XPost: alt.drugs, alt.hemp, rec.drugs.psychedelic
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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #978 -- 6/22/17
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,
psmith@drcnet.org http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/978
A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,
borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Table of Contents:
1. CUSTOMS SEIZES CHILDPROOF MARIJUANA LOCK BOXES, CALLS THEM "DRUG PARAPHERNALIA" [FEATURE]
Rigid adherence to decades-old drug war protocols can have perverse consequences.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/21/customs_seizes_childproof_mariju
2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Congress sees a pair of medical marijuana bills filed, the New York legislature has voted to approve medical marijuana for PTSD, Kentucky residents sue the state over the medical marijuana ban, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/21/medical_marijuana_update
3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
It's a New York-New Jersey special edition! The Troy Police drug unit is under investigation, an NYPD officer gets popped for transporting drugs for money, a New Jersey cop gets caught with his hand in the pill jar, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/21/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories
4. CHRONICLE AM: FEDERAL CARERS ACT REFILED, RI LEGALIZATION COMMISSION BILL ADVANCES, MORE... (6/15/17)
A bipartisan group of senators reintroduce the CARERS Act to protect medical marijuana in the states, marijuana legalization is keeping legislators busy in the Northeast, New York GOP senators want more drug war to fight opioids, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/15/chronicle_am_federal_carers_act
5. CHRONICLE AM: MJ POLICY KEEPS NORTHEAST BUSY, MAJOR LOUISIANA SENTENCING REFORMS, MORE.... (6/16/17)
Marijuana policy continues to roil statehouses across the Northeast, a US senator and a congressman file identical medical marijuana protection bills, Louisiana -- the lock 'em up state -- enacts comprehensive sentencing reforms, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/16/chronicle_am_mj_policy_keeps_nor
6. CHRONICLE AM: ROGER STONE WANTS TO LEGALIZE, MA REGULATION BATTLE, MORE... (6/19/17)
The politics of marijuana regulation continue to roil Massachusetts, Trump adviser and political trickster Roger Stone has formed a legalization lobbying group, the government of the Republic of Georgia backs away from harsh pot sentences, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/19/chronicle_am_roger_stone_wants_l
7. CHRONICLE AM: MEXICO LEGALIZES MEDMJ, CHINA BANS MORE SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS, MORE... (6/20/17)
New Jersey pols look to legalize pot next year, Vermont pols look to legalize it this week, China bans more synthetic opioids, Mexico officially embraces medical marijuana, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/20/chronicle_am_mexico_legalizes_me
8. CHRONICLE AM: NV MJ SALES COULD BE DELAYED, FORFEITURE REFORM GOES TO PA GOV, MORE... (6/21/17)
MPP loses bank accounts as the financial sector gets worried about a Trump crackdown on legal marijuana, Nevada's July 1 goal for legal pot sales hits a bump, a New York bill that would allow medical marijuana for PTSD goes to the governor, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/21/chronicle_am_nv_mj_sales_could_b
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================
1. CUSTOMS SEIZES CHILDPROOF MARIJUANA LOCK BOXES, CALLS THEM "DRUG PARAPHERNALIA" [FEATURE]
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jun/21/customs_seizes_childproof_mariju
In a prime illustration of the perversities of the war on drugs, US Customs has seized (
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/12/the-feds-are-blocking-a-product-aimed-at-keeping-drugs-out-of-kids-hands/) a shipment of a thousand lock boxes
aimed at allowing marijuana, tobacco, and pharmaceutical users to keep their stashes safe from kids. Customs has officially designated the boxes as drug paraphernalia, even though everyone involved concedes the boxes are aimed at preventing drug use by
kids.
The stash cases were designed by and destined for Stashlogix (
https://www.stashlogix.com), a Boulder, Colorado, firm established in the wake of marijuana legalization in the state in 2012 to address a mini-panic over news reports (
http://www.denverpost.
com/2014/05/21/childrens-hospital-sees-surge-in-kids-accidentally-eating-marijuana/) about the dangers of marijuana for kids. Those reports were generally overstated (
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/11/17/your-kid-is-136-times-more-
likely-to-be-poisoned-by-diaper-cream-than-by-weed/), but the need for secure stashes for pot and other potentially dangerous goodies remained.
"People didn't have ways to safely store these items out of reach of kids, other than up on shelves or in sock drawers," Stashlogix cofounder Skip Stone told the Washington Post (
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/12/the-feds-are-
blocking-a-product-aimed-at-keeping-drugs-out-of-kids-hands/?utm_term=.f7ef13da7cb4). So he and a partner founded the company to market cases and containers "for the storage and transport of medicine, tobacco, and other stuff."
The company's small, lockable cases (
https://www.stashlogix.com/collections/bag-that-stash), with tiny jars and odor-neutralizing inserts included, were a hit with customers. "People love the product," Stone said. "They use it for all sorts of things,
but cannabis is definitely one of them. They keep it locked, they feel safer, they feel more responsible."
So the company geared up production, placing orders with a Chinese factory, but things came to a crashing halt on April 28, when Customs seized 1,000 of the storage cases.
"This is to officially notify you that Customs and Border Protection seized the property described below at Los Angeles International Airport on April 28, 2017," read a letter received by Stashlogix. The agency had seized the bags, valued at $12,000,
because "it is unlawful for any person to import drug paraphernalia."
When challenged by Stashlogix, Customs conceded that "standing alone, the Stashlogix storage case can be viewed as a multi-purpose storage case with no association with or to controlled substances," but it pointed out that the odor-absorbing carbon inset
could be used to hide the smell of weed, and it cited favorable reviews of the product in the marijuana press, concluding "that there exists one consistent and primary use for the Stashlogix storage cases; namely, the storage and concealment of marijuana.
"
The federal government doesn't officially recognize the legality of medical or recreational marijuana, and Customs is following decades-old drug war paraphernalia laws to achieve a perverse result: Making marijuana potentially riskier in places where it
is legal. After all, half of current pot smokers are parents (
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/19/11-charts-that-show-marijuana-has-truly-gone-mainstream/), and this application of federal policy is making it more difficult for them to
keep their kids out of their stashes.
Stone is appealing the ruling, but in the meantime, he's had to write off an additional $18,000 worth of goods still outside the country and lay off his three employees. He's looking for a domestic manufacturer for his cases, since Customs can't mess
with domestic goods and the DEA hasn't made paraphernalia a high priority, but the ultimate solution lies in Washington.
"It's going to take an act of Congress to clear up some of these contradictions between state and federal law," he told the Post. "These paraphernalia laws are outdated. Keeping kids safe should be more important than outdated regulations."
================ ...
___________________
It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar <
http://www.briancbennett.com>
Cops say legalize drugs--find out
why:
<
http://www.leap.cc>
Stoners are people too: <
http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________
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It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
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