I'm a 48-year-old writer, editor, ex-musician, dreamer, reality catcher, ex-con, and father of three. I was born in Alabama and spent the first 38 years of my life there and in Mississippi. In the 1970s and 1980s, I was a drummer in various hard rock bar bands in Alabama and Mississippi. Since 1985, I've worked for newspapers, ad agencies and magazines. I've also taken inventory, indulged in independent entrepreneurship, run a newspaper route and served time. I've been on the West Coast, L.A. or
What I'm Reading
The Cost Of Courage (Cong. Carl Elliott); True Hallucinations (Terence McKenna); Flashbacks (Timothy Leary); Cosmic Trigger: Secrets of the Illuminati (Robert Anton Wilson); On The Road (Jack Kerouac); Howl (Allen Ginsberg); At Play In The Fields of the Lord (Peter Matthiessen); Look Homeward Angel (Thomas Wolfe); Ringworld (Larry Niven); Glory Road (Robert A. Heinlein); Telempath (Spider Robinson); Lord Valentine's Castle (Robert Silverberg); Martian Time Slip (Philip K. Dick); Sheep Look Up (J
Subjects I'd Like to Learn More About
Consciousness, freedom, reality
An Interesting Fact
I have three kids, five tattoos, a criminal record, a terminal disease, and an attitude.
L.A.'s dispensaries remain open, for now. (Photo by digitalshay)Ignoring the advice of anti-pot City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, two Los Angeles City Council committees today rejected a proposed ban on sales of medical marijuana.Anti-pot zealots within L.A. city government had coordinated an 18-month assault on the dispensaries, with headline-grabbing pronouncements from media hogs Trutanich and Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley dominating coverage of the issue in recent weeks.Both ... Read Full Story
Frank Chopp doesn't want to blow his speakers. (Photo: www.leg.wa.gov)Ever know someone who had a really hot car, but they were afraid to really drive it?That's how Washington's Speaker of the House Frank Chopp rolls.How about the guy who had the 300-watt stereo system, but would never crank it up because "I don't want to blow the speakers"?That's how Frank Chopp gets down.And that's exactly how Chopp was getting down when a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession died in the Washington Le... Read Full Story
Watching you? (Photo by LiveBloid, Wikimedia Commons)By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityFive medical marijuana dispensaries in Dana Point, Calif., are appealing an Orange County Superior Court ruling ordering them to turn over records -- including client lists -- to the city as part of an investigation into dispensary operations."I think everyone kind of had the same idea about appealing the order for the reason of protecting third-party names and some of the privileged items that we believe sh... Read Full Story
Coming to a dispensary near you (Photo by Coaster 420, Wikimedia Commons)By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityFor years, one of the main arrows in the quiver of anti-pot zealots in arguing against medical marijuana (along with the federal pot prohibition, recently blunted by the Obama Administration) has been "But the American Medical Association says pot has no medical value." As of today, that's no longer true.In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the AMA voted today ... Read Full Story
Happy 66th birthday to the beautiful and wonderful Joni Mitchell, born November 7, 1943!"Back then, I didn't have a big organization around me. I was just a kid with a guitar, traveling around. My responsibility basically was to the art, and I had extra time on my hands. There is no extra time now. There isn't enough time." ~ Joni Mitchell"Sorrow is so easy to express and yet so hard to tell. " ~ Joni MitchellWith David Crosby about 1968With Graham Nash, Big Sur Folk Festival, 1969"There are ... Read Full Story
The most extensive study yet undertaken on U.S. marijuana arrests and penalties, released today, finds no relationship between marijuana arrest and use rates. The report further finds that current penalty structures act as a price support mechanism that boosts the illegal market.Assembled by Jon Gettman, adjunct assistant professor in criminal justice at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., the new report says:• Marijuana arrests have almost doubled since 1991 -- but levels of marijuana ... Read Full Story
This scene, from a Sacramento, CA dispensary, is coming to Maine soon. (Photo: Sacramento Bee)Becomes 3rd State to License Medical Marijuana Providers; Vote Seen as Latest Advance Spurred by Obama Policy In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the state the third in the country to license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and the first ever to do so by a vote of the people. With 49 percent of the vote tallied, the measure was... Read Full Story
By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityAh, "guidelines." They're a little more lax than "rules," which are a little looser than "laws." When it comes to guidelines, that's their strength -- and that's their weakness. Whereas laws and rules are "broken," guidelines can simply be "ignored."That truism is abundantly illustrated by this week's statements from George W. Bush appointee Joseph Russoniello, federal prosecutor for the northern district of California. "I think it's unfortunate that people ha... Read Full Story
Medical marijuana: Legal as long as you don't actually buy it anywhere?Photo: Coaster420, Wikimedia CommonsBy Steve Elliott in Chronic CityIt's a classic case of disconnect between public policy and public opinion. As District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis continues with her medical marijuana dispensary crackdown in San Diego, a new poll indicates that a hefty majority of city residents favor leaving the pot shops open and regulating them.About 77 percent of San Diego's adult residents agree that ... Read Full Story
Photo by digitalshayBy Steve Elliott in Chronic CityU.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) and more than 20 bipartisan co-sponsors introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow defendants in medical marijuana cases the ability to use medical evidence at trial, a right they currently do not have.Due to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, the government has the discretion to enforce federal marijuana laws even in medical marijuana states. The Raich ruling also allows federa... Read Full Story
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