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woman near the 18400 block of Southeast 286th Street, who led them to Nguyen's body. The woman had been strangled, shot and pistol-whipped, authorities said. Investigators found Nguyen's body at a house with a booby-trapped marijuana-growing operation. Sheriff's deputies say the shooting occurred after Vo and Nguyen got into an argument about the drug operation. Vo is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009008436_webtrivo08m.html Women beaten for not paying for medical marijuana Tim Rzewuski /Published: April 18, 2009 WOONSOCKET, R.I.— A handicapped woman who is permitted to possess medical marijuana was allegedly beaten by her supplier. Woonsocket Police tell NBC 10 News that Vanessa A. Armstrong, 22, of Diamond Hill Road, allegedly beat a 22-year-old neighbor for failing to pay for her supply of medical marijuana. Police say Armstrong was arrested Thursday night and charged with one count of assaulted after the victim called police to alert them of the assault. According to police Armstrong also made the victim sign a note to pay the delinquent bill. Armstrong will be in court on a later date. http://www.turnto10.com/jar/news/local/article/women_beaten_for_not_paying_for_medical_marijuana/12580/Billings man gets 5 years in marijuana case BILLINGS, Mont.: Saul Nuno pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute. On Wednesday, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull sentenced 31-year-old Nuno to a minimum mandatory five years, which was about the middle of the guideline range. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Seykora said Nuno and others brought more than 1,300 pounds of marijuana from California to Billings. Some of the marijuana was smuggled in the undercarriages of cars that crossed into the country at Tijuana. Co-defendants Steven B. Nava Jr., and Winder Werner of Tennessee, also pleaded guilty. Seykora said the three worked together to repackage, store and distribute the marijuana, some of which was sold to undercover agents. Nava and Werner are awaiting sentencing. http://www.kxmc.com/News/368899.asp Medical user claims pot switcheroo Published: May 28, 2009 at 3:25 PM BREMERTON, Wash., May 28 (UPI) --Police in Washington state said a medical marijuana user told authorities that her bag of legal pot was switched with a bag of weaker weed at a party. The Bremerton woman said she took her "stronger" medical marijuana to the party Friday to "maintain control of it" and at some point during the gathering a man told her she had dropped her bag of cannabis and handed it back to her, the Kitsap Sun of Bremerton reported Thursday. However, the woman said she brewed a pot of marijuana-laced tea the next morning and noticed the drug was not as potent as it had been. The woman told police she used some of the marijuana and threw the rest away. She gave the empty bag to police. http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/05/28/Medical-user-claims-pot-switcheroo/UPI-74751243538727/Police say Harvard killing was 'drug rip',Student tied to suspect barred from graduating By John R. Ellement and Eric Moskowitz /Globe Staff /May 23, 2009 CAMBRIDGE -A plot to rob a marijuana dealer inside a Harvard residence hall Monday went badly awry and ended with the shooting death of a 21-year-old Cambridge man, authorities said yesterday, as details began to emerge about two female Harvard students who knew both the victim and his alleged assailants. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said the botched "drug rip" that cost the life of the suspected dealer, Justin Cosby, centered on a pound of marijuana and $1,000 in cash that Jabrai Jordan Copney of New York and two others allegedly came to Cambridge to steal……Harvard officials said the shooting would prompt them to revisit school drug and safety policies. There "are important lessons to learn from this sad episode," Evelynn M. Hammonds, dean of Harvard College, wrote in a letter posted on the school's website. "I intend to work with student leaders and others to address the nature and risks of illicit drug use on campus . . . and to examine the adequacy of existing policies relating to student life."….. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/23/police_say_harvard_killing_was_ drug_rip/?page=2 Thieves steal tubs of pot from medical marijuana store, get caught Kim Posey KDVR Reporter /June 16, 2009 BOULDER, Colo. -The New Options Wellness Center in Boulder, which supplies medical marijuana to licensed patients, was robbed Tuesday afternoon, but the crooks didn't get very far. Boulder Police say two men walked into the center and said they were customers. When the female manager asked to see their registration cards, the men allegedly robbed the place. "They stole money out of the till. They stole at least two 20 gallon tubs of marijuan...medical marijuana...and also we believe some of the surveillance equipment from inside the store," said Sarah Huntley with the Boulder Police Department. Huntley said the men did not show a weapon. Neighbors in the business park heard the clerk's screams for help. "She was crying and asking for help, saying she'd been robbed," said Kelli Lafollette. Initially, the robbers took off running, but then got into a black Cadillac Escalade. Witnesses were able to give police a license plate number and the SUV was pulled over on the Boulder Turnpike moments later. Four people were taken into custody for questioning. Officers sought warrant to search the vehicle. http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-medical-marijuana-061609,0,80404.story 2 arrested after 6 pounds of marijuana found in car by Phillip Swarts, The Oregonian /April 06, 2009 Two California men have been arrested in Tualatin after officers discovered more than six pounds of marijuana in their car. Eric Kooyers and Kevin Huff, both 37 and of Willits, Calif., were charged with possession and distribution of a controlled substance and booked into the Washington County Jail. A Tualatin police officer responded to a call from a Shell gas station on Southwest Nyberg Street about 10 Saturday night in regard to a report the two suspects were trying to sell marijuana from their car. The officer smelled marijuana and saw the drug in the car, officials said. He contacted a Hillsboro officer who responded with a drug-sniffing dog. Six pounds, four ounces of marijuana packaged for delivery was discovered, officials said http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index. ssf/2009/04/2_men_arrested_after_6_pounds.html Medical marijuana requests climb sky high Dispensary owners report 50 to 300 percent rise since Obama took office 4/15/09|MSNBC| by Brian Alexander -MSNBC.com Contributor The number of ailing people turning to medical marijuana to ease their symptoms has spiked this year, say dispensary owners in some of the 13 states where it's legal. Requests have jumped anywhere from 50 to 300 percent, they say, since President Barack Obama took office and signaled that he won’t use federal marijuana laws to override state laws as the Bush administration did.…...“I have had a 300 percent rise at at my business,” reported the owner of Colorado’s Boulder County Caregivers, a marijuana dispensary. (She asked not to be named since she also works in local government.) Her numbers are rising despite obstacles that remain in the path of those seeking access. For example, many doctors are reluctant to authorize their patients to use marijuana either because its efficacy has not been proven in rigorous trials, shown to be superior to other drugs, or because they themselves fear risking their own federal license to prescribe medications like opiate pain killers if they are seen to be defying federal drug law. “I have legitimate cancer patients who cannot get a doctor to sign,” the Boulder dispensary owner said……“I have 12 doctors working with us right now,” said Paul Stanford, director of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, based in Portland, Ore. THCF has started clinics in eight states, often by bringing along one of its own paid doctors who happens to be licensed in that state. Stanford claimed his clinics are booming, too, with about 50 percent more calls and patient certifications than before the new administration took office…… http://www.marijuana.com/drug-war-headline-news/118951-usa-medical-marijuana-requests -climb-skyhigh.html Student caps speech with pot smoke By STACEY MULICK News Tribune /June 3, 2009, 5:22PM TACOMA, Wash. — The teachers wanted persuasive. And they got it. At the end of his speech Tuesday urging legalization of marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint, lit it and smoked away. Then he ate the remains. For that he got a quick escort to the school office and then a ride to Remann Hall juvenile jail. The stunt was celebrated among some of the teen’s peers but was frowned on to say the least by law enforcement officers and district administrators. “We believe in freedom of speech and encourage it, but illegal activities are absolutely not going to be tolerated in our district,” schools Superintendent Terry Bouck said…..One student present for the teen’s speech said it was eloquent, well argued and sincerely moved many students. “The student was making a statement towards (what he felt as) the arbitrary taboo our society places on marijuana use,” the 17-year-old junior stated in a comment on The News Tribune’s Web site….. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6456687.htm l Medical marijuana rules used to hide grow-ops ctvbc.ca /Sun Jun. 07 2009 An exemption from Health Canada to grow medicinal marijuana is opening the door for criminals to hide illegal grow-ops, according to experts. Darryl Plecas, a criminologist with B.C.'s University of the Fraser Valley, says police are finding more "sanctioned" grow operations across the province --operations where the proprietor has legal permission from the government to cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes. "Health Canada has been wrestling with this problem," he said. Plecas, who used to sit on Canada's medicinal marijuana advisory board, says the government agency does not have enough inspectors to monitor the situation. "In effect, it amounts to virtually no enforcement," he said. It is this lack of checks and balances surrounding medicinal grow-ops that is attracting organized crime. "This new situation where people can grow legitimately and criminals will seize on that to say I will hide under that umbrella --and if there are no inspections that will be the biggest reason why we have a problem," Plecas said. Once someone has a permit to grow from Health Canada it is very difficult for police to investigate because of privacy concerns. "That is something that can be abused by the criminal element to skirt detection," he said. Plecas believes the problem could be solved if Health Canada stopped allowing people to grow pot at home. "None of these hazards would be in place if we had marijuana for medical purposes grown in a commercial manner," he said. But as it stands right now, some medicinal grow operations are becoming part of B.C.'s biggest illegal industry. Organized crime groups are using an exemption from Health Canada to grow medical marijuana as a way to hide illegal grow-ops, according to experts. June 7, 2009. http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090607/bc _medicinal_marijuana_grow_ops_0906 07/20090607/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome Washington State: Medical marijuana dispensaries open Posted by newsdeskinternational /Written by Janet /06/25/2009 Medical marijuana can now be dispensed in Washington, legally, so dispensaries are opening in Spokane to provide it. Regardless of whether such stores are what Washington voters and legislators envisioned when they allowed medical marijuana, it may only be a matter of time before the businesses are commonplace:…..The Health Department determined that a medically authorized person could possess a 60-day supply, or 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana or 15 plants. Donn Moyer, a Health Department spokesman, said that enforcement of the laws is left to local, state and federal police….. Stevens said the next move for medical marijuana will be a push to force insurers — including the government’s Medicare and Medicaid programs to pay much like they do for prescription drug coverage….. http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/washington-state-medical-marijuanadispensaries-open/Medical marijuana clinic opens in Grants Pass June 26, 2009 The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland has opened a permanent medical marijuana clinic in Grants Pass. The clinic, at 558 N.E. F St., No. 1, in Colonial Plaza, is the first permanent medical marijuana clinic in Oregon outside Portland…..The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation's mission is to help patients with qualifying medical conditions obtain a permit to grow and use marijuana to treat their symptoms, Rode said. Another goal is to educate people about the medicinal, social and industrial uses for cannabis to increase hemp cultivation. Rode said medical marijuana treats a wide range of symptoms such as as nausea in cancer or AIDS patients, as well as the chronic pain people suffer from medical conditions or as a result of a serious accident. Rode said the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation already runs permanent clinics in Bellevue, Wash., Riverside, Calif., Denver and Detroit. He expects to open additional permanent clinics in Bend, Eugene and Spokane, Wash., in coming months. The foundation also holds a traveling clinic in Brookings every few months. http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/ pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090626/NEWS07/904070339/-1/NEWSMAP ** Each of the listed articles are available in their entirety upon request.