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CannaKids founder Tracy Ryan with her daughter Sophie.

The issue often comes up

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

The REC initiatives in Massachusetts and three other states include measures that protect parents from losing custody of their children as a result of marijuana use. An Idaho mom has lost custody of her kids and is facing criminal charges after giving her child cannabis butter to relieve seizure-like symptoms.

 Use patterns are changing.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

A study found that daily marijuana use is growing rapidly, especially among users who are “poor and lack a high school diploma.” “What’s going on here is that over the last 20 years marijuana went from being used like alcohol to being used more like tobacco, in the sense of lots of people using it every day,” according to one of the researchers. (See the study here.)

The number of U.S. cannabis users is set to exceed tobacco users within a few years.

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Back in 2008, a massive DEA sweep through suburban Philadelphia took down a multimillion dollar cannabis cultivation ring, resulting in the arrest and indictment of twelve Vietnamese Americans who stood accused of conspiring to grow thousands of highly illegal pot plants across several grow sites in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Among those rounded up in the raids was then 40-year old Dung Bui, also known as “Danny Bui”. Facing compounded consequences due to the fact that his grow site was within spitting distance of a school-owned park, Bui pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants and manufacturing and distributing marijuana within 1,000 feet of an athletic field owned by the school district.
Now, six years later, the 3rd Circuit Court has tossed the 2008 ruling out the window, vacating Bui’s guilty plea based on his appeal that he was given bad advice by his attorney.

When you think of politics in Washington D.C., you rarely think of speed, efficiency, or common sense. Yet, in just half a year, the nation’s capital has gone from the dark ages of full prohibition, to be poised now on the verge of passing two new measures that would place it among the most liberal of jurisdictions when it comes to cannabis legislation.
The first big development, reported on here back in October, was the D.C. City Council’s 10-3 landslide decision to move forward on legislation to end the current marijuana possession laws, and replace them with more fair and effective punishments for law breakers. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has also voiced his support for new regulations, tossing his clout behind what is already a supermajority in the City Council.

Legal Herald

In what seems to be the first event of its kind nationwide, a Denver attorney has lost her liability insurance because part of her practice involves representing medical marijuana clients.

Ann Toney’s insurance company last month told her it will not renew her malpractice coverage, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. Toney’s practice “does not meet current underwriting guidelines because of the following risk factors: Area of practice involving medical marijuana,” the Hanover Insurance Group explained in its notice.

Graphic: ASAM
Never mind what all those silly patients and physicians say. The American Society of Addiction Medicine says marijuana isn’t “medical,” and that’s apparently supposed to settle it.

​If you enjoy bullshit, you can certainly have a hell of a time with the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s white paper on medicinal cannabis. That becomes clear from the moment you see those quote marks on the cover: The Role of the Physician in “Medical” Marijuana.

Touting the supposed dangers of marijuana, the reputed lack of clinical research “on a controlled substance with a high potential for abuse,” and the physician’s oath to “first, do no harm,” ASAM on Wednesday released a white paper [PDF] prepared last fall which recommends a halt to using cannabis as medicine, even in states where it has been declared legal.

The organization — for what it’s worth, considered the nation’s leading professional society of physicians involved in addiction prevention and treatment — supported federal regulatory standards for drug approval and distribution, and discouraged what it called “state interference” in the “federal medication-approval process,” reports Yahoo! News.

Photo: World of Work

​Starting Thursday, June 10, Washington residents with terminal or debilitating medical conditions will have better access to getting authorized to use medical marijuana, a prominent Democratic legislator has announced.

Washington’s newest improvement on the medical marijuana program expands the number of health care providers who are legally allowed to recommend medical marijuana to patients, according to its sponsor, state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).
Until now, only medical doctors could legally authorize patients to use cannabis medicinally in Washington State. Senate Bill 5798, Kohl-Welles, now extends the ability to authorize the medical use of marijuana to other licensed health professionals who are authorized to prescribe controlled substances.
Professionals who may now authorize medical marijuana use include naturopathic doctors, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants and osteopathic physician assistants.

“Many patients rely on medical professionals other than MDs and ODs,” Kohl-Welles said. “To remain committed to Washington voters’ long commitment to medical marijuana for qualifying patients, we must allow additional medical professionals to recommend medical marijuana.”

Graphic: Fox 5

​The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review a case in which an employee was fired solely for her lawful use, at home, of doctor-recommended marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The case arose from the 2006 firing of authorized medical marijuana patient Jane Roe (who is using a pseudonym to protect her identity) from a company called TeleTech Customer Care Management. Roe was hired by TeleTech to be a customer service consultant, which required answering phones and responding to emails.
Roe informed TeleTech about her medical use of marijuana during the hiring process, providing the company with a copy of her physician’s authorization.
However, when Roe’s pre-employment drug screen tested positive for THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, she was fired.

Photo: World of Work

​More medical professionals will be allowed to authorize the use of medical marijuana for qualified patients under a measure signed into law by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Washington’s newest improvement on the medical marijuana program expands the number of health care providers who are legally allowed to recommend medical marijuana to patients.
Gregoire signed the bill Thursday, and it will take effect June 10, reports The Associated Press.
Under previous law, only physicians were authorized to write a recommendation for medical marijuana.
The new measure adds physician assistants, naturopaths, advanced registered nurse practitioners, and osteopathic physician assistants to the list of those who can officially recommend cannabis for patients under Washington’s medical marijuana law.