Cannabis Hemp News

http://www.examiner.com/news/default.jsp?s...ory=n.pot.0123w Judge weighs pot-trial gag Warren Hinckle: A prejudicial judge? BY J.K. DINEEN Of The Examiner Staff The drug cultivation trial of medicinal marijuana guru Ed Rosenthal turned into a free speech battle Wednesday when the presiding judge said he was inclined to sign a media gag order and defense attorneys vowed to fight any such order. The rift emerged after Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan Jr. complained about news coverage of the trial, which began Tuesday in federal court. In particular, Bevan said he was upset about Wednesday's Examiner cover, which showed a photograph of Rosenthal smiling…

Federal Prosecutors are attempting to undermine California's medical marijuana laws by rejecting efforts by Oakland city officials to immunize medical cannabis grower Ed Rosenthal from federal prosecution. Rosenthal, who was deputized by Oakland officials to cultivate cannabis in accordance with California's Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215), is on trial this week in U.S. District Court on federal drug charges. A victory for prosecutors could signal the beginning of the end for the state's landmark medical marijuana statute. Across the state, 50 medical cannabis clubs distribute pot to patients who are permitted to cultivate, possess, and consume the drug with …

Lib push on drug-drivers January 23, 2003 A DEVICE that can test for illegal drug use could help police combat people driving while under the influence of drugs, the State Opposition said yesterday. Infrastructure spokesman Brett Whiteley said the device, which only needs a swab of saliva, could hold the key to testing drivers suspected of being under the influence of illegal drugs. "The Cozart RapiScan, or a similar device, may be applicable for testing drivers who police reasonably believe may be under the influence of drugs such as marijuana," Mr Whiteley said. "Clearly the technology is available, or at least is on the horizon, to enable police to accurately a…

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The federal marijuana cultivation trial of former High Times columnist Ed Rosenthal began Tuesday like so many drug cases. Prosecutor George Bevan told jurors that agents seized some 3,000 plants growing in Rosenthal's warehouse in Oakland. "It's a federal offense," Bevan said. But this is no routine drug prosecution for a man whose column and books preach the gospel on tips for growing marijuana and evading the law. Rosenthal says he was growing medical marijuana, "to help the sick," which is legal under California law and in seven other states. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington allow the infirm to receive, possess, grow or …

Clash on Medical Marijuana Puts a Grower in U.S. Court By DEAN E. MURPHY AKLAND, Calif., Jan. 20 — As a marijuana celebrity, Ed Rosenthal has been on a career roll. The author of a dozen cannabis self-help books and a magazine advice column, "Ask Ed," Mr. Rosenthal is the pothead's answer to Ann Landers, Judge Judy, Martha Stewart and the Burpee Garden Wizard all in one. Advertisement Can't get rid of the powdery mildew on your cannabis seedling? Try a 20 percent skim-milk solution. The feds got you in court on charges of cultivation? Challenge their crop yield estimates. Want a high without the harmful tar? Use a pipe that vaporizes it. Mr. Rosent…

A new front has opened in opposition to the war on drugs--a religious front. Several newly formed groups are contesting our prohibitionist, anti-drug strategies because they restrict religious freedom and "cognitive liberty." Drugs alter consciousness and "the right to control one's own consciousness is the quintessence of freedom," reads part of a manifesto of the Journal of Cognitive Liberties. The journal is one of many projects of the four-year-old Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, a California- based, non-profit group that promotes intellectual freedom. The group defines cognitive liberty as "the right of each individual to think independently and aut…

Ottawa — Recipe for Reefer Madness. Take: One rookie justice minister who wants to decriminalize simple pot possession. Toss in: Several court rulings that Ottawa must allow medical use and possession of pot. Spike with: Two lower-court acquittals (and counting) of recreational pot smokers by judges who say the law is no longer valid. Bake: At low heat on backburner for too long. Serve up: Confusion for millions. We can all be forgiven for not knowing the state of Canada's marijuana law. Even the courts seem confused. On Jan. 10, a second Ontario Court judge in a month found there is currently no law prohibiting the possession of small amounts of marijuana, s…

Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ News flash: A new poll has found British Columbia is the most pot-friendly province in Canada. This will come as no surprise to anyone who remembers the flower-power era of the 1960s, when Vancouver was the Canadian equivalent of hippie mecca San Francisco. Out of the haze of the Easter Be-Ins and psychedelic music scene emerged a B.C. pot culture that has only grown en stronger over the years. Pot has become an entrenched part of the provincial economy. Depending on who you talk to, growing marijuana is a $1-billion to $8-billion business in British Columbia. Some argue it contributes more to the economy than f…