Results tagged “marijuana”

Much of the primo, hydroponically-grown herb you'll find in New York comes from Canada, where an untold quantity passes across the border at the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation, which stretches five miles along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Naturally, the authorities would like to pull the plug on this source, so six weeks ago Joseph Resnick, the head of the NYPD's narcotics division, took a trip up there to see what could be done. The good news for tokers is that the Mohawk smugglers have this down to a science, and Resnik is "astounded at how lenient the border is."

About a year ago rapper Lil Wayne was in Manhattan court claiming his tour bus was totally pot free after he performed at the Beacon Theater... a venue where surely the Allman Brothers have smoked a little grass on occasion. Anyway, the rapper allegedly tossed a Louis Vuitton bag with a gun inside when the NYPD approached the bus, which got him charged with "attempted weapon possession."

Reefer madness is the new black! Marie Claire exposes what they call "stilleto stoners" in their latest issue. Yes, even the well-heeled like to puff on a little pot after a stressful day in this rough n' tumble town. Take 29-year-old corporate attorney "Jennifer" for instance, she's been running around for 12 hours in her Marc Jacobs pumps and at the end of the day "reaches for a plastic orange prescription bottle alongside a glass pipe and blue Bic lighter, just as the cleaning lady left them. She twists off the cap, pinches off a piece of the fragrant green bud inside, gingerly places it in the bowl of the pipe, and lights up. Over the next 30 minutes, she takes three deep drags, enough to drown out the noise whirring in her head." Soon enough she'll be popping pills to drown out the paranoid voices!

Benito Barrios walked into a local precinct house in Staten Island Thursday night claiming that he "discovered" a 25-pound bag of pot in a delivery made to his furniture store. Cops then "discovered" 50 more pounds, hidden in his garden and arrested Barrios and his wife. There was no word on if Barrios was discovered to be totally blazed when he showed up at the station.

Residents of Millville, New Jersey, a small town an hour from Atlantic City, are mystified as to how marijuana started growing in a parks department flower basket hanging from lamp posts on (heh) High Street. On Tuesday afternoon some square spotted the leafy pot stalks sticking out above a patch of flowers in one of the baskets and dutifully notified the authorities. Cops rushed to the scene, mounted a ladder, and removed the proscribed plants. One officer involved in the plant removal theorized that marijuana seeds may have been thrown out of an apartment window above the street. See, if the cops had just let those seeds grow, the people of Millville could have climbed that magical pot stalk to the clouds and be smoking a giant blunt by now. But if the seeds weren't tossed there accidentally, how on earth did they get there? Bystander Pam Elliot had no answers, though she did tell the Press of Atlantic City, "We watch the guys every day, faithfully come out and water and fertilize every basket. That fertilizer is so good." Yep, it's a mystery!

Daniel Schuler spoke to state police yesterday for the first time since toxicology reports revealed that his wife Diane was drunk and high when she drove the wrong way in the Taconic crash that killed eight. Mr. Schuler, lawyer Dominic Barbara and a private investigator met with authorities in Westchester County still trying to nail down a timeline of Mrs. Schuler's drive. Police showed them a video of Mrs. Schuler at a Sunoco station, appearing coherent and looking for painkillers a little over an hour before she would call her brother, Warren Hance, sounding disoriented. A friend of Hance's told the Times, “His first impression was..it might be some diabetic condition...or she was having a stroke. There was no ‘Oh my God, could she be drunk?’ ” An official at the meeting with Mr. Schuler said, "No new areas were covered." The family's PI said, “The Diane that they know does not drink and would never smoke marijuana in a car with kids.” In a recent interview, Daniel Schuler's brother said that the family was aware that Mrs. Schuler used marijuana to sometimes help her sleep.

To man cave or not to man cave —that's the question Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will face. His office is investigating the use of a workspace off the State Capitol's parking garage as a lounge/drug den, complete with board games, rolling papers and drug scales—allegedly created by two state employees. Cuomo is reportedly showing evidence to a grand jury.

As many of our astute commenters suspected, it was a drug deal gone bad that sparked Wednesday night's wild car chase and fatal shooting in Washington Heights. It was originally reported that a man had flagged down a patrol car screaming that he was robbed and pointing to a silver Cadillac a few car lengths ahead, near West 170th street. And while police say it's true that the man and his buddy were robbed—of somewhere between $500 and $1,200 cash—it's now confirmed that the robbery was a pot deal gone bad.

A couple of things to keep in mind while taking part in a drug caravan running a hundred pounds of grass cross-country: One, driving at excessive speeds may attract the attention of law enforcement officers—these are the people you generally want to avoid. Number two: while tempting, it's probably ill-advised to keep some of that sweet herb next to you in the front seat. Such was the discovery made by a Nebraska state trooper who pulled over 42-year-old Long Islander Victoria Gregory for speeding on Interstate 80 Tuesday. The driver of a second car, 27-year-old Lonnie Walker, of Florida, was also pulled over, and according to Newsday the trooper became suspicious when he smelled marijuana in the second vehicle and saw a small amount of it on the front seat. A canine unit was called to the scene, and police say three "bales" of marijuana weighing 116 pounds were found in Gregory's trunk. Police believe the weed was headed from Phoenix to New York; now it's just going to that great gravity bong in the sky.

The couple arrested over the weekend for stashing drugs inside the daycare center they ran was arraigned inside a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday. Police first came to Special Moments Day Care after it was robbed at gunpoint Friday morning, leading to a shootout between cops and one of the burglars, who ended up shot twice as a dozen young children napped peacefully below. But something about the robbery didn't add up to police, who returned to find ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 cash hidden in the basement of East Flatbush's Special Moments, run by Donna and Sherwin Rogers. The robbers knew that it was weed delivery day and came into the daycare posing as parents. Yesterday a judge set bail at $50,000 for the owner Donna and 25k for her husband, but cops wanted stiffer penalties. A police source told the News, "It put kids at risk. The shooting happened right exactly where the kids were sleeping."

It turns out that the Brooklyn daycare center where cops and robbers had a shootout above napping children Friday wasn't just a pickup spot for neighborhood parents. After cops returned to Special Moments Day Care in East Flatbush with suspicions that the burglars going after a suitcase full of cash might be part of an inside job, they discovered that the center was doubling as a drug den when they uncovered ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 in cash.

A 22-year-old Pennsvile, NJ man was busted after his text message inquiring about some pot mistakenly went to a police officer. According to Today's Sunbeam, John Milligan "misdialed a number, getting instead the cell phone of Cpl. Christopher Pew, a veteran of the Salem force... Police Chief John Pelura III said Friday that the off-duty corporal did not know the suspect or how serious his request was, but took advantage of the situation by setting up a sting to arrest him." While the exact text was not disclosed, Pelura said, "Basically in the text, Milligan described what vehicle he was driving and where they would meet." Milligan, as well as 20-year-old Kelly Reilly were charged with allegedly loitering to commit a controlled dangerous substance offense. In other pot-texting news, two Worcester, MA siblings were arrested after sending a text offering "pink stars" (Ecstasy) and "midz" (pot) while an Orange County, CA teacher was arrested when a student's mother found texts saying the student was smoking pot with the teacher.

DEA agents seized $3 million in marijuana and $500,000 cash in a raid on a Staten Island home last week, arresting Odede Kariti, 27, and his wife, Yotvat Kariti, 24, along with a third man, Brian Guariglia. According to court papers obtained by the Staten Island Advance, the trio are part of a drug ring that's smuggled millions of dollars of high-grade marijuana from Canada. Authorities have been investigating the ring for two years, and finally took action on May 11th after getting a tip that Guariglia was delivering a 300-pound shipment that day. The weed was stashed in "large hockey bags" in Guariglia's truck, and federal agents arrested him as he made the drop at the Karitis' house. Once inside, they also found "numerous" hockey bags containing another 250-300 pounds of marijuana. Now the Karitis and Guariglia face up to 40 years in prison for trying to distribute a mostly harmless plant whose worst side-effect is patch pants. This is the second major marijuana bust on Staten Island in the past few months; in April three men were nailed for moving "large quantities" of herb in a mobile-home.

It may be 4/21, but two state lawmakers are introducing legislation to legalize medical marijuana. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and State Senator Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) were to introduce a bill today. Gottfried, who previously sponsored a similar bill that passed in the Assembly but was stalled (of course) in the Senate, said, "I think we've got by far the best chance we've ever had." The Daily News has some details: "Under the bill, people suffering from specific diseases such as cancer or HIV-related ills could obtain a certification from their doctor that would allow them to possess up to 2-1/2 ounces of marijuana and up to 12 plants." Governor Paterson's spokesman said, "if the bill successfully passes both houses and reaches the governor's desk, the administration will seek input from interested parties before the governor acts." Ganja Grannies and Gramps are crossing their fingers.

It's 4/20, brah, that happy day when burnouts across America reinforce the cliched stereotype of pot smokers as badly dressed, self-righteous libertines. But it's also the day when the more politically active puffers out there try to rally support for legalization, and this year some of the movement's leaders are reporting unprecedented progress in the battle to end prohibition. Public support has been voiced by everyone from Representative Barney Frank to demagogue Glenn Beck; and Bruce Mirken at the Marijuana Policy Project tells the Times, "We’ve been on national cable news more in the first three months than we typically are in an entire year. And any time you’ve got Glenn Beck and Barney Frank agreeing on something, it’s either a sign that change is impending or that the end times are here." NORML says donations to the group have surged recently, and they're using the momentum to pressure President Obama with a new commercial. Locally, 4/20 will be observed tonight at Studio B, where High Times magazine throws its annual party that promises to "turn the Big Apple into the Baked Apple."

The locally-grown produce movement has apparently reared its head into the marijuana trade. The DEA has broken up five hydroponic set-ups around town in the last couple of months, an equal number to those recorded for the previous fiscal year in its entirety. The five raids in total have netted 830 pounds of pot, worth $4.15 million on the street. Four of the five setups were uncovered throughout The Bronx last week, but no arrests were made. The fifth raid was the Queens basement belonging to a city firefighter who was growing over 100 plants under high-intensity discharge lights. The Post says that "with the nation's fiscal health in the tank, homegrown marijuana operations have soared by 60 percent." The paper adds that growing pot hydroponically leads to such strong weed that its value ends up being anywhere from three to ten times the amount that Mexican imported grass goes for.

Woody Harrelson says that he had some unsavory characters on the brain when getting into an altercation with a TMZ photographer at a local airport earlier this week—zombies. The cameraman is accusing Harrelson of breaking his equipment and hitting him after he was following the actor and his daughter out of a terminal at La Guardia. Harrelson released a statement about the incident saying, "I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character. With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie." CNN points out that in the film, Harrelson plays "the most frightened person on Earth" looking for refuge from zombies. A Port Authority spokesman said, "We're looking into this allegation and if it's warranted, we'll turn it over to the proper authorities." Harrelson is a longtime advocate for the legalization of marijuana.

A firefighter and a sanitation worker were indicted in Brooklyn yesterday on charges of operating a marijuana grow house in the basement of a Queens residence. Prosecutors accuse Woodside firefighter Matthew Cody and his sanitation worker brother Michael of using the Queens Village house to grow the hydroponic weed, and sources tell My Fox NY it was just one of several grow houses, which could each potentially bring in $2 million a year. Cody's partner in the scheme, fellow firefighter Patrick Murray, was arraigned last month on charges of manufacturing and possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. The feds nabbed him outside the house after getting a tip that he was loading high-intensity discharge lights, often used for indoor plants, into a rented truck. The trio face a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 80 years in prison if convicted because the house is less than a thousand feet from an elementary school. And it's unclear exactly what fate awaits all that primo grass, so let's just try not to think about it.

Federal prosecutors have charged an FDNY firefighter with maintaining a marijuana grow house—with 100 plants— in a rented Queens home's basement. Patrick Murray was "arraigned on charges of manufacturing and possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute."

If you've got a suspended license, is it the best idea to be driving with 9 pounds of pot? Federal officials tell the Daily News that a drug runner's "sloppiness" on the way to a drug sale in Queens helped them bust a huge operation smuggling Canadian-grown pot into the United States. Apparently the feds have "seized 50,000 pounds of pot"—street value, $150 million—"and arrested 10 people in the scheme, which used hidden compartments in cars to smuggle weed across the border" over the past six years. The Canadian "masterminds" were arraigned in federal court and face 20 years in prison if found guilty while eight people who "allegedly transported, packaged and distributed the drugs from the Queens home" face 10 years if found guilty. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the many pounds of pot, unlike previous pot busts.

It's another one for the "weird smell file"...okay, maybe we know what that funny smelling cigarette odor is—but where is it coming from?! All signs point to Gerritsen Beach, where last month "10 marijuana summonses were written in one night." The Village Voice reports that "the locals told the cops 'pot dealing & smoking goes on all the time' there, and the problem was discussed until the property owners decided that 'a list of names will be gathered and handed over to the 61st precinct of the problem kids.'" Given the small community vibe, it might be a good idea to make some industrial strength blow tubes and keep it inside, kids.

Michael Phelps proved once again that it's almost always a bad idea to go to a college party after you've earned your degree. After photos emerged yesterday of Olympic record holder smoking from a bong while at a party in November at the University of South Carolina. Today Phelps released a statement saying, "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again." Many are speculating what action may be taken by sponsors and the World Anti-Doping Agency which lists marijuana as one of its banned substances. Phelps pleaded guilty to drunk driving in 2004 at the age of 19 and was sentenced to 18 months probation. Phelps's diet once consisted of 12,000 calories a day and after the Olympics he admitted to not training and getting antsy looking for something to do.

Stony Brook students, this is why you may not have been able to buy your pot or Adderall: Newsday reports that police pulled over Jesse Bachrach, 21, for making an "improper lane change" early Saturday morning in Southampton Village. The cop discovered the car smelled strongly of marijuana, which Bachrach turned over, but then "48 amphetamine tablets and six Adderall capsules, 'all packaged for sale'" were also found. According to Southampton Town police, Bachrach was headed to the Southampton campus of SUNY Stony Brook to sell the drugs. He will be arraigned on charges including "criminal possession of a controlled substance" and traffic infractions. Guess those kids studying for finals will have to subsist on caffeine!

In addition to approving a measure that loosens restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, Michigan voters also approved a medical marijuana ballot measure yesterday by an overwhelming majority, voting 63% to 37% to remove state-level penalties for registered patients using marijuana. But unlike other states such as California, the bill won't create legal dispensaries for the drug. Of course, not every one was for it: 20-year-old poindexter Claire Luczak, an uptight junior at the University of Michigan, said she voted against the proposal because "it would be too easy to get it. I know hundreds of people who smoke pot, and I think people would get it for recreational use and not legitimate reasons." And yesterday Massachusetts voters approved a marijuana decriminalization proposition that will make getting caught with less than an ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. [Hat tip Camera Club.]

It turns out that the driver of a Mercedes Benz had barreled through a red light on the Grand Central Parkway yesterday when it hit the Acura, killing the Acura's two passengers. And further, the driver did not have a license and had been smoking marijuana.

Chances are you probably smoke pot, you are probably smoking it right now...at least according to the latest reports, which say that "the number of people arrested for small amounts of marijuana in New York City has increased tenfold in the past decade."

Paterson: I'd say I was about 22-23. I tried it a few times, yes. Where's all the hemming and hawing about what the definition of "using" coke is? Smoking it? Snorting it? Speedballing? Paterson was sniffing a fine chablis and some cocaine fell up his nose? Bill Clinton could spend years of an independent counsel's time trying to wriggle out of those questions. George W. Bush could say it's irrelevant since he's found Jesus. Our Governor just cops to being a young man in the 1970s with an indiscreet, if not unusual past. Has NY found its first honest politician--willing to accept some responsibility for indiscretions on the way up, rather than falling back on them as an excuse (sex addict) on his way down?

When cops raided a suspected drug operation in Washington Heights last week, they found that the alleged dealers had a little business going on the side: a day care service. Police arrested Donald Crespo and Akwasiba Radellant not just for drug possession, but child endangerment because the fire alarms in the apartment were deactivated and pacifiers were dirty.

Snoop Dogg, in town shooting BET interviews last week, was caught green-handed with the drug he claimed to give up at age 30: pot. The rapper was busted outside of hotspot Lotus last Wednesday for marijuana possession, and was issued a desk appearance ticket. The Post reports that didn't stop Snoop from partying the very next night, with his 25-strong posse, at Serafina and the tapas lounge Lollipop (somewhere in between they ordered 15 pizzas, so we're guessing there may have been some weed around that night, too!). During one of the BET interviews, he claimed the accusation was "bogus".

A real estate agent who was handling the sale of a foreclosed houes in Jamaica, Queens discovered 100 marijuana plants inside. The subprime meltdown really is hitting all corners of the city.