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Three New Marijuana Bills Intro’d In California Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 27, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Three new marijuana-related bills were introduced on Friday in the California Legislature, according to Dale Gieringer of California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).

AB 2465 (Campos, D-San Jose) would require all medical marijuana patients to get a state ID card and also register the address where they grow cannabis.

“This bill is a blatantly unconstitutional amendment to Prop 215, as it abridges the fundamental right of patients not to be arrested upon the ‘written or oral’ recommendation of their physicians,” Gieringer said.

AB 2365 (Nestande, R-Palm Desert) would amend the Family Code to require that family courts consider parents’ documented use of prescribed controlled substances — including medical marijuana and “narcotic maintenance medications” — in child custody proceedings.

Firm Developing Diagnostic Tool For Medical Marijuana Treatment

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 27, 2012 Medical, Products

Bud Genius

A California company has announced development of a USB‐enabled diagnostic support device designed to help patients suffering from critical illnesses such as cancer, to match the most effective plant variants for physician-recommended medical marijuana treatments.

The device, according to BG Medical Technologies, based in Los Angeles, will collect patient data in a non-‐invasive manner by detecting subtle shifts in the patient’s physiology and then upload encrypted data to HIPAA‐compliant servers for further analysis and physician review.

Physicians will interact with patients and data history through a bundled video conferencing application. This will offer patients the ability to discreetly pursue medical marijuana treatment from the privacy of their home, according to BG Medical.

Worth Repeating: Marijuana and the Psychology of Optimal Experience

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2012 Culture, Medical

Cage Potato

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

The reductionist, “group think,” cold, dogmatic drug warriors of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the DEA, and the FDA have been digesting their own misinformation for so long they have lost their humanity.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, the” high” or “feel good” buzz from marijuana is an actual “therapeutic effect” that heals the brain, produces homeostasis and prevents many neurodegenerative conditions.

Brain homeostasis is restored by the direct action of THC/CBD-activating CB1 receptors in the amygdala which regulate our “happiness / emotional salience module.” This pathway is dedicated to seeking for “meaningfulness” in our existence.

This innate drive is the need for self-actualization. THC increases the probability of these events occurring, through inducing metaphysical “flow states” and “peak experiences.”

We live near the edge, where the view is better.

Pain Boogeyman Scares Lawmakers, Leaves Cannabis Patients In The Cold

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 24, 2012 Legislation, Medical

The Dangerous Servant

By Bob Starrett

Of all the baloney that has come out of the various battles in medical marijuana states, the notion that “anyone” can get a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor is the scariest to legislators who are considering medical marijuana bills in their states this year.

In 2012, 17 states have pending medical marijuana legislation. And you can be sure that this argument — that chronic pain is used as a catchall for doctors to hand out medical marijuana recommendations to “anyone” — will come into play as it has in Montana and New Jersey.

In an apparent attempt to prevent wholesale stoned-ness among the citizenry, New Jersey specifically excluded chronic pain as an eligible condition in their legislation.

Last year, the Montana Legislature, having failed in their attempts to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law entirely, made significant changes that included specific doctor rules for a chronic pain diagnosis. A recommending physician must have either x-rays or an MRI to back up the diagnosis. If they do not, a second physician must sign the “Physician Statement for a Chronic Pain Diagnosis.” It is a separate form.

The IRS Is Coming! Are Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Ready?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2012 Dispensaries, Medical, News

280E Reform

The Internal Revenue Service is threatening to turn back the clock on medical marijuana. But now a national alliance of industry leaders, patients and elected officials is fighting back with a new project aimed at education and policy change.

The 280E Reform effort says it plans to bring an end to the current IRS campaign to close medical cannabis dispensaries.

The IRS campaign of aggressive audits — sometimes resulting in collectives being held responsible for millions in supposed back taxes — began a couple of years ago and uses Section 280E of the IRS code to deny dispensaries the ability to claim any legitimate business expenses. Denied expenses include essential items such as rent, payroll, and all other necessary business expenditures.

Arkansas Group Gains Support To Legalize Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Arkansans for Compassionate Care

A petition is circulating in Arkansas to allow the sick and dying access to medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.

Arkansans for Compassionate Care (ACC) are encouraging others to support the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, which would legalize the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, reports Will DuPree at KAIT.

“It’s common sense,” said ACC campaign director Ryan Denhem. “It’s time to have a policy like this in Arkansas.”

WA Medical Marijuana Group Files Initiative To Clarify State Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 23, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Washington Medical Marijuana Society

A week after a medical marijuana reform bill died in the Washington state Legislature, a group is filing an initiative to the people with the Secretary of State’s office on Thursday. According to the Washington Alternative Medicine Alliance, the initiative would ensure safe access to medicinal cannabis statewide, and would finally give real arrest and prosecution protection to patients in the state.

“The Legislature failed to act this year, so now it’s up to the people of the state,” said Philip Dawdy, director of WAMA. “We’ve been left with an unclear state medical cannabis law that is hurting patients as much as it’s helping them.

“Much of our state is a black hole when it comes to medical cannabis access,” Dawdy said. “That’s an unacceptable situation and it must be addressed. Taking this issue directly to the voters is our best option.”

The initiative would also create a state-licensed system of medical marijuana patient cooperatives and growers, similar to systems already operating in Colorado and Arizona.

The main backers of the initiative, besides Dawdy, are Seattle-based defense attorney Kurt Boehl and Ezra Eickmeyer, a political activist and lobbyist in the state capitol, OIympia.

Cannabis Contradictions: People vs. Politicians [Infographic]

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Legislation, Medical

Via: TakePart.com

Marijuana has traditionally been regarded as such a third-rail issue that mainstream politicians have lacked the courage to address it.

As far as the U.S. federal government is concerned, legalizing cannabis even for very sick people is off the table, and not a valid subject for discussion.

But the public sees it differently.

Canada To Cite US Medical Cannabis States To Justify Pot Laws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Global, Medical, News

Freaking News

Editor’s note: Canadian medical marijuana patient, activist, and blogger Matt Mernagh won perhaps the biggest marijuana court victory in Canada’s history last year, forcing the Canadian government to argue in court for the validity of its marijuana laws.

Here, previous Toke of the Town contributor Mernagh shares his plans and insights regarding his next court appearance.

By Matt Mernagh

Mernagh.ca

To save Canada’s marijuana laws from becoming null and void, U.S. state medical marijuana programs will be cited as working examples of what other countries have created. Canada’s federal legal medical marijuana program is similar to what U.S. states have, a Canadian prosecutor will argue in May before the country’s second highest court.

It’s one of many arguments designed to overturn a landmark court ruling (R v. Mernagh) that eliminated Canada’s weed laws, decimated their federal government-run medical marijuana program, and allows me to legally grow and possess my own without a government license of any kind.

The feds really need to win their appeal if marijuana is to remain a prohibited substance, so naturally they’ve thrown plenty of arguments on why the ruling must be overturned by two of three justices on the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Worth Repeating: Like Dangerfield, THC Doesn’t Get Any Respect

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 22, 2012 Culture, Medical

Every Truck Job

“I smoked half a joint the other day, and it made me so hungry I ate the other half.” ~ Rodney Dangerfield

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

This post is dedicated to the great comic genius Rodney Dangerfield, who in life had a lot in common with THC, the cannabis plant’s main cannabinoid molecule.

THC is responsible for the the “high” that helped Rodney survive and manage severe anxiety and depression caused by a childhood filled with parental neglect and abuse, and childhood PTSD.

Rodney’s anxiety behavior of twitching and jerking on stage was not an act.

But it was marijuana that saved Rodney’s life and helped him achieve self-actualization through a comic genius that is in effect a dual form of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

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