Yearly Archives: 2011

N.J. Poll Shows Majority Support For Marijuana Decrim

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 1, 2011 Legislation, News

Six of every 10 New Jerseyans support the penalties for marijuana should be relaxed — with more than half thinking there should be no penalties at all — and one-third would completely legalize its sale and use, according to a poll released on Wednesday. The poll also showed overwhelming levels of support for the medicinal use of cannabis.

The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll has, for almost 40 years, asked New Jersey residents about penalties for marijuana use, and they’ve become more relaxed about the issue, reports New Jersey Newsroom. Back in May 1972, four in 10 New Jerseyans said penalties for cannabis use should be lowered.

Vermont Governor Supports Doctors Prescribing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 1, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

The Walrus Speaks

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin supports Wednesday’s call by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee to reschedule marijuana, allowing it to be prescribed by doctors and sold by pharmacies

A spokeswoman for Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said he supports and will sign on to an effort to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana, and pharmacists to fill the prescriptions.

Shumlin is joining a petition by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to change marijuana’s current classification as a Schedule I drug, reports the Associated Press. Schedule I classification makes cannabis illegal to prescribe or dispense for medicinal use.

Vermont’s current medicinal cannabis law allows a small number of very sick people in the state to register with the state Department of Public Safety and sets up procedures for them to obtain marijuana.

Marijuana Found Growing Outside Australian Court House

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Global, News

emerald triangle news

A cannabis-loving prankster has thumbed his metaphorical nose at Australia’s drug laws by planting a bunch of marijuana outside a court on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.

People started calling in reports of the cannabis seedlings growing in a front garden of Bellingen Court House on Wednesday afternoon, reports AAP.

When the police showed up, they discovered around 60 seedlings, which they said they “believe” is cannabis.

Judge Won’t Stop Federal Crackdown On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Village Voice Media

A federal judge has rejected the request of medical marijuana providers to stop U.S. Attorneys from filing charges against them or seizing their property.

U.S. District Judge Sandra Brown Armstrong ruled in her Oakland courtroom that the medical marijuana collectives hadn’t shown they would suffer “immediate, irreparable harm” without the court order, reports Henry K. Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle.

“The court is sensitive to the desires of individuals to use medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation, as permitted by California law,” Armstrong wrote in her 27-page ruling, filed this week. “Nevertheless, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and in Congress’ view, it has no medicinal value.”

The judge also said she doubted that the collectives would win lawsuits trying to stop the Obama Administration’s crackdown on dispensaries.

Marijuana distributors, patients and dispensary landlords filed lawsuits in all four of California’s federal districts in October, accusing the Department of Justice of violating an agreement to not go after them if they complied with state law.

Hey, Arkansas: Are You Ready To Legalize Medical Marijuana?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

THC Finder

There’s an initiative afoot in Arkansas to put medical marijuana legalization on the ballot in November 2012.

Arkansans for Compassionate Care is circulating a petition to allow the sick and dying to legally use cannabis medicinally with a doctor’s authorization for 16 different serious or chronic diseases and disorders such as cancer, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and HIV/AIDS.

The program would allow for 30 nonprofit dispensaries across the state. Those who live more than five miles from the nearest dispensary would be allowed to get a marijuana-growing permit.

“If we collect 62,500 signatures, the initiative will appear on the 2012 Presidential ballot in Arkansas,” Shannon Steece of Arkansans for Compassionate Care told Toke of the Town. “Currently we have less than 20,000 unvalidated signatures.”

Washington, R.I. Governors Ask Feds To Reclassify Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Seattle Weekly

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire: “Has anybody died from marijuana?”

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee have asked the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a drug that can be prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists, in a move that would require the federal Food and Drug Administration to conduct new studies.

The move by the governors gives new political muscle to the debate on the legal and medicinal status of marijuana, which has been raging across an American cultural divide for decades, reports Michael Cooper at The New York Times.

“The divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients who may need medical cannabis,” the governors wrote on Wednesay to Michele M. Leonhart, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“In the year 2011, why can’t medical cannabis be prescribed by a physician and filled at the drug store just like any other medication?” Gregoire said on Wednesday, reports Vanessa Ho at SeattlePI.com.

Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced In Wisconsin

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Medical Marijuana Blog

The “Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act,” which would let seriously ill Wisconsin residents use marijuana to treat their illnesses, has again been introduced to the state Legislature.

The bill, LRB-2466/1, introduced at a Wednesday press conference by sponsor Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), would allow patients to grow small amounts of marijuana to treat specific conditions, as well as permit the establishment of regulated and licensed cultivation and distribution centers within the state.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee) is co-sponsoring the bill in the Wisconsin Senate. A similar bill was introduced last session but did not pass. Now Republicans control both the Senate and the Assembly and political observers say it’s unlikely to pass this time, either.

Rep. Pocan was joined on Wednesday by patients and medical professionals who support the right to have safe access to medicinal cannabis.

Medical Marijuana Reduces Traffic Deaths, Alcohol Use: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Medical, News

West Coast Leaf

Medical marijuana makes our roads safer, according to a new study

A groundbreaking new study shows that laws legalizing medical marijuana have resulted in a nearly nine percent drop in traffic deaths and a five percent reduction in beer sales.

“Our research suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities through reducing alcohol consumption by young adults,” said Daniel Rees, professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver who coauthored the study with D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University.

Mister Cannabis Offers “High” Quality Marijuana T-Shirts

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Culture, Products

Mister Cannabis

100 percent fine ring-spun combed cotton, high quality screen printing, sizes M through 2XL, $29.95 plus shipping and handling.

It’s the season for giving, and one great way to make your favorite pothead think of you on a regular basis — every time they wear it — get him or her a t-shirt. As editor of a marijuana website, I see (and get to wear) a lot of cannabis-themed t-shirts. The good, the bad, and the ugly — I’ve seen them all.

There’s just as much variation in the quality of the material used, with everything from regrettably cheap weaves — which can spoil what would have been a killer design — to the finest cotton (which, regrettably, is going to remain the predominant material used in such shirts until American farmers are allowed to grow hemp here in the United States).

Having seen and worn so many pot t-shirts, I’ve learned to distinguish the good from the bad, whether we’re talking about designs, or about the quality of the cotton. And I’ve never worn finer shirts, in either regard, than those manufactured and sold by Mister Cannabis at immrcannabis.com.

Weed Leads On ‘We The People’ Petition Website

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Culture, Legislation, News

The Op-Toons Review

Obama’s response to calls from the public for marijuana legalization

Petitions relating to the legalization of marijuana far exceed those on any other subject posted to a U.S. government website designed to garner citizen feedback described as “an experiment in democracy.”

During the first two months since the Obama Administration launched the We The People petition website, 119 active petitions were posted on November 14; petitions that fail to meet the 25,000-signature threshold after 30 days are removed from the site and archived, reports Joseph Marks at Nextgov.

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