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Washington Legislature Legalizing Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 11, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory

Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if a new bill passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

A bill which will protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and allow dispensaries has now passed both houses of the Washington Legislature, and will soon be headed for the Governor’s desk.

SB 5073 last month had already passed the Senate, and passed the Washington House late Monday afternoon on a 54-43 vote.

The bill clearly and unambiguously allows state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries. While some dispensaries are already operating, clarity in Washington’s law is expected to help protect dispensary operators from costly litigation and possible convictions.

In addition, SB 5073, as amended, protects all medical marijuana patients from arrest — not just those who register with the state. Currently, no patients are protected from arrest, as has been the case since Washington voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 1998.

Police Turn Down Large Donation For Kids From Pot Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 11, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KFSN

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer: “We do not believe it sends a good message to our youth to accept monies… from an organization that is using marijuana and distributing marijuana”

A $5,000 donation to the Fresno Police Activities League — which would have helped troubled kids — has been returned. The cops say they don’t want the money because it’s from a medical marijuana dispensary.

The donation was presented to the police department Wednesday morning by the owners of Buds 4 Life, but by Thursday the check was sent back, according to the collective, reports KFSN-TV in Fresno.

While the donation “was made with good intentions,” said Police Chief Jerry Dyer, neither he nor the city “supports medical marijuana,” claiming it would “send the wrong message” to the city’s youth.

If the message is “The Fresno Police Department is a bunch of dumb-asses,” you may consider it already sent, loud and clear, Chief Dyer.

City Decides To Cap Marijuana Dispensaries… At One

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 8, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Keith Durflinger/SGVN

Robert Ortiz measures out medical marijuana for a patient at Whittier Hope Collective, Thursday, April 7, 2011. Whittier officials are considering capping at one the number of dispensaries allowed in the city, thus handing Ortiz a monopoly.

The only legal medical marijuana dispensary in Whittier, California, may become a monopoly of one.

City officials, claiming to be concerned about a “potential influx” of pot shops, have proposed a cap of one of the number allowed, reports Mike Sprague at the Whittier Daily News.

The amendment to the zoning ordinance, recommended Monday on a 5-0 vote by the Planning Commission, is expected to go to the City Council at its meeting on May 10.

Assistant City Manager Jeff Collier claimed the cap of just one dispensary was based on the small number of Whittier residents holding state-authorized medical marijuana cards. There are supposedly only 22 in town.

Vermont’s Marijuana Dispensary Bill Survives Close Call

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Potspot 411

Vermont’s medical marijuana dispensary bill survived a close call in the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday.

The bill, S. 17, which would allow up to four medicinal cannabis dispensaries in Vermont, was expected to be debated on the Senate floor this week, reports Terri Hallenbeck at the Burlington Free Press. But first, it had to make it through the Senate Rules Committee, because it didn’t meet the deadline for bills coming out of Senate committees.

“The Senate is being a little stricter with that rule this year,” Hallenbeck reports.

“It looked this morning like the bill might be killed by the rules committee,” Hallenback writes. Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle/Crittenden), a member of the committee, is among those who don’t like the idea of legalizing marijuana dispensaries.

Nevada Looks At Establishing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Potspot 411

A bill currently before the Nevada Legislature would create a system to provide safe access to cannabis for qualified patients under the state’s medical marijuana law.

Sen. Mike Schneider (D-Las Vegas) on Wednesday asked the Commerce and Labor Committee, which he chairs, to support the dispensary bill, reports Geoff Dornan at the Nevada Appeal. The current system allows those with a legitimate medical need to get a card permitting them to use marijuana, but provides no mechanism for safe access.

Nevada needs to allow the creation of a system that fixes that problem, according to Schneider.

U.S. Atty. Threatens ‘Quick, Direct Action’ Against Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 6, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: TPM

Obama appointee U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby threatened both Washington dispensary owners and the landlords who rent to them on Wednesday.

“We are preparing for quick and direct action against the operators of the stores. We intend to use the full extent of our legal remedies to enforce the law.”

~ U.S. Attorney Michael C. Ormsby

A U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington decided to throw his weight around Wednesday, announcing that he’s notified landlords that “marijuana stores” are illegal, and warning them of the penalties they may face.

The strong-arm tactics by U.S. Attorney Michael C. Ormsby, an Obama appointee, seemed designed to intimidate landlords into evicting medical marijuana dispensaries who are tenants. The dispensaries have become increasingly common in Washington state, with one count placing their number above 120 and rapidly rising.

Marijuana continues to be prohibited for any purpose by federal law, and according to Ormsby, dispensaries are “specifically” subject to “enforcement action and stringent federal penalties.”

Vermont Considers Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 4, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory

The Vermont Legislature is expected this week to consider a bill that would legalize medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.

Cannabis has been legal for medicinal purposes in Vermont since 2004, for those with qualifying illnesses, including cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis and who sign up for the state’s registry. The law allows patients to grow their own marijuana, but advocates say many of the seriously ill individuals find that a daunting task, leaving them with the prospect of buying black market pot on the street.

The state’s medical marijuana registry specifies, “The Marijuana Registry is neither a source for marijuana nor can the Registry provide information to patients on how to obtain marijuana,” reports Terri Hallenbeck at the Burlington Free Press.

The answer, according to advocates, is to legalize a small number of medical marijuana dispensaries, nonprofit businesses that would grow cannabis and sell it to patients on the registry.

Top 10 Reasons Dispensaries Are Better Than Going To A Dealer

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 4, 2011 Culture, Dispensaries

Photo: Los Angeles Dispensaries

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

1. No shady scenes.

We’ve all been there. A 7/11 parking lot, late at night, where every Slurpee-buying shopper looks like an undercover cop. Or you’ve just parked your buddy’s car near an apartment downtown where all the neighbors know why you’re walking towards that particular door.

Or worse, a friend of a friend who just got out of jail has some killer stuff that will make the whole crosstown drive worth it.

You name it — we all have a variety of reasons why we will go the extra mile to procure the best stuff possible, sometimes even when the risks are higher than you are.

Now, my closest dispensary is eight blocks away — a small industrial trailer where they may only have seven to 12 different varieties of medical marijuana — but I go to the old reliable, my mainstay downtown on Geary. (Funny story: I was on my way home on the bus with three clones in an odorless paper bag. There were two other dudes on the bus who were also clutching paper bags. Their all-knowing nods and smiles made me feel like we all belong to the same book club.)

Going to a dispensary is incredibly safe compared to my almost 40 years of scoring on the street.

First Medical Marijuana Dispensary On The East Coast Opens

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 1, 2011 Dispensaries

Photo: WLBZ

The first medical marijuana dispensary on the U.S. East Coast is an unassuming looking home in Frenchville, Maine.

It’s a historic day. The first medical marijuana dispensary on the East Coast of the U.S. has opened in Frenchville, Maine.

Safe Alternatives looks like a typical house, reports Jackie Ward at WLBZ. But there are video cameras and floodlights as required by state law; town officials said the security equipment operates 24/7.

The dispensary is less than a mile from an elementary school, but state law only requires it to be at least 500 feet away.

Predictably, some narrow-minded local residents seemed to be just looking for something to complain about.

“When I stopped by to take the picture there was nobody there, just a note on the door that said ‘Leave packages on the porch,’ whatever that means,” said Frenchville resident Cameron Price. (My highly educated guess it that “Leave packages on the porch” is secret code for “Leave packages on the porch.”)

Medical Cannabis Pioneers Mark 10 Years On Telegraph Avenue

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 30, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Patients Care Collective

Berkeley’s Patients Care Collective will mark 10 years in business on Monday, April 4.

The Patients Care Collective (PCC) first opened its doors in Berkeley, California on April 4, 2001. There were only a handful of dispensaries in Northern California back in the dark days of the second Bush Administration, and none in the rest of the United States. At the time, public perception and the political climate weren’t nearly as compassionate as they are today, and each month brought new reports of DEA harassment. Still, the PCC persevered, and helped to found Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002.

“I want to congratulate the PCC on their 10-year anniversary,” said Steph Sherer, executive director of ASA in Washington, D.C. “Not only have they spent a decade providing safe and affordable access to medical cannabis, but they are true pioneers.”

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