Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Israeli Nursing Home Prescribes Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 19, 2011 Global, Medical

Moshe Rott tokes up at Hadarim Geriatric Home in Israel

Even as the Obama Administration inexplicably denies the medical benefits of marijuana, at least one Israeli nursing home is prescribing the herb to its elderly patients, reportedly with great results.

Israel’s Ministry of Health in 2008 approved limited use of medical marijuana, and now that the nation’s elderly residents are eligible for cannabis prescriptions, they’re giving it high marks, reports Andrew Belonsky at death + taxes.

“What does it do? It makes me tranquil and less uptight,” said patient Moshe Rott, reports Eric W. Dolan at Raw Story. “I’m able to take it easy, and I feel restful. Before that my hands were in pain, like someone suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It stopped after three months. My hands don’t shake anymore, and it’s totally different.”

Seattle City Council Votes 8-0 To Allow Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Cass Stewart mans the counter at Apothecary Seattle on Capitol Hill. The Seattle City Council on Monday voted to license the city’s dispensaries.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are alive in Seattle, at least for now. The Seattle City Council, on a unanimous 8-0 vote Monday, approved an ordinance which licenses and taxes dispensaries in the city.

The ordinance now heads for the desk of Mayor Mike McGinn for his signature, reports Philip Dawdy at 4Evergreen Group. The mayor is expected to sign the ordinance.

The ordinance requires that medical cannabis dispensaries have city business licenses, pay business and occupation (B&O) taxes and be at least 1,000 feet away from schools.

Medical Marijuana Clubs Open As Arizona Law Is Debated

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services

Mike Miller of the Arizona Compassion Association presides over the counter at The 2811 Club.

Medical marijuana dispensaries aren’t yet allowed to open in Arizona, pending a judge’s ruling on Proposition 203, the ballot initiative approved by voters last November. But that’s not keeping some patients from finding cannabis.

At least a few clubs providing patients with medical marijuana have opened to fill that need, reports Emily Holden at The Arizona Republic.

The new state law allows medical marijuana cardholders to grow their own cannabis and to share it with each other, as long as there are no dispensaries within 25 miles. Since no dispensaries are yet allowed, all patients are currently eligible to grow. These clubs have developed as go-between.

The new law was meant to create a regulated industry of dispensaries, said Joe Yuhas, spokesman for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association, which led the campaign for Prop 203. Instead, the pot clubs are an unintended consequence of the dispute between state and federal laws regarding pot.

“We’re going to see more and more developments like this,” Yuhas said.

Reformed Nazi Twin Singers Renounce Racism; Credit Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2011 Culture

Photo: Polaris

Lamb and Lynx Gaede, formerly of the white supremacist rock group Prussian Blue.

It’s only mid-afternoon, but I’m confident this is the strangest story that’s going to cross my desk all day. A pair of twins who caused a media frenzy a few years ago by presenting themselves as the cute faces of white supremacist racism have renounced their former hatred, saying that medical marijuana has helped them see the error of their ways.

Lamb and Lynx Gaede, whose band Prussian Blue was popular back in 2005 among those inclined to like such things, ascribed their unsavory past to having been “home schooled country bumpkins” heavily influenced by their domineering white supremacist mother, reports Neurobonkers.

Video: ‘Largest Ever’ Marijuana Field Torched In Mexico

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2011 Global, Growing, News

One of Mexico’s largest-ever seizures of marijuana was torched by the army in El Rosario, Baja California on Friday.

The massive haul went up in smoke three days after Mexican soldiers found a pot plantation covering almost 300 acres, according to the Defense Department, reports Russia Today.

Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition Takes It To The People

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: AMMJC

Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition Co-President Ron Crumpton, right, is interviewed by newspaper reporter Jason Bacaj of The Anniston Star.

State Lawmaker: ‘Good Possibility’ He Will Sponsor A Medical Marijuana Bill In Alabama Legislature

Did you know that the Heart of Dixie stands an excellent chance to become the first medical marijuana state in the Deep South?

The newest Alabama group working to allow marijuana as medicine is taking its message to the people with a series of picnic-style meetings across the state. The Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC) group’s second event, was held Saturday in Jacksonville at Germania Springs Park.

A crowd that grew to close to 70 people was on hand for the picnic, including a state lawmaker who said there is a “good possibility” that he will sponsor a medical marijuana bill in the Alabama Legislature next year.

At Last! A Handy Visual Reference To Identify Stoners

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2011 Culture

Graphic: rehab-programs.org

If the dude’s long-haired, got a headband on, wearing a tie-dye, shooting a peace sign, and barefooted, he’s probably a damn pothead. Useful info! LOL.

It’s the only way to be sure. Here, my friends, are the tell-tale signs of “marijuana addiction.”

No, man, this isn’t from The Onion. These folks are serious!

Rehab programs nationwide are trying, you gotta give ’em that. And being businesses, they’re always working on new angles to attract new, well, business.

Ex-Mayor Gets 3 Months In Jail For Dealing Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2011 News

Photo: Everett Herald

Floyd “Butch” DeRosia, pictured not long before he resigned as mayor in 2003

The former mayor of Granite Falls, Washington was sentenced on Thursday to three months in jail for dealing marijuana.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Halley Hupp recommended a four-month sentence, but Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent knocked a month off that, plus agreed to let former Mayor Floyd “Butch” DeRosia serve his time on work release.

A jury last month convicted DeRosia of two counts of delivery of a controlled substance after a two-day trial. He had faced up to six months in jail.

Israel: Government Debates Future of Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2011 Global, Legislation, Medical

Photo: The Jerusalem Post

The government of Israel is expected to decide on establishing a state agency which would be responsible for authorizing and processing requests for medical cannabis.

Currently, about 6,000 patients receive medical marijuana in Israel, reports Judy Siegel Itzkovich at the The Jerusalem Post. But the number of authorizations could reach 40,000 in five years, according to Dr. Yehuda Baruch, a psychiatrist at the Abarbanel Mental Health Center in Bat Yam who has, for the last two years, single-handedly been responsible for the matter.

Oakland Could Charge $211K A Year For Pot Cultivation Permit

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 15, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Hollywood Grind

Oakland, California’s plan to license and regulate large-scale medical marijuana farms have taken another tentative step forward after several setbacks. Unfortunately, the news isn’t particularly good for smaller growers.

The city’s rules and laws about medicinal cannabis dispensaries have sometimes been controversial, but mostly successful, with four dispensaries in town servicing thousands of patients and enjoying about $28 million in annual sales, reports Sean Maher at the Oakland Tribune.

But City Council members including Desley Brooks have long argued that there is little local control over where those four dispensaries get their marijuana. They have proposed, instead, city-licensed, industrial-scale marijuana grow operations to supply the dispensaries.

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