Tag Archives: Alaska Cannabis Club

Drug War, Featured, Government Accountability, Marijuana Prohibition, Police Accountability, US

Police Target Pot Activist Who Quit TV Job On Air

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Remember the Anchorage newscaster who quit her job on the air and planned to devote herself to marijuana activism? Former television reporter Charlo Greene and her organization, Alaska Cannabis Club, were raided by Anchorage police, who carried out search warrants after receiving reports of illegal marijuana sales.

According to the Associated Press,  Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe, said that the club acts as a medical marijuana dispensary.

“We don’t sell any recreational marijuana. We don’t sell any medical marijuana. This is a place for cardholders to come and share their own cannabis,” she said.

Greene said that the police took a couple of marijuana plants, bongs, pipes, phones and computers from the home where multiple medical marijuana cardholders live. They also impounded a Dodge Dakota and a Jeep Liberty during the raid on Friday.

“Any evidence we find here in pursuit to the investigation we would seize that evidence and likely some charges will be filed,” said Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Castro. “It’s a good reminder that you cannot sell marijuana in Alaska or any product in any other form.”

Greene expressed her frustration on the Alaska Cannabis Club Facebook page:

“I don’t know what’s more disappointing: the fact that the only safe access point for our state’s thousands of medical marijuana cardholders was robbed by local police at gunpoint, or the fact that, in spite of voters legalizing medical marijuana in 1998 and recreational marijuana this past November, the raid on my home and private club didn’t surprise me, or anyone, at all.

“As a tax paying Alaskan, should I be incensed at the fact that Anchorage Police decided to waste already-stretched-thin resources executing a search search warrant on me, with around 10 armed officers in full-on swat gear (all threatening to arrest the peaceful 40-60 year old medical marijuana patients that were inside) instead of focusing on the stabbing and shootings that happened a mile away and just a few hours prior to their raid on my home?”

Although Alaskan voters approved recreational marijuana last year in a ballot measure, the substance remains illegal to sell. Guidelines for regulation are still under legislative review.

No charges have been filed yet.

Check out the video (at 3:00) that made her famous.

Drug War, Featured, Opinion, Politics, US

“F..k it, I Quit” Reporter Explains Passion For Cannabis Advocacy

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Anchorage, AK- Former KTVA reporter Charlo Greene, whose real name is Charline Egbe, expounded her reasoning for leaving her career to fight for the legalization of cannabis. While she did not discuss the controversial manner in which she quit, she explained why she feels so strongly about the cause.

“There comes a time in each and every one of our lives when we must choose to continue to spectate or stand up for what’s right,” said Greene. “To question what they say is wrong, why they were given authority, and where their claims of danger and peril come from.”

“Why are Americans arrested every 37 seconds? Alaskans every 4.3 hours? Why should an aspiring someone lose their ability to earn a higher education, to become someone they were not meant to be? And why should you lose the ability to get public assistance in times of struggle and need?” Greene asked.

“Marijuana? They say it’s a myth that anyone is jailed for simple possession; regulating will force it on our children; if you’re allowed to smoke it in the privacy of your own home, society as we know it is all but ruined!” Greene continued, criticizing the arguments made against cannabis legalization. She went on to mock the idea that oils and concentrates are comparable to harder drugs.

Ben Swann recently traveled to Colorado to study reported medicinal benefits of cannabis-derived CBD oil and the recent public attention it is receiving. Despite promising research and success stories from children and adults suffering from debilitating conditions, the federal government continues its prohibition (even though the Department of Health and Human Services has a patent for cannabinoid usage for medicinal purposes).

“Nearly a century of marijuana prohibition and stigma have stained America, the land of the free and home of the brave,” Greene said. Shifting to promoting activism beyond marijuana, she said “But we have a chance to start taking back the right. Today, it’s marijuana prohibition, and once we get that done nationally we the people will realize that we are stronger than ever and you will feel empowered to take up what you choose to fight.”

Below is the video of Greene’s full segment reporting on the Alaskan Cannabis Club and Alaska’s Ballot 2 measure to legalize marijuana, followed by Greene’s now famous departure.