the dope report

Hey, kids. Today’s public service announcement originates from the fine state of West Virginia, and it goes like this: If you’re growing 100s of plants in your house, don’t drive around with joints, a .25 mm pistol and cracked tail light. Moreover, it may be best to avoid appearing in workplace anti-drug advertising on television. From reports:

A labor organization’s voice for a drug-free work force found himself behind bars this week charged with cultivating a massive marijuana grow ... Searls admitted to having the marijuana grow in his attic, which Huntington Police Sgt. Darrell Booth called a “marijuana factory.” It included more than 100 plants and sophisticated tools needed to grow the crop indoors. ... Searls appears in commercials as a hard-hat-wearing worker for the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation [saying] ’”Nobody wants to work next to anybody whose judgment is impaired by drugs or alcohol,” Searls says in the commercial. “We don’t just talk a drug-free work force. We do something about it. The union work force is a drug-free work force.’

Indeed! [Huntington Herald-Dispatch]

There are now four pushes to legalize possession and growth of non-medicinal cannabis in California. Three at the ballot box and one in the legislature. The first and most idealistic initiative out of the gate, the California Cannabis Initiative, spearheaded by three defense attorneys in NorCal, has just got its Official Title and Summary from the State Attorney General, and it reads as follows:

1374. (09-0022) Changes California Law to Legalize, Regulate, and Tax Marijuana. Initiative Statute.

Repeals state laws that make it a crime for people 21 years old or older to use, possess, sell, cultivate, or transport marijuana or industrial hemp, except laws that make it a crime to drive while impaired or to contribute to the delinquency of a minor.

Expunges state convictions based on the repealed marijuana-related laws.

Requires state and local governments to regulate and tax commercial production and sale of marijuana.

Requires taxes to be spent on education, healthcare, environmental programs, public works, and state parks.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Savings in the several tens of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments on the costs of incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders. Unknown but potentially major new excise, income, and sales tax revenues related to the production and sale of marijuana products. (09-0022.)

Now, CalCann2010 has to get upwards of 450,000 signatures in 150 days with an all-volunteer effort. And keep in mind, historically, fewer than 10 percent of all initiatives gather enough signatures to reach the ballot. And only eight percent of those on the ballot pass.

This week, the East Bay Express should run an analysis of the three competing ballot measures and state bill. So keep us bookmarked, eh?

You know how it takes a lot of practice to work up the lung capacity to successfully take a huge bong hit without keeling over coughing, eyes watering and nose dripping while your throat burns. Experienced marijuana smokers, who have put in years of work to transcend this physical trauma can now revel in the recent findings by researchers at the University of Otago’s Dunedin School of Medicine in New Zealand.

They found that the long-term use of cannabis was associated with a variety of beneficial attributes to the smoker’s lungs. These included “higher forced vital capacity,” “higher total lung capacity” and “higher airways resistance.” Such daunting physiological terms may be hard to fully comprehend, but what’s certain is that the herb helps build a resilient set of lungs.

But for those of us who also smoke tobacco, these positive associations do not apply.

The LA Times reports today that officials in Santa Barbara County suspect Mexican drug cartels of accidentally igniting the La Brea forest fire, which has burned 87,000 acres over the weekend and is 64 percent contained.

According to the Times, which quotes local authorities: an unburned marijuana patch, recent camping equipment, and a campfire was found near the alleged beginning of the blaze. It may be the first time, officials say, that growers have touched off a forest fire, and they caution locals to report any amigos coming out of the hills all dark and dirty.

We at the Dope Report can already see the day two headlines:

iPhones are amazing devices that can pump your gas and tell you nurturing things when you’re feeling kind of blue. They can also now find your nearest cheeba dispensary like that, son! Check out Cannabis Apps if you need assistance sniffing out the kush in one of the 13 states with legalized medicinal marijuana. And if that doesn’t sell you, the catchy rave music featured in this demo will.

[DoseNation]

[Cannabis Apps]

The second ballot initiative in two weeks, “Activists have 150 days from filing to gather 434,000 signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot in November 2010. ...” The initiative is being spearheaded by medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University. A slight majority of Californians favor legalization in recent polls.

[California Cannabis Initiative]

[DrugSense]

Tis the season for weedin’ and seedin’.

From MSNBC:

Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people accused of growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in a crackdown … in California’s Sierra Nevada range. ... [the 318,000 plants pulled] account for a small percentage of the pot typically seized in California each year. ... Last year, more than 5.2 million plants were uprooted in all federal and state operations that reported seizures to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

We’re actually ok with the police busting up Meixcan drug gardens in public forests. It’s really bad for the environment.

[MSNBC]

We can just see the industry magnates of the East Coast scratching their chin at today’s Wall Street Journal article, ‘With ‘Med Pot’ Raids Halted, Selling Grass Grows Greener’. The story details a number of small business people moving into the Medi-Cann market, as well as their start-up costs and issues. The WSJ treats the the industry like just another emerging market for the barons of finance to assess; which is, in it’s own way – sad.

The continuing normalization of the cannabis economy will entail ever-higher levels of crass commercialism. The story details prices dropping due to competition, as well as interviews the founder of Weedmaps.com – a total dickhead who claims to be making $20,000 a month off his site.

In 20 years, marijuana may be a traded commodity like pigs and corn. If we thought the cops were bad, wait until we meet the bankers. Late capitalism devours all.

There are signs medical pot’s increasing business legitimacy is crowding the market. A 20-mile stretch of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley now has close to 100 places to buy. “So many dispensaries have come along, the prices are dropping,” says one operator, Calvin Frye. Two years ago, his least expensive pot was about $60 for an eighth of an ounce. Now it is $45.

[WSJ]