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.
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
Open for business on L.A.'s Ventura Boulevard... but for how long?(Photo by lavocado, Wikimedia Commons)By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityLos Angeles' proposed medical marijuana ordinance -- which would ban the sale of pot at dispensaries -- could cost the city $36 million to $74 million in lost sales tax, according to a marijuana advocacy group.Dale Gieringer, coordinator for the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said the proposed ordina... Read Full Story
Dear Weed: We love you, and we don't want you to go away. Signed, California (Photo by Coaster 420)By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityLos Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley may have believed he was safely playing to the grandstands when he promised to shut down all of L.A.'s estimated 800 to 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries, magnanimously declaring that "approximately zero" of the dispensaries were operating legally in exchanging weed for cash. But perhaps Cooley should check his ... Read Full Story
Let my people grow.By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityIn a stunning bit of role reversal, law enforcement officials in dispensary-heavy Los Angeles County are gearing up for a massive mobilization against hundreds of pot shops even while the Obama administration backs away from the federal government's traditional role as marijuana enforcer in the states where medical pot is legal.Today, the administration sent new, more relaxed medical marijuana guidelines to federal prosecutors in the 14 stat... Read Full Story
By DEVLIN BARRETTTHE ASSOCIATED PRESSWASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.The ne... Read Full Story
We got their Zig Zags, too! (Photo: policeone.com)By Steve Elliott in Chronic CityPot-phobic law enforcement officers in California are trying out an unsettling new tactic. It's the latest iteration of their continued hissy fit about what should have been a settled issue for 13 years now (since Californians voted for Proposition 215, legalizing medical use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation).Many cops, still pissed off and in deep denial that medical pot is legal in the Golden State... Read Full Story
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