Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Pot For Spot? Medical Marijuana Patch Developed For Pets

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 29, 2011 News

Cannabinated canines, anyone? A Seattle company is developing a medical marijuana patch for pets, calling it a “question of quality of life.”

Jim Alekson’s Medical Marijuana Delivery Systems LLC has patented the patch, called Tetracan, and says it could be used on dogs, cats, and even horses, reports Eric Wilkinson at KING 5 News.

Of course, to buy the patches you’d need to be a medical marijuana patient yourself, since Rover can’t get an authorization from the veterinarian — at least, not yet.

The company intends to press for changes in state law that would allow vets to prescribe medical cannabis for pets, something that currently isn’t allowed, reports Jonathan Walczak at Seattle Weekly.

“It is our intention, once the patch delivery system is perfected, to approach states for approval to use the patch for veterinary use,” Alekson said.

Full-Court Press: Feds Go After Mendo Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2011 Growing

Photo: Ganja Farmer’s Emerald Triangle News

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I love my job.

Every time I leave San Francisco for Mendocino like I did the other day, whether it’s for an interview like I had arranged or for snooping and sleuthing for an upcoming story, I get giddy. It brings out the Tom Sawyer in me.

I’m like that kid the movie, The Black Stallion, when during the climax of the big horse race he throws off his racing goggles and grabs Big Black’s mane like they are one. He rides the galloping horse like they did back on the island when it was just the two of them.

MBS: Australia’s Terrific New Marijuana Strain [Pictorial]

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2011 Global, Growing

All photos: Moonunit

Australian cannabis breeders are kicking ass with their own unique genetics, producing a multitude of potent strains. One of the best recent innovations is called MBS (Mind, Body and Soul), and is a creation of renowned breeder Moonunit.

MBS is about 60 percent indica and 40 percent sativa, according to Moonunit, though it expresses in a more indica fashion.

“MBS is comprised of Deep Chunk for the mind, Zoid Fuel for the body, and C-99 for the soul,” Moonunit told me by way of explaining the strain’s Aussie genetic background.

Moonunit described is as “a spreading, good yielding plant, with the early maturation of an indica and some of the growth qualities of a sativa.”

“It grows dense, hard, nuggety buds,” he told me. “Some samples have grown green, whilst others will tend to show purpling with cooler nights, some almost black. The large amounts of trichomes resemble snow, and the dark purple backing gives the buds excellent aesthetic qualities and bag appeal.”

Israel’s Medical Cannabis To Be Locally Grown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2011 Global, Growing

Graphic: Jewlicious

Medical marijuana will be grown in Israel for at least the next two years, because imports would be 10 times more expensive, according to the Israeli Health Ministry.

Health Ministry director-general Dr. Ronni Gamzi decided on Thursday to establish a unit within the ministry to manage and supervise the supply of medicinal cannabis, reports Judy Siegel at the Jerusalem Post.

The unit is scheduled to begin operating in January 2012.

The Israeli Pharmacists Association’s members are pressing for permission to distribute medical marijuana to authorized patients through their pharmacies.

Study: Marijuana Growers’ Kids In Better Health

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2011 Culture, Global, Growing

Photo: Niagara Regional Police/Canadian Press

New research questions the automatic removal of children living in marijuana grow-ops, finding they may not be exposed to any alarming health risks. In fact, children of marijuana-growing homes are healthier than other kids, according to the research.

A new study from Canada flies in the face of stereotypes regarding the offspring of marijuana-growing parents. Children from homes where cannabis is grown were healthy and drug-free, according to the study — in fact, healthier than other children — leading to questions about why such kids are often removed from their homes.

The research from the Motherisk Program at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children indicates the automatic removal of kids from marijuana-growing parents can be worse for the children than allowing them to stay at home, according to Gideon Koren, a University of Toronto professor and the program’s director, reports CBC News.

Synthetic Marijuana Ban Sailing Through Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 28, 2011 News, Products

Photo: Daily Record

Federal legislation that would ban possession and sales of chemical compounds found in products such as “K2,” “Spice,” and “bath salts” began moving this week in House and Senate committees. Lawmakers are considering four bills — three in the Senate and one in the House — that would add these synthetic drugs to Schedule I, which is the most restrictive category of drugs that have a “high potential for abuse and no medical value.”

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Health approved legislation by voice vote, and today (Thursday, July 28) the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled to vote on legislation.

“Lawmakers are poised to repeat mistakes from the past by creating ineffective laws that will criminalize more people and drive these substances into the illicit market,” said Grant Smith, federal policy coordinator with the Drug Policy Alliance. “History has clearly shown that prohibiting a drug makes it more dangerous, not less.”

Marijuana Suspect’s Daughter Asks Willie Nelson For Help

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Jessica Vogel-Laberdee

Jessica Vogel-Laberdee: “We need the voice of a great man like yourself to speak out about the unjustice that my dad is facing”

The daughter of a Spokane, Washington medical marijuana dispensary operator recently indicted in federal court is calling on legendary country singer and cannabis advocate Willie Nelson for help.

In an email to the Spokane Spokesman Review, Jessica Vogel-Laberdee asks Nelson, who plays locally at Northern Quest Casino on Sunday, “to speak out about the unjustice that my dad is facing.”

“I am aware that you owe us nothing, and doing this would be a gesture that would fulfill only my wildest dreams,” Vogel-Laberdee wrote, “but I am sending you this because there is a chance that you will step into my dad’s shoes (if only for a moment) and decide to take action.”

Nelson is on vacation and is unavailable for comment, according to his publicist. Willie’s had a few pot-related legal hassles of his own, with a judge recently rejecting a proposed plea bargain that would have resolved a misdemeanor marijuana possession case with a fine.

Sheriff REALLY Doesn’t Want Marijuana Patients To Carry Guns

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 News

Photo: Jackson County Sheriff

Sheriff Mike Winters doesn’t want medical marijuana patients to carry guns — and he’s fought all the way to the Supreme Court to stop them, even though he’s lost at every step along the way.

An Oregon sheriff is so determined to stop medical marijuana patients in his county from having guns, he’s taking the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — even though his legal argument has been shot down by every court so far.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters claims he can’t issue concealed handgun licenses to medical marijuana patients because it would violate federal law, specifically the Gun Control Act of 1968, reports Damian Mann at the Ashland Daily Tidings.

The sheriff has, so far, lost in Jackson County Circuit Court, the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court.

Cynthia Townsley Willis, who uses cannabis for muscle spasms and arthritis pain, has no criminal record. But she admitted to using medical marijuana when she filed her application with the sheriff in 2008 for a concealed handgun license.

Sheriff Winters denied her application, claiming that her possession of a medical marijuana card indicated she was a “drug user.”

Willis now carries a concealed weapons license, which Sheriff Winters was forced to approve after the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled against him.

But the sheriff soldiers on, wasting untold thousands of tax dollars in his doomed, quixotic and expensive attempt to deprive medical marijuana patients of their rights.

Benefit Event Set For Fired Walmart Medical Marijuana Patient

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Joseph Casias

Cancer patient Joseph Casias, former Employee of the Year at Walmart: “I just don’t understand why it is so bad to use something that helps me and many others who suffer with illnesses and pain”

Once in awhile, corporate America commits such a glaring injustice that people are sickened by the inhumanity of it. Such was the case last year when a Michigan Walmart fired its former Employee of the Year, Joseph Casias, after he showed up positive for marijuana on a routine drug test — despite the fact that he is a seriously ill cancer patient legally using medical cannabis on the recommendation of his physician.

Casias, 30, who has an inoperable brain tumor, was sacked by the Battle Creek Walmart after he failed a routine urine screen following a workplace injury. And despite a chorus of nationwide protest, the corporate behemoth stuck by its heartless decision and eventually prevailed in court after a judge upheld the dismissal.

Casias said that he only used marijuana after his work shift, and never used on the job. He tried cannabis after his oncologist suggested it.

Seattle Mayor Signs Medical Marijuana Dispensary Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: Elaine Thompson

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn: “We hope that if we can demonstrate, here in Seattle, a more sane approach to how we can work with this, that we can continue to move towards a transition on how we regulate and oversee the use of marijuana in an intelligent way rather than the irrational way that the prohibition era has given us.”

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn scheduled a Wednesday signing ceremony with City Attorney Pete Holmes, state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles and other officials to sign a bill regulating medical marijuana like any other business.

Marijuana prohibition “denies an appropriate medication” to patients who need it, Mayor McGinn said at the ceremony. “Prohibition does not work.”

“We are taking the approach that what we need to do is honor the wishes of the City of Seattle and honor the wishes of the voters of Washington when it comes to medical marijuana, and appropriately regulate its use,” Mayor McGinn said.

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