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If you are a criminal on probation in Colorado in some cases, you can legally use medical marijuana. Of the 22 judicial districts in Colorado, only four allow criminals on probation with medical marijuana cards to smoke all the pot they want. In the other judicial districts, it is up to the judge to determine the use of medical marijuana.
According to District Attorney Scott Storey, he believes it would break federal law to allow people on probation to smoke medical marijuana while still serving their sentences. DA Storey recently said, “Probation is a privilege. Frankly, you commit a felony; your presumptive sentence is the Department of Corrections. But we have other alternatives to the Department of Corrections, one of which is probation. But it is a privilege, not a right. If you’re going to take advantage of that privilege, you have to follow the rules.”
One man who was convicted of three counts of sexual assault on a child in 2005 is currently on probation in Arapahoe County. The judge in this district is allowing this man to smoke marijuana for his old injures while on probation, over the protests of District Attorney Carol Chambers. The District Attorney opined that she felt it was not a good idea to allow a convicted sex offender to get high. People on probation have admitted to violating the law. There are different public safety concerns and different laws that apply to them then apply to the rest of the community.
A District Attorney in the 3rd Judicial District disagrees with the ruling that allows all probationers with medical marijuana cards to smoke pot. He said that a significant number of them on probation are drug abusers and the judicial system is trying to get them sober. Their abuse is contributing to their behavior and we are trying to modify their behavior so they’re not intoxicated all the time. The fact that they have medical marijuana cards allows them to sidestep the objective to lead sober lives.
This controversy throughout the state of Colorado needs to be resolved by lawmakers who can pass a law to either allow or deny criminals on probation from smoking medical marijuana.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle , IGrow is a 15,000 square foot warehouse close to the Oakland airport. This warehouse, believed to be the largest in the state, is a one-stop shop for medicinal marijuana cultivation.
On-site is a doctor to get you a cannabis card and of course sell you the necessary equipment for indoor, hydroponic cultivations such as pumps, nutrients, tubing to lights and fans. Also on-site is a technician to show you how to build your own “weed farm” in your home and maintain it weekly.
This marijuana supply store is hoping that a statewide ballot measure in November will be approved to allow recreational marijuana. The supporter of this measure is hoping to lay the groundwork to train people for working in the cannabis industry. Cities from Los Angeles to Berkeley are still working on the permits and regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries. Last summer Oakland voters approved to have the city tax and regulate cannabis businesses. Thus far, only four licensed dispensaries have been approved.
Some people believe that it isn’t fair to medical patients to spend $120 a week for a quarter-ounce of marijuana while growing your own may cost $1,000 to set up an eight plant system and growing it yourself. The cost per year would drop dramatically and of course, you could sell any leftovers to a dispensary at a cost of three pounds for $12,000.
Leave it to the people of California to be on the cutting-edge. Will marijuana be accepted in the near future either for medical purposes or for recreational purposes? Only the people of California can tell us for sure.
Has this happened to you? You buy something on line and see an offer for cash back on your purchase. You click on the box for the cash back offer and later your credit card is charged a “fee” for joining an Internet discount club.
This type of practice has been done repeatedly for many Internet buyers. Now the New York Attorney General has warned Internet retailers to stop funneling unsuspecting customers into deceptive Web discount clubs. With thousands of complaints to this practice, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has sent investigative subpoenas to 22 prominent merchants that include Barnes & Noble, Priceline and Pizza Hut. These merchants have been affiliated with marketing companies such as Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty who have piggybacked their Web sites.
The companies getting subpoenas included Barnes & Noble, Orbitz, Buy.com, Ticketmaster, MovieTickets.com, FTC.com, Shutterfly, 1-800-Flowers.com, Avon, Budget, Staples, Priceline, GMAC Mortgage, Classmates.com, Travelocity, Vistaprint, Intelius, Hotwire, Expedia, Hotels.com, Columbia House, Pizza Hut and Gamestop/EB Games.
Some of these companies said they have already taken action. Vistaprint, Priceline, Expedia and 1-800-Flowers.com said they severed ties with the companies last fall. Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty are all based in Norwalk, Connecticut. These marketing companies have been accused of improper conduct many times before.
Next time, carefully read the “fine print” on the discount coupons to make sure that you are not enrolling into an Internet discount club that is charging a fee.
In Buffalo, NY, a 100-year-old pedophile has been jailed again after failing to comply with the terms of his parole. This is the second time that Theodore A. Sypnier, who has more than a sixty -year history of sexually molesting children, has been declared in violation of parole. He was convicted in the late 1990’s of attacking two sisters.
His light sentence for this conviction allowed move to a halfway house and into a place of his own last December. He didn’t show up for a counseling session and was re-arrested. His own daughter, who lives in another state, is relieved that he is back in jail. He raped her and another girl years ago.
A Reverend in charge of the half-way house says whether he’s 100 or 101 or 105, the same person that was committing these crimes 10, 25, 30 years ago still exists today and has an unrepentant heart. He is someone that we as parents, as members of the community, any community, really need to fear.
Sypnier’s convictions dated back to 1987, when he was given three years’ probation for sex abuse. He spent a year in prison for sexually abusing a minor in 1994. His neighbors in Tonawanda never knew of Sypnier’s background because he was convicted before laws requiring sex offenders to register with police.
Now he is back in jail. This time the system must not fail to keep him incarcerated until he dies.
For those of you who enjoy apps for your iPhone, the latest app from CrimeReports can now be downloaded to your iPhone. This app offers information on crime in your neighborhood. Recently, the Douglas County Sheriff’s office in Colorado is partnering with this site by publishing their crime data on the national crime map.
While this is a simple site, it holds important information. The application allows you to
- Filter data by location or address, incident type and date
- View recent neighborhood level crimes
- Sign up for free, automated, email crime alerts
If your law enforcement agency is not involved in this, contact them to join this site to download their crime data on the national crime map.
When given a chance, most criminals want to plead not guilty to charges and plea for less jail time for their crimes. Not for a Utah man who asked to “plead up” for more prison time.
Damon Conrow was sentenced to second-degree felony on a charge of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, heroin. He asked to “plead up” to a first-degree felony because he wanted a longer sentence in order to get off his heroin addiction. He said that within eight weeks of going to jail, he expects the withdrawal symptoms to ease so he can start having normal sleeping patterns.
The judge gave him one more chance to change his mind, but Conrow declined.
Currently, 14 states have approved medical marijuana dispensaries in their states. The most recent state is New Jersey. New Jersey’s out going governor, Jon Corzine, signed legislation granting chronically ill patients legal access to marijuana. According to the new law on the books in New Jersey, these dispensaries will provide medical marijuana to patients with diseases such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis to alleviate their pain and other symptoms. Patients need prescriptions from doctors in order to access the drug. Growing marijuana at home, remains illegal as well as driving while high is also illegal.
However, what New Jersey doesn’t know is that these dispensaries can be a breeding ground for crime. Since Denver, Colorado approved medical marijuana dispensaries, there have been 25 related robberies in just seven months. Crimes include 13-dispensary stickups and 12 other pot related robberies. The targets range from medical marijuana growing operations to home invasion robberies of medical marijuana patients. As a result, the Denver City Council and state lawmakers are considering legislation to tighten regulation of the blooming medical marijuana dispensaries whose large amounts of cash and drugs have made them magnets for violent crime.
Denver isn’t the only city facing crime with medical marijuana dispensaries, Los Angeles, California has seen an explosion of dispensaries along with violent crimes associated with the dispensaries. Organized gangs are robbing dispensaries, triggering shootouts with armed dispensary workers and even murder of an unarmed pot shop guard.
Are tighter regulations the solution to this problem or is it the presence of medical marijuana dispensaries the problem? As long as criminals are looking for pot for personal use or for sale, they will continue their crime spree.
Americans are the most generous people in the world. The earthquake tragedy that happened in Haiti brings out the best in all of us to help people in time of need. However, be cautious when donating to Haiti relief programs.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is urging Minnesotan to work with trusted, well-established volunteer agencies. Criminals are out there just waiting to jump on the chance to steal your money. These people have no conscience or moral ethics unlike most Americans who really care about helping people.
The FBI has provided the following guidelines if you are planning to donate cash to any relief fund.
• Do not respond to any unsolicited (SPAM) incoming emails, including clicking links contained within those messages.
• Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.
• Verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations by utilizing various Internet-based resources that may assist in confirming the group’s existence and its nonprofit status rather than following a purported link to the site.
• Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files because the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from know senders.
• Make contributions directly to known organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf to ensure contributions are received and used for intended purposes.
• Do not give your personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions. Providing such information may compromise your identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft.
Remember, you want your cash donations go to volunteer organizations that can quickly pay for response and recovery efforts, and provide direct financial assistance to disaster survivors to meet their own needs. Those interested in contributing to help the victims in Haiti can visit www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti to obtain a list of credible responding agencies for international emergencies
What was he thinking? A Lebanese man in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian was a major tipper and a real fat cat. He had bundles of U.S. currency of $1 million in $100,000 and $500 notes. But, there is no such U.S. $500 dollar. All the U.S. currency was fake.
What tipped off the police was that he left a tip for a housekeeper in the hotel with a $500 note. When the housekeeper tried to convert it to local currency at a moneychanger, the housekeeper learned it was counterfeit.
The man was arrested and could face up to ten years in jail. This guy is a two-time loser. In 2005, he was charged with cheating over the sale of office supplies. Cheating or fraud carries a maximum penalty of five years.
Just an FYI for would be criminals, the largest U.S. note ever printed was a special edition one for $100,000 in 1934. Bills of $500 were last printed in 1945 and are now no longer in wide circulation according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
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