Legislation

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Police Want List Of Michigan Medical Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 31, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Cops want a list of medical marijuana patients in Michigan. Patients are crying foul.

Legislation that would require the names of all medical marijuana patients and caregivers in Michigan to be given to state police, who in turn would provide the list to local law enforcement, has police excited and patients mad.

Senate Bill 377, sponsored by Senator Darwin Booher (R-Evart), has been referred to the Judiciary Committee, reports Liz Shepard at the Port Huron Times Herald. Police claim the bill would help them stop wasting resources by investigating tips about people who turn out to be legal medical marijuana patients.

“If you know ahead of time, you can sort a complaint or tip,” said St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon.

Port Huron Police Lt. Scott Pike agreed that Booher’s legislation would be a timesaver because it can be difficult to verify if someone is registered with the state as a medical marijuana patient. “It would probably clear up a lot of unknowns because the system is so new,” Pike said.

San Diego Medical Marijuana Ban Suspended; Signatures Filed

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 27, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: California Cannabis Coalition

Craig Beresh of the California Cannabis Coalition turns in 47,000 voter signatures at the registrar’s office in San Diego at 4:20 Friday afternoon.

Strict new medical marijuana rules were scheduled to take effect on Friday in San Diego — amounting to a de facto ban, according to many activists — but the action has been suspended since 47,000 signatures were filed for a referendum to end the ban on medicinal cannabis in the city, according to the California Cannabis Coalition and Patient Care Association of California.

“We needed 32,000 signatures for the referendum to end the ban,” said Craig Beresh of the California Cannabis Coalition just before the referendum was filed.

“We will turn today over 47,000 signatures,” Beresh said. “This will suspend the ordinance. The ban on medical marijuana in San Diego will be suspended until the registrar verifies the signatures.”

“We filed at 4:20 today,” Beresh said. “So the end result… THE BAN HAS BEEN SUSPENDED AS OF 4:20 TODAY!”

Dutch Government Moves Ahead With Weed Ban For Foreigners

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 27, 2011 Dispensaries, Global, Legislation

Photo: THC Finder

The Dutch make lots of money on cannabis tourism — so obviously, they have to stop that. Wait a minute…

The Dutch Cabinet said it will go ahead with plans to force anyone wishing to buy marijuana at the country’s “coffee shops” to first get an official pass — a move designed to stop tourists from buying cannabis.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he plans to begin rolling out the system in southern Netherlands later this year, reports the Associated Press. The southern part of the country is popular with French and German cannabis tourists. The system would then be instituted in Amsterdam’s famed weed cafes, which are major tourist attractions for the city, later in Rutte’s term of office.

Arizona Governor Can’t Stop Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 26, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Opposing Views

Jan Brewer was against Proposition 203 before it passed — and now that it’s law, she wants to ignore the voters.

Prosecutors will still be prohibited from convicting legal medical marijuana patients

The misguided efforts of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne to quash the state’s new medical marijuana won’t work, reports Ray Stern at Phoenix New Times.

Authorized patients can possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis legally in Arizona since the passage of Proposition 203 by voters — with or without “state approval,” New Times reports.

“That’s why Brewer and Horne, two Republicans who are putting politics above the wishes of the electorate, haven’t mentioned any plans to stop the state from handing out medical marijuana registration cards,” Stern writes. “The smartly written Arizona Medical Marijuana Act anticipated an anti-democratic reaction like the one we saw Tuesday and included a powerful work-around.”

Patient Advocates Back 3 Medical Marijuana Bills In Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 26, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Rebels With Just Cause Award

Steph Sherer, ASA: “This kind of policy shift is a no-brainer and should garner the bipartisan support of Congress”

Three medical marijuana bills introduced in Congress on Wednesday have the support of patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA). The most significant of the bills is one introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), which reclassifies marijuana from its current federal status as a dangerous drug with no medical value.

Another bill, introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), will allow banks and other financial institutions to provide services to medical marijuana businesses without being subject to “suspicious activity” reporting requirements.

The third bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA), changes the federal tax code “to allow a deduction for expenses in connection with the trade or business of selling marijuana intended for patients for medical purposes pursuant to State law.”

Bills To Protect Marijuana Patients & Providers Intro’d In Congress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Students for Sensible Drug Policy

A bipartisan group of legislators introduced three bills in Congress on Wednesday which, for the first time in history, would federally protect and support medical marijuana patients and providers in states where the medicinal use of cannabis is legal.

The first of the bills, the “States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” would modify federal law so that individuals acting in compliance with state law are immune from federal prosecution. The other two bills, which address banking and tax issues faced by medical marijuana providers, are the first two bills in the history of Congress to protect and advance the interests of medical cannabis businesses.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is the lead sponsor of the States bill, which has garnered bipartisan support in past sessions of Congress.

S.F.: Pot Shops Must Release Names, Addresses Of Growers

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

The San Francisco Department of Public Health, which licenses and polices the city’s 26 storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, announced on Friday that it will ask every dispensary to provide a list — with names and addresses — of every grower with which it does business.

The result would be a disaster for the city’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry, according to Kevin Reed, president of the Green Cross medicinal cannabis delivery service, reports Chris Roberts at the S.F. Weekly.

“It’s unacceptable,” Reed told the Weekly. “It would be a disaster.”

The list of grower names and addresses is needed, claimed Rajiv Bhatia, head of DPH’s Occupational & Environmental Health, for safety and legality reasons.

“DPH is trying to ensure that permitted MCDs [medical cannabis dispensaries]comply with all state and local laws,” Bhatia said. “By ensuring this, the industry will be best situated to be protected from code enforcement and criminal prosecution.”

Speakers Urge Rhode Island To Decriminalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: WPRO

Wife, mother, PTA member — and marijuana user — Catharine Leach, right, testified on Tuesday before the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee

”Look at me, and tell me I should go to jail,” Catharine Leach said to the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Leach — who described herself as a wife, mother and PTA member — also described herself as a marijuana user who has used it daily for more than 10 years.

The 29-year-old office manager from Warwick, R.I., was one of nine people to testify for a bill which would decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, reports Randal Edgar at the The Providence Journal. The bill would add Rhode Island to a list of about a dozen states that have relaxed their cannabis laws for recreational users.

“It’s like coming home and having a glass of wine after a hard day,” Leach said, except that she runs the risk of jail, while “the drunks don’t go to jail for their vice.”

Montana Stops Issuing Medical Marijuana Cards

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: The Walrus Speaks

The Montana Department of Health and Human Services has stopped issuing new medical marijuana cards, a spokesman announced on Tuesday.

The agency is complying with a strict new medical marijuana law that requires the department to stop issuing the cards on May 14, according to spokesman Jon Ebelt, reports the Associated Press.

Ebelt had previously said the department would continue issuing the cards to patients because of confusion over the law.

Connecticut Bill Would Make Pot Possession Like Traffic Ticket

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 25, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: NBC Connecticut

It’s about time for the politicians to catch up with the people in Connecticut.

Connecticut lawmakers are taking up a bill that would decriminalize marijuana. The legislation has made its way to the state Senate.

If passed, it would mean that adults caught with less than half an ounce of cannabis would face a penalty similar to a traffic ticket, instead of a criminal charge, reports NBC Connecticut.

The idea of loosening Connecticut’s pot laws is predictably meeting resistance in the Senate among hidebound Republicans and a handful of regressive Democrats.

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