police

More Prohibition Fatalities

Kirk Tousaw — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:56:53 -0800

CN BC: ‘Magic’ Mushrooms Suspected In Fatality

RCMP here have issued a warning against consuming magic mushrooms, after the death of a B.C. man.

Cpl. Bryson Hill said preliminary results from an autopsy performed on a 23-year-old man who died while in the Halfway Hot Springs Nov. 8, indicate his death could be linked to him taking what he thought were hallucination-causing magic mushrooms or psilocybin mushrooms.

News reports identified the man as Dieter Eggers of Taylor, near Fort St. John.

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Duke Police Officer Drugs and Rapes Woman

Barry Cooper — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:16:52 -0800

Durham, N.C. — A Duke University police officer has been arrested and charged with raping a woman in Dothan, Ala., over the weekend.

Accept The Facts – and End This Futile 'War on Drugs'

jeremiah — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:51:03 -0800

Illustration by Eva Tatcheva

The proponents of the "war on drugs" are well-intentioned people who believe they are saving people from the nightmare of drug addiction and making the world safer. But this self-image has turned into a faith – and like all faiths, it can only be maintained by cultivating a deliberate blindness to the evidence.

Are We Really Soft on Crime?

jeremiah — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:26:48 -0800

The federal Department of Justice boasts Canada’s biggest concentration of legal brainpower. Of its roughly 4,300 employees, about half are lawyers, and its policy branch alone employs about 200 bureaucrats. Not surprisingly, the department has a long history of producing sophisticated policy papers and commissioning probing research on crime and punishment.

Web Opens Up Fresh Drug Market in Europe

jeremiah — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:20:25 -0800

A new front is opening in the war on drugs, with the internet emerging as an option to buy a plethora of hallucinogenics and synthetic drugs, according to the EU's drugs watchdog, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The availability of everything from magic mushrooms to 'fashionable' synthetic drugs and their "aggressive marketing and intentional mislabelling" are complicating the fight against drug abuse in Europe, warns the Lisbon-based agency in its annual report.

NeverGetBusted Tip: The Safest Way to Fly With Pot

Barry Cooper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:57:24 -0800

It's never safe to smuggle large amounts of marijuana through a public airport; however, it's important for some people to fly with their medicine and NeverGetBusted.

Pot Acceptable? Not for Young and Nonwhite

jeremiah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:02:17 -0800

This year is a watershed year in pot politics.

The Obama administration recently announced it would defer to state medical marijuana laws and stop federal prosecutions of patients and providers who comply with them.

In California, the tanking economy inspired Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to call for debating marijuana taxation and regulation, a bill was introduced in Sacramento to do just that, and four separate ballot initiatives are circulating to allow voters the chance to decide the issue for themselves.

Colorado Ski Town Decriminalizes Marijuana

jeremiah — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:34:26 -0800

Gabby Thomas is one of the supporters that has been out on the streets of Breckenridge in the past week encouraging people to vote for measure 2F. (Photo by Mark Fox)Breckenridge residents voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and paraphernalia under town law. Unofficial results show 71 percent of voters approved the initiative.

Marijuana Mercy: Pardon John Ray Wilson

jeremiah — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:11 -0800

The state Attorney General’s Office believes we have to get John Ray Wilson off the streets. He was caught growing marijuana behind his Franklin Township home — enough to make him, in the eyes of the law, a pot producer, a drug distributor. Heck, some of the plants were taller than an NBA point guard, cops say.

What Sentence for Marijuana Seed Dealer?

jeremiah — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:42:56 -0700

Is he a hardened on-line marijuana dealer or an enterprising entrepreneur?

A Montreal judge will decide and sentence him in the way he sees fit.

The Crown says Richard Hratch Bagdadlian knew exactly what he was doing when he broke the law and wants him to serve five years behind bars.

The RCMP arrested him for exporting and importing marijuana seeds on the Web.

Investigators say the company got 30 orders a day, at 100 dollars per order, buying and selling seeds all over the world.

Pot Activist David Malmo-Levine Sentenced To Six Months In Jail

jeremiah — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:19:05 -0700

Well-known marijuana activist David Malmo-Levine, who MCs most of Vancouver's pot rallies, has been sentenced to six months in prison. (Photos by Jeremiah Vandermeer)CANNABIS CULTURE - Vancouver ‘Herb School’ activist David Malmo-Levine was handed a six-month prison sentence yesterday by a B.C. Provincial Court judge.

Pot Accounts For 75% of Police Seizures

jeremiah — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:39:53 -0700

Many Canadians think police don't pay much attention to marijuana, and instead focus on busting people for "hard drugs". Think again.

From the Edmonton Sun:

The street value of drugs seized by Canadian cops last year topped $2.4 billion, according to the RCMP.

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Video Shows Violent B.C. Police Takedown

jeremiah — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:19:59 -0700

Police in Abbotsford, B.C., are investigating after a video was posted on YouTube showing an officer stomping on and kicking a drug suspect who is lying face down on the ground, while another officer walks on the back of the suspect's legs.

The incident happened Oct. 9 during a police takedown of three drug-trafficking suspects near a high school, according to a police news release.

Brutal Drug War Erupts in Rio

jeremiah — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:07:45 -0700

Many residents of some of Rio de Janeiro's worst slums are fleeing their homes to escape a drug war that has left part of the Brazilian city in ruins, and killed a dozen people.

Smoke rose from the smoldering wreckage of a police helicopter shot down by drug gangs Saturday, while eight buses burned and gunfire filled the air in the slum of Morro dos Macacos.

Police say the fighting broke out early Saturday when one of the city's three main drug gangs invaded the area in an attempt to expand its territory.

Crime Down, Prison Boom Looms

jeremiah — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:14:12 -0700

If the federal government gets its way, Canadians will witness a boom in prison construction coinciding with the longest steady decline in crime rates in Canadian history.

That's the consequence of the various pieces of "get tough" legislation recently passed or currently working their way through Parliament.

RCMP Seize 8 Hours Worth of Cannabis!

Kirk Tousaw — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:09:44 -0700

Re: Bumper crop of B.C. bud seized by Kootenay RCMP

Read CBC News article

Those seizures stopping an estimated 11,500 lbs of B.C. bud from being rolled into approximately 15.5 million marijuana cigarettes, according Romanchuk.

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The Splitting Image of Pot

jeremiah — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:11:09 -0700

Any righteous cannabisalista knows the timeline, the grand saga of humanity’s interface with the vegetable mind of the planet. Back in 8000 B.C., before Genesis in Sarah Palin’s book, the sentient were weaving hemp plant into loincloths. The Chinese had it in their pharmacopoeia by 2700 B.C.

Who’s Behind Pot Prohibition? The Answer Is Obvious

jeremiah — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:03:26 -0700

Without a doubt the question I’m most often asked professionally is this: “Why is marijuana still illegal?”

The common inference behind this question is that there must be some behind the scenes cabal of Big Pharma, Tobacco, and Alcohol executives conspiring to keep cannabis illegal. By contrast, the real culprits behind pot prohibition are far more overt.

Much Ado About Nothing

Kirk Tousaw — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:21:46 -0700

Eight Arrested In Drug Raids in British Columbia.

Read the article from the Victoria Times-Colonist

A sprawling team of police officers arrested eight people in early-morning raids across the region this morning, the product of a three-month undercover drug investigation.

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Marijuana in America: More Mainstream Than Ever, More Arrests Than Ever

jeremiah — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:01:24 -0700

The mainstream media seem to be openly accepting cannabis use - so why are people still being locked up? (Photo by Andrew Mcleod, Marie Claire)Need more evidence that marijuana has gone mainstream in America?

NeverGetBusted Tip: Reverse Stings and Road-Kills

Barry Cooper — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:17:41 -0700

Citizens often get busted selling marijuana because they unknowingly sell to informants or undercover agents, which usually triggers a raid and arrest.

Purchasing marijuana is safer than selling, especially when purchasing small amounts. Large purchases of pot require large amounts of money and kops often pose as "sellers" so they can seize the "buy money." These operations are known as "reverse stings."

American Hands in the Canadian Pot

jeremiah — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:01:37 -0700

Most Canadians think pot should be legalized, but we just can’t seem to muster much outrage over its prohibition. Even students, well known for their love of hedonism and their hatred of “The Man”, often dismiss the issue as marginal and sophomoric.

In short, nearly everyone with a bone of sense in their bodies realizes the glaring contradictions and sheer absurdity of marijuana prohibition, but for the progressively-minded, it can seem like a distraction from the “real” issues.

We Caught A Really Nasty Kop This Time

Barry Cooper — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:55:48 -0700

Our second sting was a success. Our KopBuster team assisted S.W.A.T. in the execution of a search and arrest warrant that landed a krooked kop in jail.

I tricked a recently fired chief of police, Michael Meissner into believing I was going to feature him as a good Kop on the reality show. I told him we had attempted to sting him but were unsuccessful and realized he was a good cop. This developed a relationship between us that was key in his arrest.

Kopbusters Strikes Again: Second Sting Lands Kop Behind Bars

jeremiah — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:56:27 -0700

Michael Meissner, the Korrupt Kop busted by filmmaker and marijuana activist Barry Cooper.Texas Attorney General Candidate strikes again with his reality show, KopBusters. Barry Cooper assisted the Combine Police Department with the execution of a felony search and arrest warrant for recently fired Chief of Police, Michael Meissner.

Marijuana Arrests Drop For First Time Since 2002

jeremiah — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:02:01 -0700

Drug War protester at Huntington Beach, Calif. (Photo by The November Coalition)Marijuana arrests in the United States declined in 2008 -- the first such drop since 2002 -- according to figures released by the FBI today.