Los Angeles minister sues police over marijuana raid at church
The News Review:
- Los Angeles minister sues police over marijuana raid at church
- Advocates seek extension of medical marijuana law
- Perils grow in battle for medical pot Laws in conflict — environment…
- Life for double killer hooked on cannabis
- Cannabis granny threatened with eviction
- Minister sues over marijuana raid at church; calls it a religious herb
- Court Rules Medical Marijuana Law Doesn’t Offer Search Protection
Los Angeles minister sues police over marijuana raid at church
International Herald Tribune - Mar 22, 2007
Craig X Rubin, 41, is the founder of Temple 420, which holds that marijuana is a religious herb. “Our congregation mandates members study the Bible, have faith in God and regularly burn the herb cannabis (The Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible) as sacrament,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court. Rubin's lawsuit contends that last November, an undercover officer joined the temple and bought marijuana “to be used for religious purposes. ” Five days later, the strip-mall sanctuary was raided by officers, who seized money and marijuana. The temple has an estimated 400 members who pay a $100 (€74. 9) initiation fee and $100 annual dues, enabling them to buy marijuana for requested donations.
Advocates seek extension of medical marijuana law
Providence Journal - Providence Journal (subscription) - Mar 22, 2007
One nurse struggled out of her wheelchair to sit at the table of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare to testify about how marijuana has eased the searing pain caused by multiple sclerosis. A man sat stiffly and gingerly as he told the members about how marijuana has given his body some relief from the pain from three difficult back surgeries. “Medical marijuana has given me back my life,” testified Mike Oliver, who suffers from Crohn’s disease. The only speakers opposing the bill were the state police and a founder of Americans for Drug-Free Youth — who were against the law because the drug is illegal. In January 2006, Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes after the General Assembly overturned Governor Carcieri’s veto. But the law is due to be repealed on June 30 if legislators don’t take action… The current law defines who can be a primary caregiver, registered under the Department of Health, to be allowed to supply up to five patients. While the law bans anyone with a felony drug conviction from becoming a primary caregiver, the new bill changes that to allow someone who has been convicted for “conduct permitted under this act” — only if that person is a close relative of the patient and the felony conviction was at least 10 years ago. The bill also expands the amount of marijuana the caregiver can possess, setting the limit at 24 marijuana plants and 5 ounces of usable marijuana, irrespective of the number of qualifying patients they are supplying. The committee members listened. They showed concern. McNamara, D-Warwick, and others also questioned how the patients were getting the illegal drug.
Perils grow in battle for medical pot Laws in conflict — environment…
San Francisco Chronicle - Mar 22, 2007
In the past five years, the number of medical marijuana clubs — stores authorized under state law where people can buy cannabis with a doctor’s approval — has tripled in the state, to more than 300. But club operators and pot growers are increasingly subject to federal arrests, seizures and prosecution. Across California, smoking pot remains a gamble. Decisions over who gets busted and who doesn’t affect large numbers of medical pioneers, average smokers and make-a-buck dope dealers alike. Last week, two federal court rulings in San Francisco gave contrasting victories in the dispute over whether the medical use of marijuana, approved by California voters, should be prosecuted or permitted.
Life for double killer hooked on cannabis
Telegraph.co.uk - Mar 22, 2007
A jury at Reading Crown Court rejected his admission of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He will serve a minimum of 18 years. His fixation with knives had led to him carving a swastika on his chest, the court heard. Palmer had befriended Steven Bayliss, 16, and Nuttawut Nadauld, 14.
Cannabis granny threatened with eviction
Telegraph.co.uk - Mar 22, 2007
The mother-of-three vowed after her latest brush with the law to carry on using cannabis, which she said was much more effective and less harmful than prescription drugs she used to take to battle the depression she has suffered since 1975 when she found her 14-year-old son dead in his bed. She said cannabis also helps her overcome the aches and pains sustained from two car crashes and that it gives her “better relief than you get from morphine. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
Minister sues over marijuana raid at church; calls it a religious herb
9NEWS.com - Mar 22, 2007
Craig X Rubin, 41, is the founder of Temple 420, which holds that pot is a religious herb. “Our congregation mandates members study the Bible, have faith in God and regularly burn the herb cannabis (The Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible) as sacrament,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court… Craig X Rubin, 41, is the founder of Temple 420, which holds that pot is a religious herb. “Our congregation mandates members study the Bible, have faith in God and regularly burn the herb cannabis (The Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible) as sacrament,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court. Rubin, his son and another man were charged last fall with two felony counts each of selling or transporting marijuana and possessing marijuana for sale. ” Five days later, the strip-mall sanctuary was raided by officers, who seized money and marijuana. Rubin has made several appearances on the Showtime series “Weeds” as the owner of a medical marijuana club.
Court Rules Medical Marijuana Law Doesn’t Offer Search Protection
KTVU.com - Mar 22, 2007
” A three-judge panel of the court upheld a Napa County sheriff’s deputy’s search of the car of Gabriel Strasburg in Calistoga in Oct. The search turned up about a pound and one-half of marijuana and a full-size scale. The state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law protects seriously ill patients who use marijuana on a doctor’s recommendation from criminal prosecution. But the law limits patients to possession of no more than 8 ounces at a time. Strasburg pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession, but in an appeal claimed the search was illegal because he had told Deputy Sheriff Aaron Mosely he had a doctor’s prescription for marijuana. The appeals court said the search was reasonable because Mosely, after smelling marijuana smoke and seeing that there were two people in the car, was justified in suspecting the car might contain more than 8 ounces of the drug.