Search Results: mitchell (36)

Dispensary ban author, L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar: “If you don’t like the state law, let’s change the state law”

A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday moved forward with a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, approving a recommendation to outlaw storefront cannabis outlets in the city while still allowing “small groups” of up to three patients and caregivers to grow their own.

The Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee agreed to allow the full City Council to consider a complete ban on the pot shops, one of two options they considered on Tuesday, reports Mike Szymanski of City News Service.
PLUM could have considered a less restrictive plan, proposed by council member Paul Koretz, but the committee instead approved a full ban until a decision comes down from the California Supreme Court on pending lawsuits regarding the legality of dispensary sales of medical marijuana.

FreakingNews.com

SB 409 Would Protect Seriously Ill New Hampshire Patients From Arrest If Their Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana
 
A hearing on New Hampshire’s medical marijuana bill, SB 409, ran past 5 p.m. on Thursday evening. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), listened to two and a half hours of testimony, nearly all of which was offered in support of the bill.
 
The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford), introduced the measure and made a strong case that support for the bill transcends partisan boundaries.

Aaron Evans
Aaron Evans of The Green Brothers got a chance to sit down with Toke of the Town’s Becky Bonghits Fogarty for a good, long, in-depth talk about weed and life and music.

By Becky Bonghits Fogarty
Toke of the Town
Michigan Correspondent
Aaron Evans, founder of The Green Brothers and Dove Ink Records, is a powerful force in the legalization of marijuana as well as a constant workhorse striving to affect positive change in our world in every way he can. As an activist and artist he stands on the front lines against the twisted laws of the government, fighting daily to end the prohibition of marijuana.
Since beginning his battle, Aaron has been featured in NUG, Skunk, High Times and countless other publications in print and online. As an author/emcee, producer, designer, photojournalist, and marijuana activist, Aaron Evans, aka Claude 9 aka Eyamme, is a unique entity within the culture, carving his own lane and blazing trails along the way.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Aaron is currently based in San Diego, with a fan base that spans the entire globe. With a blend of free flowing, lyrical, and musical talent Aaron’s artistic styling can be described as THC-infused funk, hip hop, jazz, and soul.
You can find out more about Aaron and his eclectic talents at www.aaronevansimagination.com.

Photo: The Oakland Press
Judge Colleen O’Brien won’t even allow dispensary operator Alexander Vlasenko to mention medical marijuana during his trial.

​A local judge has ruled that Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act does not protect dispensaries from prosecution.

In a written opinion issued last week, Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O’Brien granted a motion from the prosecutors to preclude defendant Alexander Vlasenko from asserting a defense under the state’s medical marijuana law, reports Ann Zaniewski at the Oakland County Daily Tribune.

Vlasenko, who is facing three counts of delivery and “manufacture” of marijuana, won’t be allowed to even mention medical marijuana during his trial.
The charges stem from an undercover investigation of a Waterford Township business called Modern Age. (Sad but true: apparently Oakland County law enforcement officials have nothing better to do than conduct “undercover investigations” of medical marijuana dispensaries.)

Photo: Pattaya Talk

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent
Americans love guns, sex and gambling.
Can you imagine anything getting in our way when it comes to the pursuit of the Big Three?
If it is our desire to have, hold or own any of the Holy Trio, God help the man or woman who tries to stop us. Because if you do…if you do…Try to stop us…We’re just going to have to look the other way. That’s just the way it is. 
That is the way it is with everything in Life in America. Everything.
Except marijuana.
Starting with guns: Full disclosure, I like guns. I shot my first handgun a couple of months ago and really enjoyed myself. I was in the country and where I was staying, there were bear sightings.
While the .38 wouldn’t have done much to the bear except piss it off, my host felt that because how deep we were in the woods everyone in attendance needed to be familiar with guns, in case anything happened. It seemed perfectly acceptable to be prepared at that moment.

Graphic: KTVQ

​House Bill 161, Montana’s medical marijuana repeal bill, has only been approved by the House of Representatives. It hasn’t cleared the Senate, nor has it been signed by the governor. But dispensaries in Missoula are concerned about possible negative economic effects if the law is repealed.

Thousands of jobs could be lost, cities would lose revenue from business taxes, and many more people would be relying on food stamps if repeal passes, according to Dave Stephens, owner of Better Life Montana in Missoula.
“It’s a bad idea all the way around,” Stephens told Paige Huntoon of the Montana Kaiminthe student daily at the University of Montana at Missoula.

Photo: The Daily Voice
Montel Williams uses marijuana to ease the symptoms of MS, but Wisconsin doesn’t recognize the medicinal uses of cannabis — yet.

​Former talk-show host Montel Williams, a medical marijuana advocate, has reportedly been fined for possession of a pipe of the sort “commonly used to smoke pot,” according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

The pipe was found Tuesday at a routine security checkpoint by Transportation Security Administration agents at the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reports Jennifer LaRue Huget at the Washington Post.
Williams paid his $484 fine and went on his way, according to the sheriff’s office.
Williams, 54, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. Laws in the 15 states which allow medical marijuana typically include MS among the conditions which qualify. But neither New York state, where Montel lives, nor Wisconsin, where he was fined, allows medicinal cannabis.

PA House of Representatives
Rep. Paul Costa denies that he was smoking marijuana in the parking lot outside a Steelers game.

​A western Pennsylvania lawmaker stands accused of smoking marijuana while tailgating last month in the parking lot outside a Pittsburgh Steelers football game.

Pittsburgh police claim State Rep. Paul Costa, 51, was caught sharing a joint with another man in the parking lot of Heinz Field on October 3. Undercover Officer Alex Lee Myers claims he saw Costa (D-Wilkins) and another man passing the joint between them, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. (Since the Ravens beat the Steelers 17-14 that day, who could be mad at these guys for “allegedly” dulling the pain with a little herbal medicine?)
“He adamantly denies that he smoked any marijuana,” said Costa’s attorney, Phil DiLucente. “No narcotics of any kind were found on him. In fact, he detests marijuana,” DiLucente added.
Myers and police Sgt. Steve Matakovich were walking through the parking lot when they said they saw Costa and Mitchell Brourman, 50, of Edgewood, “smoking and passing between them a hand-rolled white cigarette,” while standing next to a 2008 white GMC Yukon.
Myers claimed he could smell “the overpowering scent of burning marijuana coming from the smoke surrounding both Brourman and Costa.”

Graphic: Women’s Marijuana Movement

​The Women’s Marijuana Movement on Tuesday, October 5, will coordinate news conferences throughout California and across the nation in support of Proposition 19, the California ballot initiative to control and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, and to highlight the need for marijuana law reform nationwide.

“The Women of these United States are joining together and showing their support of Proposition 19 and the people of California to vote YES and take this historic step towards reforming our nation’s marijuana laws,” Cheyanne Weldon of Texas NORML told Toke of the Town.
“Throughout history, when women have shown their support of prohibition (or lifting of a prohibition), society as a whole has taken notice,” Weldon told us.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Montreal Gazette

​Canadian Researchers Establish Scientific Basis For Medical Use Of Cannabis

There’s now more scientific evidence for what many patients have known for awhile: Smoking marijuana can ease chronic neuropathic pain and help patients sleep better, according to a team of researchers in Montreal.
The new study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that pain intensity among patients decreased with higher-potency marijuana, reports Caroline Alphonso of The Globe and Mail. The study represents an important scientific attempt to determine the medicinal benefits of cannabis.
“A single inhalation of 25 mg of 9.4 percent tetrahydrocannabinol herbal cannabis three times daily for five days reduced the intensity of pain, improved sleep and was well tolerated,” the study concludes. “Further long-term safety and efficacy studies are indicated.”