Marijuana Blog

Maryland is high on my list of states that are next to legalize marijuana. Maryland has a great shot of being the first state in America to legalize marijuana via a legislative action, as opposed to via the initiative process. Efforts in Maryland got a boost this week from a poll which found that a majority of Marylanders support marijuana legalization. The poll also found that Marylanders consider marijuana to be safer than sugar. Per Goucher.Edu:

 

Fifty-two percent of Marylanders support making the use of marijuana legal in Maryland; 44 percent oppose.

 

When asked which substance is the most harmful to a person’s overall health, 46 percent say tobacco is the most harmful, followed by alcohol (22 percent), and sugar (13 percent). Eight percent think marijuana is more harmful to a person’s overall health than tobacco, alcohol, or sugar.

 

Fifty-five percent disagree that marijuana is a “gateway drug”—i.e., it leads to the use of hard drugs; 43 percent of respondents agree.

 

I like the questions that the poll asked. You always see polls dealing with marijuana legalization, but it’s fairly rare to see followup questions being asked. I’m kind of disappointed that only 55% of poll participants disagree with the gateway drug theory. However, it’s still a clear majority, and I think that number could rise as activists in Maryland continue to educate the public.

 

Source: http://www.theweedblog.com/maryland-poll-support-marijuana-legalization-safer-than-sugar/

Investigators in New York are looking for answers after a large marijuana-growing operation was discovered in a maraschino cherry factory in Brooklyn, leading its longtime owner to commit suicide while locked in a bathroom at the facility.

 

Arthur Mondella, 57, whose family had operated Dell's Maraschino Cherries since 1948, reportedly yelled "Take care of my kids!" to his sister after locking himself in a bathroom before taking his own life, reports the New York Daily News. He shot himself just as investigators discovered the pot-growing operation in the factory.

 

The incident has brought cherry production to a halt at the facility and investigators are now checking whether Mondella had connections to organized crime, according to the New York Post.

 

"That's why he shot himself. He knew the mob would kill him," a law enforcement source tells the Post. "Why else would you shoot yourself over 100 pounds of weed? It was the multimillion operation he lost."

 

According to the New York Times, Dell's was one of the largest producers of maraschino cherries in the country. It was housed in a brick building with no markings on the outside.

 

But the Times reports there were things that made the building unusual: Mondella had a fleet of vehicles in a garage, including a Porsche, Rolls-Royce, a Harley-Davidson and a Mercedes. There were security cameras on the building's corners and razor wire barricading the roof.

 

An investigator tells the Times it appears the cherry plant's employees were unaware of the marijuana-growing operations. Officials arrived at about 8 a.m. Tuesday to investigate alleged pollution in the waters near the cherry plant, the Daily News reports.

 

While there for about five hours, investigators found a faint smell of marijuana. A false wall hid the entrance to the area where the pot was grown, the Post reports.

 

The hidden area contained hundreds of marijuana plants and looked "extremely professional" and very expensive, a source tells the Post. About $200,000 in cash was found in a safe.

 

Pat Murano, 41, who has lived next door to the factory since 2005, tells the Times that it's difficult to keep a secret in the neighborhood where the factory was located ... "except this one."

 

He said he found the extensive security measures at the factory curious.

 

"I didn't think he was protecting the Dye No. 7 or his equipment," he said.

 

Source: http://www.cleveland.com

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Marijuana has been pervasive but illegal in Jamaica for decades, consumed as a medicinal herb, puffed as a sacrament by Rastafarians and sung about in the island's famed reggae music.

 

After many years of dialogue about the culturally entrenched drug, and emboldened by changes to drug laws in U.S. states, Jamaica's Parliament on Tuesday night gave final approval to an act decriminalizing small amounts of pot and establishing a licensing agency to regulate a lawful medical marijuana industry.

 

The historic amendments pave the way for a "cannabis licensing authority" to be established to deal with regulating the cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes. Both houses of Jamaica's legislature have approved the legislation.

 

And in a victory for religious freedom, adherents of the homegrown Rastafari spiritual movement can now freely use marijuana for sacramental purposes for the first time on the tropical island.

 

The law makes possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana a petty offense that could result in a ticket but not in a criminal record. Cultivation of five or fewer plants on any premises would be permitted.

 

Tourists who are prescribed medical marijuana abroad will soon be able to apply for permits authorizing them to legally buy small amounts of Jamaican weed, or "ganja" as it is known locally.

 

Peter Bunting, the island's national security minister, said the legislation does not mean Jamaica plans to soften its stance on transnational drug trafficking or cultivation of illegal plots. Jamaica has long been considered the Caribbean's largest supplier of pot to the U.S. and regional islands.

 

"The passage of this legislation does not create a free-for-all in the growing, transporting, dealing or exporting of ganja. The security forces will continue to rigorously enforce Jamaican law consistent with our international treaty obligations," Bunting said in Parliament.

 

William Brownfield, the U.S. assistant secretary for counter-narcotics affairs, told The Associated Press days before the vote that "Jamaican law is of course Jamaica's own business, and Jamaica's sovereign decision." But he noted that the trafficking of marijuana into the U.S. remains against the law.  

 

"We expect that Jamaica and all states party to the U.N. Drug Conventions will uphold their obligations, including a firm commitment to combating and dismantling criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking," he told AP in an email.

 

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com