Thursday, March 29, 2012

ARTICLE Dozenss Testify For Md. Medical Marijuana Bill



By: Dawn White
Updated: March 22, 2012
Pppppp

ANNAPOLIS, MD - A room full of people packed the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee Wednesday afternoon to testify on a medical marijuana bill.

Barry Considine waited for hours to tell the committee how using the drug has helped him deal with the effects of polio.

"The cannabis I've been using medically now for over a decade always seems to work," Considine said.

Several dozen people in favor of the bill testified in Annapolis. Some of those people included patients who said medical marijuana eases their pain without many of the side effects of traditional painkillers.

"This is a medicine that works for me. I have no way of identifying myself as a legitimate patient at this time under the current law in Maryland," said Sarah Eyre, who uses medical marijuana.

Eyre was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008 and has been using the drug for two years.

"These patients, some of them don't have much time, and so this in effect will take a step forward and address a very real problem," said Sen. David Brinkley, (R) - Frederick County, who is sponsoring the bill.

However, the bill doesn't come without some opposition, especially from Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) and his administration.

"The legislation would pose a potentially significant risk of liabilities to state employees, so one major concern is the bill would put state employees at risk," said Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"I think the governor's position and the administration's position that they would veto the bill is two things. Number one, it's bad policy, and number two, it's cowardly," said Dan Riffle, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Brinkley will present an amendment to give caregivers a legal defense in court. The bill will include another amendment.

"A patient, in consultation with their physician, will have a document which says, 'This is what I'm doing. I'm under regular contact with the doctor,'" Brinkley said.

Brinkley expects the bill to pass committee and the Senate. He believes it could receive some opposition if it reaches the House.

Sen. Brinkley is a cancer survivor. He says he never used medical marijuana during his treatment.

To read his bill, click here.

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ARTICLE: Republican-led New Hampshire Senate passes medical marijuana bill!



by Matt Simon
March 28, 2012

Exciting news! In a 13-11 vote, the New Hampshire Senate voted today to approve New Hampshire’s medical marijuana bill, SB 409. This is a huge victory for New Hampshire patients and their families.

With this vote, New Hampshire’s Senate became the first Republican-led state senate in the nation to pass an effective medical marijuana bill. Eight Republicans voted in favor, joined by all five Senate Democrats.

Last year, the House passed a similar bill in a 229-96 vote, with more than half of Republicans voting in favor.

Unfortunately, Governor Lynch (a Democrat) has vetoed medical marijuana legislation in the past. His press secretary has already indicated that he will veto the bill despite the strong, bipartisan support it enjoys in both chambers of the legislature.

Several senators who voted “no” today are not certain in their opposition, and advocates are still optimistic about gaining support from additional senators (those who did not have the luxury of being present for the bill’s public hearing) as the bill continues moving through the process.

The bill will next be referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee for a hearing in April or May, and the process will continue from there.

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2 comments
1Richard Feldman { 03.28.12 at 6:35 pm }
Congrats to the citizens of New Hampshire and their elected representatives. The role of government is to protect us from others, not to protect us from ourselves! Republicans should be more supportive of this than Democrats.
“Live Free or Die – there are worse things than death”!

2pmp { 03.28.12 at 7:39 pm }
Gov. Lynch almost lost his last bid for election in 2010.

Given how popular medical marijuana is–70%+ approval– Gov. Lynch should think twice before condemning sick people to suffer unnecessarily before they die in misery.

Governor Lynch: Turn away from cruelty. Practice compassion. Medical cannabis alleviates suffering. Approving this law is the humane thing to do.

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

DC announcer medical marijuana cultivation centers on Friday.

WASHINGTON - The locations where medical marijuana can be legally grown in the District of Columbia will be announced on Friday.

Up to 10 cultivation centers can be named, but the exact number will depend on which facilities met the minimum requirements.

D.C. joins 16 states where medical marijuana is legal.

Under the law, approved by Congress in 2010, doctors can write a recommendation for the use of marijuana by those who have HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other serious conditions.

But D.C. native Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harbor Side Health center in Oakland, Calif., the largest medical marijuana dispensary on the nation, says the District's bill has some serious flaws.

The D.C. initiative "provided that patients would be able to grow their own medicine," he says. This is key for those "having dealt with illnesses [who] are in positions of economic distress and simply cannot afford to purchase cannabis from a dispensary."

Since marijuana isn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration, doctors can write recommendations for pain management but can't prescribe it.

The places where people will be able to purchase medical marijuana aren't expected to be decided upon until later this year.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Medical marijuana boss: Gov. Christie's pot program delay is sabotage


Amy Brittain/The Star-Ledger 03/23/2012 8:00 AM

Gov. Chris Christie and the state health department have intentionally delayed New Jersey’s medical marijuana program in an effort to sabotage it, the CEO of one of the state’s six medical marijuana dispensaries claims in a letter sent this week to Christie’s office.

And now, he’s ready to quit.

"I would like to withdraw from the program," Joe Stevens, the head of Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair, said during an interview with The Star-Ledger Thursday.

Health department officials have broken several promises to Greenleaf, Stevens claims, all while his group has incurred $170,000 in costs with no idea of when it can open for business.

"I can no longer explain away these broken promises and stay quiet while Greenleaf continues to hemorrhage vital funds on a failed program," he wrote in his letter.

Stevens said health department officials told him Greenleaf could start growing marijuana this month, with the issuance of a temporary permit, and that the group was on track to get a final permit in July.

Now, he says, those assurances have been taken back.

"Again, I was foolish," Stevens said, adding that he doubts the program will ever be running as long as Christie is in office. Greenleaf may consider "resorting to the legal process," according to the letter.

The shake-up at Greenleaf could deliver a blow to the state’s already troubled program. More than two years after the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law, not one center has been launched. Meanwhile thousands of patients with qualifying conditions, such as Multiple sclerosis and cancer, are still waiting for the relief the drug might bring them

While some of the other centers have struggled for various reasons -- including, most recently, opposition from municipalities who don’t want them, Greenleaf was considered the leader among the group. Stevens was praised for his swift deal with Montclair, becoming the first group to secure a site. Now, the group has nearly completed work on its grow site and dispensary.

Speaking March 1 on Steve Adubato’s show on NJTV, Christie said the program’s delays are because of municipalities, not his administration.

"The problem we’re having now is something I can’t fix," he said, adding that he does support the program. "If individual municipalities do not want an alternative treatment center in their town, I cannot force them to take one."

Donna Leusner, the spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Senior Services, issued a statement Thursday in response to Greenleaf’s allegations.

"The letter is factually incorrect," she wrote. "Greenleaf submitted its application for a permit and has been asked for additional information, which we have yet to receive. Its application is still under review so it is premature to consider issuing a permit."

If Stevens walks away, it wouldn’t mean the end for Greenleaf. The chief operating officer, Julio Valentin Jr., said he and another partner are trying to change Stevens’ mind but, if that fails, they will plan to take over the group.

When it comes to Stevens’ frustrations, Valentin says he’s empathetic.

"We’ve put out tens of thousands of dollars every month with the hopes that the program could be up and running," he said. "We based our move forward with promises that were made but not kept, but we also understand that these things happen. We can’t go on a handshake. Those days are gone."

As the build-out of the facilities progressed, Stevens said he was working off a verbal promise that his group could start growing marijuana this month.

That promise, he said, was made and broken by John O’Brien Jr., a retired State Police lieutenant who was hired in November by Christie to run the program.

Leusner, the spokeswoman for the health department, did not make O’Brien available for comment Thursday.

During his interview with The Star-Ledger, Stevens said he supports O’Brien and believes he has the right intentions. But recently, Stevens said communications have broken down.

In the six-page letter to the governor, Stevens presents his version of a timeline of key events from September until last week.

Greenleaf signed leases for the dispensary and grow site in September, with the goal of starting operations by the end of 2011. In December, Greenleaf officials submitted paperwork required after the health department implemented a more rigorous backgrounding procedure, according to the letter.

To his knowledge, Stevens said, the backgrounding investigation is still not completed.

"The individuals responsible for conducting the investigations have admitted that the DHSS is ‘making things up as they go along" throughout subsequent requests for additional information," Stevens said in the letter.

During O’Brien’s visit to Greenleaf’s cultivation site in January, Stevens said he presented the idea of a preliminary permit that would allow the group to start growing marijuana before the final permits were issued.

In February, Stevens said O’Brien told him in a phone conversation that he had gotten approval for the preliminary permit, as long as he agreed to certain conditions, such as final site inspection and an agreement for an opening date.

Just last week, Stevens said O’Brien retracted his promise about the preliminary permit.

Greenleaf officials and the health department have had some disagreements about security issues, Stevens wrote in his letter.

The group was asked to install security cameras and post a security guard in a "nearby alleyway in Montclair," several buildings down from the dispensary. Stevens said his group objected because the alleyway "is not under our control and is presumably public property."

The other disagreement involved debate of adding a GPS unit during the transportation of marijuana from the grow site to the dispensary. Stevens objected, he said, because the GPS unit could be hacked and make the vehicle a "sitting duck" for criminals.

Delaware News ~ ARTICLE: Lewes family arrested for marijuana grow.

Delaware Online Staff Reporter

LEWES — The Delaware State Police Sussex County Drug Unit has arrested members of a Lewes family for allegedly growing marijuana in their house.

On Thursday, March 22, 2012, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the Sussex County Drug Unit, with the assistance of the Sussex County Governor’s Task Force, executed a search warrant at a residence in the 20000 block of Waterview Road, Lewes.

Brian Cini, 50; Kathleen Cini, 49; and Kerstie Cini, 20, were all taken into custody at the residence.

During the execution of the search warrant, police said detectives found 94 marijuana plants in various stages of growth totaling more than 4,300 grams, electronic manufacturing and indoor growing equipment, documents, and drug paraphernalia.

Brian Cini and Kathleen Cini were both charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, maintaining a drug property, conspiracy, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. They were arraigned and released on $7,500 unsecured bond.

Kerstie Cini was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and was released on a criminal summons.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

BLOG: WASH DC SET TO AWARD 10 cultivation centers

On Tuesday, the DC City Council voted to impose new limits on the city's medical marijuana program. They approved a proposal to ban cultivation centers from opening in "retail priority areas" flagged for development in selected pockets of land across the city. The city Department of Health is set to award 10 cultivation center permits by the end of this month and five dispensary permits by June 8. It's only been more than 13 years since voters approved medical marijuana in the District, and two years since Congress removed its bar blocking the District from proceeding.

BLOG: MD'S O'MALLY buckles like DE's MARKELL

The battle over medical marijuana bills in the legislature continues. On Monday, Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation weighed in with a Baltimore Sun op-ed criticizing Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) for saying he would veto any medical marijuana bills because he is worried about state officials being treated like drug traffickers by the feds. Federal prosecutors don't have that power, Sterling argued, nor do federal drug laws prevent states from passing their own laws on medical marijuana or other drugs.

ARTICLE: Marijuana and its CD4 Receptors: A New HIV Treatment Strategy? by Tim Horn


Drugs that target one of the two cellular receptors stimulated by the active ingredient in marijuana may prove to be effective at blocking a form of HIV that has been linked to faster disease progression during late stages of the infection. Though the PLoS One research report highlighting these findings—published March 20 by a team of scientists at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York—stops short of concluding that marijuana is one of nature’s best antiretrovirals, the authors suggest that further study of cannabinoids is needed to ultimately discover drugs with both antiviral and symptom-reducing properties.

Marijuana—purchased legally or illegally and either smoked or ingested—along with its synthetic counterpart Marinol (dronabinol) are used by many people living with HIV to manage various symptoms of illness, including pain, depression and weight loss.

The numerous effects of marijuana are the result of chemical interactions between the drug’s active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and two receptors on a variety of cells in the body: cannabinoid receptor 1 (CR1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CR2).

CR1 receptors are densely populated in the brain and, when stimulated by chemicals like THC, can have a variety of neurological effects. It is THC’s interaction with CR1 in the brain and central nervous system that contributes to marijuana’s “high”-like effects.

THC also interacts with CR2, which is not only found on some cells in the brain, but also on cells of the immune system, gastrointestinal tract and peripheral nervous system. It is THC’s stimulation of CR2 in the latter two compartments that may account for the drug’s positive therapeutic effects on nausea and neuropathic pain, to name a few important symptoms.

CR2 has also been found on a variety of immune system cells and is present on CD4 cells in abundance. While some studies have classified CR2 as a suppressor of CD4 cells and early trials indicated that marijuana use was associated with progression to AIDS, more recent analyses suggest that the drug isn’t associated with significant immune suppression. In fact, both smoked marijuana and Marinol have been associated with increases in CD4 cell counts—along with a decrease in viral load—in at least one short-term study and laboratory experiments.

In effect, the mechanisms by which the interactions between THC and the cannabinoid receptors alter CD4 cell function remains unclear. One particular area of interest, though, is the connection between CR2 and CXCR4, another receptor on immune system cells. For example, CR2 activation blocks CXCR4 from directing the movement of certain cells in the body (chemotaxis). CR2 also plays a role in moving white blood cells out of bone marrow (egress), a role previously attributed largely to CXCR4.

The apparent “cross talk” between CR2 and CXCR4, therefore, led the Mt. Sinai researchers—under the direction of Cristina Maria Costantino, PhD—to explore whether stimulation of CR2 can block the way CXCR4 interacts with a particular form of HIV: CXCR4-tropic virus.

During the early years of untreated HIV infection, HIV primarily targets—or is tropic for—cells with the CCR5 receptor. As HIV disease progresses, however, approximately 50 percent of people living with HIV see their virus develop preference for the CXCR4 receptor on CD4 cells. This particular form of the virus, research has shown, is associated with rapid disease progression, though it is unclear if the emergence of CXCR4-tropic virus is a cause or an effect of immune suppression.

Costantino’s test tube experiments proved encouraging. Using a cannabinoid receptor agonist—a THC-like compound—her team found that activation of CR2 inhibited CXCR4-tropic HIV infection. It did this, not by altering the number of CXCR4 receptors on CD4 cells—this is a therapeutic approach being explored by others—but rather by blocking the receptor’s “signaling process” and interaction with HIV.

According to the PLoS One report, activation of CR2 blocked the ability of CXCR4-tropic virus to infect other cells by 30 to 60 percent. “This inhibition is pronounced in resting cells,” the researchers explain, “which are a target of CXCR4-tropic HIV.”

“Developing a drug that triggers only [CR2] as an adjunctive treatment to standard antiviral medication may help alleviate the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent the virus from spreading,” said Dr. Costantino in an accompanying news announcement.

As a result of this discovery, additional research at Mt. Sinai is being planned. Specifically, researchers there will be developing a mouse model of late-stage HIV infection in order to test the efficacy of a drug that triggers CB2, not in test tubes, but in living organisms.

BLOG: MD TO CUT PENALTIES FOR POSESSION OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA

By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun
6:50 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2012

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would cut the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in a way that curtails the right to an initial jury trial on the charges.

By a 16-4 vote, members said, the panel gave its OK to Del. Luke Clippingers's bill setting the maximum penalty for possesssion of 7 grams or less of marijuana at 90 days and a $500 fine. Previously those convicted of the charge could have been given up to a year in jail.

With a potential penalty of more than 90 days, defendants were entitled to a jury trial in Circuit Court -- an option may have taken. Under the legislation, defendants would initially be tried before a District Court judge but would retain the right to appeal to the Circuit Court.

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Clippinger, a Baltimore Democrat, said the bill had the backing of state's attorneys. He said prosecutors believed that by reducing the number of jury trials, the bill would let them concentrate their efforts on more serious crimes.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act is one of only a handful of current laws that were crafted by the electorate instead of the elected. Initiated Law 1 of 2008 was composed by attorneys well-versed in the art of writing law, but their hand was guided by a community, not a caucus; the pen of law has been taken up by a new hand, and it writes in a much less compassionate script.
The House Judiciary Committee needed two overflow rooms to seat the attendees during last Thursday’s testimony. Unlike the previous two sessions this was the first time patients were to have their say before a panel of people likely to change their lives, and the patient community did not disappoint. This is Our Law, as we like to say, because it was written by us, it covers only us, and it is now being used as a sword to slay us. The people came to say the truth to power, to bring the streets to the Fourth Floor, to deliver stories of the sick to those sanitary chambers.
Maybe that’s not what they wanted to hear. In an article published on MLive, Rep. Horn, R-Frankenmuth, commented that many of the speakers testified on the medical benefits of marijuana instead of addressing the bills themselves. Each individual was given only two minutes to speak: I heard every one of those patient testimonials and almost all of them said Do Not Change The Law. No interpretation necessary. Send these bills back to the work group and try again.
A brave group of lawmakers in the city of Caro did just that in February. After spending months in their chambers working out an ordinance to regulate medical marijuana the City Council held a public hearing on the issue. The people said the proposed ordinance was well-intentioned but inadvertently caused significant problems for patients and caregivers; the Council decided to spend a little more money, take a little more time, and get the job done right.
Horn and Rep. Cavanagh, D-Redford, have conducted this second effort to adjust the law in a more restrictive fashion than Rep. Durhal did in 2010. Durhal empowered Compassion Clubs, industry groups and individual patients to sit at the table with State Police, the Prosecuting Attorneys, MDCH and other agencies where issues could be raised and refuted. Misinformation provided by one side could be disputed by the other, a reasonable semblance of truth could be achieved, and from that point both sides could hash out policy that provided authority the tools they need without adding unnecessary encumbrance to the lives of the sick and injured.
There was no such invitation to the community at large to participate in the Republican-controlled House work group. To be sure, this set of 9 issues is much more reasonable than what the original 8 Bills had proposed; changes to the Bills have been made, and some of them have come via suggestions from activists and patients. Not every issue under consideration is detrimental. It takes more than two minutes to convince a Representative that marijuana should not be treated like a gun when in a car, however, or that giving the police greater access to the patient database is not really protecting patients, or that restricting doctors with rules exclusive to marijuana recommendations creates hardships.
By keeping the community at large away from the work group Horn created the problem he complains about: a lack of dialog between legislators and citizens about the actual language of the bills themselves. Democracy is dispensed in two minute increments, and you are not allowed a second serving. Given that scenario, what sick person would not take the opportunity to tell their story?
Amendments to these Bills are being considered by the Legislators, which are really amendments to the MMA, a law created by patients, for patients, with liberty and justice for all. Many of the nine proposed changes seem to have been written by law enforcement agencies that have suddenly become law creation agencies. Given the input the Committee has now received from the patient community we should expect the ink to dry on amendments that offer fewer restrictions and more protections for patients.
Perhaps if that pen of law were held by a disabled person, or someone with a significant illness, the script would contain more Constitution and less calligraphy.
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Thursday, March 8, 2012

ARTICLE: New Hampshire House Passes Decriminalization Bill 162-161 THURSDAY, 08 MARCH 2012 17:55 ZACH ROSENBERG

THURSDAY, 08 MARCH 2012 17:55 ZACH ROSENBERG


The NH House passed a bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana today. Votes were close: 162-161. The House also killed another bill (overwhelmingly, 228-89) set to legalize and regulate marijuana.

Under the bill that passed, first offenses for possession under one half-ounce will receive a $250 ticket, with second offenses at $500. Further offenses will be a $1,000 fine with a possible year of jailtime. Offenders under 21 can be ordered to do a drug awareness program. This is a pleasant change for people with marijuana in their pockets, who right now face a $2,000 fine and a year in jail.

Rep. Kyle Tasker, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, calls it "a measured and calculated reduction in penalties." Rep. Stephen Shurtleff disagrees. The former U.S. Marshall says that a half-ounce is equivalent of 20-30 joints, and though he's in favor of some form of decriminalization, "when someone is carrying around 20-30 joints they've crossed the line into distribution."

The bill will now go to the Senate. But if it passes, Governor John Lynch says he will veto it. In 2009, Lynch vetoed a bill to create three medical marijuana dispensaries that would distribute 2 ounces per 10 days to patients, and only under doctor's qualification.

The Senate has also stopped two similar bills, one in 2010 and one in 2011.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

ARTICLE: Advocates: Medical Marijuana Bill Avoids Pitfalls of Other States


by Hugh McQuaid | Mar 7, 2012 11:43am
Posted to: Health Care, Legal

National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws Connecticut Director Erik Williams
(Updated 2:47 p.m.) Marijuana reform advocates and a group of patients called Wednesday for support of this year’s medical marijuana bill, saying it will serve as a model for other states and avoid the wrath of the federal government.

National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws Connecticut Director Erik Williams said the bill benefits from the mistakes other states have made as they’ve legalized the use of cannabis for patients with debilitating diseases.

“We are fully in support of this bill, we think it’s fantastically written and will be the single best medical marijuana law in the country on the books now or being considered,” he said at a Capitol press conference.

The bill, which will have a public hearing in the Judiciary Committee Wednesday, requires marijuana to be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. The bill keeps the system within state borders and large chain pharmacies that operate in multiple states are unlikely to get into the business.

That means marijuana dispensing will likely be left to the small, independent pharmacies. Williams said federal memos indicate the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency thinks smaller is better when it comes to dispensaries.

The federal government has recently cracked down on dispensaries in California. However, Williams said that the government has yet to raid a facility that was actually complying with the law and Connecticut’s bill looks nothing like the law passed in that state.

“What we have here is a far cry from California. It’s an industry that has very, very little oversight or regulation and that is not what we want to have in the state of Connecticut,” he said. “We’ve learned what not to do and that’s generally California.”


HUGH MCQUAID PHOTO
Lindsey Beck
Williams was joined by patients who use cannabis to treat their conditions, Lindsey Beck, who has Crohn’s disease, said marijuana has allowed her to dramatically reduce the number of medications she has to take each day. Many of those medications made her sick, she said.

“I lost my mobility entirely. I was in a wheelchair, I was bedridden, my hair was falling out, I had bed sores. And it wasn’t from my disease it was from the medication I was prescribed,” she said.

Beck said she is now down to taking only four medications. Dr. Alan Shackelford said it is common for patients using medicinal marijuana to reduce the number of other meds they require. Though the cannabis is not covered by health insurance, patients often end up spending less because they don’t pay co-pays for other drugs, he said.

When Beck later testified before the committee, she said the legislature failed to listen to the public last year when it failed pass the bill, which the public overwhelmingly supported. She said lawmakers should start acting like adults and put the issue behind them.

“The lack of common sense displayed here has overwhelmed me,” she said.

The bill also faced opposition during its public hearing. Sen. Toni Boucher’s testimony against it took up the entire first hour of the hearing dedicated to public officials.

Boucher has been a staunch opponent of legalizing marijuana because she believes it will do more harm than good. She said that even bringing the bill up for debate sends a very mixed message about what this legislature should be dealing with.

“It is disappointing that in this year’s session, filled with hope for education reform, we should be considering a bill that would send such a negative message to our families and children, the very ones education reform is meant to assist,” she said.


HUGH MCQUAID PHOTO
Sen. Toni Boucher, R- Wilton
Smoked substances like marijuana are damaging to the lungs, hearts, and the brain, she said. Boucher departed from her opposition to legalizing any type of marijuana and said she would support the bill if it were limited to terminally ill patients.

“If it was restricted to just those cases I would actually be here to support this initiative,” she said. “Because we’re not concerned about putting deadly smoke in the lungs of someone who has no prospect of recovering.”

Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D- New Haven, asked how Boucher could be supportive of allowing terminal patients to use marijuana but still want it to be categorized as a highly dangerous drug. Boucher said the state could make a compelling case to the federal government to allow it in those cases.

The substance’s federal classification had Rep. Al Adinolfi, R- Cheshire, worried Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and supportive lawmakers would be arrested if the bill were signed into law.

“We are violating federal law if this passes. Now, if the federal law decides to go after people that are doing this and we implement it, who would they arrest? The governor that signed the bill? Or would they arrest all the representatives that voted for it?” he asked

After Boucher answered with information about current litigation in other states, he clarified his legal concerns.

“I’m not concerned about the people who use it, I’m concerned about the people in this room, the legislators,” he said.

However, the bill might have the support of one legislator who didn’t’ support it last year.

Sen. John Kissel, R- Enfield, said that the provision of the bill that requires the substance be dispensed by a pharmacist makes him more comfortable with it. He pointed out that he Boucher were on the same page in their opposition to decriminalizing marijuana but said that’s not necessarily the case for medical use.

“For some reason, even though this is a short session, I think this is the year,” he said.

The legislature passed a less restrictive bill legalizing medical marijuana in 2007 but the measure was vetoed by former Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A similar bill was passed out of several committees last year, but was never raised on the floor of the Senate.

Tags: mariunana, Medicaid, debate, judiciary

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(5) Comments
posted by: 1mind1voice | March 7, 2012 1:15pm

Actually, it’s quite the contrary, Education reform and Marijuana responsiblity always went hand in hand. We have alot of issues to come to terms with and these are definitley in the top 5 most impertinent issues we have to deal with right now. the NDAA being one, ACTA, The wonderful religious war we’re in again, and lest not we forget getting rid of the people who are seated in congress across the board all together. the treasonous bastards. We have an FDA that still wants to buy billions of pounds of pink slime meat even AFTER McDonalds said “Ya know, maybe we shouldn’t use this anymore, ammonnium hydroxide is a health hazard and is non-consumable” The FDA still wants to put it in school lunches…. back to the weed, If most doctors will tell you sickness and disease originate from stress in the body and mind, and marijuana is a stress reliever,then if they want to keep marijuana illegal,then that means THEY WANT YOU TO GET SICK. GO Conneticut! GO Colorado! I may just move out of NY yet.
posted by: dnarthur | March 7, 2012 1:16pm

I feel like there were grammar slips or language usage errors that made it difficult to follow, such as:“Delving into a discussion on marijuana when this is the year of education reform isn’t appropriate, she said.” I suppose there was supposed to be a comma and quote-start marks, but this sentence and a few others seem to make very little sense. This sentence has maybe 50% of the punctuation it needs.
posted by: cedarhillresident | March 7, 2012 4:28pm

1mind
This was never any worse that alcohol. Corporate greed is the only reason it is not fully legal. But to punish the most ill of us with there greed is wrong.
posted by: 1mind1voice | March 7, 2012 6:49pm

yeah I definitely agree with you. Keep the faith that people will get the government back to reflecting it’s people again. someday,oneday. maybe soon if we can organize and get ourselves together.
posted by: mcp4y2k | March 7, 2012 9:44pm

Apparently Boucher fails to be informed enough to know that cannabis does not have to be smoked. It can been eaten to avoid any perceived lung damage. Please Boucher tell me what benefit does smoking cigarettes have?

ARTICLE: Medical Marijuana Patient, 55, Denied An Apartment

By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town

A 55-year-old man in Colorado has been denied residence by an apartment complex after his daughter revealed that he had a medical authorization to use marijuana.
Marlena Martino said that managers at Minnequa Shores apartment complex in Pueblo, Colorado, rejected her father’s application for a lease due to his medicinal cannabis use, reports Jeff Tucker at The Pueblo Chieftain. Managers at the apartments declined to comment on their drug policy.
“We go to sign the lease and the woman brought up their policy on drugs and crime,” Martino said. “I told her about his medical marijuana certificate and she said we couldn’t sign the lease.
“What I don’t understand is how you can pick and choose which laws to follow?” Martino asked. “Who are you to decide what’s valid?”
Martino said her father suffers from a number of maladies including muscular dystrophy and chronic back pain. She said her father doesn’t need continuous care, but she wanted him to live nearby.
Issues such as how a private apartment complex deals with the state’s medical marijuana law are among the many maddening gray areas created by the difference in state and federal laws regarding cannabis. Colorado’s medical marijuana law contradicts the federal Controlled Substances Act, which outlaws cannabis for any purpose.
Minnequa Shores may not be that desirable a place to live, according to one anonymous poster on ApartmentRatings.com.
“The environment is satisfactory however the office staff is both unprofessional and discourteous,” the anonymous contributor wrote. “If you have any desire to have even a remote friendliness with your landlord for comfort’s sake this place due to management staff is almost like living in a prison.”
In any event, the complex may have the right to refuse the lease, according to attorney Karl Tameler, who has hosted conferences with medical marijuana patients and growers to educate them about the law.
“Most lease agreements have provisions where tenants agree not to violate any state, local or federal laws,” Tameler said. “And this does highlight the friction, again, between the state and federal law.”
Tameler said that to his knowledge, an issue like this hasn’t been tested yet in Colorado’s court system.
While he tends to feel it’s a discriminatory practice to exclude medical marijuana patients, Tameler said he’s not convinced such patients would be considered a “protected clasds” under state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in lease agreements.
“You’re not going to get any relief,” Tameler said.
But Martino said she was going to try; she said she is trying to find help by working with medical marijuana advocates in Denver.
Article From Toke of the Town and republished with special permission.
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Monday, March 5, 2012

Important Things:

Senator Leach supporting medical marijuana bill: “We give people far more addictive drugs like Oxycodone and morphine.

Pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht testified: “I have personally preformed 17,000 autopsies and reviewed 36,000 other postmortem protocols signed out by pathologists throughout the United States. I have never attributed a death to marijuana overdose.”

ARTICLE: Mississippi Medical Marijuana Opponents Need To Use Logic And Have Compassion

March 5, 2012
Johnny Greene

They say, Kids will increase consumption after medical marijuana is approved.

I think a recent article in Time Magazine summed up the truth on this issue quite nicely, “Despite warnings from opponents of medical marijuana, legalizing the drug for medical purposes does not encourage teens to smoke more pot, according to new research that compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island after the latter state changed its laws.” Whereas medical marijuana opponents will use this scare tactic with no data to back it up, the link I provided has a study that clearly blows this argument out of the water.

‘Drugged driving’ will become more prevalent after medical marijuana is approved

I again refer to the people at Time magazine who said the following, “Comparing traffic deaths over time in states with and without medical marijuana law changes, the researchers found that fatal car wrecks dropped by 9% in states that legalized medical use — which was largely attributable to a decline in drunk driving. The researchers controlled for other factors like changes in driving laws and the number of miles driven that could affect the results.” As with the last argument, the link I provided in this paragraph clearly shows that worries about drugged driving are exaggerated.

Marijuana is a gateway drug

The gateway argument is not valid in the medical marijuana conversation. First of all, if a kid decides to use marijuana, statistically speaking they are more likely to have used alcohol, tobacco, a prescription for someone else, or misused a household product before they used marijuana, so the entire gateway drug argument is warrant-less to begin with in this discussion. However, stretching reality and assuming marijuana is the first substance that a person tries, chances are they didn’t get it from a medical marijuana patient. They more than likely purchased it on the black market, which is possible regardless of if a state has a medical marijuana program or not.

More research is needed

The favorite move by medical marijuana opponents is to put their head in the sand and pretend that marijuana has no medicinal value, or that more research is needed. This is a classic delay tactic, because they know that the government sponsored research will be slow and isolated, such as at Old Miss. However, there is OVERWHELMING scientific evidence of the medicinal properties of marijuana – way more than there is on many other synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that are legal and wreaking havoc on society. Click this link for one of hundreds, if not thousands, of studies on the medicinal properties of marijuana.

Smoking marijuana causes lung cancer

Here’s what our friends at WebMD had to say, “Even very heavy, long-term marijuana users who had smoked more than 22,000 joints over a lifetime seemed to have no greater risk than infrequent marijuana users or non-users.” Also, there are numerous ways to consume marijuana without smoking it such as tinctures, edibles, vaporizers, as well as topical solutions such as gels and lotions. I have been up and down the West Coast, and there is one thing that is for sure – there are more medical marijuana users that consume marijuana without smoking it than there are that consume medical marijuana the old fashioned way.

The federal government doesn’t recognize state’s medical marijuana laws

State level politicians will always cling to the fact that the federal government does not recognize medical marijuana. For starters, I always point out to these politicians that they were elected to serve at the state level. Now I know that all of these politicians have visions of making it to Washington D.C. someday, but the fact remains that they were elected to do their job, which is at the state level. When they win a federal election, then they can worry about what the feds do. But for now, how about they just do their jobs?
Also, it always seems to be ‘conservatives’ that cling to this argument. Last time I checked, true conservatives believed in things like state sovereignty, state’s rights, and individual liberty. I guess those beliefs only apply to things that fit the political loyalties and financial interests that politicians truly believe in. The one fact that these opponents should be concerned with is that the federal government has never prosecuted a state employee for administering a medical marijuana program, and no medical marijuana patient who was not involved in large scale cultivation or distribution was prosecuted either. If a state employee issues a medical marijuana card to a patient, and that patient consumes marijuana in a safe, legal, controlled environment, history shows that the feds will never get involved.

Patients can just use Marinol

From the great Paul Armentano from NORML, “Oral synthetic THC, legally available by prescription as Marinol, often provides only limited relief to a select group of patients, particularly when compared to natural cannabis and its cannabinoids. Patients often experience minimal relief from Marinol and many experience unwanted side effects. In addition, many physicians are hesitant to prescribe the drug, and some patients are unable to afford it. Despite Marinol’s legality, many patient populations continue to risk arrest and criminal prosecution to use natural cannabis medically, and most report experiencing greater therapeutic relief from it.
The active ingredient in Marinol is a synthetic analogue of only one of the compounds in cannabis that is therapeutically beneficial to patients. By prohibiting the possession and use of natural cannabis and its cannabinoids, patients are unnecessarily burdened to use a synthetic substitute that lacks much of the therapeutic efficacy of natural cannabis and its cannabinoids.
Marinol should remain a legal option for patients and physicians and the development of additional cannabis-based pharmaceuticals should be encouraged. However, federal and state laws should be amended to allow for those patients who are unresponsive to synthetic THC, or simply desire an alternative to oral dronabinol, the ability to use natural cannabis and its cannabinoids as a legal medical therapy without fear of arrest and/or criminal prosecution.”
Medical marijuana is hard to regulate
Regulating medical marijuana is only difficult due to the inadequacy of the state medical marijuana laws, and the constant interference by the federal government. Flaws in state laws, such as not giving the patients the right to grow their own medicine, has led to problems. Not allowing a distribution system has led to problems. Wasting tax dollars on unnecessary, hypocritical federal interference has led to problems. However, simply allowing patients to access medical marijuana or grow it themselves and consume it has never led to any problems whatsoever in the states that allow it.
*Why Mississippi politicians should support SB 2252*
The biggest argument in favor of medical marijuana in Mississippi is obvious – people are suffering. In some cases, not all, but some cases, medical marijuana is a safer and cheaper alternative for treatment for serious conditions. I’m not saying that we should do away with everything else. I’m merely saying that if there’s a possible cure for cancer and/or other debilitating condition that can be unlocked by cannabis, or a serious condition can be helped by medical marijuana, why wouldn’t Mississippi be pursuing this, other than for financial or political reasons?
Opponents want to argue this issue as if we were talking about recreational marijuana. We are talking about medical marijuana. We are talking about humans that are suffering. We are talking about if a doctor thinks cannabis will help, a patient should be allowed to use it in a well regulated scenario.
The science is clear. I’m providing quite a bit of data ahead of time to the producers of the station that clearly shows the medicinal properties of marijuana. I will also provide other data such as reduced suicide rates in states that passed medical marijuana laws.
There’s no reason that Mississippi voters wouldn’t support politicians that vote for SB 2252. Opponents want to keep this out of public view as much as possible because they know that once the truth is known by voters, the demand for SB 2252 will become too large, and the political fallout will be inevitable. Opponents want to make this about drug dealers and crime when really SB 2252 is about patients, doctors, and compassion.
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Posted by Johnny Green
Category: Medical Marijuana Policy
Tags: anti-marijuana, children, drugged driving, gateway drug, propoganda

Sunday, March 4, 2012

ARTICLE: NH House votes on marijuana decriminalization March 4, 2012



CONCORD, N.H.—A bill to decriminalize marijuana possession under one-half ounce is flying high into the House with an endorsement by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

First offenses would be violations punishable by a $250 fine and the second would be $500. Subsequent offenses would be subject to a year of jail time and a $1,000 fine. Offenders under 21 could also be ordered to take a drug awareness program.

Possession of that amount is currently a misdemeanor punishable by a $2,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

Fourteen other states have decriminalized marijuana, according to the National Organization for the reform of Marijuana Laws, including Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut.

Friday, March 2, 2012

ARTICLE: Dispensaries to Open in Rhode Island


by Mark Miller
Fri, Mar 02, 2012 5:23 pm


America’s smallest state should soon be getting some big buds – legal medical marijuana buds. A tentative deal brokered between Rhode Island’s General Assembly and Governor Lincoln Chafee should soon see the opening of three medical marijuana dispensaries to which Gov. Chafee had previously delayed granting licenses since 2011 after the state had originally authorized opening a trio of legal medical cannabis clinics back in 2009.

Gov Chafee suspended the dispensary program in ’11 after receiving a memo from U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha warning that anyone participating could be subject to federal prosecution on large-scale drug production charges. Neronha told the AP that he has yet to review the new compromise between Gov Chafee and lawmakers, one that will restrict the amount of medicinal cannabis a given dispensary can possess, the precise limitations still to be determined by the state Dept of Health.

The General Assembly must approve the deal to make it official, but with both House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed said to be in favor, it seems passage will be a fait accompli.

The three dispensaries to be approved are the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center in Providence (the 2006 law that legalized medical marijuana in Rhode Island is co-named for Slater), the Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth and the Summit Medical Compassion Center in Warwick, the latter completely financed by ex-NBA shooting guard Cuttino Mobley. Most importantly, 4,400-plus Ocean State pot patients will be able to access their medicine at dispensaries after three long years.

ARTICLE: Marijuana Arrests Down After Decriminalization


Fewer arrests means less work for the courts.

By Anthony Karge | 4:55 am

Connecticut’s decriminalization of marijuana, which allows police departments to issue fines rather than arrests, has been in effect since July 1. The courts are already dealing with less of a case load due to the new law.

According to the Connecticut Post, there were 4,774 marijuana arrests from July 1-Dec. 1, 2010 for posession of marijuana less than four ounces. With the new law, there have been 1,127 arrests in that same period in 2011. There were nearly 2,000 tickets issued.

Under the old law, possession of less than four ounces or drug paraphernalia containing marijuana residue was a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Possession of more than four ounces is a felony with more serious penalties.

According to the article, it’s possible police officers are letting people off with a warning rather than issuing a ticket.

The decriminalization law, Public Act 11-71, reduced the penalty for possession of one-half ounce or less to a $150 fine, to a $200 to $500 fine for the second offense, and the higher fine plus referral to a drug awareness program for the third offense.

Anyone under age 21 also faces a 60-day driver’s license suspension. Penalties for possession of more than one-half ounce remain the same as before.

Fred Musante contributed to this report.