LINDSAY LOHAN LAWSUIT OVER CAR PUSRSUIT

Lindsay Lohan was sued Tuesday for assault and negligence by a passenger in a car the actress allegedly chased while drunk last month
“What Miss Lohan did that night was extremely dangerous and reprehensible,” Tracie Rice, the woman who filed the suit, said in statement, according to the Associated Press. “Someone could easily have been killed or seriously hurt because of her irresponsible decisions that evening.”
Rice’s attorney, Paul Hoffman says: “My client, Tracie Rice, thought she was going to die that night, and wants Ms. Lohan to be held accountable because Lohan’s behavior was so extreme and outrageous. Ms. Rice is still traumatized from the incident.

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NICOLE RICHIE TO SERVE 90 HOURS IN JAIL FOR DUI VIOLATION

Nicole Richie, co-star on"The Simple Life" was sentenced this moring at the Glendale courthouse to serve 90 hours in jail for driving under the influence in December. Richie has been given until September 28th to serve her jail hours.

Richie is rumored to be four months pregnant. She showed up at the courthouse with no immediate family, just her boyfriend, As part of her sentencing she is to complete 21 days of rehab, and will be on probation for three years.

YESTERDAY'S LA DEA RAIDS SECOND BIGGEST ALL TIME

DEA raids LA medical marijuana clinics

By ANDREW GLAZER, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 26, 2:41 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Federal agents raided 10 marijuana clinics Wednesday, the same day city leaders introduced a measure calling for an end to the crackdown on the dispensaries allowed under state law.

The bust netted five arrests, large quantities of marijuana and cash, and was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's second-largest since California voters approved medical marijuana sales in 1996. The drug remains illegal under federal law.

DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen said the timing of the bust and the city's action was "purely coincidental."

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Allison has been asked to represent five medical marijuana prostesters that were arrested during the raids.

DEA MORE RAIDS UNDERWAY ON LA CANNABIS CLUBS

The DEA at it again in LA!

The DEA raided several cannabis clubs today in Hollywood. One of those clubs includes the California Patient’s Group on Santa Monica Blvd and Vine St. As police officers stand by it's been reported that up to two hundred protesters have been gathering ouside the popular cannabis club to show thier support

Several members of the CPG's staff as well as some patients are being held inside the dispensary.

LINDSAY LOHAN SURRENDERS TO BEVERLY HILLS POLICE

Police book Lohan on charges spurred by May crash

By Richard Winton, Times Staff Writer
July 20, 2007

Actress Lindsay Lohan surrendered to Beverly Hills Police Thursday in connection with a driving under the influence incident in May.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's website record shows she was taken into custody at about 4 p.m. and booked 15 minutes later. She was released an hour later in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Lohan was initially arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in May after she crashed her Mercedes convertible in Beverly Hills shortly before dawn. Lohan, 21 was slightly injured after she lost control of her car traveling west on Sunset Boulevard about 5:30 a.m., Beverly Hills police said. The car ended up striking a curb and shrubbery along Foothill Road. Two other people in the 2005 Mercedes SL65 -- a car that normally seats a driver and one passenger -- were not hurt. The "Georgia Rule" and "Mean Girls" star left the scene of the crash and was taken by an unidentified associate to Century City Doctors Hospital, Lt. Mitch McCann told the Times at the time.

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DEA MAILS WARNING LETTERS TO CANNABIS CLUB LANDLORDS

DEA targets landlords of pot outlets

About 150 L.A. owners are told they could face jail and lose properties rented to dispensaries.

By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2007

Raising the stakes in the federal government's war against medical marijuana, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned more than 150 Los Angeles landlords that they risk arrest and the loss of their properties if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. Landrum, DEA special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, has whipped up worries among landlords and dispensary operators in a region that has seen a proliferation of the businesses in the last two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative job selling high-tech hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months ago in Hollywood. "My landlord believes in cannabis as medicine. But they're taking the letter very seriously. So I'll be closing my doors at the end of this month."

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excerpt from landlord letter:

"The DEA has determined you own, or have under your management or control, a building located at [ADDRESS]. The DEA has determined there is a marijuana dispensary, [NAME], operating on the property.

This is a violation of federal law...."

ORANGE COUNTY ACCEPTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

O.C. to license medical marijuana

In a switch from an earlier stand, the county will issue ID cards and validate prescriptions.

By Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writer
July 18, 2007

Orange County will begin licensing medical marijuana use and issuing identification cards to patients who are entitled to it under a plan approved by county supervisors Tuesday.

The decision marked a surprise turnabout from just three months ago, when the proposal initially seemed doomed to failure.

Under the plan, the county will create a system to identify patients eligible to use marijuana for medical purposes, and issue them identification cards, validate prescriptions and monitor the qualifications of care providers who dispense the drug.

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CATHOLIC CHURCH AGREES TO PAY 660 MILLION FOR CLERGY ABUSE

Lee Bashforth says the church settled at the last minute to avoid a public trial.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A judge on Monday approved a $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse, the largest payout yet in a nationwide sex abuse scandal.

Some of the plaintiffs sobbed as the deal was formally approved and a moment of silence was held for others who had died during the years of negotiations.

"This is the right result," said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz.

"Settling the cases was the right thing to do, and it was done by dint of a number of extremely talented and dedicated people putting in an awful lot of time."

The deal came after more than five years of negotiations and is by far the largest payout by any diocese since the clergy abuse scandal emerged in Boston in 2002.

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LEE BACA - NON VIOLENT OFFENDERS SHOULD GO HOME

Baca seeks authority to order home detention



Some legislators call the practice too lenient, while sheriff says it ensures more dangerous inmates will serve full sentences.
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2007

SACRAMENTO — Under fire for overcrowded jails, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is seeking the power to force thousands of inmates to be placed on detention in their homes, but prisoners rights advocates are fighting the move, saying that it would mean many more inmates would be deprived of the medical and mental healthcare they get behind bars.

Baca called the proposed new power a short-term solution to the jail overcrowding problem that has forced him to release thousands of inmates after they served only a fraction of their sentences.

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Is anyone else coming up with solutions to reduce LA's insanely overcowded prison population? Right on Sheriff Baca!

MAYORS AGREE DRUG WAR A BUST

Nation's Mayors Call for a New Bottom Line in U.S. Drug Policy

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) made history last weekend by passing a resolution calling for a public health approach to the problems of substance use and abuse (PDF). The resolution was sponsored by Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City.

The resolution proclaims the war on drugs a failure, and calls for "a New Bottom Line in U.S. drug policy, a public health approach that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social problems of their own."

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NORML PODCAST

My very first Norml Podcast interview with Chris Goldstein




7/3/07 9:35 PM