SANTO DOMINGO. - The National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) Friday announced the arrest of a U.S. citizen who sold genetically altered marijuana -practically unknown in the country- brought from California and Florida.
The DNCD said Richard Michael Spelman, 31, who was staying in Cita del Sol hotel in Cabarete, Puerto Plata (north), sold several types of marijuana in Santo Domingo, grown indoors in rented places, and known a "Platinium Kusk, Platinum Og, Lavender and White Widow.”
It said the marijuana seized from Spelman, a native of California, is highly potent because it contains as much as 12 percent of the psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol, instead of the usual 4 percent. It said experts warn that genetically altered marijuana increases the risk of contracting Alzheimer and easily leads to madness.
DNCD president Rolando Rosado said it’s the first such case uncovered in the country. "It’s a super drug, an extremely harmful vegetable for the organism."
In a statement, the official said cell phones seized from Spelman have the names and numbers people from Puerto Plata and the Capital, whose last names suggest they belong to the upper and upper middle class.
The official added that Spelman was arrested in the bus terminal located on Winston Churchill Av. in the Capital, on information from the United States. “This person was dealing transgenic marijuana, fact that turned out to be true and for which he’ll be charged.”
Written by: hisel777, 21 Oct 2011 11:44 AM
From: United States
Wow! I see DNCD and Court will throw American, Richard Michael Spelman of California into the dirty jail house in DR where some non-convicted Dominicans and Americans will know some male
inmates to do it with Richard's body in there anytime. Good for Richard, Most Dominican Inmate
Males will see Richard being fresh to them when they become drool on his body anytime. Hmm?
From: United States
Too, too stupid. This stuff is legal in 13 states of the US and does not increase "the risk of contracting Alzheimer and easily leads to madness".
Meanwhile the evil white powder flows through the DR.
Written by: walnut, 21 Oct 2011 12:24 PM
From: Bouvet Island, Cayuga lakeside
And 100 shipping containers full of cocaine were transported through the DR yesterday.
"Extremely harmful vegetable"? "Super drug"?
This is legal now in California to possess and here they act like they caught Al Capone.
In my 5 months away from the DR, it has become most obvious that the number of illegal Haitians is out of control.
And the political ads are horrific....a senseless waste of money by idiots.
Roads, schools, infrastructure, education- you name it, is in a further state of decline.
And yet I return to the DR because I love the land and it's people.
From: Dominican Republic
"experts warn that genetically altered marijuana increases the risk of contracting Alzheimer and easily leads to madness." is probably one of the stupidest comments iv read on this website. atleast this guy was providing a healthier alternative to the disgusting dirt you would typically find in the DR, which im sure increases the risk of a number of lung diseases. This "super drug" is actually considered medicine in a number of states, including California. Why don't the DNCD catch someone worthy of being caught instead of wasting their time and effort on a harmless stoner gringo! And on top of that shouldn't the president of the DNCD be a little more knowledgeable about the drugs hes going after, It’s a super drug, an extremely harmful vegetable for the organism." Maybe Rosado should pop that bottle of brugal out his mouth and brush up on his marijuana education!
Written by: Chasbo, 21 Oct 2011 1:15 PM
From: United States
This guy is a low life. Some sleazy California dude in his cute sleeveless tee shirt trying to make a fast illegal buck in the DR.
His roomates will take good care of him.
Written by: skysail, 21 Oct 2011 2:33 PM
From: Libya
From: United States, California
"Extremely harmful vegetable, super drug easily leads to madness"
WOW!!! Them somebody please take me pal 28. Here in Cali we got the best shit in the planet.
From: United States
It always has been puzzling why in my country weed is so looked down on and the cocaine trade thrives. Even more puzzling is why people do not grow the better strains of marijuana since our climate is great for growing everything. Instead we have such poor quality marijuana that most casual users from other countries laugh at wonder why we cannot with such a great climate produce a better product. Ignorant statements like the one above show nobody has a clue about cultivation beyond putting a seed in the ground and watering it.
Yet we can allow transport of a good portion of the entire worlds cocaine supply. Puzzling.
Written by: juanb, 21 Oct 2011 5:56 PM
From: Dominican Republic
In the 1930s there was a movie called Reefer Madness. It was made as a scare movie. That Alzheimer line sounds like something from that movie.
From: United States, words of wisdom from the nutcracker
wow this white boy thought he was living in a movie , genetically altered marijuana???? so is it fake or real ? , I never heard of this .
From: United States, words of wisdom from the nutcracker
It always has been puzzling why in my country weed is so looked down on and the cocaine trade thrives. Even more puzzling is why people do not grow the better strains of marijuana since our climate is great for growing everything. Instead we have such poor quality marijuana that most casual users from other countries laugh at wonder why we cannot with such a great climate produce a better product. Ignorant statements like the one above show nobody has a clue about cultivation beyond putting a seed in the ground and watering it.
Yet we can allow transport of a good portion of the entire worlds cocaine supply. Puzzling
Wait so veronica you support the planting of illegal drugs in the country ? you self righteous people have some weird logic ???
Written by: Mart1n, 21 Oct 2011 7:06 PM
From: Dominican Republic, North coast
Just poison all the e legal drug and let them go through It will solve all the problems. No customers no drugs
Written by: Grosero, 22 Oct 2011 7:33 AM
From: United States
FEAR SELLS
Yes .. DominicanToday is the laeding Bullshit saleman in the Carrib
HERE IS THE TRUTH:
Strain:
100% Indica
22% THC / 0.27% CBD / CBN: 0.09%
purp x master kush x og kush
Flavor:
Identical to the smell on inhale, very smooth on the exhale. Sweet, Tangy, Thick
Aroma:
Danky! Sweet, Memorable, Pleasant, Follows. Identical to the smell on inhale, very smooth on the exhale.
Effects:
Immediate body buzz. A strong Kush that hits right away. Effects are potent. Great buzz head and body with a slight numbing effect. Body high.
Visual:
Very tight nugs with thick, dark orange hairs. It's color resembles platinum due to its abundance in THC crystals. Very tight nugs with thick, dark orange hairs.
Treats:
Stress, general relaxation, spasticity, and spinal nerve pain. Great for medical patients with complaints of pain. We recommend this strain to any patient who lacks sleep or suffers from mild to acute body ach
Written by: Grosero, 22 Oct 2011 7:36 AM
From: United States
hellborn25, writes: Yet we can allow transport of a good portion of the entire worlds cocaine supply. Puzzling
HB that is becauseUncle Sammy $ His DEA Goons are the head drug smuggler in the Carrib for coke.
The coke pays for secert wars and prisons in far away places, guns for goons, and blood is on their hands. Yet Uncle Sammy's wrecking crew has no problem wiping their feet on the DR!
Ever wonder why the coke/crack supply never goes dry?
Thank Oli North and the Republicans
From: United States
hellborn I see nothing wrong with marijuana and think it should be legalized. There are many uses for it which were outlawed because of greed and corruption. This same greed and corruption is the only reason it is still illegal in most of the world. I also believe it has numerous medical benefits which it cannot be used for because of greed and corruption keep it illegal.
Marijuana is not an addictive substance. It is much safer than alcohol and tobacco.
From: United States
Hang him high. California is the pot head capitol of the world where a 18 year old with acne can obtain a prescription for one ounce of potent pot a week. 47% of traffic stops for drunk driving are due to drugs.. There I person can take a break and toke up on drugs then go back to work legally a scary thought if using machinery or trying to sell a product. Every state that has medical pot the law is abused to allows anyone with a illness a ounce a week to sell. Sorry if they stuck to the original idea for chemo and glaucoma sufferers fine but acne our state has no law yet half the drugs found on the street come from the states where it is allowed.
Written by: walnut, 22 Oct 2011 12:47 PM
From: Bouvet Island, Cayuga lakeside
To all the critics of marijuana here in the DR, "Lighten up, Francis".
In a country with enormous problems, where crime and corruption are so rampant, where children are denied a quality education and health care, where hard working people can barely subsist, the waste of dollars focusing on a two bit pot seller is beyond comprehension.
Which is more dangerous.....a guy high on Kush or a p.o.s. truck driver passing me on the highway from Las Americas with a bus coming the other direction?
From: Dominican Republic
In Bermuda...
Great comments everyone! Except for the evil fools who fantasize about rape in prison. Well, for you folks that don't understand the lingo, Nugs is short for "nuggets" or "Buds" of the plant.
In Bermuda we are seeing these very same strains coming in as opposed to the typical brown compressed, Jamaican weed that has been coming here forever. One cop I know believes 60-90 % of people here smoke it while the courts have raised the penalty for possession from $100 per gram to $1000 per gram. I'm sure you can see where they're going w/ this "profit".
One would have thought the ruling PLP (black party in power 13 years now) would have altered the laws a bit but not so, now instead of the white man putting the black man in jail (prison = 99% black,1% white) now the black man is putting the black man in jail.
Times, they are a changing...
PS California aint got nothin' on Colorado! They got every strain you could think of!
Colorado medical marijuana license holder.
Written by: tomito, 22 Oct 2011 6:51 PM
From: United States
Another gringo that will be welcomed with open arms in Najayo, even if it's just temporary, they will feast with him unless someone coughs some dough to protect him.
On another note, who cares if it's legal in 13 or a million states, it is illegal in DR and that's what matters, he took a risk and got caught, he better have some cash hidden somewhere or he will soon discover the multiple differences between all inclusive resort and a Dominican jail where you even have to hustle for food.
@Walnut: 2 wrongs don't make a right, I understand your frustration with dangerous truck drivers but just because they exist that does not mean the DR should dismantle the DNCD and send drug enforcement agents to direct traffic. This small timer got caught and just as any other and that's the end of it. Just because we have other problems does not mean we have to give these thugs a free pass.
Continue...
Written by: tomito, 22 Oct 2011 7:17 PM
From: United States
@VeronicaDR: Weed is looked down in DR because it is an illegal drug and also simply because DR has its own identity and way of thinking. In the US and other so called "developed countries" many people go to job interviews with a face covered with tattoos, piercings, etc and that's considered normal depending on the job the person is applying for, that's not the case in the DR where you have to go to a job interview well dressed regardless of the job being applied for. That's not to say one way of thinking is better than the other but that they are just different, I will say this though, if the two backgrounds were the same I know who I will be hiring in the previously mentioned scenario.
As to the growing of quality weed, I recommend you call your congressman and see if your state will pass a law that will allow you to do it in your backyard since you seem to have a lot of knowledge in the subject. We don't need it nor want it in DR.
From: Dominican Republic
@ Tomito,
That's where your wrong, I know many Dominican's who smoke, and having good quality "medical marijuana" makes it safer than garbage probably from some South American country sprayed with pesticide.
I know you can go to any barrio in the DR and buy the garbage type. It's the "generally poor, simple, uneducated", people who are afraid of it because they don't know any better. Which leads to the next point:
Keep them dumb and we'll get them to believe what ever we want......
Written by: tomito, 23 Oct 2011 2:35 PM
From: United States
@CaptMarcosSamana:
Just because you know some people who smoke does not mean the majority of people in DR do. You and your friends are just a drop in the bucket. Get off the weed pipe and you will be safer.
From: United States, words of wisdom from the nutcracker
last time I checked veronica marijuana has been scientifically proven to cause brain damage to patients , yes it does help cancer patients , fight cancer , but it still one those drugs thats not 100 percent safe to use , impairs your ability to operate a vehicle and it makes you hungry , I put in the same category has alcohol . I smoke it before it dumbs you down and turns you into a addict , but hey thats just my opinion right .
Written by: walnut, 23 Oct 2011 5:57 PM
From: Bouvet Island, Cayuga lakeside
The debate should not center on the pros vs cons of weed.
What should be of concern is that the "Keystone Kops" bother with this when 1000s of drug transactions occur daily throughout this country.
A minor pot seller is not a problem compared to the massive amount of cocaine trafficking taken place along with the criminal aspects associated with it.
I bet that California dude never shot a gun and probably advocates gun control.......and he is the definition of a criminal?
Now if he were selling Mexican dirt weed, that's criminal.
From: United States
first marijuana is not a drug. it is a plant put on this earth by the creator for people to use.. drugs are created by man, this would include alcohol, cocaine, heroin and the scores of presciption drugs available(pushed). why are governments so afraid of a plant?? maybe because anyone can grow it as easy as growing tomatoes, therefore it could never be controlled or regulated by governments and they could not profit from it. it is a plant when used makes the person feel good. smoking marijuana is no worse than smoking tobacco, drinking coffee or alcohol, which people use get a desired affect.. it is also much safer than the presciption drugs pushed on tv with a list of side affects. please show me where there has been a marijuana overdose and the only side affect is feeling good followed by being hungry. second this article is full of misinformation. studies have shown marijuana can help prevent alzheimers(google it). it is time to end prohibition
From: United States, California
Please people stop referring to marijuana as a drug, cause it isn’t!!!!
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inmates to do it with Richard's body in there anytime. Good for Richard, Most Dominican Inmate
Males will see Richard being fresh to them when they become drool on his body anytime. Hmm?
Meanwhile the evil white powder flows through the DR.
"Extremely harmful vegetable"? "Super drug"?
This is legal now in California to possess and here they act like they caught Al Capone.
In my 5 months away from the DR, it has become most obvious that the number of illegal Haitians is out of control.
And the political ads are horrific....a senseless waste of money by idiots.
Roads, schools, infrastructure, education- you name it, is in a further state of decline.
And yet I return to the DR because I love the land and it's people.
His roomates will take good care of him.
Here what it causes :
http://www.leafly.com/explore
WOW!!! Them somebody please take me pal 28. Here in Cali we got the best shit in the planet.
Yet we can allow transport of a good portion of the entire worlds cocaine supply. Puzzling.
In the 1930s there was a movie called Reefer Madness. It was made as a scare movie. That Alzheimer line sounds like something from that movie.
Yet we can allow transport of a good portion of the entire worlds cocaine supply. Puzzling
Wait so veronica you support the planting of illegal drugs in the country ? you self righteous people have some weird logic ???
Yes .. DominicanToday is the laeding Bullshit saleman in the Carrib
HERE IS THE TRUTH:
Strain:
100% Indica
22% THC / 0.27% CBD / CBN: 0.09%
purp x master kush x og kush
Flavor:
Identical to the smell on inhale, very smooth on the exhale. Sweet, Tangy, Thick
Aroma:
Danky! Sweet, Memorable, Pleasant, Follows. Identical to the smell on inhale, very smooth on the exhale.
Effects:
Immediate body buzz. A strong Kush that hits right away. Effects are potent. Great buzz head and body with a slight numbing effect. Body high.
Visual:
Very tight nugs with thick, dark orange hairs. It's color resembles platinum due to its abundance in THC crystals. Very tight nugs with thick, dark orange hairs.
Treats:
Stress, general relaxation, spasticity, and spinal nerve pain. Great for medical patients with complaints of pain. We recommend this strain to any patient who lacks sleep or suffers from mild to acute body ach
HB that is becauseUncle Sammy $ His DEA Goons are the head drug smuggler in the Carrib for coke.
The coke pays for secert wars and prisons in far away places, guns for goons, and blood is on their hands. Yet Uncle Sammy's wrecking crew has no problem wiping their feet on the DR!
Ever wonder why the coke/crack supply never goes dry?
Thank Oli North and the Republicans
Marijuana is not an addictive substance. It is much safer than alcohol and tobacco.
In a country with enormous problems, where crime and corruption are so rampant, where children are denied a quality education and health care, where hard working people can barely subsist, the waste of dollars focusing on a two bit pot seller is beyond comprehension.
Which is more dangerous.....a guy high on Kush or a p.o.s. truck driver passing me on the highway from Las Americas with a bus coming the other direction?
Great comments everyone! Except for the evil fools who fantasize about rape in prison. Well, for you folks that don't understand the lingo, Nugs is short for "nuggets" or "Buds" of the plant.
In Bermuda we are seeing these very same strains coming in as opposed to the typical brown compressed, Jamaican weed that has been coming here forever. One cop I know believes 60-90 % of people here smoke it while the courts have raised the penalty for possession from $100 per gram to $1000 per gram. I'm sure you can see where they're going w/ this "profit".
One would have thought the ruling PLP (black party in power 13 years now) would have altered the laws a bit but not so, now instead of the white man putting the black man in jail (prison = 99% black,1% white) now the black man is putting the black man in jail.
Times, they are a changing...
PS California aint got nothin' on Colorado! They got every strain you could think of!
Colorado medical marijuana license holder.
On another note, who cares if it's legal in 13 or a million states, it is illegal in DR and that's what matters, he took a risk and got caught, he better have some cash hidden somewhere or he will soon discover the multiple differences between all inclusive resort and a Dominican jail where you even have to hustle for food.
@Walnut: 2 wrongs don't make a right, I understand your frustration with dangerous truck drivers but just because they exist that does not mean the DR should dismantle the DNCD and send drug enforcement agents to direct traffic. This small timer got caught and just as any other and that's the end of it. Just because we have other problems does not mean we have to give these thugs a free pass.
Continue...
As to the growing of quality weed, I recommend you call your congressman and see if your state will pass a law that will allow you to do it in your backyard since you seem to have a lot of knowledge in the subject. We don't need it nor want it in DR.
That's where your wrong, I know many Dominican's who smoke, and having good quality "medical marijuana" makes it safer than garbage probably from some South American country sprayed with pesticide.
I know you can go to any barrio in the DR and buy the garbage type. It's the "generally poor, simple, uneducated", people who are afraid of it because they don't know any better. Which leads to the next point:
Keep them dumb and we'll get them to believe what ever we want......
Just because you know some people who smoke does not mean the majority of people in DR do. You and your friends are just a drop in the bucket. Get off the weed pipe and you will be safer.
What should be of concern is that the "Keystone Kops" bother with this when 1000s of drug transactions occur daily throughout this country.
A minor pot seller is not a problem compared to the massive amount of cocaine trafficking taken place along with the criminal aspects associated with it.
I bet that California dude never shot a gun and probably advocates gun control.......and he is the definition of a criminal?
Now if he were selling Mexican dirt weed, that's criminal.