The advantage of the Volcano [...]]]> What is the difference between the Volcano Classic and the Volcano Digit?

The most important aspect is, whichever Volcano you decide on, there is no difference in the overall effect. The precision and quality with which you are familiar from our Volcano Classic is stepped up a notch in the Volcano Digit.

The advantage of the Volcano Digit lies in its large LED displays, which immediately and precisely informs the user of the operating status. The Volcano Digit communicates better with the user and its electronic control system works even more precisely than the bi-metal regulator on the Volcano Classic.

Volcano Digit

• Vaporization temperature can be set
  between 40° and 230°C (104° and 446°F)
• Temperature accuracy ± 1,5°C (± 2,7°F)
• Two year warranty
• Precise electronic control
• Extra large, digital LED display with
  set and actual temperature
• Display changeover between
  °Celsius and °Fahrenheit
• Automatic switch off

Volcano Classic

A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in California has received enough signatures to place it before voters next year, organizers said.

The “Tax, Regulate and Control Cannabis Act of 2010” has garnered 680,000 signatures, more than the 433,971 required to be placed on the state’s ballot, said Salwa [...]]]> From Bloomberg News:

A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in California has received enough signatures to place it before voters next year, organizers said.

The “Tax, Regulate and Control Cannabis Act of 2010” has garnered 680,000 signatures, more than the 433,971 required to be placed on the state’s ballot, said Salwa Ibrahim, a spokeswoman for the measure’s sponsor, Oaksterdam University in Oakland, which bills itself as “America’s first cannabis college.”

“We’re going to keep collecting signatures until we have to turn it in,” before the February deadline, Ibrahim said in an interview today. “They’re from all over the state of California.”

The measure, which must be certified by the secretary of state before it can officially be placed on the ballot, would allow adults 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and cultivate 25 square feet (2.3 square meters) for personal consumption, Ibrahim said. Cities and counties can decide how and if to tax commercial sales and cultivation.

“So for instance, in a Danville or Alamo, if they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we do not want dispensaries or any of that in our communities,’ that’s fine, they don’t have to have it,” she said. “But a place like Oakland, where we desperately need the revenue, it would be a perfect fit.”

A Field Poll conducted in April showed that 56 percent of registered voters in California supported legalizing and taxing marijuana.

Retired Orange County Judge Jim Gray, a Libertarian, is saying yes to pot.

How about you?

I checked in with Gray to get his thoughts on the initiative that appears to have enough votes to make the November ballot. Gray is not a smoker, but he has [...]]]> From the LA TIMES “Talk Back to Steve Lopez” column:

Retired Orange County Judge Jim Gray, a Libertarian, is saying yes to pot.

How about you?

I checked in with Gray to get his thoughts on the initiative that appears to have enough votes to make the November ballot. Gray is not a smoker, but he has long preached that it’s time to stop wasting so many resources on investigation, prosecution and incarceration.

“The only thing I have a quarrel with,” Gray said of the initiative, is calling it “legalization” of pot. “It’s really regulated control, like alcohol.”

Cities and counties could allow the cultivation and sale of marijuana and tax it under the initiative, which would also make it legal for anyone 21 and up to possess an ounce and grow pot for personal use. Backers claim about $1.3 billion in tax revenue could be raised each year.

It’s practically legal already, judging by how easy it was for me to get a marijuana “recommendation” from a doctor.

Gray said he has been asked to be a spokesman for the initiative, and he’ll be debating L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley on various marijuana issues Jan. 19 at the California Club.

A poll taken early this year found that 56% of Californians favor legalization, and Gray said he thinks it will pass, but that’s no certainty because “law enforcement and others are going to take their hatchets out.”

Let’s put it to a vote right now. Leave yours in the comments below.

Please visit FriendsofCCL.com!

Charles C. Lynch is the former owner and managing Caregiver for Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay.

The dispensary opened on April 1 2006 with the blessing of the city [...]]]> Court Support Needed for

Federal Sentencing of Charles C. Lynch

March 23, 2009 at 10:30am

312 Spring Street, Los Angeles CA

From the Friends of Charles C. Lynch website:

Charles C. Lynch is the former owner and managing Caregiver for Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay.

The dispensary opened on April 1 2006 with the blessing of the city and even joined the Chamber of Commerce.  In July 2006 the dispensary was granted a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Morro Bay to include a Medical Cannabis Nursery at the dispensary.

The Dispensary operated for almost one year without any major problems or complaints to the owner. On March 29, 2007 the Local Sheriff and DEA agents raided the Dispensary and Home of Charles Lynch. Lynch was not arrested at the time and reopened the dispensary on April 7 2007 with the blessing of the City of Morro Bay. A week after reopening the dispensary the DEA called the Landlord and threatened him with Forfeiture of his property unless he evicted the Dispensary from the building.  On May 16, 2007 the Dispensary closed permanently.

On July 17, 2007 Lynch was arrested at his home and charged with Federal Marijuana Distribution. Lynch pleaded not guilty and went on trial July 22, 2008 in Los Angeles. Lynch was not allowed to discuss state law or mention ‘medical marijuana’ during the trial. Also large amounts of evidence including Lynch’s compliance with State and Local laws could not be considered as factual by the jury. Before opening the dispensary Lynch called the DEA and asked about thier policy regarding medical marijuana dispensaries. The DEA told Lynch it was up to the Cities and Counties to decide how to handle the matter. This was Lynch’s only defense in Federal Court and is called entrapment by estopell when a government agent says something is ok when in fact it might not be. Click here for more information.

On August 5, 2008 Lynch was convicted in Federal Court for operating the Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers. On January 6, 2009 Lynch appeared before Judge Wu to request a new trial on the grounds that he was not allowed to get his defense before the jury and other new evidence. The request was denied. Charles has been out on a $400,000 bail posted by his loving and trusting family and was under house arrest for over nine months.

During March 2009 United States Policy regarding Medical Marijuana changed in favor of states as long as the dispensary complied with state law. Lynch’s dispensary complied with all state and local laws during the time it was open. Click here to read the San Francisco Chronicles report of the new policy. On Friday March 13, 2009 John Stossel and ABC News 2020 aired he story of Lynch on National Television. On Sunday March 15 Al Roker did a documentary entitled Marijuana Inc. Al Roker reporting and focused in on the case of Charles C. Lynch.

Despite the recent policy changes Charles C. Lynch will be sentenced on March 23, 2009 at the Federal Court House in Los Angeles.

Speaking with reporters, [...]]]> Truly a landmark event in the medical cannabis movement!

Obama Administration

to Stop Raids on

Medical Marijuana Dispensers

From the NY Times:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday outlined a shift in the enforcement of federal drug laws, saying the administration would effectively end the Bush administration’s frequent raids on distributors of medical marijuana.

Speaking with reporters, Mr. Holder provided few specifics but said the Justice Department’s enforcement policy would now be restricted to traffickers who falsely masqueraded as medical dispensaries and “use medical marijuana laws as a shield.”

In the Bush administration, federal agents raided medical marijuana distributors that violated federal statutes even if the dispensaries appeared to be complying with state laws. The raids produced a flood of complaints, particularly in California, which in 1996 became the first state to legalize marijuana sales to people with doctors’ prescriptions.

Graham Boyd, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union drug law project, said Mr. Holder’s remarks created a reasonable balance between conflicting state and federal laws and “seem to finally end the policy war over medical marijuana.” He said officials in California and the 12 other states that have authorized the use of medical marijuana had hesitated to adopt regulations to carry out their laws because of uncertainty created by the Bush administration.

Mr. Holder said the new approach was consistent with statements made by President Obama in the campaign and was based on an assessment of how to allocate scarce enforcement resources. He said dispensaries operating in accord with California law would not be a priority for the administration.

Mr. Holder’s comments appeared to be an effort to clarify the policy after some news reports last month interpreted his answer to a reporter’s question to be a flat assertion that all raids on marijuana growers would cease. Department officials said Mr. Holder had not intended to assert any policy change last month but was decidedly doing so on Wednesday.

Ethan Nadelmann, the founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, said Mr. Holder was telling the Drug Enforcement Administration that it should leave legitimate growers of medical marijuana untouched. “The message from the Bush Justice Department was ‘watch out — we have the authority to go after everybody,’ ” he said.

On other matters, in his first wide-ranging conversation with reporters as attorney general, Mr. Holder said the Justice Department was still reviewing the case files of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to determine whether they could be released or would be tried in a civilian criminal court or some other legal forum. He said it was possible that some detainees like the Uighurs held in Cuba could be released into the United States.

I am deeply concerned with the targeting and arresting of cannabis users; this is an economic issue, as well as a social issue. We have a very limited amount of resources here on Maui—even less now that we are in an official “recession.”

Do [...]]]> Fantastic commentary in today’s Maui Weekly from reader Ahiena Yamakawa of Makawao.

I am deeply concerned with the targeting and arresting of cannabis users; this is an economic issue, as well as a social issue. We have a very limited amount of resources here on Maui—even less now that we are in an official “recession.”

Do we really think it is a wise priority to be spending so much of our time and resources going after sick people growing their own medication? I know some think these people are just “potheads” taking advantage of the system, or that cannabis is a gateway drug, but it does not evoke violence or break up families anywhere near the effects of batu, alcohol, methamphetamine, or crack cocaine.

We need to use our resources more efficiently; if we have two years of resources to put into an operation to break up a “medical marijuana drug ring,” can we triple the effort to rid our island of ice and meth labs? What is really more dangerous, the “gateway drug,” or the drugs you find on the other side of the gate?

The realistic, cost-effective solution to dealing with drugs is to use government money to go after the worst drugs in our society: heroin, ice, etc.

If we want to eradicate marijuana, don’t waste government money on green harvest; just allow people to grow industrial hemp for a myriad of organic uses, and it will seed out the drug crops without the government expending money. Annually, our country imprisons 800,000 people for marijuana crimes—just imagine if those 800,000 spaces in our jails were used for serious drug offenses instead.