Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The federal government will continue prosecuting marijuana cases even if ballot measures pass in three states to legalize small amounts of pot, a top Justice Department official said. The warning comes amid criticism that the Obama administration has been largely silent on ballot measures in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon in November….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Supporters of marijuana rights attacked the DEA’s tight regulation of pot in a potentially landmark case that could change the drug’s classification, Reuters reports. Joseph Elford, lawyer for Americans for Safe Access, said the DEA has essentially ignored scientific research that suggests marijuana is safer than heroin and has medicinal value. “This…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A group of former DEA chiefs is renewing a campaign to urge the Obama administration to publicly oppose marijuana-legalization ballot measures in Oregon, Washington and Colorado, the Seattle Times reports. The group is incensed that the Justice Department has not responded to a Sept. 7 letting requesting a public denouncement of the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The long, bitter fight between state and federal governments over the enforcement of marijuana is to land in the nation’s second-highest court this week, the Associated Press reports. The case, driven by pot activists, seeks to challenge the DEA’s classification of pot as a Schedule 1 drug, which means it has no…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Border Patrol authorities seized marijuana, heroin and a loaded gun from the tour bus of Grammy-winning rapper Nelly at a checkpoint in West Texas, Reuters reports. Nelly and the rest of his crew were released after a member of his entourage took the blame, according to Reuters. “It is my understanding a…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com While some former federal agents are calling for the government to crack down on marijuana laws, at least one ex-DEA agent said it may be a lost cause because pot legalization is only a matter of time. In a Houston Chronicle column written by Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence of the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Pop singer Fiona Apple was released from jail Thursday after authorities says she was busted with marijuana and hashish in her tour bus at the West Texas Border Patrol checkpoint, the Associated Press reports. After drug-sniffing dogs detected pot, Apple’s bus was searched and authors found about four grams of marijuana and…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Nine former heads of the DEA sent a strong message to Attorney General Eric Holder: Fight against efforts to legalize recreational marijuana in three states, the Reuters reports. Failing to say anything, they said, would suggest he condones legalization. The former officials told Holder that legalization would fly in the face of…
