Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

[patric]

Word around the campfire is it is fairly well-assured that recreational MJ will become a reality in New Mexico this next legislative session. I Friends of mine will be thrilled if it comes to pass.

Congress just voted to legalize hemp
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/12/18136408/congress-hemp-marijuana-legalization-farm-bill


Medical marijuana user, 78, evicted from subsidized housing
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/usworld/medical-marijuana-user-evicted-from-subsidized-housing/article_bb3ee4f5-d81c-510e-be5e-40a9ea4e1a9e.html

[patric]

Taking a bite out of "stop and frisk"

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo just made marijuana legalization a top priority
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/17/18144891/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-marijuana-legalization

[patric]

'Way over black market': Medical marijuana prices cause some sticker shock as question of taxes still looms

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/marijuana/way-over-black-market-medical-marijuana-prices-cause-some-sticker/article_29224c38-b228-57ef-b6a0-9be85d8bfd6a.html

[patric]

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/oklahoma-quickly-medical-marijuana-hotbed-59974232

[patric]

The first licensed patient to be arrested for simple possession, Regina Gist, was charged in Adair County after a traffic stop in which she was a passenger. But District Attorney Jack Thorp dropped the charge despite the likelihood that Gist acquired the cannabis in an illegal purchase not in a licensed dispensary. Patients celebrated the DA's decision as an indication that even if local law enforcement officers continue to treat all marijuana users as criminals, SQ 788 will protect law-abiding patients from prosecution.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/marijuana/district-attorney-to-drop-possession-charge-against-licensed-medical-marijuana/article_0bd130d6-eb65-5754-bf55-e0bc3df112b4.html


https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/marijuana/medical-marijuana-has-been-legal-in-oklahoma-since-july-what/article_9138d60a-8801-5129-b190-2628d71caa46.html

[patric]

I had one pull me over coming back from Texas around midnight.   "tag light out"    Looking back on it, I never fixed the tag light and haven't been pulled over since (2-3 years ago.)

Apparently a couple of 40 somethings with 3 kids in the car wasn't really who he was looking for either.

That being said, it is a boring, lonely stretch of road...  Probably hard to reach their required number of contacts (we don't use quotas anymore) without some randoms pulled over.

Prosecutors dropped charges against three people arrested in February on the Indian Nation Turnpike in Pittsburg County while traveling to a cannabis event in Tulsa.

Regina Nelson and Michael Browning were scheduled to speak in Tulsa to advocate for State Question 788 and cannabis education. Nelson's adult son, Bryan Laufenberg, was also in the car and was arrested.

Nelson has claimed it was a targeted traffic stop by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol because of the car's Colorado license plate.

Nelson's attorney, Brecken Wagner, told the Tulsa World in February that the trooper's version of Nelson's traffic violation was that she did not use a turn signal at least 100 feet before entering the ramp, an offense he said he had never seen in his career as a defense attorney.

"I think the state in considering the evidence and the motions we were about to file realized we were traveling as patients and not as criminals," Nelson said. "I think that's a huge recognition by the state of Oklahoma and the district attorney."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/marijuana-possession-charges-dropped-against-group-arrested-during-traffic-stop/article_96af1640-15e3-598f-a469-f5267759aed4.html

[patric]

Authorities trying to determine if semi pulled over in Pawhuska contains marijuana or hemp
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/authorities-trying-to-determine-if-semi-pulled-over-in-pawhuska/article_17315230-389a-5816-b05c-6ac1b8e4f2f7.html



PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma - Pawhuska Police take four men into custody, accused of transporting thousands of pounds of what officers believe is marijuana.

The attorney for two of the men told News On 6 they'd been charged with aggravated trafficking. Pawhuska Police pulled the semi-truck over early Wednesday morning for running a red light, but officers quickly noticed something else.
"You could smell the strong odor of marijuana," Pawhuska Assistant Police Chief Alton Horne said.

Police said two men were inside the truck and two men were inside an escort mini-van as security. The men showed officers a bill that detailed their cargo as industrial hemp.
"It was just a simple bill," Chief Rex Wikel said. "Anybody could generate it on a computer."

The bill stated the men were transporting 18,000 pounds of hemp from Kentucky to Colorado, but police said something felt wrong.
"It just didn't seem right," Horne said. "You've got that gut instinct like, there's something going on here."

Officers said the product field-tested positive for marijuana, so they called in backup, including the DEA.
Wickle said the four men are in police custody while multiple agencies investigate including Pawhuska Police, the Osage County Sheriff's Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Law enforcement said the recent legalization of medicinal marijuana makes things more complicated.
"It's a large gray area with everybody right now," Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden said. "What's a legal load of marijuana, and what's an illegal load?"

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics said to transport marijuana legally, you have to have an Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Transport License. But the men's attorney said they were transporting hemp and had fully researched Oklahoma laws to make sure they were doing everything properly.

Pawhuska Police said they'll test the product in all the boxes to see exactly what they found.
http://www.newson6.com/story/39761118/4-men-accused-of-transporting-marijuana-taken-into-custody



Hemp is now legal. That's huge for the CBD industry.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/13/18139678/cbd-industry-hemp-legalization-farm-bill

[Ed W]

If this indeed turns out to be industrial hemp, will Pawhuska PD return it and send them on their way, or will they find some reason to retain it.

[Townsend]

If this indeed turns out to be industrial hemp, will Pawhuska PD return it and send them on their way, or will they find some reason to retain it.

Will the OHP return the truck?

[patric]

If this indeed turns out to be industrial hemp, will Pawhuska PD return it and send them on their way, or will they find some reason to retain it.

Not too long ago a pot bust could greenlight all sorts of overreach.  Its a habit that will take a long time to unlearn.
Like someone accidentally shot, the official non-accidental story will emerge days later.

[patric]

Will the OHP return the truck?

Im almost expecting to hear that the two men in the security van were uniformed licensed guards.

"It was just a simple bill," Chief Rex Wikel said. "Anybody could generate it on a computer."

...because if it were handwritten on the back of a Whataburger wrapper that would have been better...

[patric]

If this indeed turns out to be industrial hemp, will Pawhuska PD return it and send them on their way, or will they find some reason to retain it.

Semi Stopped In Pawhuska Was Carrying Industrial Hemp, Not Breaking Laws

PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma - Attorneys are working to clear the names of four men arrested in Pawhuska for transporting what police believed to be thousands of pounds of marijuana.
The attorneys said this has all been a big mistake, and that with any luck, their clients won't spend another night in jail.

Attorney Matt Lyons said his two clients were the drivers of a mini-van, which was escorting the semi-truck carrying 18,000 pounds of product.
"Their exact reason for being there was to avoid something like yesterday from happening," Lyons said.

Lyons said their company, Patriot Shield, specializes in the legal transportation of hemp. "These guys want nothing to do with the black market marijuana business," he explained.

Lyons gave News On 6 several documents, one of which shows the truck was hauling 60 pallets of industrial hemp weighing 18,000 pounds.

Colorado Hemp Attorney Frank Robison represents the company that bought the hemp from Kentucky. He said he was shocked to find out the men had been arrested.

"Who in their right mind would be importing marijuana into Colorado?" He said. "It just doesn't pass the sniff test to be quite candid."

Robison said recent legislation signed by President Trump makes the transportation of industrial hemp completely legal.
"I would expect the DEA to know," he said. "The DEA absolutely should know. But the Pawhuska police, local law enforcement, this is something that hasn't probably trickled down."

Lyons said all the proper documentation has been provided to the Osage County DA's office, and the DA set the men's bonds at $40,000 each.
"I'm happy that they're listening," he said. "I'm not necessarily happy with the amount per person because these people are not rich. They don't have access to large amounts of money."
http://www.newson6.com/story/39774567/attorney-semi-stopped-in-pawhuska-was-carrying-industrial-hemp-not-breaking-laws


https://www.patriotshieldsecurity.com/

[dbacksfan 2.0]

PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma - Attorneys are working to clear the names of four men arrested in Pawhuska for transporting what police believed to be thousands of pounds of marijuana.
The attorneys said this has all been a big mistake, and that with any luck, their clients won't spend another night in jail sue the city into bankruptcy.

FIFY

[DTowner]

This is an interesting article in Mother Jones discussing a new book that takes a hard look at the realities of smoking pot and comes to some pretty scary conclusions.  Short answer- today's pot ain't anything like the stuff you were smoking in high school in the 1980s.  Mother Jones isn't exactly manning the barricades for the War on Drugs, so is a pretty interesting take from an unlikely source.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/new-york-times-journalist-alex-berenson-tell-your-children-marijuana-crime-mental-illness-1/

I'm generally opposed to legalizing recreational marijuana because it is my sense that there is still too much we don't know.  However, I've been pretty agnostic on the medical marijuana issue, but voted for it because, well I don't know, I didn't want to see Oklahoma to be the last state to adopt it.

That said, the whole medical benefits debate has always struck me as peculiar.  On one hand, the "just say no" folks don't seem to want to consider even the possibility that it can help certain people with certain conditions - when it seems there is strong evidence it can.  But then the advocates usually strike me as the kind of people who try to convince you that a Chiropractor can cure whatever ails you.

At any rate, for anyone who cares about this debate, this book seems like good read.

[patric]

The attorneys said this has all been a big mistake, and that with any luck, their clients won't spend another night in jail sue the city into bankruptcy.

It does seem like OHP and the local deputies acted in bad faith by initially clouding details like them arresting security guards, but we know who really picks up the tab, right?  Next year is really going to suck for Pawhuska Public Schools.


In these instances, local law enforcement follows a suspect and then pulls them over for a mundane reason, like failing to use a turn signal. While the stop is meant to look random, cops are often working on a tip they received from a federal agency like the DEA.

"Sometimes when tips come through, the federal authorities don't even tell the local authorities what they're looking for," says St. Vincent. The tip could be as simple as to watch out for a car at a specific place and time.

These stops are referred to as "wall off" or "whisper" stops, according to the Human Rights Watch report. In these instances, local law enforcement has to find probable cause for pulling the suspect over to avoid disclosing the tip. The tip is then never mentioned in court, and instead the beginning of the investigation is said to be the "random" stop.

https://www.wired.com/story/stingray-secret-surveillance-programs/