BY JACK MORAN – The Register-Guard
Without a doubt — even a reasonable one — Josh Huff won the day.
After a two-day trial in Eugene Municipal Court, a jury on Thursday found Huff not guilty of driving under the influence of marijuana.
City prosecutors had filed a misdemeanor charge against the University of Oregon football player after he was stopped for speeding and arrested near the UO campus during the early morning hours of March 3, 2012.
The six-person jury deliberated 2½ hours on Thursday before returning its unanimous decision in Huff’s favor.
Full Article:
http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/29349209-55/huff-jury-marijuana-field-test.html.csp
Category: Cannabis News Corner
Marijuana’s Medicinal Value Vindicated Once Again, This Time For The Elderly
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Researchers from Tel Aviv University say that smoking a little marijuana could help provide dramatic relief for the elderly who suffer from a variety of chronic ailments.
The scientists tested the effects of marijuana treatment on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel. During the study, the participants reported dramatic physical results, including healthy weight gain and the reduction of pain and tremors.
According to the study authors, the elderly participants also experienced an immediate improvement in their moods and communication skills after smoking cannabis.
Full Article:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112770306/medical-benefits-of-marijuana-elderly-012413/
Olympic snowboarder Ross Rebagliati to start medical marijuana biz
By Emily JacksonMetro Vancouver
Marijuana almost cost him an Olympic gold medal, but snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is hopeful the substance could soon earn him millions.
Rebagliati plans to open a medical marijuana franchise under the name “Ross’ Gold” with storefronts in Whistler, Vancouver and Toronto, he announced online Tuesday.
Full Article:
http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/521270/olympic-snowboarder-ross-rebagliati-to-start-medical-marijuana-biz/
Buying American
by JEFF PRINCE
The bar is well stocked at J.R.’s house, nestled quietly in a well-to-do neighborhood not far from downtown Fort Worth. Booze is in short supply — three dusty wine bottles sit forlornly on a shelf. This bar’s bounty is green, red, and gold flowery buds sprinkled on trays and in baby-food-sized jars. It’s a cornucopia of cannabis, enough to make any connoisseur’s toes curl.
Mexican dirt weed?
Not here.
J.R. doesn’t touch it. He’s a trained budtender with a diploma earned at Oaksterdam University, the pot college in Oakland, Calif. With a second home in California (and a medicinal marijuana permit in that state), J.R. buys nothing but the best pot, hydroponically grown with precise formulas of water, light, temperature, and nutrition for maximum effect. (Like all the pot aficionados interviewed for this story, he asked that his full name not be used.)
Full Article:
http://www.fwweekly.com/2013/01/23/buying-american/
Former Assistant Manhattan DA ‘busted for felony marijuana sales’ on same streets he use to prosecute
By NINA GOLGOWSKI
Side business: Former Manhattan assistant district attorney, David Leung, 44, faces felony charges of selling marijuana on the same streets he use to legally clean
A former Manhattan assistant district attorney has been indicted on felony charges after police say he was caught selling marijuana through a delivery service on the same streets he use to legally work.
David Leung, 44, who had an interesting reunion with former courthouse co-workers last month, was arrested in September after allegedly exchanging an envelope containing marijuana to an undercover agent.
Leung, who worked from 1993 to 2004 under Robert Morgenthau, was found additionally carrying seven bags of marijuana totalling more than eight ounces in his car, according to the criminal complaint.
Full Article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266747/David-Leung-Former-Assistant-Manhattan-DA-busted-felony-pot-sales.html
Inslee encouraged by pot talk with AG Holder
By Bob Young Seattle Times staff reporter
Gov. Jay Inslee said his conversation Tuesday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder convinced him Washington state should continue making rules for a legal marijuana industry as mandated by voter-approved Initiative 502.
Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson met with Holder because of the conflict between federal law, which bans all marijuana, and the state’s law, which makes possession of an ounce of pot legal for those 21 and older.
Inslee said the 45-minute conversation was “very satisfying” and a “confidence-builder” about the state’s ability to move forward implementing legal marijuana. “We went in thinking we should continue with rule-making and nothing I heard should dissuade us,” Inslee said.
Full Article:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020190301_insleeholderpotxml.html#.UP8oVYI303I.facebook
Marijuana Penalty Reduction Bills Filed in Texas
By Sativa Galore
AUSTIN, TX – Two separate Texan lawmakers have filed separate bills in the state legislature to relax marijuana laws in the Lone Star State, although the proposals stop short of decriminalization or the legalization of medical marijuana.
Representative Harold Dutton (D-Houston) has filed a penalty reduction bill that would reclassify possession of up to one ounce of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum $2,000 fine and 180 days in jail, to a Class C misdemeanor, which carries a possible $500 fine and no jail time. While stopping short of decriminalization, the penalty reduction proposal would be significant for a state known to have some of the toughest drug laws in the country.
Meanwhile, Rep. Elliot Naishtat (D-Austin) has filed a bill that would not legalize medical marijuana in Texas, but would provide some protection for medical marijuana patients to avoid punishment.
Full Article:
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/14918/marijuana-penalty-reduction-bills-filed-in-texas/
Medical marijuana, other pot bill filed in the Oklahoma Senate
By Chris Cordt
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. —
A pair of marijuana bills have been filed in the Oklahoma Senate.
Senate Bill 902 directs the State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision to develop rules for use of medical cannabis. It was filed by Senator Constance Johnson, a Democrat who represents the Oklahoma City area.
Right now, nearly 20 states allow some form of medical marijuana.
Senate Bill 914, also filed by Sen. Johnson, would reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Full Article:
http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/medical-marijuana-other-pot-bill-filed-oklahoma-se/nT4Sf/
Senate Bill 902 directs the State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision to develop rules for use of medical cannabis. It was filed by Senator Constance Johnson, a Democrat who represents the Oklahoma City area.
Right now, nearly 20 states allow some form of medical marijuana.
Senate Bill 914, also filed by Sen. Johnson, would reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Full Article:
http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/medical-marijuana-other-pot-bill-filed-oklahoma-se/nT4Sf/
Overkill in the war on pot
By Marie Myung-Ok LeeJanuary 22, 2013
As a candidate in 2008, Barack Obama emphatically stated that medical marijuana use was an issue best left to the states. One of the first promises he made as the newly elected president was that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws.” This was even reiterated formally in the so-called Ogden memo of 2009, in which the Department of Justice instructed U.S. attorneys that federal enforcement should apply only to medical marijuana operations that were not in clear compliance with state law.
Obama has since “clarified” those promises, but it still makes no sense that Matthew R. Davies, a business school graduate who set out in 2009 to create a medical marijuana dispensary that would be in full compliance with California law, is facing up to 15 years in prison — with a mandatory five-year sentence.
This is just one more puzzling incident in the history of a president who not only made these promises but has also admitted to heavy recreational use of marijuana himself in his youth. As a second-term president, with little to lose, why is he continuing his odd campaign on a state-approved industry that employs people, pays taxes and distributes a safe and clinically useful product?
Lost in this fray is the fact that marijuana is medicine. My son is autistic and has an autoimmune gastrointestinal problem for which, at my suggestion, his doctor prescribed him Marinol (a synthetic THC drug). When that proved ineffective, the doctor agreed to prescribe medical cannabis, which is legal in Rhode Island where we were living and, unlike in some states, such as California, is approved for pediatric use. At the time, our son was eating his clothes. Whether as an autistic behavior or because of gastric pain, we weren’t sure; but every day, unless we had him shirtless, he would consume the entire front of his cotton shirt, and sometimes his jacket, on the bus to and from school.
Medical marijuana cured him. But it wasn’t as easy as running out and buying him a joint. When we first considered cannabis, my husband and I made a decision not to procure it illegally. That was complicated because although medical marijuana was legal in Rhode Island at the time, dispensaries were not, and we needed information about what kind of marijuana might help our son.
Full Article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lee-medical-marijuana-20130122,0,6773192.story
Obama has since “clarified” those promises, but it still makes no sense that Matthew R. Davies, a business school graduate who set out in 2009 to create a medical marijuana dispensary that would be in full compliance with California law, is facing up to 15 years in prison — with a mandatory five-year sentence.
This is just one more puzzling incident in the history of a president who not only made these promises but has also admitted to heavy recreational use of marijuana himself in his youth. As a second-term president, with little to lose, why is he continuing his odd campaign on a state-approved industry that employs people, pays taxes and distributes a safe and clinically useful product?
Lost in this fray is the fact that marijuana is medicine. My son is autistic and has an autoimmune gastrointestinal problem for which, at my suggestion, his doctor prescribed him Marinol (a synthetic THC drug). When that proved ineffective, the doctor agreed to prescribe medical cannabis, which is legal in Rhode Island where we were living and, unlike in some states, such as California, is approved for pediatric use. At the time, our son was eating his clothes. Whether as an autistic behavior or because of gastric pain, we weren’t sure; but every day, unless we had him shirtless, he would consume the entire front of his cotton shirt, and sometimes his jacket, on the bus to and from school.
Medical marijuana cured him. But it wasn’t as easy as running out and buying him a joint. When we first considered cannabis, my husband and I made a decision not to procure it illegally. That was complicated because although medical marijuana was legal in Rhode Island at the time, dispensaries were not, and we needed information about what kind of marijuana might help our son.
Full Article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lee-medical-marijuana-20130122,0,6773192.story
Duncan Jones, David Bowie’s son and director of ‘Source Code,’ tweets support for medical marijuana after wife is diagnosed with cancer
David Bowie’s son has lit up the Twitterverse after taking a stand supporting medical marijuana.
Duncan Jones, the 41-year-old director of the edgy sci-fi thrillers “Source Code” and “Moon,” tweeted Sunday in support of the drug that has helped his cancer-stricken wife cope with the effects of chemotherapy.
“Its been both wonderful & at times hilarious to see @rodeneronquillo finding a world of relief from cancer through these drugs,” Jones posted.
“Those who have an issue with marijuana for medicinal use, all I can say is you have no idea what a boon it is for cancer pain management.”
Full Article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/duncan-jones-pipes-support-medical-marijuana-article-1.1244284