Dispensaries

Dr. Reefer Accepts Plea Bargain; Quits Marijuana Business

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 1, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Benjamin Rasmussen/The New York Times

In happier times: Pierre Werner, owner of Dr. Reefer, takes a toke in his dispensary in Boulder, Colorado, June 13, 2010.

Dr. Reefer’s days as a marijuana activist are over.

“Someone else has got to carry on the fight now that me and my whole family are convicted felons,” Dr. Reefer — also known as entrepreneur Pierre Werner — said on Thursday, reports Carri Geer Thevenot at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Werner and other members of his family on Thursday resolved their federal marijuana case by pleading guilty to felonies.

Dr. Reefer was one of 14 people, including his mother and brother, arrested on January 6 in connection with marijuana sales at Las Vegas dispensaries.

Colorado Springs Dispensary Begins Testing Marijuana Strains

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 1, 2011 Dispensaries, News, Products

Photo: Altitude Organic Medicine

Altitude Organic Corporation, a national, publicly-traded medical marijuana company, has announced that Altitude Organic Medicine, its Colorado Springs center, has begun testing many of the cannabis strains featured there.

The store recently scientifically tested its popular BubbleGum strain for purity and potency at Full Spectrum Laboratories. Full Spectrum posted the Altitude Organic Medicine BubbleGum cannabis test in the “Best Of” section on their website.

Colorado Medical Marijuana Industry Braces For July 1 Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: THC Finder

On Friday, July 1, a new set of medical marijuana rules will go into effect in Colorado, greatly increasing the amount of regulation imposed on the industry by the state.

Observers predict the state’s new rules will prompt dramatic changes in the medical marijuana industry, reports John Colson at the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. Colorado voters in 2000 approved an amendment to the state constitution which legalized medicinal cannabis.

Some say the changes are disastrous for patients’ rights and for those who seek to provide safe access to marijuana for patients. They argue that the new rules will force some of the 800 or so medical marijuana dispensaries now operating in the state to close.

Stoner Photo of the Day: Brains Escape

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

Photo: Steve Elliott

$12 a gram, and there will be couchlock.

This strain is called Brains Escape. It’s a powerful indica I found at Emerald City Compassion Center in Seattle.

“You’re gonna lose your keys when you smoke this,” the budtender at ECCC told me when I got it on Sunday.

Michigan Supreme Court To Clarify Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 23, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: LAist

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear several cases that could clarify the rules surrounding the state’s medical marijuana law, approved by an overwhelming 63 percent of voters in 2008.

One Shiawassee County patient with a medical cannabis card who grew marijuana in a backyard structure wants the criminal charges against him dismissed, reports Rick Pluta at Interlochen Public Radio. Police cited him for not having the grow area locked and enclosed.

In another case, an Oakland County man fighting pot possession charges is using for his defense the fact that he’s a medicinal cannabis patient, even though at the time of this arrest he had not yet obtained his medical marijuana card.

Restrictive Pot Ordinance Blocked; DA Files Charges In Year-Old Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 23, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Ty Barbour/ChicoER

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey: vindictive prosecution?

Butte County, California’s restrictive dispensary ordinance was just blocked by petition — and now, in what reeks of vindictive prosecution, the district attorney is filing the first charges on dispensaries raided a year ago.

Butte County D.A. Mike Ramsey announced on Wednesday that three Forest Ranch residents have been arrested on three felony counts of marijuana sales and one count of possession of marijuana for sale, reports ChicoER.

Jason Allen Anderson, 35; Michael Franklin Anderson, 46; and Kaitlin Christine Sanchez, 23, operated the Mountainside Patient Collective at 3330 Highway 32 west of Chico.

The Anderson brothers are also charged with marijuana cultivation and possession for sale, relating to a grow operation found on their property in Forest Ranch.

Montana Cops Want Caregivers To Turn In Marijuana By July 1

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Wikiality

Montana caregivers are supposed to turn over their plants to the cops by July 1.

Montana’s medical marijuana caregivers officially have less than two weeks to turn in their cannabis plants to the police to be destroyed, but one advocate says that’s not likely to happen.

On July 1, medical marijuana providers are out of business in the state, thanks to the new law, SB 423, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, reports Matt Leach at NBC Montana. The law supposed “takes the profit out of the industry” (actually, it only drives it underground — and removes the tax benefits to local governments) and forces caregivers to turn over any marijuana they might have on hand.

It’s not gonna go down like that, according to Tayln Lang of the Montana Medical Growers Association.

Retired Cops, Marijuana Advocates To Rally In Sacramento

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: LPP

An organization of retired and disabled members of the law enforcement community — which provides support to medical marijuana patients and caregivers — is joining with members of the Sacramento County Patients and Collectives (SCPC) to rally outside the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 21.

With numerous medical cannabis collectives currently serving thousands of people in the unincorporated areas of Sacramento County, California, the Board of Supervisors will consider a new ordinance that will effectively close down every collective operating in the unincorporated area of Sacramento County.

Mich. Store Sold Alcohol And Marijuana From Same Location

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 15, 2011 Culture, Dispensaries, News

Photo: NewsChannel 3

Jeffrey Hagerman, Karl’s Korners: “We had opened up a dispensary in the back”

A corner store in West Michigan, specializing in party items like beer and chips, was recently raided for also dispensing marijuana.

The son of the owner of Karl’s Korners in Oswego said he has a medical marijuana license, and so does his partner. But selling marijuana out of a party store is against both liquor laws and a local ordinance, reports WWMT NewsChannel 3.

“We had opened up a dispensary in the back,” said Jeffrey Hagerman.

Hagerman said they started up a compassion center in the back of the business, beyond he beer cooler and the snack counter.

“My partner and I both hard medical marijuana cards, performed patient-to-patient transactions,” Hagerman said.

Lifetime Supply: Doc Forced To Buy Patient’s Pot After Surgery

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 15, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: BC Daily Buzz

Michael Joinson will receive a settlement of $300,000 for botched back surgery, including $50,469 for medication including marijuana.

A Canadian doctor has been ordered to pay a patient more than $300,000 to cover expenses including medical marijuana following a botched back surgery.

Michael Joinson, who heads the nonprofit Always Growing Green Society, which operates Taggs Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, won a total settlement of $310,289.14 to cover his loss of earnings and medical care as well as medications to treat pain, including cannabis capsules, dried marijuana and cannabis edibles, reports Monisha Martins of Maple Ridge News.

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