marijuana

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today a Boston police officer should not have searched the glove compartment of a car he had stopped in Dorchester because he failed to provide evidence he needed to search the car immediately to protect either his own or the public's safety.

The ruling upholds the decision of a Boston Municipal Court judge to disallow the gun and ammunition, which might make it tough for prosecutors to continue charging Clint Daniel and Alyson Tayetto with illegal possession of a loaded firearm with a defaced serial number and illegal possession of a large capacity feeding device.

City Councilor Rob Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan) says he sympathizes with people with the sort of debilitating illnesses who would require medical marijuana, but he doesn't want the dispensaries approved by voters to be allowed to set up shop just anywhere.

Consalvo on Wednesday asks the City Council to approve a hearing to start figuring out how to limit where dispensaries can open.

The City Council sympathizes with those individuals suffering from debilitating medical conditions; however, the City of Boston has the responsibility to ensure that the Zoning Code be updated to ensure that dispensaries be zoned and located in the most appropriate way in our neighborhoods.

Consalvo's proposed hearing would seek input from, among others, the BRA, Boston Police, and state and city public-health departments on siting marijuana sales outlets.

Richard Vetstein reports landlords are smokin' mad because the law passed by voters this week lets people with medical conditions grow a two-month supply of weed at home if they can't get to one of those dispensaries the law allows. Homegrown pot could mean mold, water damage, fires from improperly wired grow lights and even an increased risk of burglaries from thieves looking for a quick hit. And then there are the feds:

Bay State landlords are also concerned about running afoul of federal drug laws as marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law. Landlords are begging Beacon Hill lawmakers to give them the right to refuse to rent to tenants who grow pot for medical use over fears their property could be seized. As reported in the Boston Herald, commercial and residential landlords are right to worry, drug forfeiture attorneys say, because landlords can be charged as conspirators if their tenants are targeted by the feds.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that people caught with less than an ounce of marijuana can still be tried in criminal court if police and prosecutors can show they planned to sell the pot.

The Patriot Ledger reports the chairman of Progressive Insurance has contributed $525,000 to a group pushing a ballot question to legalize the medical use of marijuana here. The group has raised $1,167 from other sources.

For the second time this year, the House of Blues is before the Boston Licensing Board for a toking performer - this time for one who took a drag onstage then passed her joint to front-row fans.

My Southborough reports Town Meeting last night approved a $300 fine for spliff sucking - and gave the police chief the power to bring criminal charges against local pot fiends, even though she told Town Meeting she has no intention of re-criminalizing pot possession in the town.

Hear Ye! Hear ye! Morrissey Boulevard has issued a proclamation that the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vote No on Questions 1, 2, and 3.

To clarify: the Globe wants to continue the state income tax because they have a huge sexytime crush on Mike Widmer, send pot smokers to Guantanamo Bay forever, and run Greyhounds directly into the ground.

Got that?

Barney Frank explains his position on decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.