Search Results: cities and towns (43)

Artwork: Jim Wheeler
Safe access to marijuana remains a distant dream to many patients — even in states which have legalized medical use

​One by one, the lights are winking out. In city after city, town after town, in states where medical marijuana is now legal, patients who had dared hope they would at last have safe access to the medicine recommended by their doctors are having those hopes dashed.
The problem? Political cowardice and the panicked reaction of the status quo.
Every week brings more news of freaked out city councils and county boards of supervisors who desperately want to appear to be “doing something” — anything — about the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.
This phenomenon is so far mostly confined to California and to a lesser extent Colorado, but it’s unfortunately also starting to happen in Michigan, Montana and even Maine — where voters specifically approved dispensaries in November.
Rather than showing true leadership by showing genuine concern for patients and communities, too many local government officials are going for the easy, knee-jerk reaction. The level of disregard for the intentions of the voters — who clearly expressed their will by legalizing medical marijuana — is breathtaking.

Since voters there legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, officials in Alaska have been hashing out logistical issues, including how to transport marijuana to communities across the state without violating federal law, since there are few roads and it’s against federal law to move marijuana on planes and boats.

Alaska is massive, twice the size of Texas — but with a population of a little over 738,000, it’s ranked last for population density in the United States. The bulk of Alaska’s residents live in the city of Anchorage and surrounding areas, and most of the rest of the population resides in small cities and towns dotted across the beautiful but unforgiving landscape, with many of these communities positioned along Alaska’s extensive coastline.

Massachusetts U.S, Attorney Carmen Ortiz says her office is debating whether or not to weigh in on how close Massachusetts dispensaries can be to schools and considering shutting down shops within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds our housing.
According to the Boston Globe, six of the 15 dispensary proposals given initial go-ahead from state officials would fall within the 1,000 feet radius.

Brandon Marshall/Westword

In the November elections of 2012, 63% of the voters in Massachusetts approved Question 3, the state’s newly proposed medical marijuana law, making the Bay State the 18th state in the nation to legalize ganja use for medicinal purposes. With Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island already respecting patients’ rights, and New Hampshire looking to follow in Colorado and Washington’s footsteps, all of New England will soon enjoy safe access.
Back in Massachusetts, in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Question 3 medical marijuana law, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health sparked the process this past Friday by granting the first 20 official licenses for prospective storefront medical marijuana dispensaries.

Yes, Denver is called the “Mile High City” and yes marijuana is legal. Not surprisingly, Colorado peaked at the summit of the Movato Real Estate “Highest City in the U.S.” survey of cities and towns across the United States.
Movato.com says it took into account a large body of data, including the number of medical (and recreational) dispensaries, how many medical pot licenses are issued and whether or not adult use is legal. While it is not hard to determine that Denver is the highest city based on that criteria, we wonder what the researchers were smoking (or not) when they came up with their results

Creative commons/Matt Wright.

Monday marked the deadline for Colorado’s 271 cities and towns and 64 counties to decide whether they want to ban recreational cannabis businesses and sales — and it is starting to look like Denver will be ganja ground zero.
Already, four of the ten largest cities in Colorado (Colorado Springs, Thornton, Westminster and Centennial) have banned recreational cannabis sales outright, and five others have placed moratoriums on shops until next year.

Oregon medical marijuana dispensaries – roughly 150 or so – are one step closer to have a set of state guidelines after lawmakers last week approved a bill creating a medical marijuana dispensary program by a 32 to 27 vote.
House Bill 3460 is now awaiting the signature of Gov. John Kitzhaber to become law. If passed, the bill would not create any new taxes and the industry would pay for the regulations through licensing fees.

Patients For Reform Not Repeal

In their official ballot arguments for IR-124 (SB 423), last year’s legislation which all but shut down the medical marijuana law which was approved by Montana’s voters in 2004, Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann and Republican House Majority Whip Cary Smith bizarrely cited Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer.

Prohibition’s End
Democratic Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer called the GOP-controlled Legislature “bat crap crazy” when they voted to overturn the will of the state’s voters on medical marijuana

Schweitzer famously referred to the last Legislature as “bat crap crazy,” and vetoed HB 161, the bill Sen. Essmann and Rep. Smith supported aggressively to completely overturn the will of the voters on medical marijuana.
Later, in addition to issuing an amendatory veto of SB 423, Schweitzer also said of it: “Everybody’s who’s read it says, ‘Oh yeah, it’s unconstitutional.’ “; “I’m kind of disgusted right now”; and “It seems to us unconstitutional on its face.”

Gov. Schweitzer also said SB 423 “violates your constitutional rights to illegal search.” The governor said it requires someone using medical marijuana to “be turned over to law enforcement in every town.”


This Is 420

800 Grassroots Events and Retail Store Promotions Held Throughout all 50 States
 
Senator Ron Wyden Introduces Historic Industrial Hemp Amendment to Farm Bill
 
Organizers Announce Fourth Annual Campaign to be Held June 3-9, 2013
 
June 4-10 marked the biggest and most celebrated Hemp History Week to date, according to organizers.. The Third Annual Hemp History Week featured more than 800 events in cities and towns throughout all 50 states, including 100 grassroots volunteer-led events; more than 700 retail promotions; a restaurant program; and a letter writing campaign that generated over 15,000 letters and calls to U.S. Senators encouraging them to support changes to federal policy that would allow American farmers to once again grow industrial hemp.

Bodhi Group
Canadian farmer harvests a bountiful hemp crop. He could be joined by his U.S. neighbors if Sen. Ron Wyden’s amendment to the Farm Bill is successful

Vote Hemp Encourages Support for Proposed Amendment by Senator Wyden on Industrial Hemp in the Farm Bill
Amendment Would Exclude Industrial Hemp From the Definition of Marijuana
Vote Hemp released an action alert on Thursday encouraging support for Senator Ron Wyden’s submitted last-minute amendment to the Farm Bill, S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of “marihuana.”