Medical Cannabis, 30 Years Later: A Question

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 14, 2011 Medical, News

Irv Rosenfeld, a 58-year-old stockbroker from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, doesn’t look like a record-setting pothead. But he’s smoked more than 120,000 U.S. government joints since 1982.

On November 20, 1982, the United States federal government sent a Florida citizen 300 cannabis cigarettes in a shiny tin can.

The U.S. government, known the world over as a champion of preying on the sick with a weapon they call the “War On Drugs,” continues to send that same man the same ration of joints 29 years later.

This delivery of medicine is part of a “Compassionate Investigative New Drug” Program that exists to study “new drugs”, in this case, marijuana.

Over that 29-year period the government has performed no such study.

Irvin Rosenfeld of Florida will begin his 30th year of smoking cannabis cigarettes on November 20, 2011 — and he feels great.

Event Will Connect Ft. Collins Cannabis Patients With Caregivers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 14, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Denver Westword

The Caregiver Connection event will be held at Harmony Wellness’s headquarters in Windsor, Colorado, on Friday, Dec. 16 and on the second Friday of each month thereafter.

Medical Marijuana Patient Resource Center Helps Patients to Stand United in Face of Bans

Since Fort Collins, Colorado recently voted to ban medical marijuana centers, or MMCs, about 15,000 NoCo patients have wondered: “What will this mean for the medical cannabis community in Northern Colorado?”

In response to a potential epidemic of no safe access for patients, In Harmony Wellness Services is providing pathways to patients for longterm solutions to be able to safely and reliably access their medicine, as outlined in Amendment 20.

14-Year-Old Boy Died From Smoking Plastic, Not Fake Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 14, 2011 News

KDKA

Brandon Rice, 14, died last month, four months after destroying his lungs by smoking Spice through a plastic PEZ candy dispenser.

Despite the true story having been available for some time now, many mainstream media outlets continue to inaccurately report that a 14-year-old Pittsburgh boy died last month after a lung transplant made necessary due to his smoking fake pot which destroyed his lungs in June.

As tragic as the story is — and as bad an idea it is to smoke fake pot — the eighth grader’s death was not, as widely reported, due to chemical burns on his lungs from smoking fake marijuana. It was due to the fact that he smoked the ‘Spice’ out of a plastic PEZ candy dispenser, which partially melted and coated his lungs with toxic chemicals, as reported more than two weeks ago by Lucy Steigerwald at Reason.

Inmates Accused Of Having Marijuana In Jail

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 14, 2011 News

LaSalle Southwest Corrections

Richwood Correctional Center is not a place you want to be, but it’s better with weed than without it.

Two jail inmates were arrested Monday at Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana, and charged with possession of contraband in a penal institution and simple possession of marijuana.

According to the Richwood Police Department, a correctional officer saw Chase Courville, 23, and Marcus Bruton, 26, make a “transaction” under a table in the jail, reports The News Star of Monroe, Louisiana.

When officers seized the substance, it tested positive as marijuana.

Man Gets Out Medical Marijuana At TSA Checkpoint, Gets Through

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Medical, News

Mike Schaef

Mike Schaef put his medicinal cannabis in the scanner bowl at SeaTac, and after a short delay, he was given back his medicine and allowed to go on his way.

It’s usually not a good idea to whip out your medical marijuana while going through a Transportation Security Administration airport checkpoint, but sometimes, in some airports, in some medical marijuana states, it turns out OK.

Case in point: Mike Schaef of Tacoma, Washington, who operates North End Club 420, a medical marijuana patient collective garden.

When going through security at SeaTac airport just south of Seattle Friday morning at about 10:15, Mike put about two grams of cannabis in the scanner bowl in the TSA line.

Cities Can Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries: Appeals Court

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Mark Zaleski/Riverside Press-Enterprise

Medical marijuana patient Abel Chapa demonstrates in front of Riverside 4th District Court of Appeal as arguments are heard in two medical marijuana dispensary ban cases, one in Riverside and one in Upland

In a decision that could have immediate effects, California cities and counties can ban medical marijuana dispensaries within their borders, a state appeals court has ruled.

Other courts have upheld local governments’ authority to restrict and zone the locations of the shops, or even declare temporary moratoriums, but Wednesday’s ruling, in a Riverside case, was the first to address a citywide ban, reports Bob Egelko at the San Francisco Chronicle.

The issue has made its way through the California courts for years, but the opinion issued Wednesday is the first one that directly addresses the issue in unambiguous language, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times. The decision upholding Riverside’s dispensary ban will likely result in more cities and counties prohibiting the pot shops.

N.M. Medical Marijuana Boss Resigns; No Reason Given

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Medical, News

Cannabis Times

The head of New Mexico’s medical marijuana program has quietly resigned, and nobody’s giving a reason.

Dominick Zurlo gave the state notice about two weeks ago that he’s leaving the job, a state Health Department spokeswoman confirmed Thursday, reports Steve Terrell at The New Mexican.

Aimee Barabe said she “couldn’t comment on a personnel matter” and referred all questions to Zurlo, who said he’s working for the state until November 28 and can’t make any comments, referring questions back to Barabe in an endless, circular game of pass the buck.

Zurlo resigned of his own accord, according to Scott Darnell, a spokesman for Governor Susana Martinez.

Michigan AG: Police Can Seize, Keep Legal Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

broadcast-everywhere.net

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette refuses to defend the laws he is sworn to uphold. Is this asshole Michigan’s attorney general, or is he a federal agent?

Hey Michigan, Your Attorney General Is An Asshole

Police are not required to return confiscated medical marijuana to a patient or caregiver — even though a state law prohibits medical pot seizures, according to an opinion issued by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Thursday.

Schuette, who has evidently mistaken himself for a federal officer rather than someone in charge of enforcing state laws, said the provision in Michigan’s 2008 medical marijuana law directly conflicts with, and is pre-empted by, federal law, reports Kim Kozlowski at The Detroit News.

“By returning marijuana to a registered patient or caregiver, a law enforcement officer is exposing himself or herself to potential criminal and civil penalties under the (federal law) for the distribution of marijuana or abetting the possession of distribution of marijuana,” Schuette’s opinion stated — despite the fact that this scenario has never happened in any state.

Cannabis Legalization Measure Could Outlaw Driving By Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graham Lawyer Blog

Washington state marijuana advocates who are concerned about a cannabis DUI provision in I-502, a legalization bill backed by ACLU offshoot New Approach Washington, last week got some backing from a local medical doctor.

Dr. Gil Mobley, who runs a clinic catering to medical marijuana patients in Federal Way, a suburb of Seattle, said he recently tested several patients and found they passed cognitive tests even with THC concentrations of up to 47 nanograms per milliliter (47 ng/ml), reports Jonathan Martin at The Seattle Times. Nearly four hours after one patient medicated, they still tested at 6 ng/ml, according to Dr. Mobley.

“I told them they’d be legally unable to drive if this law passes,” Dr. Mobley said. “It’s philosophically, morally and legally wrong.”

Marijuana Momentum In Michigan: Legalization Vote In 2012?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Legislation, News

Kalamazoo Gazette

Michigan is undergoing a groundswell of activism for a statewide vote on the legalization of marijuana, and voters could get a chance to have their say in November 2012.

There’s a strong popular will toward reforming the cannabis laws statewide, according to Kalamazoo defense attorney Louis Stocking, who ran the petition drive for that city’s successful citywide vote Tuesday to make enforcing the marijuana laws the lowest priority of police, reports Paula M. Davis at the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Following Michigan’s approval of medical marijuana in 2008, Tuesday’s ballot measure in Kalamazoo was “a way of keeping the tidal wave going,” Stocking sasid.

Yearly Archives: 2011