The news in brief . . .
April 1, Honolulu -- A resolution to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana didn't pass the House Health Committee. Chairman Alex Santiago said there is a strong feeling that marijuana relieves pain and suffering and the committee should look at the issue, but it would be difficult to get it passed.
April 1, London, Ontario -- Lynn Harichy opened London's first medical marijuana club. The club serves about 70 patients.
April 2, Madison, Wisconsin -- An appeals court ruled that police didn't have probable cause to arrest Timothy Secrist after smelling the odor of marijuana in his car. On July 4, 1996, Secrist stopped to ask an officer for directions. The officer smelled marijuana, arrested Secrist and proceeded to search his car.
April 3, United Kingdom -- A jury cleared Alan Blythe on charges of cultivating, cultivating with intent to supply, and supplying marijuana. Blythe claimed the drug was for his wife Judith, to treat acute symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
April 7, San Fransisco -- The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal agents need a warrant to scan a home with a thermal imager. The ruling stems from a 1992 case in which Florence, Oregon resident Danny Lee Kyllo pleaded guilty to manufacturing marijuana after police searched his home with a warrant obtained using a thermal image scan of his home.
April 14, Los Angeles -- Federal Judge George King released Todd McCormick, one of California's most visible medical marijuana activists, after a federal prosecutor admitted that there was no case law under which McCormick could be detained. On April 3, McCormick was ordered back to jail for failing three drug tests. Last July, he was arrested along with 4 others for growing 4,116 marijuana plants. McCormick, who has lived with a rare form of cancer since childhood, said the plants were for California medical marijuana clubs.
April 16, Amsterdam -- A survey by the Centre for Drug Research found that 2 to 3 percent of Dutch over the age of 12 had used marijuana over a one-month period, compared with 5 percent of the U.S. population. Dutch over 18, are able to buy small quantities of marijuana in coffee shops.
April 20, Washington, D.C. -- Charges against multiple sclerosis patient Cheryl Miller and her husband, Jim, were dropped in D.C. Superior Court. On March 30, Cheryl used medicinal marijuana in U.S. Rep. Jim Rogan's (R-California) office with the help of her husband and caregiver, Jim. The Millers violated the law to protest House Resolution 372, which states that the House is "unequivocally opposed to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use."
April 20, Vancouver, B.C. -- Randy Caine pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was given an absolute discharge by Provincial Court Judge Frances Howard. Howard said that marijuana causes no health problems and the laws prohibiting it cause harm to society. However, Howard said, she could not overturn the country's marijuana laws because Parliament still has the legal right to outlaw it.
April 21, Edmonton, Ontario -- About 30 people marched from Emily Murphy Park to the Edmonton river valley and planted over 1,000 cannabis seeds to protest Canada's marijuana laws. The protestors were cheered by supporters and passing motorists. No police attended the event and no arrests were made.
April 21, Vancouver, B.C. -- Vancouver police Constable Gil Puder presented a paper on drug-policy reform at a conference organized by the Fraser Institute think-tank, despite efforts to stop him. "He was told verbally and in writing not to present the paper," said police Chief Bruce Chambers.
April 23, Anchorage -- A medical marijuana ballot has made it on the 1998 ballot as a result of a petition drive that collected 25,090 signatures.
April 29, Los Angeles -- Superior Court Judge Steven Hintz approved medical marijuana patient Andrea Nagy's request for a pardon for a 1991 conviction for cultivating pot, citing Proposition 215 as the reason.
April 30, Vancouver, B.C. -- Vancouver police once again raided Hemp B.C., the popular hemp store and cannabis cafe, taking $15,000 in goods and a $4,000 computer.
May 7, Vancouver, B.C. -- Sister Icee, owner of Hemp B.C. is suing the city of Vancouver for $1 million. The suit was filed after police failed to reply to a May 1 request for an apology an $20,000 damages following the April 30 raid of the store.
May 7, Cape Girardeau, Montana -- David Ray Rosener, a Libertarian candidate for state Legislature, was arrested and charged with possesion of marijuana. Rosener said he wasn't affected by the arrest because he knew that marijuana should be decriminalized.