New York City

Jamaica: shock in Kingston as Dudus Coke cuts deal

Posted on September 4th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

CaribbeanResidents of Kington's poor district of Tivoli Gardens reacted with shock and disbelief to the news that extradited accused drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke arranged a plea bargain this week at Federal District Court in Manhattan. "I'm devastated," one anonymous member of the Coke clan told the Jamaica Gleaner. Scores were killed in days of street-fighting in the district last year as police and army troops were deployed to hunt down Coke for extradition to the US.

New Yorkers don't know their rights, investigation finds

Posted on May 9th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

New York CityAn investigation by WNYC Radio into the New York Police Department's often illegal and racially discriminatory wave of arrests for misdemeanor cannabis possession finds that the police exploit citizens' ignorance of their rights. Out of the more than 50,000 arrests for possession in New York City last year, almost no one challenged the legality of the manner they were searched. And when the cases were thrown out—as many as 10 to 15 times every day in the Bronx alone—it was usually because police accidentally admitted they violated the rights of the person they searched.

NYC: 2010 cannabis arrests top 1978-96 total

Posted on February 17th, 2011 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

New York City More people were arrested last year in New York City for cannabis possession than in the entire 19-year period from 1978 to 1996, according to an analysis released Feb. 11 by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), drawing on figures from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. In 2010—the sixth year in a row that possession arrests increased—50,383 were busted for low-level cannabis offenses.

New York-Florida arrests in Operation Green Venom

Posted on October 19th, 2010 by Bilbo and tagged , , , , , , , .

New York CityAfter a widely publicized series of raids from Florida to New York City, on Oct. 5 the US Attorney's Southern District Office in Manhattan "announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging ten individuals and a complaint charging 40 individuals with participating in a massive marijuana trafficking ring that transported ton-quantities of marijuana from Florida and California for distribution in the greater New York area from the early 1990's to 2010."

New York passes law banning "stop and frisk" database

Posted on July 19th, 2010 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

New York CityNew York Gov. David Paterson on July 16 signed a bill prohibiting the retention of personal information on individuals detained by New York City police during a "stop and frisk" but ultimately not charged with a crime. The law was approved by the New York Assembly last month and will end the practice of police obtaining and keeping an electronic record of all individuals who are temporarily detained based on a police officer's reasonable suspicion.

Veteran Fug Tuli Kupferberg dead at 86

Posted on July 12th, 2010 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , .

TuliCounterculture legend Tuli Kupferberg, co-founder of The Fugs and self-described "world’s oldest rock star," died July 12 in Manhattan at the age of 86. He had been in poor health since suffering two strokes last year, said Ed Sanders, his longtime friend and fellow Fug.

Bail denied for Staten Island "cannabis king"

Posted on June 4th, 2010 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , .

New York CityJonathan Braun, 27, and looking more like a "skinny slacker from Staten Island" than the leader of an international drug-trafficking ring, was denied bail at a Brooklyn hearing June 3, with federal magistrate Viktor Pohorelsky saying, "The government has posited substantial evidence of Mr. Braun's involvement in this conspiracy, which involves huge amounts of marijuana and huge amounts of money."

"Haute stoner cuisine" makes NY Times

Posted on May 30th, 2010 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , .

foodKim Severson, writing in the New York Times May 18 under the headline "Marijuana Fuels a New Kitchen Culture," quotes author and professional foodie Anthony Bourdain to the effect that chefs in the Big Apple's classiest eateries are regularly toking. "Everybody smokes dope after work," says Bourdain. "People you would never imagine." Severson argues that cannabis-induced cravings are even starting to influence the city's culinary trends:

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