Browsing: Medical

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog

​Thousands of patients have applied to participate in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program (MMMP) since state voters made it legal last year.

The following statistics are through April 2010, according to Monroe News.
Original and renewal applications received: 27,883
Patient registrations issued: 14,398
Caregiver registrations issued: 6,274
Applications denied: 4,072 (most due to incomplete information or missing documentation)
Certified caregivers can acquire and possess 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for a qualifying patient. Each caregiver may assist up to five patients.

Photo: Event Setter

​Shock waves are still reverberating through the medical marijuana community after more than half-a-dozen growing operations were raided by the Colorado Springs Metro Vice unit on Wednesday.

Police served seven warrants, claiming they were all illegal growing operations, reports 11 News.
All seven were growing operations and not storefront dispensaries, according to police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt.

Photo: WHYY

​State Senator Daylin Leach has announced the introduction of legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Under the bill, Pennsylvania would join 14 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing doctor-supervised medical marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions, reports Main Line Media News. Neighboring New Jersey passed its own medical marijuana law earlier this year.
“It’s long past time we move beyond the misinformation and ancient wives’ tales and allow people to have the medicine that will make them feel better,” Leach said. “Medical marijuana has been proven repeatedly to help people who are desperately ill. It is nothing more than gratuitous cruelty to deny it to them.”

Photo: Lou Lang News Weblog
Rep. Lou Lang: “I’m not done; I’m gonna keep trying”

​A vast majority of people in Illinois say they support medical marijuana. The most recent poll shows 68 percent of state residents want to make cannabis legal for medical purposes, reports Anna Davlantes of FOX Chicago News.

So why won’t Illinois lawmakers make it happen?
Predictably, most law enforcement agencies claim giving anyone legal access to marijuana increases the supply for potheads.
Opponents also point to the fact that cannabis hasn’t been approved by the FDA — conveniently forgetting to mention that the reason this is so is the lack of research mandated by its federal classification as a tightly-controlled Schedule I narcotic, with no accepted medical uses.

Graphic: Arizona Dream

​Don’t pass the peace pipe, partner — Flathead definitely does not equal pothead. Medical marijuana providers on the Flathead Indian Reservation who sell to American Indians can be charged with felony distribution, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSTK) of Montana announced Wednesday.

After consulting with elders from the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille peoples, the Tribal Council decided to keep their policy, which makes the possession or sale of marijuana for any reason a criminal offense, according to CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald, reports Vince Devlin of The Missoulian.

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​Colorado lawmakers are finally sending a measure regulating the state’s medical marijuana industry to the desk of Gov. Bill Ritter, and Ritter has indicated he’s inclined to sign it into law.

The State House voted 46-19 on Tuesday afternoon to approve House Bill 1284, report Jeffrey Wolf and Adam Schrager at 9 News. The bill mandates that dispensaries are licensed and monitored throughout the state, but in a very controversial provision, also gives local communities the ability to completely ban them.

Graphic: Digital Journal

​Maine officials will accept applications starting this week fro residents who want to register as medical marijuana patients under the state’s new distribution system. But some who are already using marijuana under the current rules say they are in no hurry to put their names on the list.

Rules created after last November’s statewide referendum allow eight non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries to be set up in Maine, reports John Richardson at the Kennebec Journal. Prospective dispensary owners have until June 25 to file applications and business plans under guidelines posted last week.
All individuals who want to use medical marijuana must register with the state by January 2011, under the new rules. Applications will be posted online as soon as Tuesday, May 11, ac cording to Catherine Cobb, director of licensing for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Photo: Diana Sunshine Wulf
Diana Wulf, spokeswoman, Nebraska HEMP: “It is one of the safest plants on Earth to use”

​The discussion has begun about legalizing marijuana for medical purposes in Nebraska.

Three members of the State Board of Pharmacy will quiz their colleagues on the topic at the annual meeting May 22-25 of the National Boards of Pharmacy in Anaheim, Calif., reports Paul Hammel of World-Herald News Service.
The Nebraskans hope to learn more about the pros and cons of legalization and any problems that have arisen in the 14 states that now allow cannabis to be used medicinally.
“It’s probably an issue we’re going to have to address in the future” said Board Chairman Rick Zarek, a Gothernburg, Neb., pharmacist, who said he had no personal opinion on the subject.
Nebraska legislators declared the issue dead in March, even after the state pharmacy board in neighboring Iowa voted unanimously to recommend that medical marijuana be permitted there.


Photo: Chicago Reader
Rep. Lou Lang: “Ultimately, this is a health care bill. It’s not a bill about drugs. I’m here for people’s health and pain.”

​Illinois residents with chronic health conditions which can be alleviated by marijuana are urging state lawmakers to let their state join 14 others, including Michigan and New Jersey, that have legalized cannabis use for medicinal purposes.

The Illinois House adjourned Friday before acting on legislation legalizing medical marijuana which has already passed the state Senate, reports Dean Olsen at The State Journal-Register. But advocates say they will continue to push for Senate Bill 1381, which they say safeguards against abuse of medical marijuana and criminal involvement in growing and distributing the herb.
The usual opponents, including, of course, law enforcement organizations, have lined up in opposition to the bill, citing the same, tired old arguments against medical marijuana.
“There’s a lot of stuff in marijuana that’s not good for you,” claimed Limey Nargelenas, a lobbyist for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
“It’s like people taking meth,” Nargelenas said in one of the most ridiculous statements ever made about medical pot. “People feel a lot better after ingesting methamphetamine.”

Graphic: Maine Medical Marijuana

​Maine’s new medical marijuana dispensary law, passed by voters last November, is chiefly known for its creation of dispensaries where cannabis patients can safely buy their medicine. But a lesser known part of the law, which requires patients and growers to register with the state, is being called an invasion of privacy by some advocates.

State officials say the registry will keep patients who enroll from being charged with marijuana offenses. But some patients said they are going to boycott the registry when it opens in July, reports Josie Huang of The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
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