NEWS FLASHES

Chan Laughlin, proudly known as Travus T. Hipp to his legions of radio listeners, was raided by drug prohibition police on Halloween (how fitting) at his home in Silver City, Nevada. It was the second raid on Laughlin's home in the past 15 months. His official statement: 

“Having completed my summer-long effort to bring in a crop of my own medical marijuana. I’d finally finished clipping about a week ago. Got everything aged out and put it into bags and was set probably through next July with what looks to be about like 2.5 pounds of weed. Sure enough this morning, here comes the same narcotics task force, to bust me … Why in the world are they filling up the jails, using up the sheriff’s time, tying up the courts in the whole process, because people don’t smoke the same cigarette as me?

“I am officially in custody of the law enforcement branch of the state of Nevada, for having had the marijuana that I grew under the provision of their law, allowing me 14 plants for my ex-wife and I. They refuse to believe that anything over an ounce is not commercial,”

Laughlin's arrest was reported in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

Radio host Chandler Laughlin, known to listeners as Travus T. Hipp, was jailed Thursday on drug charges after Lyon County investigators served simultaneous warrants on Laughlin’s Silver City home and three others nearby.

According to Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Sherlock, police received information that Laughlin recently returned to Nevada with marijuana he cultivated in California.

In February, Laughlin told the Nevada Appeal that his marijuana use is related to a health condition.

Narcotics detectives allegedly discovered 5.6 pounds of marijuana in Laughlin’s home and a total of 1.5 pounds of marijuana from the homes of Sandra Bunkley, 66; Toni Heller, 42; and Katrina Heiss, 50.

Laughlin was booked on suspicion of felony probation violation, possession of marijuana for sale, maintaining a residence for use/sale of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana over an ounce. 

Laughlin holds a medical marijuana card which the invading authorities ignored. After a few days in jail, he was released on his own recognizance on November 11, and was back at work the next day. More on this story here and here.

Peter Laufer, our own eclectic author, reporter, activist and trouble maker has set new parameters for eclecticism with his new book, The Dangerous World Of Butterflies, The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists.

War weary after writing a book about Iraq, Laufer joked before an audience that his next book would be about butterflies. The result: an invitation to a butterfly preserve in Nicaragua. There he stumbled into a theater of intrigue full of strange and nefarious characters—all in pursuit of one of nature’s most delicate creatures.

 

The Dangerous World of Butterflies chronicles Laufer’s unexpected discoveries in the butterfly industry and underground. Readers will learn everything there is to know about the beauty and magic of butterflies. But Laufer’s narrative takes unpredictable turns into the high-stakes realms of organized crime, ecological devastation, species depletion, natural history museum integrity, and chaos theory. Set in locales throughout the Americas and beyond, this fascinating book takes us into a behind-the-scenes world sure to alter our view the next time we delight in the colorful fluttering of butterflies in our yards. The Lyons Press will publish this book in April 2009.

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