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Michigan Attorney General Goes After Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette hates medical marijuana, and he thinks you’re faking to get it.

Michigan’s attorney general has been busily trying to dismantle the state’s medical marijuana law ever since it was passed by voters. Attorney General Bill Schuette announced legislative proposals on Wednesday targeting patients he claims are “exploiting” the law.

Schuette is not a fan of the law, passed by an overwhelming 63 percent of Michigan voters in 2008. In the sort of political gymnastics also favored by Republican attorneys general in other states (examples: Rob McKenna of Washington state and Tom Horne of Arizona), Schuette claims to be a “states’ rights conservative” — unless the “state’s right” we’re talking about is a medical marijuana law.

In that case, the rules are different, and in Schuette’s mind, it’s open season on medical marijuana patients, because, in a brief he filed back in June in support of the City of Livonia — which is trying to ban medical marijuana use and sales — the attorney general claims the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is preempted by federal law.

Arizona Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Cannabis Clubs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 9, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: James King/Phoenix New Times

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne says he’s “taking a softer approach” and “trying to be a good guy” by not just having the clubs raided and their employees arrested

Attorney General Tom Horne of Arizona on Monday filed a civil action agains four medical cannabis clubs, trying to stop them from providing patients with marijuana under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The cannabis clubs have sprung up to provide safe access to patients since dispensaries aren’t yet allowed to open in Arizona, pending a judge’s ruling.

The motion, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, names four clubs and one individual reports Ray Stern at Phoenix New Times: The 2811 Club, Arizona Compassion Association, Yoki A Ma’ Club, Arizona Compassion Club and Michael R. Miller.

Horne wants a judge’s ruling that the clubs aren’t legal. He also seeks an injunction to stop them from selling marijuana. He claims he’s “taking a softer approach” and “trying to be a good guy” by not just having the clubs raided and their employes arrested.

Worth Repeating: 7 Cannabis Studies That Will Change Everything

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 7, 2011 Medical

Graphic: Our Daily Bleed…

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Since the 1960s, the major milestones our country has achieved are incredible.

We elected an African-American president, women’s issues have made tremendous progress, and gays and lesbians can marry.

But cannabis is still illegal…? Not for long!

As the tsunami of hard empirical positive medical cannabis research builds, it meets the inevitable changing younger demographics of our country, and with the need for new cannabis- based jobs and new tax revenue.

The cannabis legalization tipping point is close at hand!

“Cannabis is the people’s medicine” and has overwhelming public support.

Let’s knock this last domino over!

And to that end…

I would like to highlight several 2011 research papers that discuss the most current findings regarding medical cannabis treatment and disease prevention.

DOJ: State Workers Can Legally Run Med Marijuana Programs

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 5, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: CDS

Hey, eagle dude, is that a bud you’re holding?

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday filed a legal brief indicating the federal government would not prosecute state employees for implementing state medical marijuana programs, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

The DOJ brief asks that a lawsuit filed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, be thrown out, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.

Brewer’s claims had no merit, according to the Department of Justice, which noted that her lawsuit failed to provide credible evidence that state employees were under threat of imminent federal prosecution.

The governors of Arizona, Rhode Island and Washington have all refused to implement medical marijuana laws because they said they feared criminal prosecution of state employees by federal U.S. attorneys.

The DOJ announcement is particularly ironic and poignant, since it completely removes the one objection Washington Governor Christine Gregoire cited when she vetoed almost all of SB 5073, which would have explicitly legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in that state.

Medical Marijuana Bill Coming To Alabama Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 5, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: AMMJC

When my sister in Alabama suffers severe nausea due to a major stroke she had last year, she’s not allowed to use the most effective medication. In fact, if she did that, she could be put in jail.

You see, Lynda can’t use medical marijuana — even though it works better than any of the harsh pharmaceuticals her doctor prescribes — because it’s very much against the law in Alabama.

That could all be changing soon, thanks to the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC), which, just two months after its founding, on Thursday announced that the Alabama Medical Marijuana Patient’s Rights Act will be introduced in the next session of the Alabama Legislature.

Washington Town Approves Collective Marijuana Gardens

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 2, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Washington Highways

The collectives will be limited to a strip along State Route 525 in Mukilteo

On a 5-2 vote Monday night, the Mukilteo City Council approved an ordinance allowing collective medical marijuana gardens in the Snohomish County, Washington city.

The move is significant, according to patient activist Philip Dawdy of the Washington Cannabis Association and 4 Evergreen Group, because it makes the city the first in Snohomish County to allow for collective gardens. Other cities in the county, including Everett, Lake Stevens and Marysville, have banned them.

California Clinic Refuses To Treat Medical Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: Rose Law Group

Can a clinic refuse medical care to you, simply because you are a legal medical marijuana patient?

Several medical marijuana patients have reported being told they were unwelcome at clinics operated by Mark Twain St. Joseph’s Hospital in San Andreas, California.

More allegations came to light after hospital officials in early July claimed they had no policy stopping medical marijuana patients from receiving care, reports Dana M. Nichols at the Stockton Record.

The first patient to go public with the allegations was disabled veteran Sam Slayter. He said Dr. Rafael Rosado told him that he wouldn’t receive care at at Mark Twain clinic in Valley Springs unless he signed an agreement promising to stop using medical marijuana.

N.J. MS Patient Loses Appeal; Prison For Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2011 Growing, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

Multiple sclerosis patient John Ray Wilson is handcuffed after being sentenced to five years in prison for “manufacturing and drug possession”

A New Jersey multiple sclerosis patient appears to be headed to prison for growing 17 marijuana plants behind his home.

John Ray Wilson said the plants were for medicinal use, and New Jersey — since Wilson’s arrest — has legalized medical marijuana. But patients in the Garden State still aren’t allowed to grow their own medicine.

Wilson was acquitted of maintaining or operating a “drug-production facility,” which could have gotten him 20 years behind bars, but was found guilty of manufacturing and possessing marijuana and sentenced to five years in prison.

Is California AG Burning The Medical Marijuana Community?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 1, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: The Mad Professah Lectures

California Attorney General Kamala Harris appears to be taking orders from law enforcement in drawing up the state’s new medical marijuana guidelines

In her bid to defeat Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley for the job of California’s top cop, then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris got the support of the state’s medical marijuana community — not so much because she was great, but because Cooley royally sucks ass.

In a rare show of unity (unlike what happened with pot legalization initiative Prop 19), the state’s marijuana activists seemed to all agree on an “Anybody But Cooley” campaign. That effort may well have been the difference between the two candidates last fall, as less than 80,000 votes separated the victorious Harris from Cooley. There are 750,000 medical marijuana patients in California.

But, as pointed out by Chris Roberts at LA Weekly, if Harris feels any gratitude for the support of the medical marijuana community, she’s doing a good job of hiding it.

Benefit Event Set For Fired Walmart Medical Marijuana Patient

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 27, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: Joseph Casias

Cancer patient Joseph Casias, former Employee of the Year at Walmart: “I just don’t understand why it is so bad to use something that helps me and many others who suffer with illnesses and pain”

Once in awhile, corporate America commits such a glaring injustice that people are sickened by the inhumanity of it. Such was the case last year when a Michigan Walmart fired its former Employee of the Year, Joseph Casias, after he showed up positive for marijuana on a routine drug test — despite the fact that he is a seriously ill cancer patient legally using medical cannabis on the recommendation of his physician.

Casias, 30, who has an inoperable brain tumor, was sacked by the Battle Creek Walmart after he failed a routine urine screen following a workplace injury. And despite a chorus of nationwide protest, the corporate behemoth stuck by its heartless decision and eventually prevailed in court after a judge upheld the dismissal.

Casias said that he only used marijuana after his work shift, and never used on the job. He tried cannabis after his oncologist suggested it.

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