Yearly Archives: 2011

Marijuana Has Positive Effect On Crohn’s Disease: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Medical, News

Cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity in Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, according to a new observational study at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

In the study, disease activity, use of medication, need for surgery, and hospitalization before and after cannabis use were examined in 30 patients, reports the International Association for Cannabis Medicines (IACM). Disease activity was assessed by the Harvey Bradshaw index for Crohn’s disease.

The indication for cannabis use was lack of response to conventional treatment in 21 patients and chronic intractable pain in six. Another four patients used cannabis for recreational purposes and continued as they observed an improvement in their medical condition.

‘An Exceptional Victory’: NYPD Marijuana Policy Change

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Global, News

Notes From The Psychedelic Salon

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director, Drug Policy Alliance: “It’s evidence that collectively, activists and community leaders and academics and elected officals can really transform a policy. “

Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, spoke with the Village Voice (owned by the same parent company as Toke of the Town) after the stunning news that the NYPD has suddenly reversed course and announced that it will follow the law and stop arresting New Yorkers for low level marijuana possession that is not in public view.

“At first, I was suspicious,” Nadelmann said. “Is this really what it says it is? And when I read it closely, it looks like it really is a change in policy. That [Commissioner] Kelly is telling the police to stop arresting people when marijuana pops up in somebody’s pocket in a search. And that’s a big change.”

Nadelmann called the NYPD policy change — in which the department agrees to finally, actually follow New York state’s marijuana decriminalization law, passed 34 years ago in 1977 — “an exceptional victory.”

“It’s evidence that collectively, activists and community leaders and academics and elected officials can really transform a policy,” Nadelmann said.

How Accurate Is Cannabis Testing? Ring Test Assesses Labs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

The Weed Blog

Mixed Findings Show Strengths and Problems Among Analytic Testing Services

How accurate is cannabis potency testing? California NORML and Project CBD have released the results of their first “Ring Test” to assess the accuracy of analytical laboratories.

In the winter of 2010-2011, California NORML and Project CBD initiated a “Ring Test” to assess the accuracy of the numerous analytical cannabis testing laboratories that have recently emerged to serve medical marijuana dispensaries, breeders, growers and patients.

Results of the study, coauthored by California NORML Director Dale Gieringer and Dutch scientist Dr. Arno Hazekamp, are reported in the Autumn 2011 issue of O’Shaughnessy’s, the Journal of Cannabis In Clinical Practice [PDF].

Federal Medical Marijuana Patient To Appear In Norfolk, Va.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 26, 2011 Culture, Medical, Products

Irv Rosenfeld

Federal medical marijuana patient Irv Rosenfeld with a tin of federal U.S. government joints. He receives 300 joints a month from the federal government.

Whenever you hear anyone in the federal government, from the President to the Drug Czar down to the most insignificant bureaucrat, saying that cannabis has no medicinal value, remember that the federal government has been giving out free medical marijuana for almost 30 years.

Irvin Rosenfeld is the longest surviving of the four remaining federal medical marijuana patients in the United States. The Compassionate Investigative New Drug program hasn’t accepted any new patients since the first Bush administration, due to political pressure.

A native of Portsmouth, Virginia who now lives in Florida, Rosenfeld has been smoking 10 to 12 joints of cannabis a day for more than 28 years — a total of more than 123,000 joints.

Rosenfeld uses medical marijuana to treat a severe bone disorder called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis and a variant of the syndrome pseudo pseudo hypothyroidism. Irv has bone tumors on the ends of most long bones of his body.

Commissioner Directs NYPD To Stop Improper Marijuana Arrests

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 News

Thee Rant

Ray Kelly, NYPD Commissioner, has responded to public pressure and ordered his officers not to arrest people for marijuana if it’s not in plain sight. New York City police officers obeying the law? What a concept!

Responding to Public Pressure, Police Ordered To Not Arrest People if Marijuana Not in Plain View

Advocates Applaud New Directive, Which Could End Tens of Thousands of Illegal Arrests

Could the New York City Police Department finally be onboard with marijuana decrim, 34 years later?

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly issued an internal order this week commanding officers to follow existing New York state law by ending arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana – as long as the marijuana was never in public view. The order does not change the law itself, but simply instructs officers to comport with the law. This could result in tens of thousands fewer marijuana arrests annually in New York City.

Medical Marijuana Patient Rights On The Line In California

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Joe Grumbine

Joe Grumbine and The Human Solution supporter Daryl Hannah sport their green Solidarity Ribbons to represent medical marijuana patients

The rights of medical marijuana patients and providers to have safe access to cannabis — approved by California voters 15 years ago, but still opposed by reactionary elements in law enforcement — are on the line in California in a closely watched court case in Long Beach Superior Court.

The People of the State of California vs Joe Byron and Joe Grumbine is the name of the case, and it pits the notoriously anti-marijuana Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve “Hot Dog” Cooley against Long Beach collective owner Joe Byron and collective operator and marijuana activist Joe Grumbine, both of whom refused to bow down to the same old, same old practice of repression and fear.

Cannabis Advocates Concerned About DUI In Legalization Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 Legislation, News

FightSpeedingTicketNow.com

A group of prominent marijuana activists in Washington state on Thursday signed a letter expressing concern about proposed THC blood limits that would codify driving under the influence (DUI) levels in the state.

“We applaud your willingness to stand up for the repeal of marijuana prohibition,” reads the letter, addressed to the sponsors of marijuana legalization initiative New Approach Washington. “However, we are very concerned about New Approach Washington’s proposal regarding Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis or DUIC.”

The initiative, I-502, would establish a THC blood limit of five nanograms per milliliter (5 ng/ml) in drivers 21 and over. That level is reduced to 0.00 for drivers under age 21.

Marijuana Question Zooms To The Top Of White House Poll

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 Legislation, News

A proposal to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol zoomed to the top of the White House’s official online petition site on Thursday, the same day it was launched. The idea is the first on the site to get enough signatures to pass the threshold needed to get an official response from the Administration.

The White House has promised to evaluate and issue a formal response to any idea on the “We The People” site that gets more than 5,000 signatures within 30 days, reports Brandon Sasso at The Hill. The marijuana legalization idea more than 17,000 signatures as of Friday morning, about 24 hours after it was posted.

The proposal asks, “Isn’t it time to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol? If not, please explain why you feel that the continued criminalization of cannabis will achieve the results in the future that it has never achieved in the past?”

Signatures Verified: Kern County Medical Marijuana Ban Blocked

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Legislation

Bakersfield.com

Stacy McGee, left, Destiny Joy Brewer, right, and others deliver boxes of signatures on September 8 to the Kern County Elections Division challenging the county’s new ordinance outlawing storefront medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives.

Here’s how it’s done. Medical marijuana patient advocates have won a big victory in Kern County, California. Opponents of a county ordinance that would outlaw medicinal cannabis dispensaries and the sale of edible marijuana products have blocked the law from taking effect.

The Kern County Elections Division on Wednesday verified that the Kern Citizens for Patients’ Rights had collected 17,350 valid signatures from register voters in the county, reports James Burger at The Bakersfield Californian. That number is required to block the ban on dispensaries.

Elections workers counted the 17,350th signature around 11:37 a.m. on Wednesday, September 21, and stopped counting. About 2,662 of the original 26,326 signatures submitted remained uncounted, a cushion of support, as it turned out, that the Kern Citizens group didn’t need.

Marijuana Dispensary Owner Urges Montana: Stand Up To Feds

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Potspot 411

It’s time for Montana to stand up to the federal government over medical marijuana, just as it has over other states’ rights issues, a medical marijuana dispensary owner told a news conference on Thursday.

“You’ll go against them for wolves, you’ll go against them for buffalo, you’ll go against them for guns, but (for) marijuana, there’s no backbone in the state,” said Randy Leibenguth, who ran MCM Caregivers until it was raided by federal agents in March, reports Charles S. Johnson of the Helena Independent Record. “I think our state needs to have the backbone and stand up for this.”

“Without the Legislature’s backing wholeheartedly, we’re sitting there with our butts in the wind until something is written that works for everyone,” Leibenguth said.

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