Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Another Cheap Stunt From SB 423 Author Sen. Jeff Essmann

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 31, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

It looks like the rough and tumble of politics is too much for Senator Essmann

Thin-Skinned Senator Files Complaint Over Campaign Rhetoric

Just 2 Weeks Ago, Essmann Staged Bogus Lawsuit Threat Against Attorney General

Not satisfied to have decimated patients’ rights, Montana state Senator Jeff Essmann is now attacking his critics with a formal complaint to the Commissioner of Political Practices.

The charge? Essman didn’t like a radio spot that mentioned his name.

“It looks like the rough and tumble of politics is too much for Senator Essmann,” said Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform, Not Repeal. “Maybe he should find a new career. His complaint against a radio spot of ours is untimely, wrong and desperate.”

“The fact is, the Montana Republican Party platform rejects his bill, SB 423, and calls for new medical marijuana legislation that is both workable and realistic,” Brigham added. “The writing is on the wall. SB 423 will either be rejected by the voters or rewritten in the next legislature. Senator Essmann is in denial over the fact that his handiwork is deeply flawed and won’t be law for much longer.”

Marijuana Vending Machines Coming To Arkansas? Not True!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 30, 2012 Legislation, Medical

Gawker

Yes, there are a few of these in California. No, they are not coming to Arkansas, even if voters there legalize medical marijuana next Tuesday.

Lobbyists opposing the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act claimed on Tuesday that they “are working to discover whether or not medical marijuana vending machines are coming to Arkansas.” They aren’t.

“That’s simply not true; medical marijuana is only allowed to be dispensed in one of 30 licensed, non-profit dispensaries,” said David Couch, legal counsel for Arkansans for Compassionate Care. “This would not be allowed in Arkansas, unless it was approved by the Arkansas Department of Health.”

In California, vending machines add another level of security–helping to ensure that only patients get the medicine. Let’s take a look at how it works:

Clergy Leaders Endorse Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 30, 2012 Legislation, News

Christian Marijuana Organization

Faith leaders call on all Arkansans to support compassionate measure

Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the committee behind Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, on Tuesday announced a dozen clergy leaders from across the state and from a broad range of denominations have endorsed the measure. The religious coalition was announced at a press conference in Fayetteville, featuring medical professionals and Emily Williams, who used medical marijuana to cope with the side effects of chemotherapy.

“I am proud to be among the faith leaders who have endorsed the use of medical marijuana by seriously ill patients,” said Reverend Howard Gordon, minister emeritus at the First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. “We are compassionate people by nature and Issue 5, at its core, is about compassion.

Oregon Military Veterans Urge Yes On Measure 80 Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 30, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Salem-News.com

“Denying veterans access to therapeutic cannabis is making criminals of our heroes.”

National advocates, elected officials and representatives of Oregon’s 300,000 military veterans on Monday joined together in Ashland and Portland to call attention to Oregon’s appalling policy of denying medical cannabis to sufferers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to urge Oregonians to vote yes on Measure 80, which would allow adults 21 and older to purchase taxed and regulated cannabis (marijuana) at state-licensed stores.

Is I-502 Better Than The Marijuana Law We Have Now?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 30, 2012 Legislation, News

Sensible Washington

By Troy Barber

Sensible Washington

If I-502 — on the November general election ballot — passes, national headlines will read “Washington State Legalizes Marijuana!” This is what national marijuana law reform groups have been dreaming of for more than 40 years. The practical application of the law, however, will be something very different, the end results could yield some very negative impacts, and all the headlines would be for naught.

I-502 is not legalization; it is decriminalization. The language creates a narrow exception for the right to possess limited amounts of marijuana or cannabis-infused foods and beverages. The tax-and-regulate portions conflict with federal law and are likely to be preempted. This will leave no legal production or retail sale of product for consumers, leaving illegal markets to fill new demand.

FBI Study Shows Marijuana Arrests Do Not Deter Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 30, 2012 News

The November Coalition

Report Shows Continued Arrests Near Record Levels While Use Rises

Marijuana arrests continued at near-record levels in 2011, the vast majority of which were for simple possession. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, 757,969 arrests were made nationwide for marijuana, more than 87 percent of which were for possession. This is a slight decrease from 2010.

Marijuana arrests accounted for slightly less than half of all drug arrests last year. In 2011, one American was arrested for marijuana possession every 42 seconds.

Despite intensive law enforcement resources being used to arrest and punish marijuana users, rates of marijuana use continue to rise. The “National Survey on Drug Use and Health” — commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and released in late September — showed that marijuana use had slightly increased nationally between 2010 and 2011. According to the report, more than 29.7 million people aged 12 and older used marijuana at least once in the past year.

AR Medical Marijuana Act: $10 Million In Annual Tax Revenues

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 29, 2012 Legislation, Medical

Arkansans for Compassionate Care

Act Would Create 500 New Jobs

The Arkansas Department of Health estimates 45,000 Arkansas patients would benefit from the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA). According to the latest numbers, the AMMA would generate an estimated $10 million a year in new sales tax revenue to the state and create 500 new, well-paying jobs in the state.

The ADH indicated the initial startup costs for the program will be between $3.3 million and $6.4 million. This will be paid for by cardholder and license fees.

FBI Numbers: One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds In U.S.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 29, 2012 News

Weed Quotes

Half Of All American Drug Arrests Are For Cannabis; New Stats Reveal Failure Of “War On Drugs”

Just over one week before voters in three states will decide on ballot measures to legalize and regulate marijuana, the FBI on Monday released a new report showing that police in the United States arrest someone for marijuana every 42 seconds, and that 87 percent of those arrests are for possession alone.

Monday’s FBI report shows that 81.8 percent of drug arrests were for possession only, and just under half (49.5 percent) of all drug arrests were for marijuana.

A group of police, judges and other law enforcement officials advocating for the legalization and regulation of marijuana and other drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 750,000 marijuana arrests in 2011 — more than 40 years after the start of the “War On Drugs” — as evidence that this is a war that can never be won. With more than 1.5 million total drug arrests drug arrests being reported in the U.S. in 2011, that’s one drug arrest every 21 seconds.

Montana Judge Blocks Key Provisions Of Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 26, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

THC Finder

District Court Judge James P. Reynolds late on Friday for the second time issued a Temporary Restraining Order blocking key provisions of Montana’s medical marijuana law. The current law, as gutted by the GOP-controlled Legislature last session, limits providers to no more than three patients, and prohibits providers from receiving “anything of value” from patients for their services.

If the law were in full effect, very few providers could continue to operate, and the vast majority of the approximately 8,300 patients currently in the state program would be denied access to medical marijuana, according to Chris Lindsey, president of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association.

Worth Repeating: Marijuana As Schedule I Violates Patient’s Bill of Rights

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 26, 2012 Culture, Legislation, Medical

Research Nursing 518

Patient’s Bill of Rights — You didn’t know you had rights?

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, RN

Toke of the Town Columnist

The Patient’s Bills of Rights guarantees you the right to make your own health decisions when seeking medical care, which includes all the medicines you personally choose to put into your body, in partnership with your physician’s recommendations, to prevent, heal, or improve your quality of life due to suboptimal health.

The Patient’s Bill of Rights grants you the freedom to use medical marijuana to heal yourself!

People who are ill, injured, suffering from a disease or disability, and who are prescribed medical marijuana, are patients protected by this Patient’s Bill of Rights (PBR) in or out of the hospital. Wherever your pain goes, so go your patient rights.

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