US Supreme Court Upholds the Fourth Amendment Right vs Home Searches With No Warrant
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police cannot bring drug-sniffing police dogs onto a suspect’s property to look for evidence without first getting a warrant for a search, a decision which may limit how investigators use dogs’ sensitive noses to search out drugs, explosives and other items hidden from human sight, sound and [...]
Good News! Forfeiture Grab Thwarted
Good news for the good guys! In a blatant attempt at seizing a valuable, mortgage-free property, the DEA instituted forfeiture proceedings against a motel-owner, shocked shocked that dealing might be going on in the parking lot. Caswell Motel Case Marks a Victory Against Federal Forfeiture Abuse crossposted; Stop The Drug War The shocking part of [...]
Judge Ireland Schools the Police
Two paragraphs were hidden away in this story Malden Council Makes Marijuana Use Punishable by Arrest, like charms in a Christmas pudding. The bulk of the article reports on Malden’s escalating punishment ethos, and a quote from Judge Ireland was included, but got no further comment. “By mandating that possession of such a small quantity [...]
Patients, Caregivers and Treatment Centers: Who Can Grow and How?
(This article first appeared in Mass Grass. It has been changed from the original publication and contains corrections.) Bill Downing Cannabis will soon be grown across the state for medical purposes. We expect most of you activists would like to grow some too. What are the chances we will be able to grow and that [...]
Massachusetts High Court: Sale Not Necessary for Intent to Distribute
Police don’t need to observe a sale for distribution charge, just individually packaged bags of marijuana – even if it’s under an ounce. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Council ruled Monday that the Bay State’s 2008 voter-approved marijuana decriminalization law did not repeal “possession with intent to distribute,” even if there is no sale and decriminalized [...]
BUSTED: Bay state drug paraphernalia laws cause confusion for students, shop owners
Among thousands of marijuana smokers at the Boston Freedom Rally in September, one unnamed Boston University student had his drug paraphernalia confiscated by a Boston Common park ranger, despite not having traces of marijuana in it. “There were other people around smoking out of pipes,” the College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, who requested to [...]
MALDEN $100 AND ARREST!!!!!!!
SECTION 7.25 PUBLIC POSSESSION/USE OF MARIJUANA PROHIBITED No person shall, while in or upon any property owned or controlled by the city or in any place accessible to the public, possess marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol in an amount of one ounce or less. No person shall, while in or upon any property owned or controlled by [...]
April 29 – One Hundredth Anniversary of first Mass. law interfering with commerce in cannabis
April 29, 2011, marks the one hundredth anniversary of Massachusetts’ first law (see below) interfering with free commerce in Cannabis intended for human consumption. It was the first state law concerning Cannabis in the nation. The 1911 law required a prescription from a physician. Massachusetts’ medical users would benefit from returning to the law of 1911. It [...]
COMMONWEALTH vs. BENJAMIN CRUZ, 459 Mass. 459 (2011)
Present: IRELAND, SPINA, COWIN, CORDY, BOTSFORD, & GANTS, JJ. [FN1] Controlled Substances. Practice, Criminal, Motion to suppress. Search and Seizure, Threshold police inquiry, Probable cause, Automobile. Constitutional Law, Search and seizure, Investigatory stop, Reasonable suspicion, Probable cause. Threshold Police Inquiry. Probable Cause. Statute, Construction. COMPLAINT received and sworn to in the West Roxbury Division [...]
