Legislation

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Maine Legislature To Hold Public Hearing On Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 9, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Graphic: MMPI

State Senator Joseph Brannigan has introduced LD 1811, “An Act to Amend the Maine Medical Marijuana Act,” which would finally set the stage for the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries in Maine.

The Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill on Thursday, March 11 at 1 p.m., in room 209 in the Cross Building. Any resident of Maine is allowed to testify.

Colorado Lawmakers Ask US Attorney General To Stop Pot Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: DEA

Colorado’s legislators, currently in the midst of trying to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, are asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raids of medicinal cannabis operations.

A group emailed the request to Holder on Monday, following up on a letter sent last week, according to the Associated Press.

According to the lawmakers, the raids are discouraging dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients and growers from working with the Colorado Legislature on proposed regulations.

The letter was sent by Sens. Chris Romer and Nancy Spence, and Reps. Tom Massey and Beth McCann.

A suburban Denver man has been charged with marijuana possession in federal court after DEA agents raided his home and found 224 pot plants.

The raid took place only hours after segments aired of a television interview with Chris Bartkowicz, in which he boasts of his $500,000 basement grow operation, his $637,000 home and his expected $400,000 profits this year.

Your Pockets Are ‘Pot Paraphernalia’ On Bainbridge Island

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: Tobias Elgen

The ferry Wenatchee enroute to Bainbridge Island, Washington (background), where your pockets are considered pot paraphernalia

Ever hear that if cops really want to bust you, they can find a way? Well, maybe it’s true.

Because there’s no local statute for misdemeanor level marijuana possession — under 40 grams — if you get arrested on Bainbridge Island, in Washington’s Puget Sound, you aren’t prosecuted under any law dealing with pot, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

But that won’t keep you from being busted.

“We can arrest someone for having drug paraphernalia,” said Scott Weiss, an island officer. “But not for marijuana.”

Turns out “paraphernalia” can be defined pretty loosely, to say the least.

“Even if they have marijuana in their pocket, then the pocket becomes the paraphernalia,” Kitsap County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Claire Bradley said.

Widened Access To Medical Marijuana Headed To WA Governor’s Desk

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 5, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: A Greener Country

Washington state patients who qualify for medical marijuana will be able to get legal recommendations for it from a wider range of health care professionals under a bill that appears headed to Governor Christine Gregoire’s desk.

Under Senate Bill 5798, it won’t be just doctors who can get sick people access to pot, reports Mark Rahner at The Seattle Times.

The bill widens the list of licensed medical professionals who can recommend marijuana to include physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners and naturopathic physicians, according to one of its sponsors, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle).

“The reason is that, especially in rural areas of the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.’s,” Kohl-Welles said. “They see nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Determined In Dixie: ‘Medical Marijuana By 2012 In Alabama’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 4, 2010 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall: “We plan to keep fighting”

Alabama is the last state many would expect to legalize medical marijuana; after all, the Heart of Dixie isn’t exactly known for its liberal ways.

But one determined group of Southerners there exemplifies the rebel stubbornness for which the state is famous — by refusing to give up their fight for the safe, legal, medicinal use of cannabis.

The brave efforts of Alabamians for Compassionate Care (ACC), ably led by legendary libertarian and former gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall, have arguably made the state a good bet to be the first former member of the Confederacy to get a medical marijuana law.

For the past several years in a row, ACC has, against all odds, gotten a bill onto the floor of the Alabama Legislature, and 2010 is no exception. House Bill 642, the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act is expected to come before the House Judiciary Committee later this month.

Toke of the Town got a chance to chat with Nall about the state of medical marijuana in Alabama.

Hawaii Senate Votes To Tax Pot $30/Ounce, Allow Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Cannabis Culture

Medical marijuana would be taxed $30 an ounce and sold at county-licensed “compassion centers” that would grow and sell marijuana to qualified patients and caregivers under a bill passed Tuesday by the Hawaii State Senate.

The bill to allow the sale and taxation of medical marijuana, Senate Bill 2213, was passed by lawmakers as they try to add up enough money to stop the state’s projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall, reports Richard Borreca at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

The marijuana bill, after provoking debate on the Senate floor, eventually passed 20-4.

“I don’t think this is helping to alleviate the drug problem,” said Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D-Salt Lake/Foster Village), who had evidently wandered into the wrong debate.

Windward Oahu Republican Sen. Fed Hemmings said the FDA should test medical marijuana before people sell it.

Decriminalizing Marijuana Could Save Rhode Island $11 Million Annually

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 3, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: xCannabis

According to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron’s estimates, reducing the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine would save Rhode Island about $11.1 million per year in reduced expenditures on police.

Miron also estimates that taxing and regulating marijuana would save the state roughly $40.5 million per year in reduced expenditures on police, prosecutors, judges and prisons. Taxing and regulating marijuana could also generate about $7.6 million per year in tax revenue, according to Miron.

Miron will testify Thursday before Rhode Island’s Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission and explain how changing the state’s current medical marijuana policies could save tens of millions of dollars annually, and possibly even generate additional tax revenue.

N.H. House Considering Marijuana Decriminalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 2, 2010 Legislation, News

Graphic: The Boston Phoenix

New Hampshire’s House is considering decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults, a year after the Legislature voted to legalize medical use of the herb.

Governor John Lynch, who vetoed the medical marijuana bill last year, also opposes the bill to decriminalize a quarter-ounce (seven grams) or less of cannabis, according to the Associated Press.

The Legislature’s attempt to legalize medical marijuana last year fell just two votes shy in the Senate of overriding Gov. Lynch’s veto. The House successfully overrode the veto.

Marijuana Dispensary Advocates Challenge Restrictive L.A. Ordinance

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 2, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: The Bong Place

A medical marijuana advocacy organization upped the ante on Tuesday, filing a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, saying that certain provisions in a recently adopted ordinance would shut down virtually all dispensaries in the city.

In order to comply with the local ordinance, passed by the City Council and signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on February 3, dispensaries must be located at least 1,000 feet from schools, parks, libraries, churches, and other so-called “sensitive uses,” and cannot abut or be across the street from any residence — which excludes almost all commercial areas in the city, according to patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

Dispensaries in “sensitive” areas — which means almost all of them — are required to find a new location within seven days after the ordinance takes effect.

“The dispensary ordinance passed by the Los Angeles City Council might have been reasonable, if not for some onerous provisions,” said Joe Elford, chief counsel with ASA, who filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday.

Prohibition Fails Again: Teen Pot Use Increases

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 2, 2010 Legislation, News

Photo: topnews.net.nz

One in four American teenagers has tried marijuana. Two out of the other three want to know if you can “hook them up.”

An annual survey released Tuesday by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America indicates that the number of American teenagers who use marijuana has increased for the first time in 10 years. One in four teens, 25 percent of those in grades 9 through 12, say they’ve used cannabis in the past month, up from 19 percent last year.

“These latest numbers show that our current marijuana policies — which keep marijuana unregulated and in the hands of drug dealers — are clearly not working to help reduce teen use,” said Kurt A. Gardinier, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project.

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