Medical Marijuana
US: Ethan Nadelmann: The Real Drug Czar
Rolling Stone, 20 Jun 2013 - The Most Influential Man in the Battle for Legalization Is a Wonky Intellectual in Dad Jeans The driving force for the legalization of marijuana in America - a frenetic, whip-smart son of a rabbi who can barely tell indica from sativa - has just entered enemy territory.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
Medical Marijuana is Coming to New Hampshire
New Hampshire is about to become the 19th state (unless the Illinois governor strikes first) to allow for the medicinal use of marijuana. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) Tuesday announced that she intends to sign a bill after House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise on language that would ease her expressed concerns.
Gov. Maggie Hassan (nh.gov) "I have always maintained that allowing doctors to provide relief to patients through the use of appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana is the compassionate and right policy for the State of New Hampshire. The compromise legislation as agreed to by the committee of conference addresses the concerns that I have heard and expressed throughout this session, and provides the level of regulation needed for the use of medical marijuana," Hassan said in a Tuesday afternoon statement.
"I appreciate the hard work put into this measure by members of the Senate and House, especially lead negotiators Senator Nancy Stiles and Representative Jim MacKay, as well as by scores of advocates dedicated to the well-being of all Granite Staters, and I encourage the full legislature to pass this compromise so I can sign this legislation into law," she added.
Gov. Hassan's announcement was released after House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise on the bill earlier in the day. The full House and Senate are expected to sign off on the committee of conference agreement next week. It will then be transmitted to the governor for her signature.
The compromise means that New Hampshire residents will be able to access medical marijuana, but only more than a year from now, when state patient ID cards are ready and state-regulated dispensaries are open. No patients will be able to grow their own medicine, and private marijuana cultivation for any reason will remain a felony in the Granite State.
"We applaud state lawmakers for coming together to ensure the passage of this important legislation, and we are pleased to hear Gov. Hassan intends to sign it into law," said Matt Simon, a New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project."This commonsense legislation will make New Hampshire a safer and healthier place not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all of us."
House Bill 573, sponsored by State Rep. Donna Schlachman (D-Exeter), will allow residents with certain debilitating illnesses to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. Patients will be able to obtain marijuana through one of four non-profit, state-licensed alternative treatment centers.
When first passed by the House, the bill allowed patients to grow up to three mature plants in their homes and to raise a defense in court if they were arrested before patient ID cards became available. But law enforcement raised concerns with the governor, who in turn raised concerns with the Senate, which amended the House version to eliminate patient grows and the interim medical marijuana defense. The Senate version also contained errors that made the program unworkable. House and Senate negotiators earlier Tuesday completed their work on a compromise bill, fixing the fatal flaws, but leaving intact the ban on patient grows.
"It is unfortunate that the measure will not provide immediate protection to those currently seeking relief from medical marijuana, but in time it will ensure seriously ill people will be able to do so without fear of arrest," Simon said. "The law will also provide patients with safe and reliable access to medical marijuana so that they no longer need to resort to the underground market."
Eighteen other states and the District of Columbia now allow medical marijuana. Medical marijuana legislation has also passed the Illinois legislature, and that bill is on the governor's desk.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US OH: Local Attorney Key Player In Pot Legalization Effort
The Athens News, 17 Jun 2013 - It used to be that cannabis was legal in Ohio. Here and everywhere in the U.S, you could walk into a drug store and buy the processed plant to treat what ailed you. Don Wirtshafter has proof - a collection of cannabis bottles, jars and boxes. It fills two display cases in his home in Guysville.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US AZ: Police Now Protecting Pot Users
Arizona Daily Sun, 16 Jun 2013 - Legalization of marijuana for some people, in some circumstances, has created new roles for Flagstaff police as well. Officers are now undergoing new training to determine when a cardholding marijuana user is nevertheless driving while impaired.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US CO: OPED: Let's Work With New Laws OK'd By Voters
Pueblo Chieftain, 16 Jun 2013 - LET'S WORK WITH NEW LAWS OK'D BY VOTERS Gov. John Hickenlooper recently signed into law a number of bills creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for adult marijuana sales in Colorado. As a psychologist and mother, I applaud the governor for moving us closer to a well-regulated system that gets marijuana off the streets and away from our youth.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MT: OPED: Pot More Dangerous Than You Know
Montana Standard, 16 Jun 2013 - With the recent article published on May 12, 2013, "Mont. goes its own way on pot," it seems like the perfect opportunity to provide some clarifying facts about marijuana. There is no scientific basis for using smoked marijuana as a medicine, no sound scientific studies supporting the medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supporting the safety or effectiveness of marijuana for general medical use. The Food and Drug Administration ruled that smoked marijuana does not meet the modern standards of medicine in the United States. Marijuana is NOT approved nor endorsed by the FDA, the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Glaucoma Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Cancer Society or the American Pediatric Society. The National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine has concluded that smoked marijuana should "not be recommended for medical use."
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US AZ: Marijuana Legalization Signature Drive Launched In Arizona
Arizona Daily Sun, 16 Jun 2013 - PHOENIX - Voters who have seen how medical marijuana works in Arizona may get a chance to extend the ability to use the drug to all other adults. Proponents of legalization filed the necessary paperwork Wednesday to start gathering the 259,213 signatures they need to put the issue of legalization on the 2014 ballot. They have through July 3, 2014.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MI: Hills' Medical Marijuana Land Use Moratorium Is Extended
Farmington Observer, 16 Jun 2013 - Farmington Hills City Councilwoman Cheryl Oliverio has a new perspective on the medical uses of marijuana. Her 87-year-old father has pancreatic cancer. "It is better than any pain pills. It is frustrating to me when I see how (positively) it affects my father," Oliverio said.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MI: Drug Problems on the Rise in U.P.
The Daily Press, 15 Jun 2013 - DRUG PROBLEMS ON THE RISE IN U.P. ESCANABA - Illegal drug problems are on the rise in the Upper Peninsula due in large part to increased availability of medications, easier ways to make narcotics, and more people being issued medical marijuana cards.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MA: Hub Lobbyists Lead Pot Efforts
Boston Herald, 15 Jun 2013 - Build Ties to Beacon Hill At least eight medical marijuana business owners and three pot advocacy groups have hired some Bay State lobbyists to forge connections on Beacon Hill as the infant weed industry starts to take root.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US WA: State Members of Congress Not Fired Up to Help Pot Law
Seattle Times, 15 Jun 2013 - Backers Bemoan Lack of Action Others Press to Square Law With Feds WASHINGTON - It's been seven months since Washington voters legalized recreational marijuana in defiance of federal law - and contrary to the personal beliefs of most of the state's representatives in Congress.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MI: Riley Township Extends Medical Marijuana Moratorium
The Voice, 15 Jun 2013 - A medical marijuana moratorium that focuses on dispensaries and grow-ops has been extended in Riley Township for another six months. Township Board members unanimously approved the moratorium's fourth extension at their meeting on June 4. A medical marijuana moratorium has been in place in the township since the spring of 2011.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US: Trying To Sell Wall Street On The Value Of Marijuana
New York Times, 15 Jun 2013 - Kalvin Savanh grew up in Portland, Ore., and, during high school, he said, he grew marijuana. About 15 years later, Mr. Savanh, 33, still helps grow it - but now it is legal. On Friday, Mr. Savanh and a childhood friend, William Serafica, the co-founders of Dynamiq Lightning, a Portland-based company that sells products for indoor cannabis cultivation, met near Wall Street with about 40 potential investors to encourage them to enter the cannabis industry at a time when 19 states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
New Zealand: Upset At Ban From Maori TV
Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 Jun 2013 - One of New Zealand's longest serving political leaders has been denied the chance to debate his position on Maori TV. Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party leader Michael Appleby is making a bid for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat in the coming by-election - but was barred from participating in the candidates' debate on Native Affairs on June 3.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US ME: Maine Lawmakers Ok Some Pesticide Use On Medical Pot
Morning Sentinel, 14 Jun 2013 - AUGUSTA - Medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to treat plants with certain low-risk pesticides if a bill enacted by the Maine Legislature on Friday makes it into law. The bill, L.D. 1531, an emergency measure sponsored by Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, a former chairman of the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, passed the House of Representatives without a roll-call vote on Friday. The Senate passed it on Thursday.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US WA: City Seeks Clarity On New Marijuana Rules
Kent Reporter, 14 Jun 2013 - Kent city officials are trying to determine how to handle the new recreational marijuana rules under consideration by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) that could bring marijuana retailers and growers to Kent. David Galazin, assistant city attorney, sent a letter last week to the liquor board trying to "clarify the relationship between the board's regulatory authority and a municipality's general police powers to regulate business activity and provide for appropriate zones regulating the use of land within corporate borders," according to the letter.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
US MA: Ayer May Put Brakes On Medical-Marijuana Sales
Ayer Public Spirit, 14 Jun 2013 - AYER -- The town could become among the first communities in the state to have a medical marijuana dispensary, or conversely, a Shirley man who wants to open a business on Central Avenue might have to wait a year or more to apply for the zoning permits. That was the message that could be read between the lines during a brief early-morning Board of Selectmen's meeting on Friday.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
Angry Afternoon (The Human and Fiscal Cost of the Medical Marijuana Wars)
Two reports came out today about the federal government's attacks on medical marijuana providers.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
Nevada Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Needle Bills
Nevada's Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, Wednesday signed into law two drug reform measures, one allowing for medical marijuana dispensaries and one removing syringes from the state's drug paraphernalia law.
[image:1 align:left]On the medical marijuana front, Sandoval signed into law Senate Bill 374, which will establish a state-regulated system of dispensaries. The law envisions up to 66 dispensaries across the state, with up to 40 in Las Vegas, 10 in Reno, and at least one in each county.
"We applaud Gov. Sandoval and the legislature for their leadership and commend those law enforcement organizations that expressed support for this much-needed legislation," said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, who testified in support of the bill. "It will make Nevada a safer and healthier place not only for medical marijuana patients, but for the entire community. This new law will provide patients with the safe and reliable access to medical marijuana that they deserve," O'Keefe said. "Regulating medical marijuana sales will also generate revenue and take a bite out of the state's underground marijuana market."
Introduced by Sens. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) and Mark Hutchison (R-Las Vegas), the bill creates rules and regulations not only for dispensaries, but also infused product manufacturers and cultivation and testing facilities. It also imposes 2% excise taxes on both wholesale and retail sales, with 75% of those revenues going to the education fund and 25% going to cover the cost of regulating the medical marijuana industry.
The state's voter-approved medical marijuana law, passed twice in 1998 and 2000, required the legislature to create a medical marijuana program that included appropriate methods of supplying medical marijuana to patients. Now, the legislature has finally done so. Nevada will now join Arizona, Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island on the list of states that have state-regulated dispensaries. Two more jurisdictions, Washington, DC, and Vermont should come on board this summer, and the rule-making process for dispensaries is underway in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
On the harm reduction front, Sandoval signed into law Senate Bill 410, which decriminalizes the possession of syringes by removing them from the state's drug paraphernalia list. That opens the way for the over-the-counter sale of syringes and needle exchange programs.
"Back in 1996 when first elected, I was asked what bills I'd be pursuing for my first legislative session," said Sen. David Parks (D-Las Vegas). "My response was employment non-discrimination, HIV/AIDS state funding and decriminalization of hypodermic devices. Little did I know it would be my 9th session before decriminalization of hypodermic devices would come to fruition."
Nevada becomes the 37th state to decriminalize syringe possession and allow for the over-the-counter sale of needles, as well as needle exchange programs, proven means of reducing the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections.
Nevada harm reduction workers said they were ready to get a needle exchange up and running as soon as the law takes effect.
Northern Nevada HOPES in Reno plans to start a syringe exchange program as soon as the law takes effect. Director Sharon Chamberlain says, "In addition to getting sterile syringe out to those who need them, our program will increase safe syringe disposal by individuals in the community," said Sharon Chamberlain, director of Northern Nevada HOPES in Reno. "We will educate these users about the new and needed community disposal options, and strongly encourage them to take advantage of this resource. Previously, no community initiatives provided safe disposal options. "
Categories: Medical Marijuana
CN BC: North Shore Home To First Pro-Pot Billboard
The Outlook, 13 Jun 2013 - The Sensible BC campaign for marijuana reform launched an ad campaign in West Vancouver for a province-wide cannabis referendum A quarter-million commuters crossing the North Shore this week will have likely noticed the new greenery along Marine Drive near the Lions Gate Bridge.
Categories: Medical Marijuana
