Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

N.M. Medical Marijuana Boss Resigns; No Reason Given

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Medical, News

The head of New Mexico’s medical marijuana program has quietly resigned, and nobody’s giving a reason.

Dominick Zurlo gave the state notice about two weeks ago that he’s leaving the job, a state Health Department spokeswoman confirmed Thursday, reports Steve Terrell at The New Mexican.

Aimee Barabe said she “couldn’t comment on a personnel matter” and referred all questions to Zurlo, who said he’s working for the state until November 28 and can’t make any comments, referring questions back to Barabe in an endless, circular game of pass the buck.

Zurlo resigned of his own accord, according to Scott Darnell, a spokesman for Governor Susana Martinez.

Michigan AG: Police Can Seize, Keep Legal Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 11, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

broadcast-everywhere.net

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette refuses to defend the laws he is sworn to uphold. Is this asshole Michigan’s attorney general, or is he a federal agent?

Hey Michigan, Your Attorney General Is An Asshole

Police are not required to return confiscated medical marijuana to a patient or caregiver — even though a state law prohibits medical pot seizures, according to an opinion issued by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Thursday.

Schuette, who has evidently mistaken himself for a federal officer rather than someone in charge of enforcing state laws, said the provision in Michigan’s 2008 medical marijuana law directly conflicts with, and is pre-empted by, federal law, reports Kim Kozlowski at The Detroit News.

“By returning marijuana to a registered patient or caregiver, a law enforcement officer is exposing himself or herself to potential criminal and civil penalties under the (federal law) for the distribution of marijuana or abetting the possession of distribution of marijuana,” Schuette’s opinion stated — despite the fact that this scenario has never happened in any state.

Cannabis Legalization Measure Could Outlaw Driving By Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graham Lawyer Blog

Washington state marijuana advocates who are concerned about a cannabis DUI provision in I-502, a legalization bill backed by ACLU offshoot New Approach Washington, last week got some backing from a local medical doctor.

Dr. Gil Mobley, who runs a clinic catering to medical marijuana patients in Federal Way, a suburb of Seattle, said he recently tested several patients and found they passed cognitive tests even with THC concentrations of up to 47 nanograms per milliliter (47 ng/ml), reports Jonathan Martin at The Seattle Times. Nearly four hours after one patient medicated, they still tested at 6 ng/ml, according to Dr. Mobley.

“I told them they’d be legally unable to drive if this law passes,” Dr. Mobley said. “It’s philosophically, morally and legally wrong.”

Marijuana Momentum In Michigan: Legalization Vote In 2012?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Legislation, News

Kalamazoo Gazette

Michigan is undergoing a groundswell of activism for a statewide vote on the legalization of marijuana, and voters could get a chance to have their say in November 2012.

There’s a strong popular will toward reforming the cannabis laws statewide, according to Kalamazoo defense attorney Louis Stocking, who ran the petition drive for that city’s successful citywide vote Tuesday to make enforcing the marijuana laws the lowest priority of police, reports Paula M. Davis at the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Following Michigan’s approval of medical marijuana in 2008, Tuesday’s ballot measure in Kalamazoo was “a way of keeping the tidal wave going,” Stocking sasid.

Federal Domestic Spying May Target Cannabis Growers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Growing, News

Michael Montgomery/California Watch

A federal drug agent stands in a marijuana field near Redding. The 2010 raid led to federal charges against 27 people.

The pattern of the American government using domestic spying on its own citizens — begun after the 9/11 attacks and the PATRIOT Act — may soon be going to a new level. Congress may empower federal intelligence agencies to participate in the struggle against marijuana cultivation in national forests and on other federal land.

One provision in the 2012 intelligence authorization bill calls on James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, to report on how federal spy agencies can help park rangers, fish and wildlife wardens, and other federal agents eradicate cannabis gardens, report Andrew Becker and Michael Montgomery at California Watch.

The bill also directs the top spy to work with federal public land managers to identify intelligence and information-sharing gaps related to drug trafficking. The House passed its version of the bill, HR 1892, in September; it is now before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Cannabis Increases Pain-Relieving Effects Of Opiates: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 10, 2011 Medical, News

MS News Channel

Vaporized cannabis “significantly augments” the analgesic effects of opiates in patients with chronic pain, according to clinical trial data published online in the scientific journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco looked at the use of vaporized marijuana over a five-day period in 21 chronic pain patients who were on a regimen of twice-daily doses of morphine or oxycodone. Participants in the trial inhaled cannabis vapor on the evening of day 1 of the study, three times a day on days 2 through 4, and in the morning of day 5, reports the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Medical Marijuana Supporters Rally In Sacramento Today

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 9, 2011 Legislation, News

Eastern District of California Blog

Protester Brian David at the Sacramento Federal Courthouse on October 7

The Marijuana Policy Project and a coalition of advocacy and labor groups are staging a demonstration today to protest the federal government’s escalated attack on California’s medical marijuana laws. A rally of medical marijuana patients and supporters is taking place in front of the Sacramento Federal Building and features state legislators, advocates, labor unions, and dispensary operators impacted by the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) crackdown in California.

Since the beginning of October, U.S. Attorneys in California have released statements giving some medical marijuana businesses 45 days to close or risk prosecution. They have also issued threats to landlords, indicating that they will be prosecuted and their property seized if they rent to medical marijuana businesses.

In addition, media outlets have been warned that advertising for medical marijuana businesses, a major source of media revenue in California, could lead to federal charges as well.

“The recent announcements by the U.S. attorneys of the intent to target the California medical marijuana industry are a waste of law enforcement resources and a betrayal of campaign promises made by President Obama,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “Shutting down businesses that provide medical marijuana to patients, and threatening their landlords and media advertisers, will not have any effect on the illicit marijuana market.

Bolivia’s President Says U.S. DEA Agents Not Welcome Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 9, 2011 Global, News

Bob Strong/Reuters

Bolivian President Evo Morales: “They repressed us in Bolivia. That has ended.”

The president and vice president of Bolivia both said this week that American drug agents will not be returning to their country, despite the newly announced normalization of diplomatic relations with the United States.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Tuesday during a regional summit in Bogota, the Colombian capital, that it is a question of “dignity and sovereignty,” reports Vivian Sequera at the Huffington Post.

Medical Marijuana Might Not Be On Ohio Ballot Until 2014

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 9, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Medical Marijuana Blog

When the Ohio Attorney General recently gave the OK for backers of a measure which would legalize medical marijuana in the state to begin gathering signatures to put it on the ballot, the assumption was it was the 2012 ballot being discussed. But now it appears the amendment to Ohio’s constitution might not go before voters until 2014, if at all.

The group backing the Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment will need about 385,000 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot, meaning roughly twice that number to allow for mistakes and invalid names, and they plan to do the entire effort with volunteers, reports Maude L. Campbell at the Cleveland Scene.

So far, only 250 people have volunteered to collect signatures.

“Other ballot efforts that have succeeded [in Ohio]in a volunteer fashion usually had three to four thousand volunteers,” said Alternative Treatment spokesman Ryan Maitland. “Typically it has taken two full summers. We never claimed to have the ability to get it on the ballot in 2012.”

Tacoma Resoundingly Passes Lowest Priority For Pot Enforcement

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 9, 2011 Legislation, News

Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Tacoma Police officers hassle booth vendors selling pipes at this year’s Tacoma Hempfest in June. Police claimed that pot was “already their lowest priority,” but voters made it official on Tuesday.

Voters in Tacoma, Washington, just south of Seattle, sent a powerful message Tuesday to law enforcement and to state legislators in Olympia by joining Seattle in officially declaring marijuana possession laws the city’s “lowest law enforcement priority.”

Organizers Don Muridan and Sherry Bockwinkel, cosponsors of Tacoma Initiative No. 1, CannbisReformAct.org, gathered the necessary signatures and the voters of Tacoma resoundingly agreed, passing with measure with 65 percent approval.

The measure overwhelmingly passed by an almost 2:1 margin, despite being voted on in an off-year election. Modeled after Seattle’s 2003 initiative, Tacoma Initiative No. 1 makes adult marijuana possession offenses the lowest priority for law enforcement.

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