Daily Commentary – Thursday, July 2, 2015 – Recreational Marijuana is Now Allowed in the State of Oregon

• People 21 and older can now possess up to an ounce of pot when away from home and up to 8 ounces at home. They can also grow up to 4 plants.

Cornell Haynes, aka Rapper Nelly, Arrested on Felony Drug Charges in Tennessee Saturday after Hwy Patrol Found Drugs & Handguns on Tour Bus

40 year old Cornell Haynes, better known as the rapper Nelly, was arrested in Tennessee Saturday morning on felony drug charges. According to reports, Tennessee Highway patrol pulled the bus over that Nelly was traveling in around 9:20 AM in Putnam County on Saturday because a U.S. Department of Transportation International Fuel Tax Association sticker wasn’t displayed on the vehicle. Upon inspection, a highway trooper smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and the bus was searched where upon authorities found five crystalline rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana and three handguns. At the time of the arrests, six people in total were on the bus. Nelly’s lawyer said that “there had been 15-20 people that had access to the bus prior to the stop.” The rapper had on Friday performed at the North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington. Nelly and Brian Jones, were detained at Putnam County Jail and released later that day after posting 10,000 bail.

Nelly – mugshot, Putnam County Sheriff’s Dept

The rapper known as Nelly was arrested on felony drug charges in Tennessee on Saturday after highway patrol troopers said they found drugs and handguns in the bus he was riding in.

A Highway Patrol trooper pulled over the bus at around 9:20 a.m. in Putnam County Saturday because a U.S. Department of Transportation International Fuel Tax Association sticker wasn’t displayed, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said in a statement.

The trooper said he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and the bus was searched, the department said. Troopers found five crystalline rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana and three handguns, the department said. The department said the drugs were found inside a plastic bag in the sleeping area of the bus.

Nelly, 40, is charged with felony possession of drugs and lesser charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, authorities said. Another man, Brian Jones, was arrested for allegedly having a handgun as a convicted felon, the department said.

Nelly and Jones were booked and taken to the Putnam County Jail, and both men posted $10,000 bail and were released at 5:45 p.m. local time (6:45 p.m. ET), jail officials said.

Nelly Arrested on Felony Drug Charges in Tennessee.

TDOS said in the statement that a state trooper stopped a Prevost motor coach bus the two were riding in on Interstate 40, a highway that connects Nashville and Knoxville, for “failure to display a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and International Fuel Tax Association (IFTA) sticker on the vehicle.” He smelled pot emitting from the bus, the statement said. The trooper, assisted by another one, then “conducted a probable cause search” of the vehicle.

“The troopers discovered in the sleeper area a plastic bag that contained five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia,” police said.

“Allegedly, a small quantity of contraband (MDMA aka Molly or Ecstasy) was discovered during the routine search,” Nelly’s lawyer said in his statement.

Authorities also said that “further investigation revealed approximately 100 small Ziploc bags that are commonly associated with the sale of narcotics and numerous handguns, including a gold-plated 50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a 45-caliber Taurus pistol, and a 500 magnum Smith and Wesson.”

22 Year Old Alyssa Whitcomb Missing Since 3/4/15 in Toledo, OH

22 year old Alyssa Whitcomb has been missing since March 4, 2015 in Toledo, Ohio. Whitcomb was on her way to a job interview at Downtown Latte Coffeehouse on St. Clair Street around 2 p.m. that Wednesday, but never showed up. Whitcomb is part of the Toledo Volunteers of America, where she had been in a drug rehab program.

Whitcomb is described as 5 feet 3 inches, weighs 150 pounds, has brown eyes and brown hair with blond highlights in the front. She has a diamond piercing below her lip and a piercing on her chest. She also had three tattoos: Chinese writing on her shoulder, purple lilies down her left side, and green Chinese writing on her lower back.

Whitcomb disappeared March 4 from the Toledo Volunteers of America, where she had been in a drug rehab program. As part of the program, they help the participants find jobs to pay off their court fees.\

The 22-year-old had been on her way to a job interview at Downtown Latte Coffeehouse on St. Clair Street around 2 p.m. that Wednesday, but never showed up, according to information family said they received from Toledo police. Detectives at the station are not releasing information to media.

A Mansfield friend in the program went with Whitcomb to the interview, Long said. Both were supposed to return to the VOA by 4 p.m. The friend returned, but Whitcomb did not, Long said.

The friend said they don’t know what happened to her, Long said.

Then, around 7 p.m. that night, another friend in Mansfield reported getting a call from someone they believed to be Whitcomb. The caller asked for a ride from Toledo, but the woman said she didn’t have money to make the drive. The caller hung up.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact their local police station. Toledo police can be reached at 419-245-3142; Ashland police can be reached at 419-289-3639; Mansfield police can be reached at 419-522-1234.

Former Mayor of Washington, DC Marion “Mayor for Life” Barry Dies at 78

Marion Barry dead at age 78.

Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington, DC has passed away at the age of 78. Hospital spokeswoman Natalie Williams said Barry arrived at the hospital around 12:30 a.m. and died at 1:46 a.m. He had been released from Howard University Hospital on Saturday following a brief stay. There was no cause was given, but he had suffered from many health problems over the years, including diabetes, prostate cancer and kidney ailments. Barry was married four times and is survived by one son, Marion Christopher Barry.

Barry was first elected mayor in 1978, then re-elected in 1982 and 1986. However, Barry was probably most famous when he gained international notoriety in 1990 when he was videotaped in an FBI sting smoking crack in a downtown Washington hotel room with a female friend.  He was convicted on one count of drug possession and sentenced to six months in prison. Unbelievably, after getting out of prison, Barry was elected to a fourth, and final, term as mayor in 1994. It probably spoke more to the disarray of DC than anything else.

Former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry, whose four terms were overshadowed by his 1990 arrest after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine, died Sunday morning. He was 78.

Barry D.C. council spokeswoman LaToya Foster says he died shortly after midnight Sunday at a hospital in Washington. He had battled kidney problems stemming from diabetes and high blood pressure and underwent a kidney transplant in February 2009.

But he gained international notoriety in 1990 when he was videotaped in an FBI sting smoking crack in a downtown Washington hotel room with a female friend. He was convicted of a single count of drug possession — jurors had deadlocked on most counts — and sentenced to six months in prison.

Despite the embarrassment, Barry’s political career was far from over. In 1992, he made it back to city government, winning a council seat representing the poorest of the city’s eight wards. That victory helped propel him to a fourth, and final, term as mayor in 1994.

UPDATE I: Barack Obama paid tribute to the late mayor:

Dude, really? I guess if you overlook that little crack thing. (VIDEO)

President Obama on Sunday paid tribute to the late Marion Barry, saying the former Washington, D.C., mayor and councilman made a mark fighting against poverty and spearheading other initiatives that earned him the respect of his city.

Daily Commentary – Thursday, November 13, 2014 – According to the United Nations, U.S. States Pot Legalization Not in line with International Law

• Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said he didn’t see how the laws can be compatible with existing conventions

Daily Commentary – Thursday, November 13, 2014 Download