Results tagged “pot”

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."

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!

The Marijuana Policy Project [MPP] has produced two new TV ads for media markets in key New York Senate districts. The commercials feature patients who have benefited from medical marijuana, but you won't see them here in NYC, because uptight Eisenhower-era local affiliates of ABC, CBS and Fox have declined to broadcast them. Because reefer drives people into homicidal rages, or something! However, one local network, WNBC, has bravely accepted the group's money and is showing the spots, which includes testimonials from radical freaks like Conservative Party member Joel Peacock of Buffalo, who suffers from chronic pain as the result of an accident. In the ad, he says, "It took away the pain. It took away the nausea. I didn't have stomach cramps. I slept. It just did everything my medicine doesn't do. Please, ask your senator to have compassion." Whatever, hippie! In 2007, the state assembly passed a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, but it never made it through the Senate. Watch the ads below:

This week's New York includes an expansive feature on marijuana use in NYC, written by Mark Jacobson, a self-described pothead who first turned on in Alley Pond Park, Queens. Maybe we're just really stoned, but this article is waaaay long, so let's, um, break it up:

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!

Nancy Reagan was right about pot making you dumb or whatever; three geniuses on Staten Island were busted Sunday afternoon when police discovered a large marijuana plant on their table in the living room and 15 more on a rear deck. How were police alerted to the stash? One of the roommates, 53-year-old Scott Ortega, summoned them there! Apparently the three were involved with some sort of landlord-tenant dispute, and Ortega called 911 to report a possible burglary. According to court papers obtained by the Staten Island Advance, police confiscated the plants and returned Monday with a warrant, finding three Xanax pills on a bedroom dresser, 11 joints a drawer, 15 partially-smoked joints on a TV stand, and several smaller bags of reefer. According to the Post, Ortega allegedly told cops the marijuana was just for his personal use, so it's all good, right? All three men face charges of criminal possession of marijuana, criminal possession of a controlled substance and "criminally using drug paraphernalia." Previously on stupid stoner tricks: Personally escorting cops to your pot house, and smoking herb while speeding in a car full of "bales" of marijuana.

A Long Island guy is in major trouble after a perfectly innocent evening spent hanging with his 5-year-old son in a parking lot went terribly wrong, all thanks to some nosy cops. Christopher Grossman, 37, was spotted Tuesday night just chilling with the little man around 11:30 in a parking lot in Seaford, standing next to a car with the music "blasting." A Nassau County police officer decided to see what was up, and noticed that the car's interior was a disgusting mess, overflowing with trash, clothing, golf clubs, and bottles of anti-freeze and laundry detergent surrounding the child's car seat.

According to Newsday, "a robbery of cash and marijuana in Oceanside Friday developed into a melee involving four, police said, when the initial victim apparently tried to strike back by stealing an iPod." Seriously! Here's how it unraveled: Christopher Cagno, 20, allegedly demanded $160 cash and pot from Dylan Peitz, 18, on a street. Cagno managed to take the items and was fleeing in friend Christopher Haig's car—but the car was moving so slowly that "Peitz jumped partially through a window, grabbed Haig's iPod and tried to run." Naturally, Cagno and Haig chased Peitz and a fight broke out. Enter Peitz's girlfriend, Alyssa Reilly, 19, who introduced a knife and slashed at Cagno and Haig. All were arrested and charged with assault—Reilly faces additional charges of possession of a deadly weapon (the knife), Cagno has additional charges of robbery (the cash and pot) and drug possession (the pot) and Peitz has additional charges of petty larceny (the iPod theft) and possession of a deadly weapon (maybe the knife?). The four will be arraigned today in Hempstead.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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!

Lil Wayne was in Manhattan court yesterday trying to prove his tour bus is pot-free. Too bad his star witness was...his "assistant" and pot dealer! The NY Post reports that "testifying at a suppression hearing for Lil Wayne's Manhattan gun-possession case, Terry Bourgeois told the judge that nobody was smoking pot on the 30-foot tour bus when it was pulled over one night last summer near Columbus Circle" after a Beacon Theater concert. Bourgeois did admit that there was some partying on the way to the venue, and that he "probably brought it on." He also noted that the cops could likely smell the remnants of it later, but he couldn't because "I'm a smoker. I'm used to it." As for the firearm, he claims to have never seen Wayne with a gun. If convicted, he could go to jail for over 3 years. Get your "Free Weezy!" signs ready, folks.

A firefighter on Staten Island was arrested Wednesday for allegedly selling $40 worth of weed to undercover cops who spotted his advertisement on Craigslist. During the transaction, 32-year-old Michael Seise, a three-year veteran of Ladder 82, also inexplicably hinted that he was a member of the FDNY, a police source tells the Daily News, adding, "This guy is an idiot. There's really not much else to it." After the arrest, police found traces of white powder believed to be cocaine in his Chrysler 300 luxury sedan. Seise has been suspended immediately, which is probably a good thing, because it must have been irritating to pull the firetruck over every time he got the munchies.

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."

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.

The spicy story of the cop fired after testing positive on a drug test - after unkowingly eating a meatball spiked with pot - returns with a lawsuit! Anthony Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran of the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, is suing to be reinstated, claiming his termination was "arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unconstitutional." Back in 2005, Chiofalo was shocked when he tested positive for marijuana during a drug test. Then it turned out his...