Legislation

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Maine Committee Votes To Expand Medical Pot Access, Privacy

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

Maine lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a proposal to expand access to cannabis under the state’s medical marijuana program. A second bill that would have legalized and taxed pot was voted down 7-3 in committee, but observers say the issue promises to resurface in the future.

The first measure, LD 1296, would make registration with the state voluntary rather than mandatory for patients who wish to use marijuana with the support of their physician, reports Meg Haskell at Bangor Daily News. This measure is intended to protect the privacy of patients, according to Rep. Deborah Sanderson (R-Chelsea), who sponsored the bill.

According to Sanderson, some people will prefer to register in order to make sure they don’t run afoul of law enforcement agencies. But patients should not be forced to be listed in a state registry to seek lawful therapeutic medical treatment, she said.

ACLU To Feds: Don’t Prosecute Medical Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Liberty Herbal Incense

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to make clear that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will not prioritize prosecution of people who comply with state medical marijuana laws, in keeping with previously stated DOJ policy.

In a letter sent late Monday, the ACLU expressed deep concern about recent letters from several U.S. Attorneys across the country, threatening federal prosecution of people who comply with state medical marijuana laws, even including state employees and state licensed providers of medical marijuana.

“Patients, providers and legislatures need clear guidance from DOJ so they can proceed in confidence that state law will be respected,” said Jay Rorty, director of the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project and one of the authors of the ACLU’s letter. “Patients who suffer from serious medical conditions need safe and reliable access to their medicine without the fear of federal prosecution.”

Lawmaker To AG: Why Isn’t Medical Pot A States’ Rights Issue?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: KOMO News

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna thinks fighting health care reform is a states’ rights issue — but he seems completely unwilling to defend the state’s medical marijuana law against the feds

When 15 Democratic lawmakers in the Washington Legislature on Monday asked state Attorney General Rob McKenna for his opinion on several cannabis-related issues, his non-response only proved that the long-winded AG is capable of blathering on meaninglessly for six pages without ever actually saying anything.

McKenna’s office released an informal opinion which, Chris Grygiel of the Seattle P.I. reports, “largely declined to answer the questions the legislators previous posed to him. Those centered around how the federal government, which does not recognize state medical cannabis laws, might react to changes in Washington’s rules.”

Maryland Removes Penalties For Medical Use Of Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog

Maryland on Tuesday removed criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana when Gov. Martin O’Malley signed SB 308 as promised. The bill allows seriously ill patients to avoid prosecution when charged with marijuana possession, and also creates a commission to study medical marijuana laws and make recommendations on how Maryland can institute such a program.

This is the first time since 2003 that additional protections were considered, and it’s an important step toward protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and ensuring they have safe access to their medicine, according to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Marijuana DUI Bill Dead In Colorado Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 9, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Denver Westword

Westword pot critic William Breathes tested nearly three times over the proposed legal limit — while completely sober

The Colorado Senate voted on Monday night to kill HB 1261, the marijuana DUI bill, in its entirety, scoring a huge victory for the medical cannabis community.

In a crucial vote, lawmakers rejected a limit on the amount of THC — the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — that drivers are allowed to have in their systems above which they would be considered too high to drive, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post.

The Senate sided with medical marijuana advocates, who urged more study of the proposal, since THC lingers in the system and many patients would, in effect, be banned from legally driving.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Claire Levy, would have established a driving-under-the-influence level of five nanograms per milliliter of blood, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword. During House debate, Levy tried to change that number to eight nanograms, but her amendment failed.

Emblematic of the problem with a 5-ng (or an 8-ng) limit is the blood test of Westword cannabis critic William Breathes, who was tested while completely sober. Breathes’s reading while sober was approximately 13.5 nanograms.

WA Group To Legislature: Hands Off Medical Marijuana Patients!

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 9, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

Washington state’s medical marijuana bill — that is, the small portions that were signed into law April 29 under Governor Christine Gregoire’s partial veto — represents a “tragic setback for Washington State medical cannabis patients and providers,” according to Seattle-based advocacy group the Cannabis Defense Coalition.

“With the partial veto, Governor Gregoire carved out a patchwork of legal language to deny the protections of our law to many qualifying patients and providers, as well as to outlaw grey-market dispensaries that have operated for nearly 15 years in Washington State,” the CDC wrote on its website. Washington’s voters approved medical marijuana back in 1998, but a licensed system of legal distribution has never been set up, nor have patients ever been given arrest protection.

Delaware Very Close To Legalizing Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 6, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: THC Finder

We’re close, brothers and sisters. Very close.

The Delaware House on Thursday approved a bill legalizing medical marijuana in the state, and the Senate approved the original measure back in March. But the House added two changes that must now be approved by the Senate before the measure can become law.

The bill would allow people 18 and older with qualifying medical conditions to have up to six ounces of cannabis after getting a doctor’s written recommendation, reports the Associated Press.

WA Governor Says She Likes New Medical Marijuana Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 6, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Overoll

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire: “I’ve indicated to the senator I’m a go, but you’ve got to get the other ‘four corners’ to say they’re a go as well”

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on Thursday gave a thumbs-up to the new medical marijuana proposal being developed in the state Senate. The new measure is the offspring of the legislation the governor gutted last week.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Washington since voters approved it in 1998, but patients still don’t have arrest protection or safe access, which SB 5073 would have fixed.

According to Gregoire, Sen. Jeanne Kohlp-Welles’s latest bill is “absolutely mindful” of the reason for the governor’s “partial veto” of 5073 (which removed almost all useful portions of the original bill): her supposed concern that state employees might be prosecuted for administering a medical marijuana program, reports Jordan Schrader at the Tacoma News Tribune. (Cannabis advocates have pointed out that state employees have never been prosecuted by the federal government for carrying out a state medical marijuana program in the 15 states which have legalized medicinal cannabis.)

Medical Marijuana Fails Again In Illinois House

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 6, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: David Reis

The floor of the Illinois House of Representatives. The House failed to pass a medical marijuana law on Thursday.

For the second time in 2011, the Illinois House on Thursday defeated a bill which would have legalized medical marijuana for seriously ill patients in the state.

The measure failed with 61 “no” votes, 53 “yes” votes and four “present.” House Bill 30 needed 60 “yes” votes to pass, reports Andy Brownfield at The State Journal-Register.

The bill “is not about drugs, it is not about marijuana, it’s about health care,” said sponsor Rep. Lou Lang (D-Chicago). It will “help people who can’t get out of bed because they’re too doped up on morphine or oxycontin,” he said.

Hawaii Marijuana Dispensary Bill Snuffed Out

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 5, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: J. Kalani English

Sen. Kalani English: “I took this up because I saw people who were suffering”

The latest attempt to set up a medical marijuana dispensary system in Hawaii — more than a decade after the state legalized cannabis for medicinal use — was snuffed out in committee this week on Oahu.

East Maui Sen. Kalani English had said the bill had a “really good chance of passing,” pointing out that it would generate needed revenue and give patients safe access to medicine, reports Jacob Shafer at Maui Time.

“I took this up because I saw people who were suffering, sometimes in the last months of their life,” English said.

Medical marijuana has been legal since 2000 in Hawaii, with an act removing state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation by patients who have a signed statement from their physician affirming they suffer from a debilitating condition and that the “potential benefits of medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks.”

Senate Bill 1458 would have created a limited, five-year pilot program for medical marijuana dispensaries providing safe access to authorized patients. The proposal would have started the dispensary program in an unspecified county of Hawaii.

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