420 Policies and Laws

[BadAxe]

Crow, Have you used any of the atomizers built for BHO with a Ego Battery? I have 3 Ego Batteries, so instead of buying a vape pen built for BO I can save money and just buy the atomizers that hook up to my current batteries. But I am trying to find someone that has used them to give me their experience. My BHO experience is with a TI Curve and a Dome and Nail and my bong, and basically the dab is vaporized immeduately upon hitting the heat. But it seems with the vape pens, that you can get lots of hits from the errl you pack in there. So looking for some details on the vape pen BHO experience versus the tradtional way.

[Crow]

For BHO, I like to use an oil rig, but I do use my vape pen for CO₂ extractions and it works great. Avoid the top loaders and go for a bottom feeding tank.

I have used BHO directly in the vape pen, and it does work, but your battery needs to throw out a nice voltage to heat the nail adequately.

You could try softening the BHO by soaking it in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. CO₂ extractions soften a lot quicker than BHO, so soak for 5 innit.

Hope I was helpful... Good luck!

[sirloot]

goodbye prohibition ? Discuss ... discuss ...

[Crow]

goodbye prohibition ? Discuss ... discuss ...

Legalisation is taking hold. Not just at home, but across the globe. Welcome to the Era of Post-Legalisation - Brought to you courtesy of the Great States of Washington and Colorado!

:snowman:

[BadAxe]

Hey Crow, just ordered a Rig by Lurch, semi-worked. He does some incredible marbles. Anyway, will post it up when it gets here. My glass nail broke, and I don't like using my Ti Slide much, it looks to oxidated for me to trust. So I needed a new nail and decided its time to own a rig. I been using my bong, and a little bubbler I bought as a water diffuser for my DaBuddha vape, but now I will have a rig by an artist (proud of that, lol), and I rodered a quartz cup nail.

[Crow]

Hey Crow, just ordered a Rig by Lurch, semi-worked. He does some incredible marbles. Anyway, will post it up when it gets here. My glass nail broke, and I don't like using my Ti Slide much, it looks to oxidated for me to trust. So I needed a new nail and decided its time to own a rig. I been using my bong, and a little bubbler I bought as a water diffuser for my DaBuddha vape, but now I will have a rig by an artist (proud of that, lol), and I rodered a quartz cup nail.

Looking forward to checking it out... I need a new device when I return to Cascadia.

Keep me posted!

[whalen]

There are many types of prohibition. ... most all arbitrary and oppressive. ..acheiving at most contempt.

[Crow]

My ****, it's hard to find cannabis around here.........!!

But, the crow always finds a way............

[Crow]

Obama: Pot is not more dangerous than alcohol

President Barack Obama said he doesn't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer."

WASHINGTON —

President Barack Obama said he doesn't think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer."

"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol," the president said an interview with "The New Yorker" magazine.

Smoking marijuana is "not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy," Obama said.

Obama's administration has given states permission to experiment with marijuana regulation, and laws recently passed in Colorado and Washington legalizing marijuana recently went into effect. The president said it was important for the legalization of marijuana to go forward in those states to avoid a situation in which only a few are punished while a large portion of people have broken the law at one time or another.

Continued...

[BadAxe]

Well, Here it is. And I gotta say, Damn this man has talent. LOVE the marbles Pics don't do it complete justice. Gotta snap some good ones with my DSLR. These are just phone pics. The piece is about 7 inches tall, forgot to add a lighter for "scale". Anyway, here is the new piece, getting LOTS of use already.

[Crow]

Alaska: Election Officials Affirm Legalisation Measure Has Enough Signatures To Qualify For The 2014 Ballot

State election officials have affirmed that a proposed initiative to regulate the production and retail sale of cannabis to adults has obtained the necessary number of signatures from registered voters to appear on 2014 ballot.

The initiative’s proponents, The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska, gathered more than 45,000 signatures from registered Alaska voters. On Tuesday, the director of the Alaska’s Division of Elections confirmed that of those signatures, 31,593 have been verified, thus qualifying the measure for a public vote. The lieutenant governor’s office is expected to certify the measure for the 2014 ballot in the coming days, once all of the remaining signatures have been counted and verified.

Once certified, the initiative will be placed on the August 19 primary election ballot, as is required by Alaska election law.

If approved by voters, the measure would legalize the adult possession of up to one ounce of cannabis as well as the cultivation of up to six-plants (three flowering) for personal consumption. The measure would also allow for the establishment of licensed, commercial cannabis production and retail sales of marijuana and marijuana-infused products to those over the age of 21. Commercial production and retail sales of cannabis would be subject to taxation, but no taxes would be imposed upon those who choose to engage in non-commercial activities (e.g., growing small quantities of marijuana for personal use and/or engaging in not-for-profit transfers of limited quantities of cannabis.) Public consumption of cannabis would be subject to a civil fine.

Continued...

[Crow]

Pot-delivery service fills void for eager buyers

Wombat sat in his car in a Wallingford parking lot, waiting to make a drug deal.

Shannon, 33, hopped in, her first time buying pot from the delivery service that Wombat — not his real name — works for. It’s called Winterlife and because of its questionable legality, its employees use animal pseudonyms, such as Otter, Owl and Fox.

Shannon showed Wombat her ID. He showed her a couple different strains of pot in clear tidy packages and an array of pot-laced cookies, truffles and chocolate bars. She bought a quarter-ounce of Purple Wreck for $80 and several edibles for $25. This wasn’t medical marijuana. This was the newly legal recreational variety.

Shannon didn’t want to disclose her full name and occupation. But she did nothing illegal, according to Washington’s voter-approved recreational-pot law.

The law allows adults to possess up to an ounce of pot and a pound of marijuana-infused edibles. Where and how they got the products are not legally relevant, said Alison Holcomb, chief author of the law and criminal-justice director at the ACLU of Washington.

Winterlife is filling a void, said Evan Cox, one of the company’s founders and owners. Pot consumers have been in limbo ever since Washington’s new law took effect in December 2012. They can legally possess weed but there’s no place for them to legally buy it until state-regulated stores open in late spring or summer.

Winterlife isn’t the only service offering delivery of recreational pot. Others can be found in Craigslist ads, including Raccoons Club, a Winterlife spinoff.

But Winterlife is the most prominent with its advertising, appearances in local media and sophisticated website. Winterlife has more than 1,000 customers, said Cox, AKA “Possum.”

“It’s so convenient,” Shannon said. “It’s as easy as ordering pizza but faster.”

But services that now sell recreational pot are committing a felony under state law, Holcomb said. Only state-licensed businesses can sell marijuana.

Cox acknowledged that he’s taking a calculated risk. He believes Winterlife’s precautions and overarching policy of “no kids, no shipping and no BS” makes his business legally defensible.

The Seattle Police Department may not go after Winterlife, according to a spokesman. “It’s not legal. It undermines the spirit of the law. But like anything else, our department takes all the complaints and dedicates our resources in a way that makes sense and is going to be most impactful,” said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.

He compared the delivery services to speeding drivers. “They’re doing about six miles over the limit on the freeway. They’re banking they’re not going to get stopped,” Whitcomb said.

Continued...

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Winterlife's website

[Crow]

Countries Around the World are Considering the Legalisation of Cannabis

The marijuana legalization experiments underway in Washington state, Colorado and Uruguay have prompted or accelerated discussion about changing pot laws in many nations, and activists say momentum is building in advance of a special United Nations convention on drugs scheduled for 2016. Here's a look at how some countries are rethinking their approach to marijuana.

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ARGENTINA

Personal possession of controlled substances has been decriminalized, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling in 2009 that found imposing jail time for small amounts of drugs was a violation of Argentina's constitution, which protects private actions that don't harm others. Lawmakers have been working to amend the law since then, with proposals ranging from simple decriminalization in accordance with the ruling to a complete overhaul of the country's drug laws. In December, Father Juan Carlos Molina, a Catholic priest newly appointed as the nation's drug czar, said Argentina deserves a debate about whether to follow Uruguay in regulating marijuana.

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BRAZIL

Brazil doesn't punish personal drug use, but trafficking or transporting small amounts of controlled substances is a criminal offense, punishable by drug abuse education or community service. Some advocates worry the law isn't clear about how much constitutes personal possession, and that can leave it up to a judge's discretion about whether someone should be punished. In November, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso joined former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in calling for the decriminalization of all drugs and allowing countries to experiment with drug regulation.

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GUATEMALA

President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala, a hard-hit cocaine transit country, took the floor at the U.N. last fall to join a growing chorus of nations calling the drug war a failed strategy. He announced that his country would study different approaches and praised the "visionary" experiments in Washington and Colorado — as well as U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to let them go forward. Currently, prison terms of four months to two years can be imposed for the possession of drugs for personal use.

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JAMAICA

The island nation is a primary source of marijuana in the Caribbean. Possession remains illegal and can result in mandated treatment or rehabilitation, though usually the defendant pays a small fine and is not incarcerated. Nevertheless, many young men wind up with criminal records that affect their future employment options, and recent changes in the U.S. and Uruguay have given momentum to activists who hope to see marijuana decriminalization approved soon.

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MEXICO

In Mexico, where tens of thousands have been killed in drug war violence in the past seven years, there is no general push to legalize or regulate marijuana for recreational use. But in more liberal Mexico City, a metropolis of 8 million, lawmakers have introduced a measure to allow stores to sell up to 5 grams of pot. The plan has the mayor's support but could set up a fight with the federal government. Small amounts of marijuana and other drugs have been decriminalized in Mexico since 2009.

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MOROCCO

Morocco is one of the world's leading hashish producers, and nearly all of it makes its way into Europe. Cannabis was legal to grow as late as the 1950s by order of the king. Two leading political parties want to re-legalize its cultivation for medical and industrial uses, with the goal of helping small farmers who survive on the crop but live at the mercy of drug lords and police attempts to eradicate it. There is little chance the conservative nation will legalize it for recreational use any time soon.

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NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands has long had some of the most liberal cannabis laws. Hoping to keep pot users away from dealers of harder drugs, the country in the late 1970s began allowing "coffee shops" to sell marijuana, which remains technically illegal. Since 2012 the federal government has clamped down, briefly requiring people to obtain a "weed pass" to buy cannabis and banning sales to tourists. Some cities, including Amsterdam, have declined to ban sales to tourists, however, and mayors of 35 cities have banded together to call for the legalization of marijuana growing.

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UNITED STATES

Long the drug war crusader, the U.S. was the driving force behind the 1961 treaty that formed the basis of international narcotics control. For decades the U.S. has required other nations to cooperate in the drug war or risk losing foreign aid, even as some Latin American countries ravaged by drug war violence criticized America for failing to curb its appetite for cocaine, marijuana and other substances. Since 1996, nearly half the states have allowed medical use of marijuana despite federal laws banning it, and some states are considering following the lead of Washington state and Colorado in legalizing recreational use.

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URUGUAY

In December, Uruguay became the first nation to approve marijuana legalization and regulation. President Jose Mujica said his goal is to drive drug traffickers out of the dope business and reduce consumption by creating a safe, legal and transparent environment in which the state closely monitors every aspect of marijuana use. By April, Uruguay is expected to have written the fine print on its regulations. Once registered and licensed, any Uruguayan adult will be allowed to choose one of three options: grow plants at home, or join a pot-growing club, or buy marijuana cigarettes from pharmacies.

Source

[Burnsey]

Apprx $ 10 M per month:http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/20/news...axes-colorado/

[Crow]

Medical Cannabis Workers Have The Same Labour Rights As Everyone Else, Feds Say



WASHINGTON -- The next time a pot shop gets a visit from the feds, it won't necessarily be from drug enforcement agents looking to shut the operation down. It might just come from workplace regulators making sure that labor laws are being followed. Such is the federal government's deeply conflicted approach to marijuana these days.

The National Labor Relations Board has already waded into a union organizing campaign at a medical marijuana dispensary in Maine, even though the industry itself remains at odds with federal law.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) has accused the company, Wellness Connection of Maine, of committing various unfair labor practices, including unlawfully disciplining and questioning pro-union employees. The labor board has notified the company that it found merit in some of the claims and will pursue a complaint if the company can't hash out a settlement with the union. (See update about the settlement below.)

Organized labor has a significant presence in the medical marijuana industry, with the UFCW representing thousands of workers in six states and the District of Columbia. But union officials believe the Maine case is the first instance of the labor board directly intervening to protect workers' rights under federal law. Unlike at least 20 states and D.C., the federal government still doesn't sanction the sale or distribution of medical marijuana, even if it usually turns a blind eye toward the industry in states where it's legal.

Evan Yeats, a UFCW spokesman, said he believes the case underscores both the "normalization" of the medical marijuana industry and the need for more worker representation in it.

"A lot of people treat the medical marijuana industry as something special, but these are normal workers with normal jobs trying to care for their families and their patients and make their businesses successful," Yeats said. "There needs to be some way for workers' voices to ensure that the best operators are representing this industry."

Matthew J. LaMourie, a lawyer for Wellness Connection of Maine, said the company was working with labor board officials to come to a resolution of the union's claims.

"I'm optimistic we can settle the remaining charges that are pending before the labor board," LaMourie said. "There hasn't been a settlement yet, but we are confident we'll reach one."

An independent federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board serves as a referee between employers and unions. When a party files claims of unfair labor practices, the board investigates and either finds merit in them or dismisses them (most are withdrawn or thrown out). In cases where the board substantiates the claims, it will encourage the parties to reach a settlement. In the relatively rare cases where the parties can't come to an agreement, the board's counsel will begin what amounts to a civil prosecution, as it recently did against Walmart.

The remedies reached in a settlement can run the gamut from significant, like reinstating fired workers, to relatively minor, like posting a notice in the workplace acknowledging that labor law violations occurred. It isn't clear yet which of the union's claims the board would pursue against Wellness Connection of Maine if settlement talks failed.

Among the charges filed, the UFCW claimed that the company issued "disciplinary warnings" to several employees after they engaged in legally protected organizing. The union also charged that the company "unlawfully interrogated" employees and "created the impression amongst its employees that their union activities were under surveillance."

Wellness Connection of Maine operates four dispensaries and a marijuana-growing facility, making it the largest medical marijuana operation in the state. The group's executive director, Rebecca DeKeuster, came out of the same industry in California, where she helped lead the Berkeley Patients Group and sat on the Berkeley Medical Cannabis Commission, according to Berkeleyside.com. DeKeuster has been embroiled in a lawsuit with former California business associates who accused her of breaching a contract through her work in Maine, the site reported. (DeKeuster referred questions from HuffPost to LaMourie.)

Last year, an investigation by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services found that Wellness Connection had used pesticides on marijuana plants in violation of state regulations. It also found that the company "lacked proper security and sold an illegal marijuana derivative," the Portland Press-Herald reported. Wellness Connection was fined $18,000 by the state's pesticide control board last summer. Since then, the state has passed a law allowing the use of some low-level pesticides on marijuana.

Ian Brodie, a former employee of Wellness Connection, said he took part in a walkout with other employees last year at the company's cultivation site in Auburn, Maine. According to Brodie, their grievances stemmed from the lack of sterility at the facility, which he said was often under construction, and the presence of pesticides and mold. Despite a series of meetings with management, Brodie said, many of the workers' complaints went unaddressed, convincing him of the need for a union.

"It was about the money and not the all-around better health," said Brodie, adding that he's a committed believer in the medicinal value of marijuana. "They wanted the dollar, and we wanted the best product, giving patients the best we could. The cause got lost in the wash, which is really unfortunate."

Brodie said he was hired in November 2012 and quit in March 2013 out of frustration with management. He testified to the labor board in support of the UFCW's unfair labor practice claims against the company.

Medical marijuana employees are a logical organizing target for the 1.3 million-member UFCW, which represents workers in grocery and retail stores and food-processing and meat-packing facilities around the country. The union views medical marijuana work as little different from the retail and pharmacy industries on the ground level, while the progressive disposition of many pot workers and businesses makes them more amenable to the idea of unionizing.

Workers at Wellness Connection haven't yet had a union election. If the UFCW were to win, the medical marijuana company would be its first unionized facility in Maine.

UPDATE: 27. Feb -- According to LaMourie, Wellness Connection of Maine has settled the charges with the labor board, and no complaint will be issued by the agency. The company said in a statement:

Wellness Connection of Maine (WCM) is pleased to announce that the framework for a settlement has been mutually agreed to between WCM and the National Labor Relations Board, concerning a remaining set of unfair labor practice charges raised by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). This follows the union's withdrawal of several other charges originally filed with the Board in 2013.

Wellness Connection of Maine looks forward to working together with its employees to continue providing the best patient care possible.

Source