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An Inside Look At The Seattle Cannabis Farmer’s Market

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 10, 2011 Medical, Products

Around 600 people attended the inaugural Seattle Cannabis Farmer’s Market, according to organizer Jeremy Miller.

By Jack Foster

Photos by Knottyy

Seattle Cannabis Journal

The very first Seattle Cannabis Farmer’s Market was held with the blessing of the surrounding community. It was encouraging to see our law enforcement’s attitude reflecting that of the people. The Farmer’s Market provides a safe place for patients to have regular access to a variety of medicine and providers.

For now, at least, the Market is hosted in the centrally located Little Red Bistro’s ‘Moroccan Room’ near Dexter and Denny.

I topped off my morning toke of “Jesus” with a coffee from Uptown Espresso, where I took preliminary notes. Once the mood struck I wandered down to the site of the Farmer’s Market. Patients enter through the front of the restaurant, passing the bar and heading through the back door. The high-ceilinged Moroccan Room housed a good deal of vendors, and a sea of patients.

I found the market boasted a comprehensive cross-section of the medical cannabis community in Washington State. Everyone from single growers, to delivery services, to full brick-and-mortar operations were present.

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes N.H. House Committee In 14-3 Vote

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

Graphic: Cafe Press

A New Hampshire House committee on Wednesday brought seriously ill Granite Staters closer to relief with a 14-3 “ought to pass” vote on a bill to allow the medical use of marijuana.

The House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee endorsed House Bill 442, which creates a narrow exception in New Hampshire law for people with certain qualifying medical conditions to use marijuana medicinally with a doctor’s recommendation.

HB 442 now moves on to the full House for a vote.

Introduced by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D), herself a cancer survivor, the bill has five Republican cosponsors, including the chair of the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee, Rep. John Reagan (R-Deerfield).

Los Angeles Voters Approve Taxing Marijuana Dispensaries

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

Photo: The 420 Times

Los Angeles voters on Tuesday approved a measure to tax medical marijuana dispensaries as a new source of revenue for the budget-challenged city.

Early returns from Tuesday’s polls showed most voters favored Measure M, which would allow the city to collect $50 out of each $1,000 in “gross reimbursements” that dispensaries receive from patients, reports Yang Lina at Xinhua.

With 40 percent of precincts counted, Measure M was ahead by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent, reports Gene Maddaus at LA Weekly.

No Medical Marijuana Repeal This Year In New Mexico

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Santa Fe Reporter

N.M. Gov. Susanna Martinez: “I do not support distributing marijuana for any purposes”

A bill to repeal New Mexico’s medical marijuana law — supported by the state’s new Republican governor — will not receive a vote this year, as the sponsor of the bill has reportedly pulled the legislation.

A secretary in the office of freshman state Rep. James Smith (R-Sandia Park), who initially sponsored a bill that would kill the state’s medical marijuana program, confirmed that attempts to dissolve the program have been aborted, reports Alexa Schirtzinger at the Santa Fe Reporter.

Florida Could Let Voters Decide On Medical Marijuana In 2012

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: THC Finder

Voters in the Sunshine State could get a chance to decide for themselves about medical marijuana — if the Republican-controlled Legislature will let them.

Florida voters could get a chance to decide for themselves about medical marijuana next year — if the Republican-controlled Legislature will let them.

Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) has filed a joint resolution that, if passed by the Legislature, would let Floridians vote on a state constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana.

Just last week, a Republican pollster found high support in The Sunshine State for medicinal cannabis, with 57 percent — almost enough to pass a state constitutional amendment, which would require 60 percent.

So, Florida. Are you going to insist on a chance to decide for yourselves about medical marijuana? Or are you going to stand idly by while your Republican-controlled Legislature ignores you for yet another year?

A “Legislative Action on Medical Marijuana” press conference has been scheduled for Thursday, March 10 at 11 a.m. at Florida’s Capitol in Tallahassee.

DC Businesses Try For A Piece Of The Medical Marijuana Action

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 8, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Graphic: VaporMe.com

Every new industry is driven by risk-taking pioneers, and it’s no different with medical marijuana in the District of Columbia. Entrepreneurs trying for a piece of the cannabis action in D.C. are crafting business plans, arranging financing, and readying for fierce competition to get licenses to operate five dispensaries and 10 cultivation centers.

Whether motivated by prospective profits or a belief in the medicinal value of marijuana, “everyone is cagey about their plans, because no one is certain who is in the hunt,” reports Paul Schwartzman at the The Washington Post.

“People are hiding in the shadows,” said Alan Amsterdam, co-owner of a hemp store and part of a team hoping to open a marijuana dispensary and cultivation center. “Then they’ll strike like a cobra.”

N.J. Patients Criticize Overly Strict Medical Marijuana Rules

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: ImageShack

Patients in New Jersey have waited more than a year since their medical marijuana law passed, yet still have no safe access

Dozens of medical marijuana patients and advocates vented their frustrations on Monday over New Jersey’s proposed strict rules for the state’s long-delayed medical marijuana program, signed into law more than a year ago by outgoing then-Gov. Jon Corzine.

“You’re getting hammered up there, aren’t ya?” Crohn’s disease patient Stephen Cuspilich of Southampton, N.J., asked state health department officials, reports Susan K. Livio at NJ.com. The officials were holding a legally required hearing on the proposed rules from the administration of Republican Gov. Chris Christie, expected to take effect this summer.

The Christie Administration has repeatedly pushed back implementation of the law, supposedly to “craft rules” for the program. Without the rules in place, patients have no legal access to marijuana. But the proposed rules are far too restrictive, according to many patients and advocates.

Marijuana Patients To L.A. Voters: Vote NO On Measure M

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: MJ Dispensaries of Southern California

Los Angeles will vote on Tuesday, March 8, on a measure which threatens to increase the cost of an already expensive treatment for medical marijuana patients in the city. Measure M, which is one of 10 ballot measures facing L.A. voters, would increase taxes on medical marijuana by five percent, above and beyond the nearly 10 percent in sales tax which patients already pay.

Patient advocates have come out in opposition to the measure, asking the city to find other sources of revenue and to remove the tax burden from sick people.

“We understand that the city is under a lot of economic stress,” said Don Duncan, California director at Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana group which is strongly opposing Measure M. “But it doesn’t make sense to charge our most vulnerable people more money for the treatment.

Legislature Set To Gut Washington’s Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Jane Meets Jane

The Washington Legislature is on the verge of gutting the state’s medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 1998. It’s time to make a phone call.

Here’s What You Can Do

The Washington Legislature started this session with a very good medical marijuana dispensary bill which would have finally provided safe access and arrest protection for patients, 13 years after voters legalized the medicinal use of cannabis in the state.

You’ll notice I said “started this session,” because the bill is no longer a good thing. In fact, as currently amended, the bill has sadly turned into an enormous negative for the medical marijuana community.

“In its current state, the bill is set to gut our voter-approved medical cannabis law,” said Ben Livingston of the Seattle-based patient advocacy group Cannabis Defense Coalition.

Federal Patient To Fight Montana Medical Marijuana Repeal

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 7, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Robyn Twomey

Federal medical marijuana patient Irvin Rosenfeld with a tin of 300 government joints, which he’s gotten every 25 days from the government for 28 years.

With a bill which would repeal the state’s medical marijuana law already having been passed by the House, the Montana Senate will soon hold hearings on House Bill 161, to repeal the 2004 initiative passed by voters.

Montana’s medical cannabis law was approved in 2004 by a resounding 62 percent of state voters. Despite that, HB 161 was introduced early in the current legislative session by House Speaker Mike Milburn, who ran unopposed in Cascade, Montana.

Milburn’s bill passed the House fueled by “Reefer Madness”-like statements, devoid of fact, according to Hiedi Handford, owner and publisher of Montana Connect.

With the antics of the House, along with another anti-marijuana group called “Safe Community Safe Kids,” Handford said it became quite apparent that big help was needed once again.

“Facts and science are being completely ignored,” Handford said. “Folks just seem to pay attention when they meet and question a federal patient, as so many folks out there still have no idea the federal patients even exist.”

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