Medical

Browsing: Medical

Medical Marijuana Legalization Reintroduced In IL Legislature

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 18, 2011 Legislation, Medical

This man — the great Lou Lang — is your best friend in the Illinois Legislature.

Legislation that would legalize the physician-approved use of medical marijuana has been reintroduced in the Illinois Legislature.

House Bill 30, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, would allow qualified patients to possess and grow marijuana for medical reasons.

Similar legislation was approved by the Senate, but narrowly defeated by the House in the previous session (it lost by only four votes).

“What we have to do now is wait for the new session to start, introduce a new piece of legislation and start over,” bill sponsor Rep. Lou Lang had said after the previous bill was defeated.

MT Could Outlaw Driving Up To 25 Days After Smoking Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Montana Medical Grower’s Association

The Montana House Judiciary Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss DUI legislation, House Bill 33, sponsored by Republican Ken Peterson, which provides that any amount of a “dangerous drug” in a driver’s body results in the conclusion that the person is impaired.

While the bill stipulates that if the drug has been prescribed by a licensed physician and taken as prescribed, the driver is not guilty of violating the law, it fails to include physician recommendations for medical marijuana.

The bill thus fails to provide appropriate protection for patients, according to Jim Gingery, executive director of the Montana Medical Grower’s Association.

“To exclude those drivers who are taking prescribed pharmaceuticals while omitting patients who are using a recommended alternative treatment is not in the best interest of the public nor is the assumption of impairment without proper testing,” Gingery said.

Medical Marijuana Patient Sues To Keep Growing Pot Plants

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Growing, Medical

Graphic: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association

A registered medical marijuana patient in Michigan is suing the Lyon Township and Oakland County because they’re trying to take his growing cannabis plants away from him.

Steven J. Greene got a notice from the township attorney on December 20 telling him he had 30 days to get rid of the marijuana plants growing inside his mobile home — on threat of seizure and prosecution under the township ordinance, reports Mike Martindale at The Detroit News.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, which discovered the plants last year after both a storm and an attempted break-in set off burglar alarms at Green’s residence in separate incidents, according to Greene’s attorney, Thomas Loeb.

Greene, who is HIV positive, is on medical disability and uses marijuana to combat nausea from drugs used to treat his health condition, Loeb said.

Company Offers Training To AZ Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: PRWeb

Gus Escamilla, the founder and CEO of Greenway University in Denver, plans to offer fledgling Arizona dispensaries an education in the business of medicinal cannabis.

His team helped open more than 225 dispensaries in California, Colorado and the western United States, according to Escamilla, reports John Yantis at The Arizona Republic.

“The demographic that we recognized, it’s not the 21- to 28-year-olds,” Escamilla said of prospective dispensary owners. “It’s the 35- to 65-year-olds, the displaced professionals, the people that want to get into this industry in total and complete compliance with the state laws or jurisdiction that they live in.”

Later this month, Greenway University, which says its curriculum is provisionally approved by a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, plans a two-day, $295 seminar in Scottsdale. Students can learn about the political and legal issues surrounding marijuana, as well as how to grow the herb and prepare it in a snack form called edibles.

Washington Might Extend Protections To Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 17, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Artwork: Jimmy Wheeler

The late Jimmy Wheeler, a medical marijuana patient in Washington, created this artwork. Washington patients could finally get the arrest protection they seek if a bill that would do just that passes the Legislature.

Medical marijuana patients in Washington could have protection from arrest if the Legislature passes a bill reforming the 1998 voter-approved law authorizing use of cannabis for some terminal and debilitating illnesses.

I know what you’re thinking. “Shouldn’t they ALREADY have arrest protection if medical marijuana is legal for them to use?”

Yes. Yes, they should.

Although the law has been in place for more than 12 years, many patients complain they are still harassed by police, said Sen. Jerome Delvin (R-Richland), a co-sponsor of the Senate of the Senate version of the bill, reports Michelle Dupler at the Tri-City Herald.

Delvin pushed for the bill to include a voluntary patient registry that would provide medical marijuana patients a card they can show to police rather than submitting to searches of their homes or property.

“It allows us to know what’s going on out there,” said Delvin, a former Richland police officer who retired in 2006. “It gives law enforcement an easier tool. They can have confidence in the registry. If someone has a card — case closed.”

Colorado Medical Marijuana Advocates Call For Full Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 14, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: Patient & Caregiver Rights Litigation Project

Medical marijuana advocates Wednesday evening called for the full legalization of marijuana in Colorado, saying that until cannabis is fully legal, it will always be stigmatized and patients will be subject to harassment.

“No patient is really safe until it is legalized for everyone,” attorney Robert J. Corry told the patients and advocates at a meeting in Denver, reports Scot Kersgaard at The Colorado Independent.

Corry and other attorneys said law enforcement officials, lawmakers and other officials will never really act as if anyone has a right to use marijuana until it is made legal for all.

“They are treating patients like criminals instead of the sick people we are,” said Laura Kriho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute.

Advocates said patient access is in jeopardy in Colorado because of rules that allow cities and counties to ban dispensaries, and because of patient fears that their medical marijuana records are not really confidential.

D.C. Medical Marijuana Rules Take Effect Next Week

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 14, 2011 Dispensaries, Growing, Medical

Photo: Clarissa Stark

In the U.S. capitol, the District of Columbia’s medical marijuana program’s rules governing who can grow, dispense and buy marijuana go into effect next week, once they’re published in the D.C. Register.

The rules, originally drafted and opened to public comment last August, had some changes requested by medical marijuana advocates in a second version released in November, reports Martin Austermuhle at the DCist. However, the system envisioned by city officials is extremely restrictive and not particularly patient-friendly (or dispensary-friendly, either, for that matter).

Anti-DEA Rallies Held Over Michigan Medical Marijuana Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: WLNS

A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential patient records protected by state law.

A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold in Lansing, Michigan, this week to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential medical marijuana patient records protected by state law.

Medical marijuana advocates made some noise, raising their voices against what they call increasing federal involvement in states where medical marijuana is legal.

“I’ve been raided twice,” said protestor John Roberts, reports WLNS. “First time they raided me they didn’t even take the plants; they took all the medicine we made for the patients.”

Roberts, a medical marijuana user, caregiver and advocate, said the feds need to stay out of the confidential records of medical marijuana users.

Japanese Medical Marijuana Patient Desperate To Stay In U.S.

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2011 Global, Medical

Photo: Kenichi Nalita

Kenichi Nalita came to the United States in a fight for his life as a medical cannabis patient battling Crohn’s disease. Now Kenichi’s facing another fight — to be able to stay here. (Yes, Ken tells me the correct spelling of his last name is Nalita.)

A Japanese medical marijuana patient battling Crohn’s disease, in what he describes as a fight for his life, is desperately trying to gain political/medical asylum in the United States, because his homeland’s government says cannabis is not a medicine.

Kenichi Nalita, the very first medical marijuana user to fight for his rights in Japanese courts, told Toke of the Town that he hopes the U.S. will accept him as a political prisoner seeking asylum, since he can obtain medicinal cannabis in California but not in Japan.

“I’m a patient of Crohn’s disease,” Nalita told us. “And I guess you might know that my disease is able to be taken care of by a couple grams of cannabis per day. It controls my immune system and inflammation, and also helps rebuilding mucous membranes in my bowel.

Federal Request For Michigan Patient Info Raises Privacy Issues

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 12, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: MJ Dispensaries of Southern California

Medical marijuana proponents in Michigan say confidentiality of patient records is at risk if the federal government can obtain state-compiled records as part of a federal witch hunt, I mean “drug investigation.”

“It would set a pretty significant precedent against patient privacy rights,” said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), reports John Agar of The Grand Rapids Press. “It’s not just a problem in Michigan, it’s all over the country.”

The Michigan state agency that collects confidential medical marijuana patient information will comply with a federal request for access to its records if ordered to do so by a judge, the state said in court filings.

ASA had planned to protest Wednesday morning outside of U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids — where the federal government’s request was to be heard — but the protest was canceled when the hearing was postponed by a last-minute filing from the Michigan Association of Compassion Clubs (MACC).

Previous 1 … 151 152 153 154 155 … 203 Next