Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Widened Access To Medical Marijuana Headed To WA Governor’s Desk

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 5, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Washington state patients who qualify for medical marijuana will be able to get legal recommendations for it from a wider range of health care professionals under a bill that appears headed to Governor Christine Gregoire’s desk.

Under Senate Bill 5798, it won’t be just doctors who can get sick people access to pot, reports Mark Rahner at The Seattle Times.

The bill widens the list of licensed medical professionals who can recommend marijuana to include physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners and naturopathic physicians, according to one of its sponsors, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).

“The reason is that, especially in rural areas of the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.’s,” Kohl-Welles said. “They see nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Stossel To Look At Drug Prohibition Thursday Night

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: OregonLive.com

John Stossel: “It’s not the intoxicant that causes crime — it’s prohibition.”

Host John Stossel will take a look at the effects of prohibition during part of his Fox Business Network show, Stossel, Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

“In part of my show tonight, I’ll talk about how laws against prostitution, organ selling, and drug use hurt more people than prostitution, organ selling, and drug use do,” Stossel wrote Thursday.

Stossel notes that the first argument against legalizing drugs is usually “Then more kids will abuse drugs!”

“But there’s little evidence for that,” Stossel points out. “The Netherlands has officially ‘tolerated’ marijuana for 30 years. So is there violent marijuana crime? No. Fewer young people in Holland smoke marijuana than do Americans. Legalization took the mystique away. A Dutch minister of health said, ‘We’ve succeeded in making pot… boring.’ “

Old Folks Set Up Medical Marijuana Club In Retirement Community

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Culture, Medical

Photo: Todd Bigelow/Aurora for NPR

Laguna Woods resident Margo Bauer, 73, tokes up on the porch with her plant.

Residents of Laguna Woods Village retirement community have a new club to promote education on medical marijuana.

The Village Cannabis Club was started by Lonnie Painter, who also directs Laguna Woods for Medical Cannabis, a 100-member patient collective centered in the community, reports Claire Webb of The Orange County Register.

The main difference between the Village Cannabis Club and the patients’ collective is that any resident can be a member of the club regardless of medical status, while the collective requires members to have a doctor’s permission to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Determined In Dixie: ‘Medical Marijuana By 2012 In Alabama’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall: “We plan to keep fighting”

Alabama is the last state many would expect to legalize medical marijuana; after all, the Heart of Dixie isn’t exactly known for its liberal ways.

But one determined group of Southerners there exemplifies the rebel stubbornness for which the state is famous — by refusing to give up their fight for the safe, legal, medicinal use of cannabis.

The brave efforts of Alabamians for Compassionate Care (ACC), ably led by legendary libertarian and former gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall, have arguably made the state a good bet to be the first former member of the Confederacy to get a medical marijuana law.

For the past several years in a row, ACC has, against all odds, gotten a bill onto the floor of the Alabama Legislature, and 2010 is no exception. House Bill 642, the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act is expected to come before the House Judiciary Committee later this month.

Toke of the Town got a chance to chat with Nall about the state of medical marijuana in Alabama.

CBS Reverses Decision; Accepts NORML Marijuana Legalization Ad

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: NORML

The fight around CBS’s initial refusal to run a pro-legalization ad from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) ended in victory Wednesday afternoon, reports Te-Ping Chen at Change.org.

Last month, CBS denied NORML’s request to place an ad in Times Square that featured the potential billions of dollars in tax revenue that would result from legalizing marijuana.

Remember, this is the network that runs stoner-friendly ads for their Showtime Network show, Weeds. CBS is also the network that had no problem running an extremely controversial anti-abortion ad aimed at peak viewership during the Super Bowl.

Say It Phree: Stoned Is The Way Of The Shirt

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Culture, Products

Graphic: Say It Phree Tees

You know you want one.

Looking to make that perfect tee shirt statement? Want to let the world know that you are in favor of the legalization of marijuana? Say It Phree Tees can help you out.

The online shop has a whole line of “420 Phriendly” designs. Styles from the attractive “Pot IS Medicine” caduceus design (pictured at right) to The Original Green Man (perfect for that hard-to-buy-for Pagan on your gift list) is available.

Everyone from experienced ganja gurus to the greenest n00b is showing their allegiance to “Mother Nature’s Greatest Gift” with these stylin’ tees.

And while you’re rockin’ your sartorial splendor, you’ll also be helping a good cause. Say It Phree donates $1.00 from each tee shirt sold to support the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“This includes every tee that we sell, not just our 420 Phriendly line,” said the Say It Phree guy himself, Dylon Whyte.

University Looking For Marijuana ‘Addicts’; Will Pay $150

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 News

Graphic: Reality Catcher

Ever known someone who wanted help quitting pot? Me neither.

They might have an easier time finding unicorns.

The University of Washington says it is looking for people who want to quit pot.

The UW School of Social Work’s Innovative Programs Research Group is looking for 70 “marijuana-dependent adults” in the Puget Sound area to participate in a clinical research trial testing approaches for people who want to stop using cannabis, reports KING5.com.

The university says research has shown that nearly 3.6 million Americans use pot on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, UW then puts its reputation as a center of higher learning in serious danger by absurdly claiming that “between one-third and one-half of those are dependent.”

Canadian Cop Ordered To Stay Quiet About Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 Global, News

Photo: LEAP

Officer David Bratzer: “I will try to find other venues to present my views about drug policy”

The BC Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint against the Victoria Police Department for muzzling one of its officers, reports ‘A’ News.

Constable David Bratzer was scheduled to speak at a harm reduction meeting in Victoria Wednesday night representing the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

Bratzer says the War On Drugs is not winnable and is doing more harm than good.

But the Chief of the Victoria Police Department doesn’t want Bratzer to share those views.

DEA Marijuana Seizures Double; Mexican Pot Production Up By 35%

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 Global, News

Photo: Denver Post

The total amount of marijuana seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) nearly doubled from 2008 to 2009, according to numbers disclosed by the agency as part of their budget request for 2011.

Meanwhile the cultivation of cannabis in Mexico rose 35 percent in 2009, to nearly 30,000 acres, according to a report released by the U.S. State Department.

Marijuana seizures by the DEA went from 1,539 metric tons in 2008 to 2,980 metric tons in 2009.

Hawaii Senate Votes To Tax Pot $30/Ounce, Allow Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Cannabis Culture

Medical marijuana would be taxed $30 an ounce and sold at county-licensed “compassion centers” that would grow and sell marijuana to qualified patients and caregivers under a bill passed Tuesday by the Hawaii State Senate.

The bill to allow the sale and taxation of medical marijuana, Senate Bill 2213, was passed by lawmakers as they try to add up enough money to stop the state’s projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall, reports Richard Borreca at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

The marijuana bill, after provoking debate on the Senate floor, eventually passed 20-4.

“I don’t think this is helping to alleviate the drug problem,” said Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D-Salt Lake/Foster Village), who had evidently wandered into the wrong debate.

Windward Oahu Republican Sen. Fed Hemmings said the FDA should test medical marijuana before people sell it.

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