, of course supporters of the bill are saying it could raise around $990 million and help pull the severely cash-strapped California out of its budget crisis.

“The way it exists now is harming our youth. Drug dealers do not ask for ID. We need to regulate something that has gone chaotic, has resulted in carnage. I understand it’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” says Ammiano.

This year’s bill is expected to receive hearings in the next few months.

Buddhists smoked herb in spiritual practice to expand the mind and the children of the 60’s followed suit. Popularized by groundbreaking artists like Dylan, the Dead and the Fab Four marijuana grew on society like a weed. And, the results were almost marvelous.

Suddenly those stuffy 1950’s values were realized as arcane as they were framed by rigidity only found in Christianity and other failed doctrines. The counter culture crawled out of the dark ages and into the light of selflessness and began to change the world. Community became important, as did nurturing the environment because the hippie movement realized a fundamental truth of life; ONE LOVE. That is; we are all ONE and LOVE is all you need. It IS that simple and besides, that’s what the whole Summer of LOVE was all about!

But, what happened? What fucked it all up? Maybe it was drugs after all. Remember, weed didn’t kill Jim, Jimi or Janis! Like tumbling dice those unfortunate fucks and thousands of other young hipsters alike experimented with drugs and lost. Hard drugs don’t expand the mind; they disconnect it and smother its victims in a serenity drenched blanket of despair, dependency and death. They drive Hells Angels to mercilessly shank Rolling Stones fans and give the puritans reason to persecute! 

Those who survived hard drugs or participated in the counter-culture revolution dropped the ball. Sure a tiny minority continued the fight, but who were they? Most went on to collect destructive habits that eventually lead to enormous levels of greed and selfishness not yet seen since the Crusades. Several just sat back and shut the fuck up, became passive and let fundamentalist fiercely unleash a crushing Christian backlash that culminated in an all out WAR ON PEOPLE who use drugs…weed included. Or they worked to create a hybrid of greed and drugs, one that’s plague our country for years by creating mindless zombies and driving health-care costs into the stratosphere…yeah, it’s called the Pharmaceutical industry.

Thanks boomer generation, thanks for turning your back on those “hippie” values you once held so high…those values…ARE the fucking zeitgeist of our time!  How quickly you discarded those values! You tossed ‘em on that disgusting ginormous trash heap just like you did all your empty beer cans and potato chip bags back in Woodstock NY once you were finished basking in that farcical  so-called “3 days of peace and music”. Who are you kidding? It was really just 3 days of aggrandizement, entitlement and greed. Didn’t anyone get a look at the aftermath of those 3 days of peace and music…the fucking place resembled a war zone. Looking back…those 3 days of gluttony and nihilism, NOT peace and love, were to foreshadow things to come.

The nihilism continues! The mainstream constantly reports how the selfish BOOMERS are back at it again…reverting to bong hits to cope with their aches, pains and failures. A survey by the federal government found the percentage of people 50 and older using marijuana went from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008. The rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds. Their reported marijuana use more than tripled from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent and those numbers will increase as boomers collectively realize their pharmaceuticals have failed. Maybe this time they’ll truly understand that the herb is the healing of the nation and finally get that whole FLOWER POWER thing right…but we ain’t holding our breath.

Slater’s most likely right, man. George probably dug smoking weed and so did several other founding fathers…so let’s check the facts and honor those notable presidential stoners!

George Washington famously said: “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!” Sure, he realized it was a kick-ass supercrop. He realized it’s value and in 1762, his hometown of Virginia awarded bounties for growing weed and not only that they imposed stiff penalties on those who didn’t! But, we’re claiming that George liked to get high, not just make rope and soap and shit.

Anyone who’s grown weed or even smoked a li’l will tell ya that those pesky seeds make terrible smoke. Sinsimilla, the Spanish word for without seeds is a highly potent marijuana from female plants specially tended and kept seedless by preventing pollination in order to induce a high resin content. The only real reason to remove seeds and to seek out female weed is to smoke it and we’ve got record that George did just that.

May 12-13 1765: “Sowed Hemp at Muddy hole by Swamp.”

August 7, 1765: “–began to seperate (sic) the Male from the Female Hemp at Do–rather too late.”

There’s all sorts of information in his diary that proves evidence that he liked to smoke weed recreationally and medicinally. You don’t think those fuckin’ wooden teeth didn’t hurt? C’mon…weed was asprin back then.

“Some of my finest hours have been spent sitting on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. This cat was an aficionado of weed and grew massive amounts of it on his plantation and is credited with the phrase in the Declaration of Independence, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” While envoy to France, this dude went to great expense and took a huge risk to himself and his secret agents to procure particularly good weed seeds smuggled illegally into Turkey from China. The Chinese Mandarins (political rulers) so valued their hemp seed that they made its exportation a capital offense.

James Madison was such a stoner that while stoned he conceived of the idea to create a new and democratic nation! So you see…honoring our presidents and their stoned vision of creating a great democratic nation is just another way to honor our precious herb. Anyhow, happy Presidents Day from Stuff Stoners Like.

“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.” “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.” “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”

Yes, THAT’S WHY WEED IS ILLEGAL! It’s not because of science, medical facts, government hearings or to protect people from the “most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.” it was Racism! America now had proof that degenerates were victimizing the white population and they were using weed to do it!

Those bullshit quotes above are from Harry J. Anslinger the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics back in the 30’s which ultimately morphed into the corrupt DEA of today. He was self-appointed, by the way. You see, marijuana was made illegal…just to give racists something tangible to use to DIRECTLY discriminate against African Americans! The ban on weed is rooted in those very same fears addressed by the civil rights movement. Reefer Madness continues to this day! Reefer Madness not only reinforces but illustrates that separate but not equal treatment bullshit that keeps us all separated. By fighting Reefer Madness we’re fighting RACISM ITSELF! And, by fighting for your right to medicate your fighting racism.

Since the 1930’s the United States has waged a war on drugs. Make no mistake…the war on drugs is a war on people! The unspeakable violence and suffering unleashed upon African Americans during their struggle for equal rights, the ongoing negative affects and the systematic, government-supported, sanctioned discrimination parallels the similar fate of those caught up in the 6 decades of mindless prohibition and draconian prison sentences for casual drug users in our country right now! Patients and aficionados of marijuana have been fighting for their civil right to medicate and choose their medicine for decades now.

“Not only do I think it’s a civil right, but it’s beyond a civil right to a fundamental human right that something belongs to all of us simply because we were born human beings and our brains have receptors for canabinoids in them,” says Steve DeAngelo, Executive Director of the Harboside Health Center in Oakland, California. “One of the very most basic of human rights is the right to be healthy and to take care of your health. Nature in all of her wisdom gave us  a cure for every ailment there is and every human being has a nature given, a god given, a goddess given right to use the plants that nature has given us.”

Perhaps it is more of a fight for human rights since America’s War on Drugs isn’t only affecting Americans. Marijuana prohibition fuels global drug cartels; 65% of all funding for Mexican drug cartels alone comes from the illegal sale of marijuana. The negative stereotyping of marijuana in our nation knows NO bounds. A quick Google search and you’ll see just recently in South Asia two young men were executed by their government just for possessing weed! There’s an Australian woman facing execution in Indonesia for possession right now! The day after Christmas two men we’re beheaded in Saudi Arabia for “smuggling”….we could go on and on and list the horrors of the persecution of herb-users in our nation (jailing, home-invasions, illegal search and seizures, beatings, witnessing family pets executed during raids, etc.) and externally then compare their suffering with that of African Americans, but why? You can clearly see that marijuana users are fighting for equality.

In the US, jailed drug offenders have increased 1,200% since 1980, yet the illegal flow of drugs hasn’t changed at all. Our country’s prison boom wasn’t a result of an increase in crime but an increase in jailing drug users! This boom is the result of renaming addicts as “criminals”. Currently nearly 60% of our prisons are filled with drug offenders and 80% of those “criminals” are in there for a weed offense of some kind. Some of those “criminals” are eventually stripped of their civil rights as a result of felony convictions…striped of the right to own a gun, or the right to vote (sound familiar) and then face an inability to find employment with a felony conviction marring their record for the rest of their lives. Possibly the biggest industry in our country is the prison industry. Do you realize how many PRIVATELY-OWNED prisons there are in this nation? Here’s a scary thought—a MAJORITY of our tax dollars are used to SEGREGATE marijuana supporters! Incarcerating pot-smokers is job security! Will legalizing weed change this? YES! Does the government realize this? YES! Now it’s a question of economics…which industry will be more lucrative…the prison or the pot industry?

Lawmakers in Virginia are looking to decriminalize marijuana! Republican Delegate Harvey B. Morgan, a pharmacist, has 31 years in the House and is the second-most senior delegate. He says he thinks criminalizing pot has done nothing to curb its use and is introducing House Bill 1134 that would change simple possession from possible jail time to a civil fine of $500. The bill also looks to increase the amount of weed needed to be considered for the charge of possession with the intent to distribute and remove the mandatory two and five-year sentences for distribution.

But he hasn’t stopped there. Morgan (R-98th D) is also submitting House Bill 1136 which would expand Virginia’s medical marijuana laws to allow marijuana to be prescribed for more diseases. Currently it’s allowed for cancer and glaucoma. Morgan said because the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved medical marijuana, it’s tough to actually obtain it. The law would ensure patients and doctors couldn’t be prosecuted for the medicating with cannabis.

“Doctors, who are accustomed to weighing the risks and benefits of drugs, should be able to prescribe marijuana in instances in which research has shown it could be medically effective,” said Morgan in a recent press conference.

He also mention that a  possession conviction can and has destroyed many lives, even convictions that are decades old. And, he listed jobs from which someone with a drug record is permanently barred in Virginia — teacher, pawnbroker, taxi driver, etc. And, he said the state could save millions during the budget crisis by relieving the jails of those incarcerated for marijuana possession. Making marijuana possession a noncriminal offense, he said, could save the state $75 million a year.

The race is on and it looks as if Missouri might be the 15^th state to legalize marijuana! Recently New Jersey passed marijuana legislation making it the 14^th state in the nation allowing doctors to recommend marijuana for medical use. The Missouri bill was read for the second time on Tuesday and hasn’t yet been assigned to a committee.

A house republican, family physician Rep. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, is one of the fifteen co-sponsors of the bill. Authors of the legislation are seeking to change laws regarding the classification of marijuana as a controlled substance and allow its use as medicine. Schaaf is also a member of the House’s Health Care Policy Committee.

“We owe it to our terminally ill patients to provide the most effective treatment,” said Schaaf.

Rep. Kate Meiners, D-Jackson County, is also sponsoring the bill. Last year, Meiners submitted the bill but it didn’t progress very far as it was effectively killed by not receiving a committee hearing. If the bill does pass, this time around, the issue will go before Missouri voters in November of 2011.

Unanimously the California Supreme Court struck down a law that looked to impose limits on the amount of weed a medical patient can legally possess! As a result of the voter-approved Proposition 215, passed in 1996, patients with a doctor’s recommendation were allowed to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.

In 2003, there was this Legislation created to give law enforcement a guideline on when to make marijuana possession busts. The Legislature decided that patients could have up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana and grow as many as six mature or 12 immature plants. The law did allow, however, a patient to have more if a doctor stated that amount was insufficient and individual cities had the power to allow patients to grow and possess more marijuana, but not less.

This morning the California Supreme Court ruled that state lawmakers were wrong to change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The high court says only voters can change amendments that they’ve added to California’s constitution through the initiative process.

“The California Supreme Court did the right thing by abolishing limits on medical marijuana possession and cultivation,” said Joe Elford, the top lawyer for the marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. “At the same time, the Court may have left too much discretion to law enforcement in deciding what are reasonable amounts of medicine for patients to possess and cultivate.”

The Supreme Court’s decision this morning was the result of Patrick Kelly’s bust. Kelly, from So Cal, was a qualified medical marijuana patient who was arrested back in October of 2005 for 12 ounces of weed and seven plants when a “confidential informant” snitched on him. CA’s Second Appellate District Court overturned Kelly’s conviction saying that legislatively-imposed limits for possession and cultivation of medical herb are an unconstitutional restriction to a voter approved initiative. Today’s decision upholds that ruling agreeing with Kelly’s attorney and the State Attorney General that medical marijuana limits should be abolished as unconstitutional.

Congratulations medical marijuana patients of the Great State of California…you can now possess and grow as much weed as you need!

The City Of Seattle will no longer prosecute marijuana possession offenses. The newly elected city attorney, Peter Homes—who defeated the incumbent Tom Carr in the November 2009 election, says “[The city of Seattle] is no longer going to prosecute marijuana possession cases anymore.” And, on top of that Holmes has already started dismissing cases that were filed by Carr!

Seattle’s been pretty weed-friendly since 2003 when voters approved Initiative 75 that required the Seattle Police and the City’s Attorney’s Office to make the “investigation, arrest and prosecution of marijuana offenses, when the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.” And, it’s only taken seven years or so for the Initiative to be taken seriously, despite a recent (2008) review of the Initiative reported “no evidence of any adverse effects of the implementation of I-75, including specifically: 1. No evident increase in marijuana use among youth and young adults; 2. No evident increase in crime; and 3. No adverse impact on public health.”

Seattle’s new mayor, Mike McGinn, took office on the 5th, but went public in December with his notion that weed should not only be legal, but taxed. “We recognize that, like alcohol, it’s something that should be regulated, not treated as a criminal activity. And I think that’s where the citizens of Seattle want us to go,” McGinn said. What’s cool about this guy is that he actually asked the people of Seattle to help him identify what issues he should address. Legalizing weed made it to the second slot on the list! Apparently he’s cool with that and said weed should be legalized and taxed to offset some of the city’s financial problems. “I think if every elected official who ever smoked marijuana voted to legalize it, it’d probably be legalized in an instant,” he said.

Well, it might not be instantly, but it’s very possible that the state of Washington could soon just legalize weed completely. And, State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, is sponsoring a bill that would do just that. “Prohibition didn’t work for alcohol, and it’s not working for marijuana,” she said. She thinks the state’s current bullshit weed policies are already costing taxpayers a ton of money…and she’s right! “We were spending a fortune in investigating and incarcerating people for using marijuana. We can’t afford, because of our fiscal crisis, to spend those huge sums in this failed effort,” she said.

The bill is similar to the The Tax & Regulate Cannabis 2010 bill here in California. Under the measure, marijuana would be sold in Washington State’s 160 state-run liquor stores. Customers 21 and older would pay a tax of 15 percent per gram. Legislation started on the 11th and we’ll be continuing to follow the story.

Anyhow, Lincecum appeared in Clark County District Court before Judge Darvin Zimmerman along with Giants managing partner Bill Neukom for a li’l support.  Yeah, $513 later (he paid for the  speeding ticket separately) and the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner’s charges were dropped to a li’l civil infraction.

Now that this weed shit is out of the way, Lincecum and the Giants are expected to exchange arbitration numbers… meaning he’s going to ask the Giants for a fat raise…a record $13 million a year raise! If it goes through it’ll be the highest first-year arbitration award in MLB history! If Lincecum and the Giants don’t settle, an arbitration panel will hold a hearing next month and pick one of the salaries.  Either way…minus any more unforeseen traffic stops, it’s business as usual for Lincecum–get stoned and torment Dodgers’ hitters.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Please tell Stuff Stoners Like you’ve read or heard that shit before! Those words sound familiar because they’re interwoven into the fabric of our great nation.  Right this very moment the Supreme Court of California is listening to arguments regarding the constitutionality of a ban on gay marriage in California, which ultimately will face the greatest court in the land soon. Where you stand is irrelevant…but from whatever vantage point you watch…you’ll witness whether or not a group of people will gain or lose civil rights. Marriage is the fabric of American life and excluding others from a part of American life can only create a cultural divide…but that’s another struggle. Here’s ours…people want to tell us how to medicate. In fact there are people out there who want to take away your right to medicate. And, as it stands today…many of you DO NOT EVEN HAVE THAT RIGHT!  The erosion of CIVIL RIGHTS frightens us as it should frighten YOU.

Think about it for a second…MLK was THE chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in THE civil rights movement. He successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. We LOVE and admire MLK because he fought for equal rights. And, that’s what we’re fighting for as well. We can only ever aspire to have a similar impact in America regarding the Marijuana Movement as we continue to fight for equal rights. The big difference; back then…people we’re out for blood and they murdered our leaders. Keep in mind, MLK was assassinated in 1968 because of his activism.

We’re no experts on the man, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not passionate, honest, and sincere when we say he’s one of our heroes. We’re inspired by MLK and we create this blog and participate in the Marijuana Movement in his honor. MLK fought against deep-rooted, unspeakable injustice and did it by preaching nonviolence. In his time, he was considered a subversive, just like you and I who medicate with marijuana, and he advocated for a complete revolution, just like you and I.

Recognizing King’s birthday and celebrating the day to commemorate him gives us great pride. The Civil Rights Movement has many parallels to our own. And, nothing reflects that point better than our Pipe Dream speech. Did you know that this federal holiday was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time just 10 years ago? Yeah, and you thought The Civil Rights Movement ended when MLK’s life did…back in 1968, didn’t you?

Today the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee approved a bill to legalize and tax marijuana! This marks the first time in US history that a state legislative body considered putting an end to marijuana prohibition!

This morning lawmakers in Sacramento approved Assembly Bill 390—legislation to tax and regulate marijuana by a 4-to-3 vote. AB 390, written by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Amiano, would allow adults over 21 to possess, smoke, and grow weed, essentially treating marijuana the same way alcohol is currently treated under the law. The bill also calls for a $50 per ounce sold fee to be used for funding drug eradication and awareness programs. And, of course supporters of the bill are saying it could raise around $990 million and help pull the severely cash-strapped California out of its budget crisis.

“This is a significant vote today because it legitimizes the quest for debate, the quest for discussion. There was a time when the ‘m’ word never would have been brought up in Sacramento,” Ammiano said. “The way it exists now is harming our youth. Drug dealers do not ask for ID. We need to regulate something that has gone chaotic, has resulted in carnage. I understand it’s not everybody’s cup of tea.”

Next the bill goes to the Health Committee. Supporters of the bill are worried that it would not be acted on by that panel by the imposed Friday deadline. If not acted on by the deadline, the proposal would require reintroduction to be heard this year by the full Assembly.

Since just holding hearings on the bill was a milestone, it seems safe to say that today’s vote marks a departure from drug policy as usual, even if the legislation ultimately fails.

“The mere fact that there will be votes in the Assembly to regulate and control the sale and distribution of marijuana would have been unthinkable even one year ago,” says retired Orange County California Supreme Court Judge Jim Gray via a public statement. “And if the bill doesn’t pass this year, it will soon. Or, the bill will be irrelevant because the voters will have passed the measure to regulate and tax marijuana that will be on the ballot this November.”

SPOILER ALERT: It passed! Read the update here. For the first time in the history of the United States of America a state legislative body is actually considering ending marijuana prohibition! Today, the first step to legalizing marijuana is happening in California as lawmakers in Sacramento vote on Assembly Bill 390—legislation to tax and regulate marijuana written by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Amiano. The assembly’s Public Safety Committee is expected to vote after a hearing that begins at 9 a.m. this morning.

Assembly Bill 390 would allow adults over 21 to possess, smoke, and grow weed, essentially treating marijuana the same way alcohol is currently treated under the law. The bill also calls for a $50 per-ounce-sold fee to be used for funding drug eradication and awareness programs. And, of course supporters of the bill claim it could raise around $990 million and help pull the severely cash-strapped California out of its budget crisis.

Amiano’s camp is confident the bill will receive the four votes needed to pass. “We believe we have the votes to move it out of committee,” says Quintin Mecke, Ammiano’s spokesman. “Sacramento being what it is, you never quite know, but we’re confident.”

Sure a lot of government bodies have passed symbolic measures regarding legalization, but today’s vote is different as it’s on a state level by a body that could actually legalize marijuana! Democrats hold five of the seven seats on the Public Safety Committee. So if AB 390 does pass today, as predicted, it will have to come before the Health Committee as early as this week. There, democrats hold 13 of the committee’s 19 seats and Ammiano sits on that committee too.

“The mere fact that there will be votes in the Assembly to regulate and control the sale and distribution of marijuana would have been unthinkable even one year ago,” says retired Orange County California Supreme Court Judge Jim Gray via a public statement. “And if the bill doesn’t pass this year, it will soon. Or, the bill will be irrelevant because the voters will have passed the measure to regulate and tax marijuana that will be on the ballot this November.”

Today, the New Jersey Assembly approved a measure that would make the state the 14th in the nation to legalize  marijuana for medical use! Governor Jon S. Corzine has said he would sign Bill A804 it into law before leaving office next Tuesday. If passed, it would allow patients diagnosed with severe illnesses like cancer, AIDS, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis access to marijuana distributed through state-monitored dispensaries.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Princeton, said the New Jersey law would be the most restrictive in the nation. Apparently the law only permits doctors to prescribe marijuana for a list of “serious” chronic illnesses. The legislation would also forbid patients from growing their own weed and medicating in public. And, it would regulate cannabis and track it’s distribution like harmful prescribed opiates such as Oxycontin and morphine.

Back in October the city of Centennial shut down the CanaMart dispensary in Colorado. They used a strategy adopted and deployed by a number of governments in the 14 states that allow medical marijuana; since weed is NOT legal, according to federal law, operating contrary to federal law violates a city’s land-use code.

Yesterday Arapahoe County District Court Judge Christopher Cross (not the same Christopher Cross dude who wrote “Sailing” or (gag) “Ride Like the Wind”) called bullshit and barred the city of Centennial from shutting down the dispensary!

“The city of Centennial cannot use the potential violation of a federal law to order a business legally operating under our state constitution to cease and desist its business,” Cross said. He also reminded the city that local governments CAN’T take it upon themselves to enforce federal law and that  in 2000 Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes. He also said the city violated CannaMart’s owners’ and patients’ constitutional rights, which he called “AN IRREPARABLE INJURY TO ALL OF US!”

Cross granted the dispensary’s request for an injunction, which will prevent the city from keeping the dispensary closed…saving CannaMart and reinforcing the notion that medical marijuana patients have a constitutional right to buy pot, not just use it!

Since ALL medical marijuana laws in the US are extremely vague…the bigger issue here is whether or not Cross’ injunction could set a precedent if it becomes permanent and his ruling becomes part of case law. All that shit is still to be decided at trial and that’s a process that could take years. So Cross scheduled further legal discussion in the case for 2010. He concluded by saying that cities wanting to get rid of all dispensaries could find themselves violating constitutional rights. (That’s right motherfuckers!)

Of course the opposition isn’t pleased. Centennial City Attorney Robert Widner said city officials were disappointed but not entirely surprised by the ruling. He said they will take the matter back to the City Council for direction.

It looks as if the city is going to try and use zoning regulations as their next tactic to shut down the club since CannaMart’s Centennial location is not zoned for pharmacies, under which CannaMart would fall for zoning purposes. Cross didn’t factor zoning into his consideration of the preliminary injunction because Centennial didn’t reference any zoning problems in its cease-and-desist letter to CannaMart. The city also has passed a moratorium on new dispensaries, so CannaMart cannot move and reopen elsewhere in Centennial.

Stan Zislis, one of Canna- Mart’s owners, said he would consult with his attorneys before reopening and could decide to move to another spot. Zislis already has a CannaMart operating in the nearby suburb of Littleton. He expects opposition.

“As far as finding a vacancy, I don’t think I’ll have a problem,” Zislis said. “As far as getting a business license, that could be a problem.”

Eh, don’t worry about that Zislis…you’ll be able to get a business license to sell weed soon because 2010 is going to be the year of weed. We’ll see how Californians feel about legalizing weed for EVERYONE (over the age of 21—don’t get too excited now) because California is setting the marijuana trend for the rest of the nation. VOTE YES ON WEED IN 2010!

The Feds already recognize marijuana’s medical use and has since the 70’s…so what’s the hold-up?

Currently marijuana has the status of a Schedule 1 drug, the most tightly-restricted category of drugs, by the United States Congress or the United States Attorney General. As a Schedule I drug Marijuana is considered to be potentially addictive and has NO current medical use.

Since the early 1970s the marijuana movement has clashed with the U.S. Government over this classification. It makes perfect sense to reclassify herb since there are now 14 states that currently have some sort of medical marijuana law on the books. And, the American Medical Association recently reversed its position on marijuana saying the largest group of doctors in the USA now SUPPORTS investigation and clinical research on weed for medicinal use. They also urged the feds to reassess weed’s Schedule I controlled substance categorization.

The frustrating thing is the FDA actually does recognize weed’s medical use. And, they’ve recognized its medical use since 1976 when they enacted The Compassionate Investigational New Drug program, or Compassionate IND. The program, which still exists today, allows a limited number of patients to use National Institute on Drug Abuse-provided medical marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi. Obviously the program is closed to new entrants, but there are seven surviving patients who were grandfathered into the program. What this means is there are seven lucky people who get weed from the United States government. Oh and the expenses for growing, processing and distrusting that weed is all paid by YOUR tax dollars.

You see…the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Study program all started after a lawsuit was brought against the Food and Drug Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Department of Justice, and the Department of Health, Education & Welfare by a guy named Robert Randall who was afflicted with glaucoma. He successfully used the Common Law doctrine of necessity to argue against charges of marijuana cultivation because it was deemed a medical necessity (U.S. v. Randall). On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled:

“While blindness was shown by competent medical testimony to be the otherwise inevitable result of the defendant’s disease, no adverse effects from the smoking of marijuana have been demonstrated. Medical evidence suggests that the medical prohibition is not well-founded.”

The original criminal charges against Randall were dropped. And, in May of ’76 he filed a petition that resulted in a federally-funded marijuana prescription…making Randall not only our hero but the first American to receive marijuana for the treatment of a medical disorder. Of course Randall was excited about the victory and went public with the news and of course the government didn’t really dig that so they tried to prevent his legal access to the weed; hence the ’78 lawsuit. Twenty-four hours after the filing of the suit, the suit was represented pro bon by the law firm Steptoe & Johnson, by the way) the federal agencies requested an out-of-court settlement which resulted in Randall’s prescriptive access to marijuana through a federal pharmacy near his home

That settlement (Randall v. U.S.) became the legal basis for the FDA’s Compassionate IND program. By the mid-80s HIV-positive patients were included in the program.  At its peak there were 30 active patients, but that all stopped when the George H. W. Bush administration closed the program down in 1992.

Currently, there are only seven surviving patients in the program today (two remain anonymous) and they were all grandfathered into the program. Barbara Douglass a multiple sclerosis patient entered the program on Aug. 30, 1991. She currently receives nine ounces of medical marijuana per month and has for the past 15 years.  George McMahon suffers from Nail-patella syndrome. He entered the program 16 years ago on March 16, 1990 and has been receiving eight ounces of weed a month since then. Along with author/filmmaker Christopher Largen, George McMahon wrote a book called “Prescription Pot” in 2003. Since 1997 he has been on a national tour, speaking of his experience as a recipient of medical marijuana. McMahon uses cannabis to relieve pain, spasms and nausea related to repeated surgical and pharmaceutical maltreatment and his rare genetic condition (Nail-patella syndrome ) that causes skeletal deformities, kidney diseases, misshapen nails, and can make one more prone to glaucoma and scoliosis. He’s been hospitalized several times due to side effects of big pharma drugs prescribed by doctors, but found marijuana made him as comfortable as possible without the negative side. Prior to being accepted to the federal cannabis program in 1990, McMahon had lived through 19 major surgeries, been declared clinically dead five times and was taking 17 different pharmaceutical substances daily, including 400 morphine tablets each month. For the past 18 years, McMahon has smoked 10 cannabis cigarettes daily. During this time he has had no surgeries or hospitalizations and he no longer uses any pharmaceutical drugs except cannabis!

Corrine Millet suffered from Glaucoma and entered the program on Nov.16, 1990. Until her death she received four ounces of medical marijuana a month.

Elvy Musikka also suffers from Glaucoma and has been receiving eight ounces of weed a month for the past 18 years. She entered the program on Oct. 17, 1988. She was born with congenital cataracts and developed glaucoma in her thirties. Surgery caused her to lose vision in her right eye. But, she takes marijuana to lessen the pressure on her left eye.

The most public of the patients who admit to receiving federal marijuana is Irvin Rosenfeld who has a rare bone disorder. For the last 24 years he’s been receiving eleven ounces of weed every three weeks (since Nov. 20, 1982). Every 25 days Rosenfeld goes to a pharmacy and picks up a tin of 300 federally grown and rolled cigarettes (as picture above smokin’ in front of his tin). He’s almost famous as he’s been featured in magazines and on TV. Rosenfeld has the disease Multiple Congenital Cartilaginous Exostoses, a painful disorder which causes bone tumors to form at the joints, stretching the surrounding tendons and veins, making movement almost impossible. Rosenfeld has had 30 tumors removed in six operations. He still has 200 tumors, some too small to remove, yet in the 30 years he has been smoking marijuana, he says, he has not had a new tumor. Irvin Rosenfeld is a successful stock broker working and living in South Florida.

Marijuana movement activists argue cannabis does not meet the Controlled Substances Act’s strict criteria for placement in Schedule I, and the Government is required by Law either to permit medical use or to remove the drug from federal control altogether. The Government claims that cannabis is, in fact, dangerous enough to merit Schedule I status. All that is about to change in November when Californian’s will vote for legalization based on The Tax & Regulate Cannabis 2010 proposal. The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 will regulate cannabis like alcohol allowing adults 21 and older in California to posses up to one ounce of cannabis and grow it in a 25-square-foot area for personal use. It will give local governments the ability to tax and regulate the sale of herb to adults 21 and older and it will generate billions of dollars in revenue! It looks like 2010 will be the year of WEED!

Your friends, your family, or the police…who would you phone up first if the mail came and in it…you we treated to a “hard and crinkly”, 2-foot-tall, blue teddy bear stuffed with WEED?

Of course you’d smoke it all yourself and not tell a soul, but you’re not an idiot named Joshua Vecchione who owns a toy store in southern California called Toy Town.

Sure, Toy Town sounds all fun and shit, right? Trust us, it ain’t. You see, the Tuesday before Christmas, Vecchione gets this weed-filled teddy bear in the mail. Most would rejoice but this dude immediately phoned up the Orange County Sheriff’s Department who then promptly confiscated the weed (to smoke themselves, of course). The package was addressed to some dude who’s totally bummed out in Colorado and mailed from Thousand Oaks with a dummy return address…Toy Town. Somehow the folks who sent the package knew there was a total dumb-ass at that dummy address…