Lawmakers In 5 States Tell Feds To Back Off Medical Marijuana

Elected lawmakers in five states have a message for the federal government: Don't interfere with state medical marijuana laws.

In an open letter to the federal government, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle called on the government to stop using scarce law enforcement resources on taking pot away from medical marijuana patients.

"States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states," the lawmakers explained in their letter.

"Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law."

The letter -- signed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-Calif.), Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Wash.), Rep. Antonio Maestas (D-N.M.), Sen. Cisco McSorley (D-N.M.), Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Calif.), Rep. Deborah Sanderson (R-Maine) and Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Colo.) -- comes directly on the heels of a federal raid in the heart of California's pot legalization movement: medical marijuana training school Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland, where U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials on Monday blocked off doors with yellow tape and carried off trash bags full of unknown substances to a nearby van. An IRS spokeswoman could not comment on the raid except to say the agents had a federal search warrant.

The lawmakers called on President Obama to live up to his campaign promise to leave the regulation of medical marijuana to the states, adding raids would only "force patients underground" into the illegal drug market.

The president as a candidate promised to maintain a hands-off approach toward pot clinics that adhere to state law. At a 2007 town hall meeting in Manchester, N.H., Obama said raiding patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes "makes no sense." At another town hall in Nashua, N.H., he said the Justice Department's prosecution of medical marijuana users was "not a good use of our resources." Yet the number of Justice Department raids on marijuana dispensaries has continued to rise.

Born in Haiti’s Football Fields, JahNesta Makes Its Mark in Reggae

(via Caribbean Journal)

Before the music, there was football.

Haiti’s premier reggae band was born on Haiti’s football fields, where Alain Moraille would play in what he calls the sport’s “school of life.”

The same friends with whom Moraille competed on Port-au-Prince’s fields eventually became his collaborators in JahNesta, a reggae band which continues to make its mark on the increasingly global reggae scene.

“Before playing music, we were playing ball,” he says.

Despite a dearth of Haiti-sourced reggae to date, the music is broadly appreciated in the country, according to Moraille.

Modern Haitian reggae largely began with Port-au-Prince native Bigga Haitian, who rose to prominence in the 1990s after spending his formative years in Brooklyn.

While Moraille is quick to say JahNesta did not invent Haitian reggae, his group has certainly brought it to the forefront.

“People tend to say JahNesta is the first reggae band in Haiti,” he says. “But I’ll be the first one to say no. Because I was influenced by other artists — at the time, they were doing another type of music, but they would have one reggae song on their album. So it already started there.”

Reggae’s popularity has only grown in the country, he says, though it has always been something of a force.

“It’s not like other types of music where it’s a fashion trend,” he says. “Reggae was already there. When you go into the ghetto, for example, people really listen to reggae music. That’s why it was natural for me to do reggae music in Creole. Because I always knew that people would identify themselves with the music.”

The music resonates in Haiti, he says, because of its message.

“Coming from a third world country, or any country, I think reggae is a music that deals with reality, what people are living,” he says. “As Bob Marley would put it, reggae is ‘news.’ There’s no fiction in roots reggae. It’s real — it’s something that people are living.”

JahNesta, which has grown to include members from Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa, is expanding its portfolio to include songs in English and French, in order to concentrate on the international market — although Moraille said the group would merely change the lyrics — not the message.

“The content is something that is very important to me,” he says. “The more people can dig and understand the message, the better it is. That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop doing music in Creole — that’s where we come from. It’s just to have a broader perspective.”

JahNesta continues to tour, though its membership has seen turnover through the years. A number of players, after touring in the US and Canada, chose to stay abroad, as the political situation got “heavy” in Haiti.

Not much has changed today — and as the domestic political situation continues to face uncertainty, it’s on the mind of Moraille, who says music can be crucial in helping to harmonize the country.

“Music is a big tool — an important to tool,” he says. “I feel that unless we really, deeply change our mindset, our conscience, no politics will be able to change.”

And reggae may even be the solution.

“I would invite the politicians to listen more to reggae,” he says. “Maybe they would be better politicians!”

Cocoa Tea gets back to basics

Singer Cocoa Tea says his latest album, Wey Di Reggae Dey, was inspired by a question he has been asked regularly on recent tours. “Dem sey, ‘how no reggae coming outa Jamaica?’, a jus’ pure dancehall,” Cocoa Tea told the Jamaica Observer. “Wi want to address dat.”

Cocoa Tea recorded most of Wey Di Reggae Dey at his studio in Hayes, Clarendon, with additional recording taking place at Tuff Gong and producer Bobby ‘Bobby Digital’ Dixon’s studio. The new set is scheduled to be released this month by Cocoa Tea’s Roaring Lion Productions. Already two songs, A Love Like Yours And Mine and Inna Di Red, have been released.

Responding to frustrated fans, Cocoa Tea says he went mainly for original music and recorded most of the songs live. Drummer Kirk Bennett, keyboardist Bowie McLaughlin and saxophonist Dean Fraser played on Wey Di Reggae Dey which is Cocoa Tea’s most ambitious studio project since the much-hailed Barack Obama three years ago.

That song paid homage to the popular United States senator who became president, the first Black man to hold that office. Interestingly, the dancehall genre that has been criticised for promoting unsocial behaviour has been good to Cocoa Tea.

Born Calvin Scott in Rocky Point, Clarendon, he is one of the movement’s elder statesmen, having recorded his first song in 1974 at age 13. It would be another 10 years before he broke through with Rocking Dolly, produced by Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes.
Along with Yellowman and Barrington Levy, Cocoa Tea was a key member of the flamboyant Lawes’ Volcano Camp, releasing follow-up hits like Lost My Sonia and Kingston. After Lawes moved to the United States, Cocoa Tea linked with producer Lloyd ‘King Jammys’ James with whom he enjoyed another good run. The Cocoa Tea/Jammys tandem produced some of the dancehall’s biggest hits of the 1990s, such as Tune In, 18 And Over and Come Again. Now, Cocoa Tea is doing things on his own, acting as producer and distributor for Wey Di Reggae Dey which he says is not just intended for the charts. “The important thing is fi mek music dat the youth dem can appreciate,” he said. “Dat’s what Beres (Hammond) do an’ look how the youth dem love him.”

Police Returns Vybz Kartel's Assets Including Benz

A source close to the high-profile case against embattled dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel has revealed that the artiste's 2010 S-Class Mercedes-Benz among other assets, have been released to his family.

The assets were released to the artiste's family by the police last month. In 2010, the deejay had made the talk of the town with his luxury motor vehicle.

In an interview that same year, Kartel said, "no deejay eva own a S-Class Benz. This Benz is the flagship of the Benz's line, meaning dis a di top, top Benz." He further said, "It do everything except fly, the body can raise, it just have the whole driving experience, is like yuh a drive pon air."

However, last year, it was reported that the deejay's S-Class Mercedes-Benz which is said to value over $12 million along with documentation regarding properties he owns were seized.

The items were being stored at the Police Commissioner's office in St Andrew.

According to the credible source yesterday, the deejay's S-Class Benz is with his family, "I can confirm that the assets were released to his family. I have seen the vehicle (S-Class Mercedes-Benz)," the source told THE STAR yesterday.

The source also said that some of the other items that were returned include the deejay's passport and computer. Kartel was recently granted $3 million bail in the Home Circuit Court in relation to the murder case of businessman Barrington 'Bossy' Burton. However, he remains in custody in connection with the murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams.

Williams was reportedly beaten and stabbed in Havendale, St Andrew, on August 16, but the police are yet to locate his body.

In the meantime, Kartel, who has been in custody since October 1 last year is to return to court on April 13.