Shailesh Hamal

 
Sadhus in pictures are smoking ganja (marijuana) in honor of Shiva during Shivaratri. Thus marijuana is taken as prasad, holy food blessed by the Gods.
 
Full Article:
http://www.demotix.com/news/1855479/maha-shivaratri-festival-pashupatinath-temple-starts-smoke#media-1855413

by BEN LIVINGSTON

 
After Washington voters legalized cannabis last fall, the Seattle Police Department relaxed new-hire policies related to pot. Instead of the old rule mandating rookie cops be toke-free for at least three years, the new rule reduced that timeframe so recruits need only abstain from pot for one year. According to the SPD, this was done to help find officers “who resemble the people we protect.”
But with 74 percent of Seattle voters supporting Initiative 502, it is clear that the people the SPD protects love pot. So why can’t our cops smoke a spliff after work?
 
Full Article:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/let-cops-use-pot-after-work/Content?oid=16173446

By Bill McClellan bmcclellan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8143

Several of my young colleagues were talking wistfully about establishing a commune.
“I’m in,” I said, although I had not been invited.
There was an awkward silence. Perhaps the commune they had in mind was not going to have a shuffleboard court.
“What skills would you bring?” one asked me.
That might have been meant as a trick question. I’m always asking for help with the computer. I can’t master the new phone system. I bump into things. I would not be a lot of help if the commune wanted to build a barn. So I considered the question. What skills would I bring?
“I can roll a joint,” I said.
 
Full Article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/bill-mcclellan/bill-mcclellan-ready-to-roll-a-joint-so-i-can/article_527612ec-e681-5db3-9d66-30d8fbd67e87.html

 
Tacoma Municipal Court Judge Jack Emery may have set a precedent when he ordered police to give a man’s marijuana back to him.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reported Friday that Emery agreed with the argument of  Joseph Robertson that police had no right to seize the less than 40 grams of pot because he is a designated provider of medical marijuana.
“I feel great,” Robertson told the News Tribune outside the court Thursday. “You’ve got to stand up for people’s rights sometimes.”
Full Article:
http://q13fox.com/2013/03/01/judge-tells-police-give-the-man-his-marijuana-back/#16VzruzFE4KjFt6c.01

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun
 
Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s administration withdrew its opposition to legislation allowing doctors and nurses to dispense medical marijuana to patients through academic medical centers, raising prospects for passage this year.
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the state secretary of health and mental hygiene, said Friday that the administration could support the bill but only if it gave the governor the “flexibility” to suspend the program if the federal government threatened legal action over what it still classifies as an illegal drug.
“If it’s clear it’s not something that’s going to bring prosecution on state employees, we can go forward,” Sharfstein told members of the House Government Operations and Judiciary committees, who held a joint hearing on the issue.
 
Full Article:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-sharfstein-marijuana-20130308,0,5771894.story

 
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/745341109/the-emperor-the-president-and-the-king?ref=live

By Wendy Osher

Hawai’i Island police dismantled an underground bunker marijuana-growing operation in Puna and arrested two individuals at the Glenwood home after serving a search warrant on Thursday. Police described the building as a sophisticated operation measuring 40 by 80 feet, and containing more than 500 marijuana plants. Photo courtesy Hawaii Police Department.
 
The Hawai’i State Senate today passed a bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
The amended version of Senate Bill 472 passed third reading, creating a “civil violation” for the possession of an ounce or less for intentional possession. A violation would be subject to a fine of $1,000.
Under current laws, possession under similar circumstances would be classified as a harsher violation of “criminal misdemeanor.”
SB472, SD1 passed with 25 “yes” votes, and two yes votes with reservations from Senators Ruderman and Slom.
 
Full Article:
http://mauinow.com/2013/03/05/senate-passes-bill-that-would-decriminalize-marijuana/

Posted by Johnny Green

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today issued a statement in response to eight former chiefs of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) asking President Obama to nullify Colorado and Washington state laws legalizing personal marijuana use:
“As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once observed, states are the laboratories of democracy. The federal government should concentrate on shutting down meth labs – not the laboratories of Democracy. The people of Colorado and Washington voted to implement these laws, and the federal government should respect their will. States have a right to determine their own possession laws.
 
Full Article:
http://www.theweedblog.com/congressman-issues-statement-after-former-dea-heads-ask-obama-to-nullify-marijuana-legalization/

Court Support Program makes a great impact on our legal system, judges, defendants and juries. Often coordinating people who have time and people who have transportation can be a challenge. At times, only the funds needed for gasoline will prevent several court supporters from filling court rooms all over the nation. You can change that by sponsoring a court supporter below. Don’t have money, but you’ve got time to help? Volunteer for a Court or POW Support Team.
 
Here’s the link: 
http://the-human-solution.org/store/sponsor-a-court-supporter/
 

The Greeley Tribune  |  By Whitney Phillips
 
Former U.S. Navy Corpsman Jeremy Usher came home in 2003 from Iraq and Afghanistan to sleepless nights and panic attacks, with vivid flashbacks of combat, horrifying nightmares, anxiety and depression, all amid memory loss and a severe stutter.
After turning to alcohol to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Jeremy is serving probation in Weld and Larimer counties for his second and third DUIs. He’s doing well in counseling and school, he says, but he faces jail time for using marijuana medicinally while on probation to manage his PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
Jeremy finds himself in legal limbo. Medicinal marijuana is the one treatment that’s helped him with his PTSD, but he violates his probation when he uses it, which puts him at risk of going back to jail.
“The court systems are very black and white, and PTSD is the definition of gray area,” said Jeremy, 31. “They’re not acknowledging the gray area.”
Snap
Jeremy — “Doc” to the Marines he treated as a combat medic — remembers hearing a loud snap when he was shot in the side of his head. He was on the back of a helicopter sent into a hot zone to rescue wounded Marines, and he was struck as they were lifting off the ground, leaving him brain damage that caused his memory loss and stutter.
“I think the fact that I can’t remember what happened is a good thing,” Jeremy said.
 
Full Article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/greeley-vet-faces-jail-ti_n_2798385.html