cannabisnews.com: New Laws Have Tougher Penalties for Pot Growers





New Laws Have Tougher Penalties for Pot Growers
Posted by CN Staff on June 29, 2008 at 11:48:32 PT
By Nic Corbett, Democrat Staff Writer
Source: Tallahassee Democrat
Florida -- Starting Tuesday, a new state law will bring harsher penalties for marijuana growers. Under the new Florida law, a "grow house" will be classified as a building containing 25 or more marijuana plants. Before, the threshold was 300 plants. The charge will remain a second-degree felony."Our laws were way out of date on that," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum told the Tallahassee Democrat.
The law also allows law-enforcement agencies to dispose of grow-house equipment after taking pictures or recording video.Tallahassee police say that in the past, they have had to store every single marijuana plant and piece of equipment until the people arrested went to trial."The storage is expensive, and we spend a lot of time packaging the material, time we could be investigating other criminal activity," said David McCranie, spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department.Also, it will be a third-degree felony for someone to own, lease or rent a place while knowing that it is being used for drug trafficking or making drugs.Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/3jlrh5Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)Author: Nic Corbett, Democrat Staff WriterPublished: June 29, 2008Copyright: 2008 Tallahassee DemocratContact: ncorbett tallahassee.comWebsite: http://www.tallahassee.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #25 posted by rchandar on July 01, 2008 at 09:34:51 PT:
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
this is an outrageous, stupid, and useless new law.ANYONE who has lived in Florida knows one thing for sure: grow rooms aren't busted by the State Police; that's the job of the Feds. Every other day, someone gets caught with 500, 600 plants. Every other day. Such a law, then, does not target big-time mafias who easily go over the 300-plant "minimum". This is a move to target small-scale growers, usually unemployed or underemployed men with families.I know that, with such a law in place, Florida looks like it's run by brute savages with no concept of justice. Well, if more people get arrested, then there's one department that will get even more money: attorneys. It also purports to make the State Government look "tough on crime"--Jeb Bush's paean. So the cops will make more money, and maybe get further into the dealing game just to make money. They will "look good" to a lot of Republicans who have little sympathy for minorities. In practice, many drug-dealing/growing offenders nabbed by the Feds are tried in State Court. So this is really a prison-building move, one that will aggravate gang-related problems, and will spell out a greater mistrust of authority.
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Comment #24 posted by Storm Crow on June 30, 2008 at 21:56:14 PT
This says it all! 
"The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 — fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0)."AND MARIJUANA (0) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comment #23 posted by Dankhank on June 30, 2008 at 21:11:52 PT
study
found this:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?_r=1quite an eyeopener and indictment of the prohibitionists...Frak Them All
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Comment #22 posted by John Tyler on June 30, 2008 at 20:38:06 PT
Florida study
An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined. Further it states that The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids -- strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin -- caused 2,328. Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths. Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 -- fewer than cocaine (843) but more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0). 
Looks like to me that a lot of older people are overmedicating themselves or are being over medicated by their doctors, families or elder care facilities. Anyway, these are good prescription drugs how can that be?  Did you catch that of all the 168,900 deaths in 2007 not a single one was caused by cannabis. What is the case against cannabis? 466 people died as a direct result of alcohol over use. If this is a safety issue cannabis is by far the safest of any product mentioned. Our lawmakers are idiots. Why is a safe, useful product banned? Another weird thing is that nobody sees a problem with this except us.
This info came from an article in the New York Times, June 14th 2008
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Comment #21 posted by HempWorld on June 30, 2008 at 18:56:58 PT
How Long Does Drug Prohibition Need to Continue Be
fore It's Declared a Failure?Answer: Forever, see 1984 George OrwellPlease see the following movie, very enlightening ...
On a mission from God!?
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on June 30, 2008 at 18:40:35 PT
U.S. Leads The World in Illegal Drug Use
June 30, 2008URL: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20080630/us-leads-the-world-in-illegal-drug-use
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Comment #19 posted by observer on June 30, 2008 at 13:52:59 PT
Your Word Vs Theirs
Tallahassee police say that in the past, they have had to store every single marijuana plant and piece of equipment until the people arrested went to trial.Also, now they don't even have to prove you really had 25 plants or more ... since the evidence can now be destroyed, it is just your word against theirs. Guess which way that one is going to go. 
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 30, 2008 at 10:47:06 PT
OT: News Article From AlterNet
How Long Does Drug Prohibition Need to Continue Before It's Declared a Failure?By David Borden, Drug War ChronicleJune 30, 2008URL: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/89852
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Comment #17 posted by The GCW on June 30, 2008 at 09:53:01 PT
HASH: marijuana concentrate, a felony
US CO: Secret Service finds man’s pot at World Forum 
Webpage: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080630/NEWS/57018654/1078&ParentProfile=1055 Pubdate: 30 June 2008Source: Summit Daily News (CO) 
Author: Steve LynnSecret Service finds man’s pot at World ForumBEAVER CREEK — A “suspicious” man wearing black and carrying a camouflage bag was arrested after hashish, a form of marijuana, was found in his bag, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report. The man, 27, was wearing a black shirt, pants and combat boots when a U.S. Secret Service agent contacted him June 21, when the American Enterprise Institute World Forum — a private series of meetings for world leaders — was held. The man gave the agent permission to search his green camouflage bag for weapons, and the agent found a sunglasses case with the drug inside. Asked what was in the bag that the man was carrying, the man said “it’s a little grass.”The man was arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana concentrate, a felony. 
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 30, 2008 at 09:43:20 PT
Obama Quoted Mark Twain
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.Mark Twain
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on June 30, 2008 at 09:33:09 PT
OverwhelmSam
Obama is speaking about Patriotism on TV. What a speech. I hope you are able to see it.
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Comment #14 posted by Had Enough on June 30, 2008 at 08:21:02 PT
What’s that he says…???
“The storage is expensive, and we spend a lot of time packaging the material, time we could be investigating other criminal activity," said David McCranie, spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department.”Well right from the horse’s mouth. Prohibition is a waste of time and money. Yep he said it, right there. Too bad they can’t hear their own words…
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 30, 2008 at 06:58:39 PT
OverwhelmSam
These last 6 months under Republicans are going to be really bad I think. They will try to tangle everything up so it will take years to get rid of what they are doing. I find the hate for liberals hard to handle. Hate is what motivates them. That's pathetic to me.
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Comment #12 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 30, 2008 at 06:50:09 PT
We're All Screwed
I follow the political landscape as a hobby, and I have to tell you our Congress is screwing us. You should read some of the legislation they've passed this past year. Most of it against the People, (martial law, torture, spying, hate thoughts, etc...) and for government, or big business. Congress is getting fired this election, but they're screwing us all on the way out. Hopefully the term "re-election" will be deleted from our vocabulary. I'd rather have rookies in Congress, than  $$H0!e$.
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Comment #11 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 30, 2008 at 06:39:21 PT
What's Up with Florida?
You would think FLORIDA would have more progressive representation in their state legislature. After watching just about every episode of Miami Vice, I would have thought drugs would be legal in Florida by now. Floridians, Time to Wake Up! You're in the Jungle baby! Better ask your potential reps some hard questions, and if they're an incumbent, analyze their voting record in your state's Congress.
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Comment #10 posted by BGreen on June 29, 2008 at 23:20:05 PT
The solution is 24 BIG PLANTS!
Yeah, baby. Just spend a little extra time training your 24 ladies with a little plant bondage and you can increase your harvest while thumbing your nose at this abhorrent law.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on June 29, 2008 at 22:59:49 PT
Who's Threatening Whom? 
"ostensibly threatening American society"???unbelievable!I now have ZERO desire to go to Florida, to purchase any standard goods from Florida. I supppose they're still proud of their political chicanery that helped install the worst President ever.Meanwhile back in KKKanada:Mandatory Body Fluid Samples Loom for Drivers Suspected of Being High, (Wed, 25 Jun 2008),
National Post (Canada)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n619/a06.htmlTomorrow, Tuesday, July 1, is Canada Day, Canada's holiday of nationhood. The new law above (originally Bill C-2) goes into effect the following day, July 2. Happy birthday, Canada, now give the police your bodily fluids!Governments are getting increasingly desperate.
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on June 29, 2008 at 22:40:07 PT
McCollum
interesting that he is on the Board of the James Madison Institute, which is supposed to advocate small government and free markets.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McCollumSince when is having the government spray a mutated fungus that is deadly to most green plants into the atmosphere considered "small government"???There's nothing worse in my mind that these Republicans that claim to be in favor of "small government" and "the Consitution" and then go out and pass punitive laws based on religious moral codes, similar to Arab countries with Sharia-based Islamic laws and gangs of thugs that enforce them.The fundamentalist Arabs are McCollum's true friends and compatriots, not the libertarian Founding Fathers.
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on June 29, 2008 at 22:19:21 PT
don't forget....
a felony means you never vote again in Florida. Therefore, now people with 25 plants will never vote again in Florida.31% of the black men in Texas can never vote again, I believe the number is similar or even higher in FL.note that scum-bag McCollum is the same guy who tried to spray the WORLD with genetically-modified fusarium fungus, a move that may have wiped out the human race by killing the food supply
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Comment #6 posted by observer on June 29, 2008 at 22:15:54 PT
Racheting Away Our Rights 
Starting Tuesday, a new state law will bring harsher penalties for marijuana growers. Under the new Florida law, a "grow house" will be classified as a building containing 25 or more marijuana plants. Before, the threshold was 300 plants.
Another political decision contributing to expansion of prison populations is the decision to include escalator clauses in drug laws. Because of hate propaganda promoted by politicians, the public became dissatisfied with fining a marijuana user $25 for misdemeanor possession. Such a penalty seemed insufficient for someone ostensibly threatening American society. Yet a harsh increase in penalty is difficult to achieve: If a $25 fine was sufficient penalty yesterday, how can the same offense carry a $10,000 fine plus ten years mandatory imprisonment today without lawmakers appearing to violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment? The answer is to invent new offenses so that a single act can violate multiple laws. Through escalator clauses, a drug violation that starts as a misdemeanor can be transformed into a felony with lengthy mandatory imprisonment.For example, Missouri law says that possessing less than 35 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor, but under a bill considered by the legislature in 1994, anyone possessing more than 28 grams was defined as a dealer (a felony) if the person had failed to report such misdemeanor possession to state revenue authorities. Failure to pay a state tax on the misdemeanor amount was also classified as a felony.8 Laws of other states had similar provisions. Authorities in Kansas bragged that $500,000 in annual revenue was generated by prosecuting drug offenders for tax fraud.9 Less publicized is the fact that converting a misdemeanor offense into multiple felonies can imprison a harmless marijuana user for years. 
Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pgs.144-145 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0275950425/ 
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on June 29, 2008 at 21:57:31 PT
This is Your brain on donuts.
"Our laws were way out of date on that," That's right.& now they're medi-evil.
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Comment #4 posted by ekim on June 29, 2008 at 19:41:25 PT
 imagine key west to look like
http://magiceye.com/gallery/061208s.html
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on June 29, 2008 at 19:24:11 PT
see film at 7
American Drug War: Last White Hope
Description: Viewing at Exodus Coffee & Culture
1352 SW Bayshore Blvd. 
Date: Monday, June 30, 2008 
Time: 7:00pm 
Updated: Monday, June 2, 2008 7:00am 
City: Port St. Lucie 
State: Florida 
http://leap.cc
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Comment #2 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on June 29, 2008 at 16:28:29 PT
Florida is insane.
All that coastline, all the cocaine coming in that state, and they are going to put resources into busting medical and personal users who are trying to avoid supporting organized crime.Makes you wonder what their true agenda really is?
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Comment #1 posted by NikoKun on June 29, 2008 at 15:31:13 PT
Florida takes step backwards...
Are they even paying attention to themselves?
Harsher penalties for Marijuana? wtf...This is absurd... It's just Marijuana... 25 plants is what a Medical patient might be growing, not a grow op for dealers to sell... So Florida, proud of yourselves? Criminalizing patients? -_-
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