Dispensaries

‘Not In Our Town’: Firebombs Target Two Marijuana Businesses

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 11, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Billings Police and Fire Departments investigate the scene of a firebomb thrown through the front door of Montana Therapeutics, a medical marijuana store, May 10, 2010.

Hateful rhetoric leads to hateful actions. This should-be self-evident axiom was once again demonstrated when two medical marijuana businesses were firebombed in the last two days in Billings, Montana.

“It was ugly, and it was a hate crime,” said David Couch, owner of Big Sky Patient Care, one of the two medical marijuana provides vandalized in the last two days, reports Kahrin Deines of the Billings Gazette.

The firebombs thrown through the front door of two medical marijuana businesses in Billings were accompanied with a hateful message. “NOT IN OUR TOWN” was spray painted on the fronts of both buildings, according to the owners.

State Rules Could Force ‘Green’ Dispensaries In Boulder

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Marty Caivano

Todd Young stands among his growing medical marijuana plants at the Therapeutic Compassion Center in Boulder last year. A combination of state and city laws being considered would force all dispensaries to offset 100 percent of their electricity use with wind or solar power.

A Colorado bill that sets regulations for the growing medical marijuana industry would probably have the unintended side effect of forcing all dispensaries in Boulder to use 100 percent wind or solar energy.

House Bill 1284, which appears to be on its way to the governor’s desk this week, contains a provision requiring all dispensaries to grow at least 70 percent of the marijuana they sell, reports Heath Urie at the Boulder Daily Camera.

At the same time, city regulations being considered in Boulder, which will probably be approved May 18, would require dispensaries that grow any amount of their own cannabis to offset 100 percent of the electricity they use by subscribing to wind power, connecting to a community solar garden or using on-site solar panels.

Pot Dispensary Owner Dispute Leads To Criminal Charge

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: KDVR

Two Aspen, Colorado men who founded a Main Street marijuana dispensary have broken ties after one of them is alleged to have ransacked the business and took some of the cannabis.

Joshua Aaron Griggs, 32, faces a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief after an April incident in which he allegedly vandalized Ute City Medicinals by damaging furniture, carpet, blinds, a printer and two tables. Griggs is scheduled to appear in court May 25, reports Rick Carroll at The Aspen Times.

L.A. Dispensaries Seek Help Fighting New Ordinance

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: LA Kush

Dozens of dispensary owners across Los Angeles are seeking legal help to keep their shops open despite being threatened with six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Collectives which stay open after June 7 could face a daily fine of $2,500.

Letters have already been sent to property owners and dispensaries as a result of the ordinance approved by the City Council earlier this year that sharply restricts the locations where the businesses are allowed to open, reports C.J. Lin at the L.A. Daily News.

Maine Medical Marijuana Registry Raises Privacy Questions

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 7, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: Maine Medical Marijuana

Maine’s new medical marijuana dispensary law, passed by voters last November, is chiefly known for its creation of dispensaries where cannabis patients can safely buy their medicine. But a lesser known part of the law, which requires patients and growers to register with the state, is being called an invasion of privacy by some advocates.

State officials say the registry will keep patients who enroll from being charged with marijuana offenses. But some patients said they are going to boycott the registry when it opens in July, reports Josie Huang of The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

CO Dispensary Bill Now Keeps Pot Growing Locations Secret

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 7, 2010 Dispensaries, Growing, News

Photo: A Greener Country

A bill regulating Colorado’s medical marijuana dispensaries is almost ready for the governor’s desk after legislators Thursday decided to keep the location of licensed cannabis-growing operations confidential.

The change would require the addresses of growing facilities to be blacked out on copies of their licensing documents requested by the public, reports John Ingold of The Denver Post.

It would mean that Colorado residents couldn’t learn from public records if there are legal marijuana-growing operations in their neighborhoods.

California Collects $100 Million In Marijuana Sales Taxes

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 5, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: The Baltimore Spectator

California is collecting between $50 million and $100 million a year in sales taxes from medical marijuana, according to the California Board of Equalization, confirming an estimate previously published in an economic analysis by California NORML.

The numbers were also independently confirmed by patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

The state’s retail market for medical marijuana has surpassed $1 billion per year, according to California NORML estimates, with a total adult use market of $6 billion.

Colorado Pot Dispensary Bill Likely To Become Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 5, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Denver Westword

The name of Denver dispensary Patients Choice serves as an ironic reminder that patients had little input on the bill approved on a voice vote Wednesday by the Colorado Senate.

The Colorado Senate Wednesday passed HB 1284, a medical marijuana dispensary regulation bill almost universally opposed in the patient community.

According to the bill’s main sponsor, Senator Chris Romer (D-Denver), the legislation will eliminate from 50 percent to 80 percent of the 1,100 dispensaries now in Colorado.

Dispensaries and producers of cannabis edibles will have to apply for state licenses if the bill becomes law, as appears likely. After July 2011, these providers must follow new state regulations in order to continue operating.

Local governments will be allowed to ban dispensaries. This damaging provision will make safe access to medicine difficult for innumerable patients across the state, according to Sensible Colorado. However, Sensible said its legal team is already planning local campaigns and lawsuits to overturn bans.

That provision caused heated debate Wednesday, with opponents calling it both unwise and unconstitutional. Sen. Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) said the provision could be overturned in court, throwing all the regulations into jeopardy.

“We have no statutory authority to carve out new exceptions to what is a constitutionally granted right,” Carroll said, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post.

Web Weed War Breaks Out On Seattle Collective Scene

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 5, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

At first glance Seattle would seem a pot patient’s paradise, with abundant, potent marijuana, a thriving dispensary scene, and $10 a gram prices for medicine. But this week, some ugly internecine strife has become very public, with three pot-related websites being commandeered and rumors swirling as to who’s responsible and why.

Persons affiliated with all three of the sites affected — Compassion In Action, Seattle Green Cross, and the personal site of Seattle marijuana attorney/activist Douglas Hiatt, who heads the statewide I-1068 marijuana legalization initiative — allege that the person responsible is the head of Green Buddha Patient Network, Muraco Kyashna-tocha.

On Sunday, patients attempting to visit the Compassion In Action site were first treated to a profanity-laced telephone message from an understandably upset Dale Rogers (who leads Compassion In Action) to Steve Sarich (who runs local patient collective CannaCare). Visitors are then redirected to competing organization CannaCare’s website.

The Daily Show Looks At Denver’s Pot Dispensary Scene

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 5, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Gone to Pot

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Photo: The Daily Show

Now that’s a real reporter — getting the story.

The Daily Show‘s Jason Jones takes an up-close but light-hearted look at the increasingly tough competition going on in Denver’s medical marijuana dispensary scene.
Interviews with two dispensary owners — from a “mom and pop” type store and a bigger, glitzier shop — serve to highlight, in a humorous way, some of the differences and debates now shaping the future of medical marijuana.
By the way, I know The Daily Show played it for laughs… But I have to agree with the dispensary operator who has an issue with the strain name “Green Crack.”

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