Dispensaries

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N.J. Governor, Legislator Spar Over Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Jeffrey L. Weinstein, Attorney at Law

N.J. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari: Gov. Christie’s proposed rules “unreasonably limit the supply of, and reduce qualifying patients’ access to medical marijuana”

A sponsor of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law on Monday introduced a resolution that would repeal what he called “restrictive” proposed rules for the program if Gov. Chris Christie does not make them at least resemble the original legislation.

“Many of the rules are not only burdensome and unnecessary, but they propose amendments to the new law, not merely regulations to enact it,” wrote Ken Wolski, a registered nurse who is also executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey (CMMNJ), on Tuesday.

Angry words were exchanged between the offices of Gov. Christie and of Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), the medical marijuana law’s sponsor, reports Susan K. Livio at NJ.com.

Behind the controversy is the Christie administration’s decision to license just two growers statewide, to supply just four dispensaries from which cannabis could be sold. Dispensary owners could apply and pay an additional fee to open one satellite location each, according to the proposed rules.

Tacoma Medical Marijuana Providers Vow To Fight Shutdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 19, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

The city of Tacoma, Washington, has ordered eight local medical marijuana dispensaries to stop doing business by Saturday, sparking outrage among patients and providers. Cannabis advocates are planning an impromptu rally at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to support the dispensaries.

In a three-paragraph letter dated October 14 from Tax and License Manager Jodie Trueblood, dispensary operators were told that selling medical marijuana “to more than one patient” is illegal in Washington state, and outlines possible penalties if the shops don’t comply, reports Stacia Glenn at the Tacoma News-Tribune.

Business licenses will be revoked, fines and penalties could be assessed, and criminal prosecution isn’t out of the question, according to Trueblood’s letter.

Dispensary workers said on Monday that they were surprised when they received the cease and desist letters. Some have already appealed the decision, with others saying they plan to do so.

Advocates say that hundreds of supporters have been mobilized for a rally before Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. If they are unsuccessful on getting the dispensary question onto the Council’s agenda, they said they plan to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.

WA Patients To Protest Marijuana Dispensary Ban Tuesday Night

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 18, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

Graphic: CDC

Medical cannabis providers in Tacoma, Washington, were served with cease and desist notices by the city on Friday, a major escalation in what activists are calling the city’s war on medical marijuana.

Most of Tacoma’s dozen or more medical marijuana providers, already licensed to do business in the there, received certified letters from the a city licensing agent claiming that “dispensing medical marijuana to more than one person is illegal” and demanding the dispensaries be shut down by October 24.

The letter, which is copied to several police officials, claims that failure to comply will result in fines and penalties “up to and including criminal prosecution.”

“The City of Tacoma is clearly misinterpreting state law on medical marijuana,” said Douglas Hiatt, chair of the Sensible Washington cannabis legalization initiative campaign and a longtime medical marijuana attorney.

“The city’s reading of the law is inconsistent with what Washington voters approved in 1998,” Hiatt said. “It’s also inconsistent with how the same law is read by King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes.”

Michigan: Items Seized In Marijuana Bust Must Be Returned

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 15, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Michael P. McConnell/Oakland County Daily Tribune

Barbara Agro, office manager at the Clinical Relief medical marijuana dispensary in Ferndale, Michigan, talks on her cell phone outside the clinic on August 26, the day after police raided the facility and confiscated patient records, TVs, computers, a small amount of marijuana and even the business’s telephones.

A judge has ordered Oakland County prosecutors to provide copies of seized patient files and ID cards, and to return computer hard drives and other items to two defendants charged in the county’s largest-ever raid on medical marijuana dispensaries.

Attorneys representing the owners of Ferndale medical marijuana dispensary Clinical Relief, Nicholas Agro, 38, of Lake Orion, Mich., and Ryan Richmond, 33, of Royal Oak, Mich., argued Thursday for the return of the items, which were taken by narcotics officers with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers raided the business, along with another dispensary in Waterford Township and multiple homes on August 25, reports Jennifer Chambers of The Detroit News.

Arizona’s Ready: 54% Of Likely Voters Support Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 14, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: Reality Catcher

A new poll shows Prop 203, which would legalize medical marijuana and create dispensaries in Arizona, with a 22-point lead among likely voters.

New Poll Shows Prop 203 With 22-Point Lead

The voters of Arizona appear to be ready to legalize medical marijuana — for the third time.

A Rocky Mountain Poll released Wednesday shows 54 percent of registered voters approving Proposition 203, which would allow the medical use of cannabis, with only 32 percent opposing it, reports Michelle Ye Hee Lee of The Arizona Republic. Fourteen percent said they are undecided.

Another new statewide poll from Earl de Berge has very similar results, showing 52 percent of likely voters support Prop 203, reports Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services. Only 33 percent are opposed, with the rest undecided.

N.J. Medical Marijuana Providers: ‘We Might As Well Grow Hay’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 13, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: ImageShack

New Jersey officials setting up the Garden State’s deeply flawed medical marijuana program heard Wednesday from people hoping to get one of the six licenses — two licenses for growers, and four licenses for dispensaries — called for by the new law. The feedback wasn’t positive.

The New Jersey law, described as the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the nation, is so strict that both prospective growers and sellers say some patients might keep getting their pot from illegal dealers.

At the hearing in Trenton, N.J., one prospective dispensary owner criticized the proposed rules by saying “anybody would be a fool to apply,” reports Brian Thompson at NBC New York.

Thursday: Marijuana Advocates To Protest Arrests In San Jose

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 13, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: San Jose Cannabis Clubs

Medical marijuana patients and supporters are staging a protest this Thursday, October 14, as criminal court proceedings begin at the Terraine Courthouse in San Jose, California. The protests are responding to aggressive law enforcement actions over the past two weeks by several local police departments and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

The so-called “investigation,” which resulted in the arrest of almost two dozen medical cannabis patients and providers in Santa Clara County on October 1 and 7, is cynically referred to by law enforcement as “Up In Smoke.”

A press conference will be held at 12:30 p.m., with some of the arrested patients, their attorneys, and patient advocates expressing staunch opposition to law enforcement’s heavy-handed tactics.

Medical Marijuana Enriches Colorado Springs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 8, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: The Colorado Springs Gazette

Tanya Garduno, director of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council, collected signatures from those opposed to a dispensary ban in the city

Even while El Paso County, Colorado deals with a lawsuit over a ballot measure to ban medical marijuana businesses, the city of Colorado Springs is laughing all the way to the bank, reports Daniel Chacon The Colorado Springs Gazette.

August sales of medical marijuana and cannabis-infused products generated $56,991 in sales taxes for the city, a record high and a nearly 12 percent increase from July.

So far in 2010, Colorado Springs has raked in almost $325,000 in sales tax revenue from the medical marijuana industry — almost three times the entire amount collected all of 2009.

N.J. Medical Marijuana Rules Doom Patients To Weak Weed

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

Graphic: Cafe Press

The New Jersey Health Department on Wednesday night released 97 pages of rules for what patients, advocates and lawmakers are describing as one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the country.

In an extreme bonehead move, the state limited the potency of cannabis to just 10 percent THC, according to the rules. This means that New Jersey medical marijuana patients must deal with marijuana that is only half the potency of top-shelf medical cannabis in other states.

Patients must have one of nine diseases or conditions, and their authorizing doctors must have been treating them for at least a year or have seen them four times, and be willing to certify that traditional forms of relief have failed, reports Susan K. Livio of NJ.com.

‘Mayor Juana’ Wants Downtown Pot Garden In Dunsmuir, CA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 7, 2010 Culture, Dispensaries

Photo: Andreas Fuhrmann/Redding Record Searchlight

Dunsmuir, California Mayor Peter Arth, himself a medical marijuana patient, stands on his land in the center of town where he is proposing to grow a medical marijuana garden in greenhouses

Peter Arth, mayor of Dunsmuir, California, doesn’t mind being called “Mayor Juana” for his highly visible advocacy of medical marijuana in the tiny Northern California town.

The mayor is aware he has become a lightning rod for a pot culture war in Siskiyou County that is being waged not in the forests or streets, but in the minds of local residents, reports Damian Mann of the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune.

Dunsmuir and Mount Shasta are the only two cities in the mostly rural county where medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed to operate. Elsewhere in the county, government leaders have banned pot shops in their communities.

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