News Nuggets (Washington)

Pro-legalization Ron Paul blasts government “busybodies”

Texas congressman Ron Paul—a pro-legalization, anti-prohibition GOP presidential candidate—spoke out last month against government “busybodies” during a rally at the Spokane Convention Center, The Spokesman-Review reports. Paul was the top finisher of 2008’s caucuses in Spokane County.

“When it comes to personal liberties, lifestyles and what we put into our bodies, all of a sudden we have a bunch of busybodies telling us exactly what we’re supposed to do with our lives,” Paul told a crowd of roughly 1,000 people. “We should never accept the idea that the government can protect us against ourselves.”

Thurston County detectives use deception to bust collectives

Defense attorneys for several medical cannabis collectives that were raided late last year say detectives use “apparent fraud” as part of their investigation, according to The Olympian. Three detectives with the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force obtained medical marijuana authorizations using their false, undercover names last August and November. They then procured medical marijuana at Cannabis Outreach Services in Lacey nearly a dozen times.

Chief Thurston County Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Toynbee has previously defended such a practice as common and legal, saying undercover detectives use “ruses” during undercover operations.

Cannabis charges against Seahawks linebacker dropped

Marijuana charges against Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill were dismissed last month, according to The Seattle Times. Hill was arrested in February and charged for possessing less than an ounce. This charge was later dropped at the request of the prosecution, though lawyers for both sides, and Hill himself, have declined to state why this happened.

Hill has played with the Seahawks for the past seven seasons. In 2010, Hill pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana possession.