Global Ganja Report

Peter Orlovsky, longtime partner of Allen Ginsberg and a renowned poet and counterculture figure in his own right, died May 30 in Vermont of lung cancer. He was 76.

The Los Angeles Times recalls that Orlovsky met Ginsberg in San Francisco in 1954, just before Ginsberg wrote his seminal poem, "Howl," which was the subject of a 1957 obscenity trial that became a landmark free-expression case. Ginsberg and Orlovsky later moved to Paris, where they stayed with Gregory Corso, William Burroughs and others in a boarding house that would become known as the Beat Hotel. In the early 1960s, Orlovsky and Ginsberg traveled in India together, where they both became devotees of meditation and eastern mysticism.

The Coast Guard discovered nearly 800 pounds of cannabis in a boat traveling from the Bahamas on May 30. The 20-foot US-flagged boat was stopped around midnight after authorities received reports of a suspicious vessel making its way west from Bimini. Inspectors found 47 bricks of cannabis with an estimated value of $725,000 on the boat. Two crew members were detained and turned over to Customs and Border Protection, along with the cannabis and the vessel. (ANH, May 31)

Kim 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:

Morocco's Royal Gendarmerie announced the seizure and incineration of 5.8 tons of "chira" or cannabis in the southeastern province of Errachidia this month. Last December, Moroccan authorities seized nearly 10 tons of cannabis in the same region and arrested six suspected members of an international trafficking network—three Malians, two Moroccans and one Algerian.

The USA's premier cannabis education institution, Oakland's Oaksterdam University, boosted its legitimacy and ended a long-simmering internal issue May 27 with an announcement that the school is unionizing about 100 jobs. The Bay Area's UFCW Local 5 said that employees at Oaksterdam and five related enterprises have voted to join them, and separate elections are also being verified at cannabis hydroponics retailer iGrow and cultivation company AgraMed.

A Montana lawmaker is calling for a bill to overturn the state's 2004 medical marijuana initiative in the next legislative session. State Sen. Jim Shockley (R-Victor), said that the law is flawed because it provides no control over dosage, distribution, or growing.

Vancouver's "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, extradited from his native Canada, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Seattle on May 24 to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. As part of a plea bargain, Emery, 52, must serve five years in prison for selling seeds to US customers through his business, Marc Emery Direct. He will remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac until sentencing.

Fifteen Members of Congress sent a letter May 21 to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging him to issue "written guidance for financial institutions," that would commit the Department to not targeting institutions whose account holders are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.