Student Loan Reform Effective Today. Don’t sign that Promissary Note Just Yet!!!!

Another victory: Student loan reformThe reforms that President Obama signed into law include historic investments to make education more affordable, and deliver on another key campaign promise. The legislation: * Ends subsidies to special-interest private lending companies * Doubles funding for Pell Grants to help more students afford a college education * Will cap a graduate’s annual student loan repayments at 10 percent of his or her income * Helps an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates over the next decade, by revitalizing programming at our nation’s community colleges

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Republicans Make it Rain @ Hollywood Strip and Bondage

Republicans spent $1,946 at topless club



CHARLES BABINGTON

Published: March 29, 2010

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WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican National Committee spent $1,946 last month at a sex-themed Hollywood club that features topless dancers and bondage outfits. Now the GOP wants its money back.

Listed in a monthly financial report, the amount is itemized as expenses for meals at Voyeur West Hollywood.

RNC spokesman Doug Heye said Monday the committee doesn’t know the details of how the money was spent, all who may have attended or the nature of the outing, except to say it was an unauthorized event and that the expenditure was inappropriate.

The RNC will be reimbursed by Erik Brown of Orange, Calif., the donor-vendor who billed the committee for the club visit, Heye said.

Brown did not respond to an e-mail and phone message seeking comment. The transaction was first reported by the Daily Caller.

Since November, the RNC has paid Brown’s company, Dynamic Marketing Inc., about $19,000 for printing and direct-mail services, campaign spending reports show. He has contributed several thousand dollars to the party.

The most recent financial disclosure report said the RNC spent more than $17,000 for private planes in February and nearly $13,000 for car services. Heye said such services are used only when needed.

The $1,946 for meals at Voyeur West Hollywood was the most eye-catching item in the monthly report. RNC Chairman Michael Steele, whose spending decisions have angered some donors in this midterm election year, had nothing to do with the nightclub expenditure, Heye said.

The conservative group Concerned Women for America said the RNC should disclose more about the episode.

“Did they really agree to reimburse nearly $2,000 for a bondage-themed night club?” group president Penny Nance asked in a statement. “Why would a staffer believe that this is acceptable, and has this kind of thing been approved in the past?”

Much of the most lavish spending by the major political parties is associated with fundraisers, which often target wealthy people.

The RNC spent $144,549 for rooms at the Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2009. On March 19, 2009, it spent $31,980 for catering by the Breakers Palm Beach in Florida.

The RNC paid $18,361 over the past several months to the “Tiny Jewel Box” in Washington for “office supplies,” which may have included trinkets or gifts for big donors. It spent $13,622 at Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City.

Some Republican officials and donors have complained about Steele’s spending decisions, saying the party should devote every available dollar to trying to win House and Senate races this fall. He held this year’s four-day winter meeting at a beachfront hotel in Hawaii, although it often takes place in Washington.

Some donors grumbled when Steele spent more than $18,000 to redecorate his office. Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, also has received substantial fees for making speeches, even though the RNC pays him a full-time salary.

Steele’s supporters say he has brought a refreshing frankness and energy to the party’s leadership.

___

Associated Press writer Sharon Theimer contributed to this report.

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Only in Chicago: City Manager Arrested For Trafficking 20 Lbs. of Weed; Keeps Gig as City Manager!

E.C. manager still on job after being sentenced to 8 years probation for drugs

Rucoba gets 8 years probation for possession of 20 pounds

By Dan Hinkel – dan.hinkel@nwi.com, (219) 852-4317 | Posted: Monday, March 22, 2010 12:05 am | (59) Comments

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EAST CHICAGO | Stormwater department supervisor Rudy Rucoba has been sentenced to eight years on probation for acting as a drug courier on an ill-fated mission to deliver 20 pounds of marijuana to the Chicago area from Texas, and he remains on the job with the city of East Chicago.

“I have no comment,” Rucoba said recently when he was reached by phone at work.

Rucoba, 31, pleaded guilty in late February in suburban Dallas to marijuana possession, said Hunt County District Attorney Nobie Walker. Texas counties use juries at sentencing, and jurors handed Rucoba a two-year jail sentence, but a judge commuted the sentence to eight years probation, Walker said.

Rucoba signed no plea agreement that might have required him to cooperate with investigators looking into other crimes, Walker said.

The sentencing hearing featured at least one East Chicago politician as a character witness for Rucoba: Councilman Lenny Franciski. Outside a City Council meeting this month, Franciski described Rucoba as a “childhood friend.” Asked how the taxpayers should feel about a councilman testifying on behalf of city worker who tried to deliver drugs into the region, Franciski said he doesn’t condone drug activity.

“People every day make mistakes,” he said.

Franciski’s trip to Texas was especially noteworthy, because he missed the City Council’s first vote on Mayor George Pabey’s proposed court settlement with controversial casino money beneficiary Second Century. In the absence of Franciski, who represents the 2nd District, council members deadlocked 4-4. With Franciski present March 3, the council took up the settlement again, but Councilman Jimmy Ventura switched his vote to “no,” and the council denied approving the settlement 5-4. Franciski later voted against an ordinance transferring financial oversight powers from Pabey, who remains under federal indictment on charges he misappropriated tax money, to the council. That measure passed 5-4.

City spokesman Damian Rico was asked several times by a reporter to find out whether Rucoba will face any job-related consequences for the conviction, but he never offered that information. Rucoba’s supervisor, Utilities Director Al Velez, did not return multiple calls for comment.

Rucoba now makes $60,200 yearly as the city’s stormwater coordinator, according to payroll records filed with the state in January.

Rucoba was pulled over Feb. 6, 2009, on an interstate highway in the Dallas suburb of Royse City, according to police reports. The officer wrote that he pulled Rucoba over about 11:15 p.m. because Rucoba was driving a rented Mazda at least 15 mph below the speed limit when he changed lanes without signaling.

The officer wrote that Rucoba first said he had flown to Houston to cheat on his wife, changed his mind and rented a car for the 18-hour drive back to East Chicago. The officer found that story implausible because Rucoba’s only luggage was a T-shirt and gym shorts, according to the report. Rucoba shook “nonstop” as he handed over his driver’s license, the officer wrote.

A search of the trunk turned up 20.2 pounds of marijuana, and Rucoba told police he took a $3,000 payment from his “brother-in-law’s brother” to pick up the marijuana in Houston and drive the drugs back to the Chicago area, according to the police report and Rucoba’s signed confession. Just after Rucoba confessed and gave officers the name of the man who allegedly paid him to pick up the three “bricks” of marijuana, he asked to speak with a lawyer, and the statement was cut short, according to a signed confession obtained by The Times.

Rudy Rucoba’s father, Ray Rucoba, is a veteran of city politics who has taken appointments from both of the last two mayors. Pabey’s administration recently appointed Ray Rucoba to run the city’s preparation for the 2010 census. That census coordination office is in City Hall.

THE CASE: East Chicago stormwater department supervisor Rudy Rucoba still is on the job despite pleading guilty last month to possessing 20 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop last year near Dallas. Rucoba, who admitted he had been hired to drive the drugs to the Chicago area, was sentenced to eight years probation.

Tulsa Peeps: Dirty Cop News, but whats new…

Ex-cop’s drug case to continue
A judge denies a bid to toss out evidence against the former officer, including cash and cocaine.

Former Tulsa Police Officer Travis Ludwig and his wife, Crystal Ludwig, arrive at the Tulsa County Courthouse on Thursday for a hearing in the drug case against him. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

By MATT BARNARD World Staff Writer
Published: 3/26/2010  2:21 AM
Last Modified: 3/26/2010  4:55 AM

A felony drug case against a former Tulsa police officer will continue despite his lawyer’s requests to toss out evidence found by investigators, a judge ruled Thursday.

Travis Ludwig’s attorney pushed to have the evidence quashed, claiming that police didn’t have reason to search his home and personal property.

Ludwig, 38, is charged with drug possession with an intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Prosecutors allege that cocaine, scales and nearly $4,000 in cash were found during searches of his city-owned patrol car, personal duffel bag and home in Collinsville on Sept. 22, 2009.

Ludwig was arrested and suspended with pay that day. He resigned from the Police Department on Feb. 29.

He has said he didn’t know where the drugs came from and that it isn’t uncommon for criminals who are arrested to dump items in patrol cars.

Defense attorney Paul Brunton said there wasn’t enough evidence to support claims that Ludwig was distributing drugs and that his personal property shouldn’t have been seized.

But Tulsa County District Judge Kurt Glassco denied Brunton’s motion to throw out the evidence, and he scheduled a jury trial for Sept. 13. He also ordered Ludwig to take a drug test.

Police found five sets of scales — one with cocaine residue — a small bag of cocaine and syringes in Ludwig’s patrol car. A search of his home revealed the money hidden in a false-bottom container, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors
contend that the “abnormally large amount of cash” likely came from criminal dealings.

Brunton said the money wasn’t related to drug activity and that Ludwig’s wife was an exotic dancer. Her job offers a “reasonable interpretation” for the cash, he said.

In a court filing responding to Brunton’s motion, Assistant District Attorney Tony Evans said case law supports the search and that evidence from Ludwig’s patrol car indicates that he was involved in ongoing drug activity.

If Ludwig was “brazen enough” to stash drugs in the cruiser, common sense would lead officers to think there was also evidence in the house, Evans said.

After hearing arguments from both attorneys, Glassco ruled that the evidence was permissible and upheld a previous finding that bound Ludwig over for trial.

Brunton entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Ludwig, who is free on bond.

Matt Barnard 581-8408
matt.barnard@tulsaworld.com
By MATT BARNARD World Staff Writer

Mexican Prez says Americans Love Their Cocaina Too Much

Mexican President Calderon Urges U.S. Crackdown on Drugs, Guns

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By Bob Willis

March 28 (Bloomberg) — Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the U.S. should coordinate more closely with Mexico to combat the transport and sale of illegal drugs and weapons in both countries.

Calderon said that 10,000 gun shops operate in the U.S. near the border with Mexico and that 80 percent of weapons seized in Mexico in a sampling made a year and a half ago were illegally imported into Mexico from the U.S. He spoke in a taped interview in Mexico City on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that was aired today.

“Drug trafficking is a common problem, violence is a common problem, particularly in the border,” said Calderon. “It’s very important that the American government participate in a more coordinated way in order to fix this problem because this is not a problem of Mexico, it’s a common problem.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Mexican counterpart on March 24 agreed to aid impoverished border towns and improve law enforcement cooperation, expanding a U.S.-backed military offensive in Mexico against illegal drug trafficking. Calderon has thrown about 50,000 troops into the fight, especially in border towns, only to see violence escalate.

“We are improving our cooperation, and there are American authorities that are trying to do better efforts in order to stem the flow” of weapons into Mexico, said Calderon. While semi-automatic firearms can be sold legally in the U.S., it’s illegal to export them to Mexico, said Calderon. “It’s not a problem of law. It’s a problem of enforcement.”

Anti-Drug Help

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for more than $300 million for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 to further anti-drug assistance to Mexico.

The urgency of dealing with violence in Mexico was heightened for the U.S. on March 13 when gunmen killed three people connected with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas. According to El Universal newspaper, 2,213 drug-connected deaths have been recorded since the start of the year.

Calderon said the wave of violence was due to a war between the country’s two largest drug cartels, not a reaction to the government’s mobilization of troops to fight drug-related crime.

The crackdown has sparked growing criticism. Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who controls broadcaster TV Azteca SAB and retailer Grupo Elektra SAB, urged Mexico and the U.S. in a March 19 interview to legalize drugs. Soldiers on the streets have exacerbated the violence, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net

Congress Taps Teen Activist Dallas Jessup (18) To Testify on Trafficking Solutions

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Tue Mar 23, 4:40 pm ET

Just Yell Fire founder Dallas Jessup, a Vanderbilt University freshman, to testify Thursday to U.S. House of Representatives with an unusual solution to trafficking.

Washington DC (Vocus) March 23, 2010 — Congress believes the 18 year old founder of a non-profit might have a solution to the worldwide human trafficking crisis: the U.S. House of Representatives has called Dallas Jessup to testify on Thursday, March 25.

Dallas Jessup, a Vanderbilt University freshman, captured the worldwide spotlight with her film Just Yell Fire and NGO of the same name which focus on empowering teenage girls to fight back against predators and traffickers.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by James P. McGovern and Frank R. Wolf, will hold the hearing on the National and International Implications of Human Trafficking on Thursday, March 25 in meeting room 2255 at the Rayburn Office Building.

Also slated to testify are Timothy Williams, director of INTERPOL and Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, for the U.S. Department of State.

“I’m excited to offer a different approach to the trafficking crisis,” said Dallas Jessup, founder and executive director of Just Yell Fire, NGO. “Our solution is already working for more than 1 million girls across 48 countries but the big answer lies in the classroom and I’m hopeful that the Commission can help make that happen.”

According to Jessup, America’s schools should include danger avoidance, rights awareness, and get-away skills for teenage girls into every middle and high school’s curriculum; every year, for every girl. “If you do this you will have the most powerful generation of young women in history; girls who aren’t easily tricked, intimidated, or taken. It’s these girls who will turn the tables on the traffickers and put these predators out of business.”

Jessup’s Just Yell Fire theory and methodology of protecting teenage girls has garnered some high profile supporters. MIT offers Just Yell Fire as a for-credit course, the FBI National Academy and the national Mensa Conference have asked Jessup to keynote, and the NYPD sex crimes unit has incorporated Just Yell Fire into its outreach program.

Media Contact: Maggie at Platform Strategy 360.521.0437

About Dallas Jessup: CNN Hero and Youth Activist, Dallas (18) grew a community service project to fight predators into the non profit Just Yell Fire which is now a Million Girl Revolution across 48 countries. A Teen Choice Award nominee, inductee into the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans, Jefferson Award winner, and Seventeen Magazine Mission Award winner, Dallas is a freshman at Vanderbilt University. Her book, ”Young Revolutionaries Who Rock” won the USA Books Best Young Adult Non Fiction award in 2009. A professional speaker, she travels up to 10,000 miles a month keynoting women’s, non profit, and youth events. www.dallasjessup.com

Single Texas Ladies: Speed Dating with a Twist

New Texas-Based Speed Dating Service Promises Honest Connections Among Singles

Founder of FutureFriendsSpeedDating.com, Pamela Hampton, developed a new online resource for speed dating based out of Cedar Hill, Texas. Her Web site provides an honest platform for singles in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex to find companionship and love – a basic human need. Unlike many other dating sites, Hampton established a thorough and regimented screening process for members to ensure a pure-of-heart connection for all.

(Vocus/PRWEB ) March 27, 2010 — Dating, today, appears to be getting completely out of hand. Court television shows and horror stories from online-dating scares and scams can turn singles away from seeking companionship altogether. Finding someone to love is a basic human need, explained Pamela Hampton, owner and event planner of www.FutureFriendsSpeedDating.com.

Hampton is dead set on helping couples recapture the essence of dating and romance – and avoiding exploitation by predators and cheaters – by offering speed-dating services throughout the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. The entire premise of her business is to provide truly single persons with a unique opportunity to meet other singles in a relaxed atmosphere.

Most people spend more time researching cell phone plans than thinking about the person they may potentially marry or have children with. What’s missing from our instant, quick, everything-in-a-flash society is the opportunity to look at hard questions and answers and see if they fit into our individual sets of ideals

So, how does she keep the dishonest cheaters away? Each member is required to complete an affidavit attesting to his or her relationship status. These documents are then cross-checked with marriage and divorce records. If a married participant somehow slips through the cracks, fear not, penalty awaits. Hampton recognizes that some may attempt to breach the protected walls of true singleton and has each participant complete an agreement to pay the company an undisclosed sum for their falsehood or omission.

With a spirit of competition, she also encourages other members to stay alert for potential cheaters by offering them an undisclosed bonus payment for ratting out any cheating participants, subject to verification. Hampton recognizes that Future Friends Speed Dating is simply a mechanism to getting singles started on the right path in dating the right types of people. Therefore, the Web site offers personal information about each member, which allows other singles (members only) to read-up on their person of interest before the date actually takes place.

“Most people spend more time researching cell phone plans than thinking about the person they may potentially marry or have children with. What’s missing from our instant, quick, everything-in-a-flash society is the opportunity to look at hard questions and answers and see if they fit into our individual sets of ideals,” Hampton explained.

“If the next guy I meet has a problem with holding down a job, I need to know that. If he doesn’t have a close relationship with his children, I need to know that. I need to know whether or not he’s a spiritual person or if he just attends church every once in a while because he has nothing more to do. That’s why I chose speed dating as a way to meet singles. This way I get to meet them face to face. I get to ask questions and look for signs of genuine interest or hesitation and apprehension in response to those hard questions.”

“I think I went out of my way to find people like me. That’s what led me to start Future Friends Speed Dating. I want to go out of my way to find single people with class and dignity and help them meet other true singles. It’s important to go above and beyond to help others find good people to spend their time with. That’s why I’m here, to help people find the best single persons possible, eradicating false impressions.”

Hampton teaches several dating steps that promise anyone following them the opportunity to know a person of the opposite sex well enough to determine if a long-term commitment is possible. Such information, as well as additional company information and other dating advice, is available at the Web site’s newly formulated blog, www.FutureFriendsBlog.com. This interactive tool will also include a Cheater Alert section, which will be updated weekly.

Future plans include the launch of FutureFriendsEvents.com. This Web site will become a registration portal for Future Friends Speed Networking for small businesses and Future Family Speed Meeting for couples engaged or intending to marry.

Sign up today to meet an honest and loving companion; Future Friends Speed Dating is, after all, the future of dating!

About the Company:
FutureFriendsSpeedDating.com is owned and operated by Web entrepreneur, Pamela Hampton.

Pamela Hampton
www.FutureFriendsSpeedDating.com
(972) 860-9065

Fuck You, Pay me: Versalko sex worker ‘entitled to the money’

Versalko sex worker ‘entitled to the money’

By Jared Savage

4:00 AM Monday Mar 29, 2010

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Stephen Versalko

The sex worker paid more than $2.4 million by ASB fraudster Stephen Versalko is entitled to the money as it was earned in a private client arrangement, says a prostitutes’ lobby group.

The ASB is suing the mother of one, who has name suppression, to recover some of the $17.8 million Versalko stole over nine years.

He spent most of the money on property and lifestyle – including paying at least $3.4 million to two prostitutes and showering them with $800,000 of gifts.

He met one of the women at the Pelican Club brothel in Auckland, which charges clients $210 an hour or up to $1500 a night – although the women there earn considerably less than that.

On this basis, the ASB is suing the prostitute for the $2.4 million Versalko paid her, claiming it was impossible for her to earn the money based on her hourly rate. The bank has taken a legal order over her $800,000 lifestyle block, claiming it was bought with funds belonging to ASB.

The caveat of “institutional constructive trust” means the prostitute has legal title over a property she was only able to pay for with money she did not deserve.

But although she met Versalko at the Pelican Club, a sex industry source said the brothel had nothing to do with the $2.4 million paid to her.

The source said the prostitute was an independent contractor and the private arrangement with Versalko happened outside the brothel premises after the initial meeting. On one occasion, Versalko took the woman on a business trip to Dubai to stay at a $2000-a-night hotel.

Catherine Healy, of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, said although the woman got an hourly rate at the Pelican Club, she was also an independent contractor, who could charge any price she wanted.

“Private arrangements may be initiated at the first point of contact, but who can say it was just contained at the Pelican Club?

“All sorts of the most remarkable arrangements come from private client relationships and this [Versalko case] is one of those,” said Ms Healy.

“It’s rare, but not uncommon, to hear of clients paying huge sums of money or buying houses for them.”

Roy King, owner of the Pelican Club, did not return messages.

The woman at the centre of the lawsuit declined to comment for fear of jeopardising her legal case.

By Jared Savage | Email Jared

California Says No More Felonies For Weed…Almost..

AFP/File – Marijuana cigarettes are on displayed at the Nirvana Pharmacy, a medical marijuana shop in Los Angeles, …

• Slideshow:Medical Marijuana Debate
• Play Video Video:Golden State Going to Pot? CNBC
• Play Video Video:Lawmaker Wants Medical Pot Hard For Young To Get CBS4 Denver

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer Paul Elias, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 53 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Police in a northern California town thought they had an open-and-shut case when they seized more than two pounds of marijuana from a couple’s home, even though doctors authorized the pair to use pot for medical purposes.

San Francisco police thought the same with a father and son team they suspected of abusing the state’s medical marijuana law by allegedly operating an illegal trafficking operation.

But both cases were tossed out along with many other marijuana possession cases in recent weeks because of a California Supreme Court ruling that has police, prosecutors and defense attorneys scrambling to make sense of a gray legal area: What is the maximum amount of cannabis a medical marijuana patient can possess?

No one can say for sure how many dismissals and acquittals have been prompted by the ruling, but the numbers are stacking up since the Supreme Court on Jan. 21 tossed out Patrick Kelly’s marijuana possession conviction.

The high court struck down a 7-year-old state law that imposed an 8-ounce limit on the amount of pot medical users of marijuana could possess. The court said patients are entitled to a “reasonable” amount of the drug to treat their ailments.

Law enforcement officials say the ruling has made the murky legal landscape of marijuana policy in California even more challenging to enforce.

Since California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996, there has been tension between local law enforcement officials and federal authorities, who view marijuana as absolutely illegal.

That tension is expected to become even more pronounced if the state’s voters approve a November ballot measure legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“The way the law is now it puts law enforcement between a rock and a hard place,” said Martin J. Mayer, a lawyer who represents California State Sheriff’s Association, California Police Chief’s Association and California Peace Officers’ Association. “The measure, if it passes, will make it even more difficult. They just don’t like being in the middle.”

Prosecutors are backing away from some cases filed before the court ruling.

“Gray is not a good color for the law,” said Shasta County District Attorney Gerald Benito, who dismissed a case earlier this month and is considering dropping several more because of the ruling. “It makes it very difficult for us to enforce the law — I think everyone is crying out for a clear line.”

Benito cited the Supreme Court ruling in dropping charges on March 5 against James Bradley Hall, who was arrested in October and charged with growing 40 marijuana plants.

The next week, a San Francisco jury acquitted a father and son charged with growing three dozen plants. The lawyers for Thomas Chang, 62, and his son, Errol Chang, 30, based their defense on the Kelly case, arguing that the men needed that much pot to treat their medical conditions.

In Vacaville, located between San Francisco and Sacramento, prosecutors in February dropped their two-year pursuit of Johanna and Joe Azevedo, a husband and wife charged with possessing about two pounds of marijuana. Both sides agreed to put the Azevedo case on hold until the Supreme Court decided the Kelly case.

“Fighting this pretty well drained what little money we had,” Johanna Azevedo said of her legal fight with Solano County prosecutors. “But it was a very happy day when the Kelly case was announced.”

Still, not all defense attorneys and marijuana advocates are as content with the ruling as the Azevedos and others who had their criminal cases dropped.

Some argue that clear-cut limits actually would shield medical marijuana patients from law enforcement officials who have a strict interpretation of what constitutes a “reasonable” amount.

“I wish there was a bright line,” said Bruce Margolin, one of the nation’s most renowned marijuana defense attorneys. “It’s the only protection against arrest.”

A closely-watched Sacramento case was expected to help clarify what a reasonable amount of medical marijuana is. But it further muddied the question.

The jury acquitted Matthew Zugsberger of a felony possession charge but convicted him of a felony charge of marijuana transportation for trying to take three pounds of marijuana from the Sacramento airport to New Orleans in 2008. The jury, which deliberated for more than three days, also convicted Zugsberger of a misdemeanor possession charge. In the end, nothing was solved.

“The jury was absolutely confused,” said his attorney Grant Pegg. “What is reasonable is an absolutely gray area.”

Despite the confusion, there does not appear to be a political push to develop guidelines, which the Supreme Court said must be done by voters.

Law enforcement lobbying arms, such as the California District Attorney Association, steer clear of most medical marijuana issues because of the wide variety of views of the law.

“It is different than a lot of areas in criminal law where there is a consensus,” said W. Scott Thorpe, chief executive of the district attorney’s association. “There are varying approaches from county to county in the way law enforcement is dealing with medical marijuana laws.”