Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Cannabis Advocates Concerned About DUI In Legalization Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 Legislation, News

A group of prominent marijuana activists in Washington state on Thursday signed a letter expressing concern about proposed THC blood limits that would codify driving under the influence (DUI) levels in the state.

“We applaud your willingness to stand up for the repeal of marijuana prohibition,” reads the letter, addressed to the sponsors of marijuana legalization initiative New Approach Washington. “However, we are very concerned about New Approach Washington’s proposal regarding Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis or DUIC.”

The initiative, I-502, would establish a THC blood limit of five nanograms per milliliter (5 ng/ml) in drivers 21 and over. That level is reduced to 0.00 for drivers under age 21.

Marijuana Question Zooms To The Top Of White House Poll

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 23, 2011 Legislation, News

A proposal to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol zoomed to the top of the White House’s official online petition site on Thursday, the same day it was launched. The idea is the first on the site to get enough signatures to pass the threshold needed to get an official response from the Administration.

The White House has promised to evaluate and issue a formal response to any idea on the “We The People” site that gets more than 5,000 signatures within 30 days, reports Brandon Sasso at The Hill. The marijuana legalization idea more than 17,000 signatures as of Friday morning, about 24 hours after it was posted.

The proposal asks, “Isn’t it time to legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol? If not, please explain why you feel that the continued criminalization of cannabis will achieve the results in the future that it has never achieved in the past?”

Signatures Verified: Kern County Medical Marijuana Ban Blocked

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Legislation

Bakersfield.com

Stacy McGee, left, Destiny Joy Brewer, right, and others deliver boxes of signatures on September 8 to the Kern County Elections Division challenging the county’s new ordinance outlawing storefront medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives.

Here’s how it’s done. Medical marijuana patient advocates have won a big victory in Kern County, California. Opponents of a county ordinance that would outlaw medicinal cannabis dispensaries and the sale of edible marijuana products have blocked the law from taking effect.

The Kern County Elections Division on Wednesday verified that the Kern Citizens for Patients’ Rights had collected 17,350 valid signatures from register voters in the county, reports James Burger at The Bakersfield Californian. That number is required to block the ban on dispensaries.

Elections workers counted the 17,350th signature around 11:37 a.m. on Wednesday, September 21, and stopped counting. About 2,662 of the original 26,326 signatures submitted remained uncounted, a cushion of support, as it turned out, that the Kern Citizens group didn’t need.

Marijuana Dispensary Owner Urges Montana: Stand Up To Feds

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Potspot 411

It’s time for Montana to stand up to the federal government over medical marijuana, just as it has over other states’ rights issues, a medical marijuana dispensary owner told a news conference on Thursday.

“You’ll go against them for wolves, you’ll go against them for buffalo, you’ll go against them for guns, but (for) marijuana, there’s no backbone in the state,” said Randy Leibenguth, who ran MCM Caregivers until it was raided by federal agents in March, reports Charles S. Johnson of the Helena Independent Record. “I think our state needs to have the backbone and stand up for this.”

“Without the Legislature’s backing wholeheartedly, we’re sitting there with our butts in the wind until something is written that works for everyone,” Leibenguth said.

Poll: 51% Of Californians Oppose Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 News

HealthRelatedInfos.com

Dude, say it ain’t so. A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that 51 percent of Golden State voters oppose legalizing marijuana, while just 46 percent favor it.

According to PPIC, the finding is similar to results from a poll a year ago, when 47 percent favored legalization and 49 percent opposed it.

Among “likely voters,” it’s an even split: 48 percent favor legalization, and 48 percent oppose, with 4 percent “unsure.”

Voters rejected Prop 19’s version of marijuana legalization last year, with 53.5 percent voting against it. There has since been talk of another ballot measure.

Governor Vetoes Bill Keeping Pot Shops Away From Homes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 22, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Americans for Safe Access

California Governor Jerry Brown wants to leave medical marijuana dispensary regulation up to cities and counties

California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday handed a defeat to anti-medical marijuana forces, vetoing a bill barring dispensaries from within 600 feet of homes in the state. Gov. Brown said the bill infringed on the powers of cities and counties that already have the authority to regulate the pot shops.

Brown noted he had already signed AB 1300, which gives cities and counties clearer authority to regulate the location and operation of marijuana dispensaries, reports Patrick McGreevey at the Los Angeles Times.

“This bill goes in the opposite direction by preempting local control and prescribing the precise locations where dispensaries may not be located,” the governor wrote in his veto message. “Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the state Capitol.”

US Drug Czar & Manhattan DA Try To Spin Drug War As Success

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 News

TopNews

Gil Kerlikowske would love for you to believe the War On Drugs is a huge success. Can’t you just do that for Gil today? Come on now, can’t you?

Message from NYers: No More Drug War

Drug War = Mass Incarceration, Racial Disparities and Overdose Epidemic

White House Drug Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske and New York County DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr. will visit Washington Heights in New York City on Thursday, September 22, to discuss their supposed “progress” in fighting the War On Drugs.

A group of New Yorkers will be greeting the Drug Czar and DA with the message: No More Drug War. When Kerlikowske came into office, he announced that he was ending the War On Drugs. This turned out to be little more than a rhetorical sleight-of-hand, however – astronomical rates of drug arrests and incarceration have not changed.

Stashable Storage Tubes Ideal For Hiding Weed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Products

ToysFromMyAttic.com

Each Stashable Storage Tube comes with an adhesive strip of velcro to secure it in a hidden spot.

The technology of hiding weed has come a long way since the days of the hollowed-out book or the decoy soda can.

The Stashable Storage Tube, a storage device designed for easy portability (it fits in your pocket or purse) protects its contents from being crushed or damaged by liquids, although, as the company responsible coyly notes, “its primary function as a security device is delivered through concealed use.”

The idea is simple, according to ToysFromMyAttic.com, based in Royal Oak, Michigan, which manufactures the tubes: An item that cannot be found, cannot be taken.

Ohio Medical Marijuana Ballot Issue Rejected For Content Flaws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

CFCA America

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine: “I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment”

The summary of a second proposed medical marijuana ballot issue in Ohio has been rejected by Attorney General Mike DeWine, who claimed it was rejected for a half-dozen “content flaws.”

In a letter Friday to the Ohio Coalition for Medical Compassion, DeWine admitted that 1,344 signatures were valid of 2,365 submitted with the proposal on September 7, reports Alan Johnson at The Columbus Dispatch. Only 1,000 valid signatures are needed.

But DeWine claimed a litany of problems, including numerous provisions that were left out of the proposed ballot summary, one section that was misstated, and one item included that was not part of the full amendment (a $2 million loan for the proposed Division of Medical Cannabis Control to hire personnel, lease office space and purchase equipment).

Marijuana Could Prevent PTSD Symptoms: Medical Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 21, 2011 Medical, News

Four Twenty Studios

The administration of marijuana cannabinoids after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms in rats, according to a new study published in the medical journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

“We found that there is a ‘window of opportunity’ during which administering synthetic marijuana helps deal with symptoms simulating PTSD in rats,” said Dr. Irit Akirav of the University of Haifa‘s Department of Psychology, which led the study.

In the study, conducted by Dr. Akirav with research student Eti Ganon-Elazar, the researchers set out to investigate how cannabinoids affect the development of PTSD-like symptoms jun rats, whose physiological reactions to traumatic and stressful events is similar to human reactions.

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