Asset Forfeiture

Operation Green Merchant

karlis — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0700

The DEA believed that High Times magazine, pot seed merchants, indoor pot growers, pot journalists and hydroponics equipment manufacturers were a criminal conspiracy worthy of a nationwide takedown.

Hydropanic

karlis — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0700

In 1989, the US Drug Enforcement Agency tried to destroy the indoor gardening industry, asserting it was nothing more than a "sleazy front" for marijuana growers.

Emery, global war, & sovereignty

karlis — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700

With cannabis seed entrepreneur and political activist Marc Emery rumored to be on the verge of being let out of jail only a few days after being arrested at the request of the DEA, it's time to take note of US government's tendency to arrest, kidnap, imprison, torture, or kill people, regardless of their nationality or guilt, using a variety of time-tested methods for doing so.

Sex, Drugs, and Activism

karlis — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0700

William Perry at his storefrontTalking to people who just got arrested happens too frequently when you're a pot journalist, and it's usually disheartening. They're angry, depressed, and afraid.
But talking to William Perry last week after police in Maple Ridge, British Columbia raided his Guilty Pleasures sex gear and pot paraphernalia shop was inspiring.

20-acre pot farm raided in California

karlis — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Eddy Lepp: raided for being honestAccording to DEA spokesman Richard Meyer, the sprawling 20-acre farm near Upper Lake, California, contained 20,000 high-grade marijuana plants estimated at a value of $80 million.

Bizarre Busts

karlis — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800

The latest craze is for authorities to blame cannabis for every possible atrocity. In Canada, in early March, when four RCMP officers were killed by an infamous psychotic gun nut during a stolen car part investigation, police superiors blamed the deaths on 20 immature marijuana plants they found in the killer's shed, after inflating the story to "300 plants worth $400,000 dollars" run by "an organized criminal drug ring."

Pot belly

karlis — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0800

Pot almost always leads to the munchies, but sometimes it's the other way around. For example, an Ohio businessman delivered pot with pizza from his downtown shop until he was arrested in June. Also, this year's largest bust in El Paso, Texas, came when customs agents pulled over an 18-wheeler attempting to cross the border with 3,500 pounds of marijuana hidden in lettuce and strawberries.

In all the wrong places

karlis — Mon, 04 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0700

Growing pot is like an advanced game of hide and seek with real life consequences. Last May, police in Kingston, Ontario, found 200 plants growing in an abandoned Alcan factory in Ontario, reminiscent of the much larger bust of a similar operation in an abandoned Molson Brewery earlier in the year.

Pot luck

karlis — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0700

Among some crowds, the term "cabbage head" means someone who will smoke anything to get high, but in January one Belgian tourist may have taken the notion too far. En route from Amsterdam to Brussels by train, he was arrested for possessing 250 grams of cabbage leaves mixed with pot and given a 200 Euro fine. Police seemed unsure whether the grass was meant as a special garnish for a cabbage salad, or if he was merely trying to conceal his stash.

Marie Krieger busted

karlis — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0700

Grant Krieger and wife MarieMedical marijuana advocate and multiple sclerosis patient Grant Krieger, who has repeatedly been arrested for medical marijuana, suffered another blow when his wife and son were busted after RCMP officers stopped their car on the Trans-Canada highway east of Swift Current, Saskatchewan on Wednesday.

Tommy Chong goes to jail

karlis — Tue, 06 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0700

On September 11, 2003, comedian Tommy Chong was sentenced to nine months in prison, a fine of $20,000, and the forfeiture of about $120,000 in assets. He also had to give up his internet domain name of tommychong.com.
Chong, best known as half of the famed pot-comedy duo Cheech and Chong, was the founder of a business called Nice Dreams, which manufactured and sold bongs under the name Chong Glass. The business was operated by Chong's son, Paris.

Marc Emery released

karlis — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 00:00:00 -0800

Marc walks out of jail short 00Marijuana seed guru Marc Emery was released from a Saskatchewan prison Thursday afternoon after three days in jail.

Medpot user busted despite constitutional exemption

karlis — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0800

Grant Krieger: uses pot to treat MS symptomsGrant Krieger, who lives with MS, has been fighting for years for the courts to recognize his medical use of the plant. On January 6, 2004 he was busted again, this time in Manitoba.

Dropping pot on the court

karlis — Wed, 07 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0800

Keeping your pot under wraps can save a lot of court hassle. In April, a teenager in Carlsbad, California, who was defending himself on a minor traffic offense, was charged with contempt and sentenced to two days in jail when he dropped a joint in the courtroom.

God, dogs and rats

karlis — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0800

`Let me eat at the table or I`m calling the cops`Michael Stanley and Jenna Lee Fetters of Missoula, Montana didn't expect to be turned in by their best friend ? their dog.

Quebec Cannabis Cup founder gets a year in prison

karlis — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0800

Alain Berthiaume, founder of the Quebec Cannabis and Hashish Cup, was sentenced in September to one year in jail for three counts of trafficking at the 2001 Cup, and also sentenced to one year in jail for cultivation of 1,000 clones found at his house six months later.
Berthiaume, founder of Montreal's Hemp Quebec store and seed bank, started the Quebec Cannabis and Hashish Cup in November 1999, and each year it grew bigger and more complex.

Legality of search

karlis — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0800

My boyfriend and I were driving and we were pulled over for swerving. The town was extremely small and was in a dry county, meaning that no alcohol could be brought through the city limits. We weren't drinking but had a small glass pipe hidden in the truck.

International Medical Marijuana Day gets official recognition in Victoria

karlis — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0800

This summer trafficking charges against a Cannabis Buyers' Club employee were thrown out. The charges stemmed from a police raid last June, the fifth such police action against the club in the last few years. Police raided the club in June after following a member into the establishment and discovering the operation. Pot charges against a club member allegedly found in possession outside of the club were also recently dropped.

American citizen jailed in Canada on a 30 year old cannabis charge

karlis — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0700

On September 19th, 2003 Ilene Schecter was seized at the Peace Arch Border Crossing when entering into Canada on a 30 year old Canadian Cannabis Charge.
Ilene Schecter, an American citizen, was arrested in Canada 1970 for bringing roughly a kilo of marijuana into Canada. At that time, Ilene declared herself to be a member of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, and that the marijuana was her sacrament.

The new American police state

karlis — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0700

America's war on Iraq, and now possibly Syria, has drawn public and media attention away from the burgeoning state security apparatus focused on US domestic matters. Those who think they know better than the rest of us have set their sights on dissidents of all stripes, including afficionados of a certain plant.

Canada's decrim deception

karlis — Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0700

John Conroy: denouncing the feds` legal misinformation.While court decisions have been steadily dismantling aspects of Canada's pot prohibition, the federal Liberal government has been discussing a bill which would "decriminalize" marijuana possession across Canada.

Biggest threat to pot-lovers' freedoms since prohibition

karlis — Tue, 14 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0700

After repeated pressure from the US White House, Canada's House of Commons asked the Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs to make recommendations that would toughen Canada's proposed "decriminalization" law, Bill C-38, adding mandatory minimum sentences for growers, jail terms for repeat offenders possessing small amounts, and a drop in the maximum amount one can possess on a first offense before facing court and jail, from 15 to 10 grams.

Marc Emery jailed in Moncton

karlis — Mon, 21 Jul 2003 00:00:00 -0700

Marc explains the legal situation in CanadaOn July 21, Cannabis Culture publisher Marc Emery was arrested for the third time during his Summer of Legalization cross-country tour. Emery was detained by police shortly after lighting up a bong in front of the Moncton police headquarters at 4:20pm.

Spore sales shut-down

karlis — Tue, 15 Jul 2003 00:00:00 -0700

Psilocybe Semilanceata.About one week before the major bong shop crack-down swept across the US in late February (CC#43, Bong shops under attack!), a smaller raid hit Psylocybe Fanaticus, one of America's oldest and best-known sellers of mail-ord

Marc Emery arrested in Winnipeg

karlis — Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:00:00 -0700

Emery and his Canucks bong are taken away.Cannabis Culture publisher Marc Emery was arrested on July 9, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at about 4:20pm, during the first stop of what was planned to be a 16 city cross-country freedom tour.