Ok....like i said we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

You are right. I saw one demonstration with a police drug search dog. They had placed a very small amount of marijuana in a sealed glass jar. They then wrapped it in saran wrap covered in Vic's Vapor Rub. They repeated this process over a dozen times - wrapping it over and over again - and placed it with several other containers. They then brought in the dog and it found the weed rather quickly.

Sort of funny article on the Cali "medical" pot racket. Meant to post it last week but forgot about it.

We have medical weed here in NJ too....but unfortunately you really have to be sick to get it and even then it's a real pain in the ass.

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Medical Marijuana in California Is a Total Scam (But It's Dope!)

BY Rocco Pendola
| 01/27/14


NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Inspired by recent (and excellent) work from TheStreet's Debra Borchardt on marijuana -- legal, medical, whatever -- I decided to tell my story.



In November of 2013, I went through the "process" of obtaining a California "Medical" Marijuana card. You actually don't need to have a card to grow or possess pot in the state. You just need the go-ahead from a licensed physician and the paperwork that green light triggers. It's a piece of paper like this ...



The "clinic" that processed my -- I guess it's an application -- suggested I pay a couple extra bucks for an ID card because it would make my life easier if the cops ever questioned me. I don't think I have an official ID card from the State of California. The type described at the California Department of Public Health Web site.

But who cares? It simply doesn't matter. I have a license to get high, legally, in the eyes of the State. That's, no doubt, dope. But it's also a complete and total farce.

If you are of age and can go along with the wink-wink, nudge-nudge program and sign your name, you can accomplish the same. In fact, if you're willing to pay an additional $25 for "Express Service" at one of the Los Angeles area Doc 420 clinics, run by "trusted" M.D. and calendar girl (!), Sona Patel, you don't even have to wait in line!



Details are inconsequential with respect to weed in California. In fact, the notion of legalizing marijuana in the State of California is really moot. In other words, it is, at least in densely populated Los Angeles and, I think it's safe to assume, San Francisco, far Northern California and other random places such as Santa Cruz already, for all intents and purposes, "legal."


Making it legal -- without quotation marks -- would, for a considerable portion of the population that cares to smoke, change very little.

Here's the deal. And this may or may not be news to you. I'm just relaying my experience and thoughts associated with it.

While I get personal in my articles at TheStreet from time to time, I haven't talked much about anxiety and depression. Simply put, it's something I have dealt with -- sometimes quite well; at other times, not so much -- for a considerable portion of my life. Over the last decade, I have used traditional means to medicate -- therapy, anti-depressants and, here and there, weed.

I'm convinced that my flavor of mental illness cannot be cured; rather the afflicted can only manage it. That's cool with me. I don't mind being depressed. It happens to be, in some form, my natural state. That doesn't mean I'm a mope or perpetual sad sack. I'm just not the guy with a smile on my face all the time. And I'm sure as hell not going to feign one for the crowd.

Anyhow, quite a few of us like to drink alcohol because, at least in part, it makes us feel good. We like the buzz. Or even getting drunk. That's socially acceptable stuff as long as you keep it in check. It's perfectly OK to unwind -- and relieve some tension -- at the end of a hard-earned day with a couple beers or a glass of wine. In my experience, you can say the same about marijuana.


It's a recreational drug many users fool themselves into advocating as some unique therapeutic fix for emotional distress. In that regard, it's no better than alcohol, unless, of course, being a pothead has less destructive effects than being an alcoholic. But, with that in mind, how could you possibly use marijuana frequently enough for it to have an ongoing therapeutic impact anyway?

Personally, I rarely smoke weed. I couldn't function properly on a variety of levels if I did. It's not like taking a daily dose of Prozac (something I no longer do). I'm not sure about the constitution of others, but I'm not made up in a such a way that I can smoke routinely and not experience ill physical and mental side effects. The same, of course, can be said for drinking.

If you have to smoke or drink daily -- which, again, just doesn't seem feasible or at all healthy -- to alleviate anxiety and depression, you really need to (annoying buzzword alert) circle back to the issues that triggered this behavior in the first place. For some us, frequent reflection is a necessary part of life that keeps us on our A-game. That keeps us on top of -- and in some form of control over -- our afflictions.

Find me somebody who hasn't dealt with or is dealing with depression and anxiety. I like to tell people that if you're not depressed, you're not paying attention. Weed plays about zero role in helping me manage my depression. Certainly, in the short timeframes while I am high, it helps, but I could do a whole host of other things -- many harmless (go for a bike ride, run, do yoga, have sex), others quite harmful (take other drugs, cut, blow off steam vandalizing property or beating people up) that would help, temporarily, just as much.


All of this to say, it's easy to establish a nexus between your mental health and a need for weed. And that's exactly what large numbers of people who get legal in California do for the express written consent to do nothing other than get high.

But it's all bull crap.

Granted, there are some folks who probably don't fit my illustration. And I will get ripped by lots of people who claim they would be emotional messes without weed. But, frankly, I think you're, on average, fooling yourselves. And you ought to stop.

(This characterization does not apply to folks who use medical marijuana for cancer and such; I have no experience with this -- knock on freaking wood, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise -- so I cannot speak personally to it -- knock on wood again).

The State of California ought to stop the masquerade as well. So should every other state in the nation still participating in the idiotic debate about whether to legalize weed or not. We're just beating around the bush. We're wasting time that could be spent on issues that actually matter.

If somebody wants to smoke weed, why should we expend energy trying to stop them? Whether they do it rationally or irrationally for medical, recreational or some other purpose. The fact that we even "debate" this is the first place is as much of a farce as the current product of the "debate" here in California.

Because, I don't care where you live. If you want to get weed, you're going to get it. And you're going to smoke it. And, for the most part, if you're smart about it, nobody is going to bother you about it. The Feds look like total bullies when they bust people for smoking weed, as long as there's no illicit activity associated with it (and, I think I can say with confidence, there usually isn't).

So we take these baby steps -- like instituting "medical" marijuana laws and regulations in California -- that, in practice, end up operating as farce. Stop the charade and legalize it. 100% legalization. Stop making people make themselves believe they're getting the license to treat melancholy or stress when they, like so many other alcohol-drinking, porn-watching, vice-succumbing Americans just want to get high once in a while.

The funniest part of the whole process of getting certified as a "medical" marijuana "patient" in California is sitting across the table from the doctor who walks you through the dog and pony show. To make the whole thing more authentic, you should smoke a joint together during the formality of ...

So why would you like to smoke medical marijuana?
Because I have anxiety and depression and I don't want to take traditional meds.
OK. So how long has this been going on? How long have you dealt with anxiety and depression?
Um, as long as I remember.
OK. Well, you sound like you qualify for a license. Marijuana can probably help you with your anxiety and depression.

Then there's small talk. You shake your head vertically through the boilerplate full of warnings and such. You answer yes and no at all the right times. The papers get signed.

And I was off to The Farmacy on Abbot Kinney in Venice. A great little shop where you can browse and buy weed. It's as attractive a retail establishment as your average Apple (AAPL) Store. Nice storefront. Not your typical shady place, standard throughout Southern California, with the green cross displayed over frosted windows.

But, lo and behold, these guys had to close up. And, according to their Web site, they still haven't been able to reopen.



Because, here again, we're wasting our time as a society, as a culture pushing paper to write regulations as the zeitgeist continues to shift. Just like it has with gay marriage.

Venice has a problem with a shop selling weed (at a premium price, by the way) because it's too close to a children's center, yet it stands by while homeless drunks and gang members trash its popular boardwalk along the beach adjacent to and within view of Santa Monica Pier.

Priorities people.

I'll leave the great investigative work on this to TheStreet's Deb Borchardt. In fact, I would love to see her look into doctors handing out medical marijuana clearances to their "patients" in California as practice. Dr. Patel appears to have built something like a cottage industry out of it, selling everything from the aforementioned calendars and "express service" to her own branded line of vaporizers.

But the moral of my personal story is quite straightforward ... Not only do we have more important issues to deal with as a society and in our cities, but we misdirect and, in this case, flat out waste resources on a set of laws that do nothing more than window dress what's really going on.

If only the State of California was as resourceful (or is it seemingly opportunistic?), as Dr. Patel. That surprise budget surplus we recently announced would be even bigger.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12262234/...t-its-dope.html

When I was out in Cali working I received a phonecall from one of my supervisor's telling me that I randomly got picked for a "Fit for Duty" test. I told him that I wouldn't go so of course he needed to know why. I ended up calling my main boss back in Mass and told him I didn't think I could take the test that day. He asked why and I just told him that I occasionally smoke pot and that I'm not a habitual user. I also told him that I was being completely honest and that I didn't want him to think that I was doing other "drugs". I then told him that I have some stressful days and that's how I would unwind because I thought that was much safer than "getting into a company vehicle and driving 10 miles down the road to have some margueritas then driving back to the hotel..." My boss, who I've worked with for over 12 years, just said "no, I completely agree with you but unfortunately you're still gonna have to take the drug test." The next day I bought synthetic urine at a gas station and passed the test. It was such a joke.

You honestly would not smell this shit. It's vacuum sealed and usually it's done with 2 bags making it almost impossible to smell. What probably happened is someone tipped off the cops and they busted the guy while he was leaving UPS. These busts aren't as organized and technologically advanced as your average Joe on the street might think. It's usually all by chance and a call made by a CI. F**kin Rats!!

You are correct. I stand corrected

You're wrong. See Ivys post

It's really not a educated guess on my part...but lets just leave it at that.

Cheech i in no way said you lied. Just a honest difference of opinion on it....thats all.

I stand corrected sir. I was wrong

Hahaha.....synthetic urine! Did you use the Whizzinator? A friend of mine used to have one but after Tom Sizemore got caught using one and it was on the news all the testers started looking to make sure it was a real dick. The shit people come up with is pretty amazing.

Luckily i've pretty much always been self employed and never had to put up with that on the job drug testing shit.

Haha no I didn't get the whizzinator but I've heard all about it. The synthetic urine I used was like $12 and it came in a little plastic bottle. I had heard that the administrator of these tests didn't watch anyone take a piss but I can't imagine getting caught with the whizzinator. Wow my phone auto corrected my spelling of whizzinator but I don't know what would more embarrassing...failing the drug test or being caught with a fake dick in my underwear. Probly the latter. Didn't someone in the NBA get caught using the whizzinator a few years ago?

Probably....but i couldn't tell you who. I just remember when the actor Tom Sizemore got caught by his P.O. (?) using one and they got a lot of publicity from it.

Mike Tyson has said he used one too numerous times...i think it was in his book.

i think cheech is right that the majority of shipments of weed through the mail go undetected, ive seen guys ship in between sheets of drywall, ive even heard of it shipped in basketballs that have been spliced open filled with lbs and stitched back up, but every once in a while you will hear of a guy getting a shipment dropped off and when he picks it up the cops swoop in on him, so theres always a risk to it.

And with the dogs, ive seen them pick up the scent in a car with no weed in, just that a joint had been smoked in the car like a week earlier and they could still pick up the scent, but on the flip side, ive also seen a drug dog(with my own eyes) walk right past a backpack with two ounces of skunk in it(not shrink wrapped or anything, just in a regular bag) and the dog couldn't pick up the smell. the way i see it, theres no exact science to it...just my .02

I don't doubt it Del. Probably depends on the dog too. Between all the package courier companies theres probably a ton of different goodies being delivered every day by them. Some get through...some don't.

I can't believe we're arguing about drug dogs. lol! Oh well.

Back to Carlos . I know for sure he was setting up shop with this ship and thru cronies was reaching out to guy they knew to be cool or could possibly move some ( some of whom I know ) . This type of activity should not be what a wise guy does . When you pick this up , you already know exactly who is taking it and generally for what price , a so called quick flip making maybe $500 - $1000 an LB. This op was pretty shocking

Was this Carlo Taccetta's first pinch? I really don't know too much about him...just a little on his father and Uncle.

If it's his first offense he might be able to cut a deal and MAYBE just plead to possession...but if he goes down for distribution of 60 lb's i think the mandatory minimums kick in. But being a Taccetta in the the state of NJ is going to most likely work against any worthwhile plea deal.

how could this be true? didnt you see Ivy's post about seeing something different on youtube

Instead of using Vic's u use pepper spray... Immobilizes the dogs nose theoretically

We're back to the dogs again? lol

Really is just a difference of opinions on it. Nothing personal against anyone here.

You never know when this might come in handy, Giancarlo.

Huh?

I'm starting to think i must be missing something here.

Has anyone heard any news about this??

Nothing really much to add at the moment he's been arrested and is awaiting trial or whatever. Unless he flips i don't think it gonna become a big deal.

As for rental cars used for trafficking, remember when the Westies hired grandmothers to transport their stuff and even let grandma keep the car once the deal was done?