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Banks Refusing To Deal With Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Even as protesters decrying how out of touch bankers are with everyday Americans are occupying Wall Street, home of America’s banking industry, many financial institutions in states where medical marijuana is legal are refusing to do business with cannabis dispensaries.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal marijuana, but possession or sale of cannabis for any use is still illegal under federal law. It is this disconnect that is giving rise to an unwillingness on the part of many banks to do business with the marijuana collectives.

The banks fear that federal regulators will target them, reports Kathryn Glass at Fox Business, because the federal government says that banks which do business with dispensaries are supporting activities that are illegal under federal law.

Cannajobs Fights For Arizona Medical Marijuana Patients’ Rights

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Protect Arizona Patients, Inc.

Cannajobs, a cannabis jobs service, has announced that they are founding members of Protect Arizona Patients, Inc., a nonprofit organization fighting the state’s refusal to fully cooperate with the will of Arizona voters by licensing medical marijuana dispensaries. Cannajobs said it has contributed financially to the nonprofit to help it file the first lawsuit against Arizona for ignoring the rights of medical marijuana patients in the state.

Arizona voters passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA) last November, legalizing medical marijuana in the state. But Governor Jan Brewer in May blocked the rollout of the law, claiming clarification was needed about whether state employees would be subject to federal prosecution, as cannabis is still prohibited under federal law.

Gov. Brewer and the Arizona Department of Health (AZDHS) put all dispensaries on hold while they filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona seeking clarification about the potential federal response.

Montana Law: Fewer Legal Marijuana Patients, More Illegal Users

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2011 Legislation, Medical

KTVQ

A study on the effects of Montana’s tough new medical marijuana law, adopted by the Republican-controlled state Legislature last year, shows the number of patients and providers has dropped since the makeover of the law passed by voters in 2000.

But the new law has also created a lack of access and forced many patients to return to the black market, according to Kate Cholewa, policy director for the Montana Cannabis Industry, reports Ryan Whalen at Beartooth NBC. Cholewa who said patients were scared they won’t be protected from the federal government by the new Senate Bill 423.

“This doesn’t necessarily end up with fewer people using cannabis,” Cholewa said, reports Charles S. Johnson of the Helena Independent Record. “It just ends up with more people you can put in jail for it.”

Website Compares Medical Marijuana Dispensaries For You

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, Products

Free Tobacco

Running out of cannabis while you’re traveling isn’t just a discomfort, if you’re a medical marijuana patient — it can be a threat to your health. Now there’s a way to not only find cannabis dispensaries while you’re on the road — you can also compare them based on hours, popular strains, promotions and many more categories, if you live in one of the seven medical marijuana states where the service is available.

FindTheBest.com recently added a Medical Marijuana Dispensary Comparison that allows patients in seven states (California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Rhode Island) to find and compare dispensaries.

Police Harass Federal Medical Marijuana Patient Elvy Musikka

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 16, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Paul Wellman

Federal medical marijuana patient Elvy Musikka holds a tin of joints send to her each month by the U.S. federal government

Elvy Musikka, one of four surviving patients in the federal medical marijuana program, was detained by Oregon State Police early Thursday morning following a town hall meeting on medical marijuana.

Musikka was detained along with other registered Oregon medical marijuana patients after a state trooper staked out the co-op 45th Parallel and harassed cardholders as they left the building, reports Russ Belville in the Examiner.

Several members of the patient cooperative were detained by the trooper, who issued citations including a $1,000 ticket to a grower for “residue” left behind on an empty pipe by a patient.

Musikka was in town for the 45th Parallel’s Town Hall Meeting, which had occurred earlier Wednesday at the Clarion Hotel. At the hotel, an Oregon State Trooper parked just down the street from the public entrance to the parking lot.

Sweet Victory: Medical Marijuana Supporters Block County Ban

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Courtesy Craig Beresh

Craig Beresh, Randy Welty and Phil Ganong give last-minute instructions and prepare to turn in 26,000 signatures collected in 30 days to reverse the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in Kern County, California. “We then started the victory party!” Beresh said.

It’s a huge victory for the medical marijuana community in Kern County, California. Cannabis proponents have met the deadline to gather enough signatures to block a county ordinance that would have banned dispensaries.

A ban on storefront sales of medical marijuana, approved by the Kern County Board of Supervisors on August 9, would have gone into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, reports Mark Christian at Turn To 23 in Bakersfield.

Late Thursday afternoon, Kern Citizens For Patient Rights marched to the Kern County Board of Elections to turn in the signatures needed to protest and block the ordinance, about one hour before they were due.

1,500 Rally At Michigan Capitol In Favor Of Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Chris Collins

Official media estimates of the crowd ran as high as 1,500, but according to activist Missy Griggs of Clinton Township, who attended the rally, it may have been closer to 3,000 or even 4,000 people there.

Greg Deruiter/Lansing State Journal

Protesters converged on the Michigan state Capitol on Wednesday because of a recent court decision banning the sale of medical marijuana in dispensaries

About 1,500 supporters filled the Capitol lawn Wednesday afternoon at the state capitol in Lansing, carrying signs reading “Patients Are Not Criminals” and “Weed Deserve Better” in what is being called the largest pro-medical marijuana rally in Michigan.

What Marisa Schultz of The Detroit News called a “spirited gathering” came after an Appeals Court ruling last month that resulted in the closing of many of the state’s estimated 400 to 500 medical marijuana dispensaries.

The ruling banned patient-to-patient marijuana sales for the nearly 100,000 carriers of Michigan medical marijuana cards, effectively limiting the ways in which patients can get medical marijuana and leaving them with few safe options to get their doctor-recommended cannabis, according to supporters.

Marijuana Users Have Lower Risk Of Obesity: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 6, 2011 Medical, News

Red Bubble

Never mind the munchies. Marijuana users may have a lower risk of obesity than those who don’t smoke pot, according to a new study.

The results show that prevalence of obesity is lower among people who frequently smoke cannabis compared to those who never use, reports Rachael Rettner at My Health News Daily.

“We found that cannabis users are less likely to be obese than non-users,” said Dr. Yann Le Strat, a French psychiatrist and co-author of the new study, reports Philip Caulfield of the New York Daily News. “We were so surprised, we thought we had [made]a mistake.”

“Cannabis is supposed to increase appetite,” Le Strat said, reports The Week. “So we hypothesized that cannabis users would be more likely to have higher weight than non-users and be more likely to be obese.”

Montana Medical Marijuana Backers Still Hope To Overturn Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 2, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Patients For Reform Not Repeal

Backers of medical marijuana in Montana say they are still making progress in their efforts to overturn the strict medical marijuana law recently passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature.

The group “Patients for Reform Not Repeal” said it has collected more than 30,000 signatures in their effort to second Senate Bill 423 back to the voters, reports Marnee Banks at KRTV. According to the group, SB 423 effectively shut down safe access to medical marijuana for Montana patients.

The group needs just more than 24,000 valid signatures, or 5 percent of the qualified voters in 34 House districts, to get the law on the ballot. They have until September 30 to gather the signatures.

Sheriff To Marijuana Patients: You Won’t Be Getting Your Pot Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 2, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: SodaHead

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: “Possession of marijuana is still a federal felony as far as I am aware and my deputies aren’t going to violate federal law.” Well lah-de-dah, big guy.

People who are arrested by Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff’s deputies for any criminal violation and who are card-carrying medical marijuana patients will not be allowed to retrieve their medicine upon release from jail, according to a policy decision announced by Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Wednesday.

In addition, police officers who bring suspects into the Sheriff’s jails with marijuana in their possession along with a medical marijuana registration card will be required to maintain the marijuana in their own separate police property rooms, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

The attention-loving, headline-grabbing ass-wig Sheriff Arpaio — who has publicly boasted that he has no idea how to use a computer — said marijuana is “deemed as contraband” in his jails, “and as such will not be stored here for other police agencies.”

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