By Christopher Cadelago
California medical marijuana patients, storefront collectives and their landlords on Monday announced a series of lawsuits seeking an immediate stop to the federal government’s statewide crackdown on medicinal cannabis.
The lawsuits were filed in three federal districts in the state — Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento — on Friday where U.S. attorneys have set various deadlines for dispensaries to shut down or risk criminal prosecution and forfeiture of their properties.
Lawyers for the coalition filed a fourth lawsuit in San Diego on Monday. One of the plaintiffs in that case is Briana Bilbray, the 25-year-old daughter of Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, and sister of Imperial Beach City Councilman Brian Bilbray.
“Not only is the U.S. attorney infringing on my right as a California resident to obtain the medicine I need, but she is punishing me by making it more difficult to get the one thing I really need as a patient,” Briana Bilbray, a cancer survivor who has spoken out on behalf of patient cooperatives, said in a prepared statement. “It is one of the worst feelings imaginable.”
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/07/medical-marijuana-collectives-landlords-sue-feds/
Category: Cannabis News Corner
Health: Marijuana Goes Mainstream
By Cathy Cassinos-Carr
It’s been 15 years since California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act that gives patients with a doctor’s recommendation the right to use marijuana for medical purposes. Today, a growing number of Sacramentans are exercising those rights by legally carrying a medical marijuana card, and cannabis dispensaries are spreading like you know what.
It’s here, folks—and in a big way. Yet mainstream medicine doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.
That was my experience, anyway. As a medical journalist for this magazine for seven years, I have never had trouble finding experts to interview.
This time was different.
After contacting media reps at the Big Four—Sutter, Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis and CHW/Mercy—only UCD was able to summon up an interviewee. CHW/Mercy and Sutter couldn’t help. Kaiser rep Katie Minke responded via e-mail, stating that while Kaiser physicians may recommend medical marijuana to patients “if felt to be clinically appropriate and beneficial,” the few she spoke with suggested the topic did not come up often enough in their practices for them to feel “expert” discussing it with a reporter.
Doctor-Researchers Speak Out
Thankfully, one local doctor, UCD’s Barth Wilsey, M.D., was more than willing to talk. Trained in both anesthesiology and neurology pain management, Wilsey has been at the forefront of researching cannabis’s use for patients with neuropathic pain (nerve damage), just one of a long list of conditions (AIDS, cancer and glaucoma, to name a few) whose symptoms may be relieved by marijuana. “Neuropathic pain is somewhat harder to treat than surgical pain, and many patients don’t receive adequate treatment,” says Wilsey. Those patients, he suggests, may be candidates for cannabis, and he’s got the science to prove it. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the effect of medicinal marijuana on patients with nerve injury pain of diverse causes, Wilsey and his research team found that cannabis provided a painkilling effect.
That was the predictable part. What took the researchers by surprise was this finding: Low-dose marijuana (3.5 percent delta-9-THC) was as effective as a higher dose (7 percent delta-9-THC) in alleviating nerve injury pain. (THC is the cannabinoid thought to be most potent in marijuana.)
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Maine slaps 7% tax on pot brownies sold to medical marijuana patients
John Clarke Russ
After Mainers approved medical marijuana, lawmakers decided that marijuana sold for medicinal purposes would be subject to the 5 percent state sales tax. Now Maine Revenue Services has issued an opinion that prepared foods such as brownies that include medical marijuana will be taxed at the higher 7 percent rate.
By Mal Leary, Capitol News Service
AUGUSTA, Maine — Baked or smoked? How patients use their medical marijuana determines their tax rate, according to a recent opinion from Maine Revenue Services.
After Mainers approved medical marijuana, lawmakers decided that marijuana sold for medicinal purposes would be subject to the 5 percent state sales tax. Now Maine Revenue Services has issued an opinion that prepared foods such as brownies that include medical marijuana will be taxed at the higher 7 percent rate. This has many questioning the ruling.
“It again shows how disconnected some people in the taxing department are from the general will of Maine people,” said Paul McCarrier, board member of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine. He said medical marijuana is just what it says it is — a medicine — and should not be taxed at all.
McCarrier said for some individuals, eating foods that contain medical marijuana is the best way for them to use the medicine. He said smoking or using vaporizers does not work for everyone and patients should not have to pay an extra tax in order to use medicinal marijuana.
“Sometimes it is the best delivery method for people,” he said. “They can ingest it and it helps with their various pains and afflictions. For some people it is their only delivery means.”
In 2009, Mainers passed a referendum allowing medical marijuana dispensaries with nearly 60 percent of the vote. The bill was reworked by a task force named by then-Gov. John Baldacci and became law in 2010, with the first dispensaries being opened this year.
Peter Beaulieu, director of the Sales, Fuel and Special Tax Division at Maine Revenue, said the policy question of taxing medical marijuana was settled by legislation. A provision of the law clearly states the sales tax exemption for medicine does not apply to medical marijuana.
“It is MRS’s position that a food product containing medical marijuana is not a grocery staple because it is not ordinarily consumed for human nourishment,” Beaulieu wrote. “The food product being prepared is not for general consumption. It is primarily prepared as an alternative form of delivering the medical marijuana into the body.”
He said for prepared foods with medical marijuana to be exempted from taxes would take legislative action. He stressed Maine Revenue Services is just interpreting current law.
“I think we are going to have to take another look at this whole area,” said Rep. Meredith Strange-Burgess, R-Cumberland, co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
She said the fact that medical marijuana is taxed at all has concerned her. She said it was not really discussed in any depth because it was part of the bill as submitted to implement the dispensary law voters had approved at referendum.
“My personal opinion is that it should not be taxed,” said Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea. “If they were just making brownies as a snack, that’s one thing, but this is a way to deliver medicine. For many, this may be the only option because they can’t or do not want to smoke marijuana.”
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http://bangordailynews.com/2011/11/03/politics/maine-slaps-7-tax-on-pot-brownies-sold-to-medical-marijuana-patients/
Permission to medicate in Augusta Medical marijuana users turn out for Civic Center event
By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com
HIGH TECH MACHINE: Jake McClure, of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, talks about indoor growing equipment in the Maine Hydroponics Supply booth during the Home Grown Maine trade show Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Staff photo by Joe Phelan
AUGUSTA — Medical marijuana users shared hits off a vaporizer and compared buds of their home-grown efforts Saturday, separated by just the thin vinyl wall of a tent and several feet of Augusta Civic Center parking lot from Augusta Police Sgt. Christopher Shaw.
The marijuana use taking place inside the tent was not why Shaw was there.
Police, Civic Center staff, the District Attorney’s Office and organizers of the first Home Grown Maine — the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine’s first ever trade show and festival — had agreed beforehand medicinal users with the proper legal documentation could use marijuana inside the tent erected in a parking lot of the city-owned Augusta Civic Center.
The event, and the designated spot on public property where marijuana could be used, in full view of passing law enforcement through the doorless entrance of the tent, and others, were firsts.
“This is the first time we’ve had permission to medicate in public, the first time,” said Chris Kenoyer, of Portland, a patients’ advocate and activist who uses marijuana for severe and chronic back pain caused by a degenerative spinal injury. “That’s a step forward for all Maine patients.”
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http://www.kjonline.com/news/permissionto-medicate_2011-11-05.html
Dr Ben calls all dagga (cannabis) dealers to a meeting
Dr Ben Dlamini with his friends who came all the way from South Africa Bushy Williams (c) Dr Ben (r) and Chris Jonsson. They came to show their support for his determination to have dagga legalised in the country. (Pics: Lunga Masuku)
MBABANE – A two-day dagga workshop has been organised by outspoken former Registrar of the Examinations Council, Dr Ben Dlamini.
Dlamini is also hoping to generate an income of E10 million through engaging 125 000 farmers in the ploughing of cannabis, popularly known as dagga.
He stated this in a report titled ‘Economic Recovery Cannabis Strategy’ he is hoping to hand over to the police and the King’s Office very soon.
The workshop, according to Dr Dlamini, will be held at the Mavuso Trade Centre on Saturday November 26, 2011.
He said it is aimed at educating interested people on cannabis, a plant that is illegal in the country. “The workshop entails learning about cannabis and the laws surrounding its usage,” he said.
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http://www.times.co.sz/News/34229.html
WEED WARS to Premiere on Discovery Channel, 12/1
For the first time on television, a weekly series takes an up close and personal look at the controversial business of medicinal cannabis as WEED WARS premieres Thursday, December 1, at 10PM E/P simulcast on Discovery and Discovery Fit & Health. The entire four-week run of the series will be simulcast on both networks.
WEED WARS follows Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, the nation’s largest medicinal cannabis dispensary serving over 94,000 patients. The man behind Harborside is founder and executive director Steve Deangelo whose mission is to provide the best possible product to his diverse client base of patients while using his business to educate the rest of the country about the full regulation and taxation of medicinal cannabis.
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Medical marijuana backers rally in Pocatello
BY MICHAEL FARNWORTH
BILL SCHAEFER/IDAHO STATE JOURNAL Kris Lybolt, of Idaho Falls, gives the thumbs-up to a passing motorist during a demonstration to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho Wednesday afternoon at the corner of Yellowstone and Alameda in Pocatello.
POCATELLO — Roll another citizen movement into the protests by the AARP and Occupy Pocatello. Demonstrators pushing for medical marijuana rallied Wednesday afternoon at the corner of Yellowstone Avenue and Alameda Road to push for passage of the Medical Choice Act.
The Medical Choice Act is a movement to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho. The state does not recognize medical marijuana cards from other states and the group aims to change that.
Under the Medical Choice Act, the groups are working toward ensuring that those who want to use medical marijuana, rather than more traditional medical treatments are protected from arrest, prosecution, property forfeiture and criminal or other penalties.
It is also keeps their physicians, primary caregivers and those authorized to produce marijuana for medical purposes from suffering the same legal complications. Tina Manley moved to Idaho from Alaska where medical marijuana is legal. Now living in Blackfoot she discovered her friends that used legal medical marijuana can no longer do so because their medical marijuana cards are not recognized in the state of Idaho.
“We have multiple organizations involved here,” Manley said. “We’re out here running petitions under the act not to provide marijuana to those that would party smoke, but for those that have debilitating and painful medical conditions.”
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http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/OLIVE/ODE/IDAHOSTATE/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=SVNKLzIwMTEvMTEvMDM.&pageno=MQ..&entity=QXIwMDUwMw..&view=ZW50aXR5
Study: Medical Marijuana Doesn’t Make the Kids More Reefer-Mad in Rhode Island
Lucy Steigerwald
Rhode Island has legal medical marijuana, Massachusetts does not, and a new study which compares usage of the drug in those states suggest that the kids are not encouraged to further toke just because their cancer, glaucoma, or anxiety-ridden relative are legally and medicinally doing so.
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http://reason.com/blog/2011/11/03/study-medical-marijuana-doesnt
More states want feds’ OK to grow hemp
by Tim Johnson and Adam Silverman
It hasn’t gotten the attention of medical marijuana, but a growing number of states have passed laws authorizing the growth of hemp and are attempting to get the federal government to make it legal nationwide.
Hemp can be cultivated for fiber or oilseed, and it is used to make thousands of products worldwide including clothing and auto parts. From 1999 through last year, 17 states have enacted measures that would either permit controlled cultivation or authorize research of industrial hemp, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Colorado was the most recent to authorize research in 2010. Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia have passed laws authorizing cultivation, according to NORML.
Hemp and marijuana are different varieties of the same species of plant, Cannabis Sativa. Industrial hemp has lower THC content, the primary psychoactive component of marijuana.
The federal government classifies all cannabis plants as marijuana and places strict controls on the cultivation of hemp. Industrial hemp was an American staple in colonial times. The output peaked during World War II.
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http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2011/11/02/more-states-want-feds-ok-to-grow-hemp/
Medical marijuana supporters have come to Pocatello
by Jamie Hale
A handful of protesters stood at the corner of Yellowstone Ave. and Alameda Rd. Wednesday evening in support of a potential medical marijuana bill in Idaho. Some argued for full legalization of the drug, while others supported only medical laws, but all agreed that the current restrictions are unfair.
“The laws were made out of fear, and there’s always prohibition, so when you’ve got laws that were made out of fear through prohibition, and poor education, those laws are going to be more strict,” said Lindsey Rinehart, a representative from Boise’s pro-medicinal marijuana group Compassionate Idaho.
Her organization is trying to gather support for the Idaho Medical Choice Act, a proposed bill that would legalize medicinal marijuana in the state. Rinehart said the organization needs about 50,000 signatures by April 30 to get the issue on the ballot. If it gets there, she’s convinced the majority of Idahoans would support the bill.
Despite at least one poll showing overwhelming public support, Idaho refuses to budge its strict marijuana laws. In fact, Idaho and Utah are the only states west of Texas that haven’t relaxed their laws. Between the two, Idaho is stricter and has many more restrictions. The penalty for being under the influence of marijuana in Idaho, for example, is up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
According to a 2011 Boise State University Public Policy Survey, 74 percent of Idahoans support the purchase of medicinal marijuana for terminally and seriously ill patients. Strangely enough, the same poll showed the population split evenly on whether or not people should be allowed to sell and manufacture the drug. That is one of many arguments the pro-marijuana groups hope will turn the tide in the state.
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http://thebannockalternative.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/medical-marijuana-supporters-have-come-to-pocatello/