Medical

Fired Medical Marijuana Patient Sues WalMart

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 29, 2010 Medical, News

Joseph Casias said on Tuesday that it was unfair of WalMart to fire him for legally using marijuana to treat his cancer pain.

With the backing of state and national branches of the American Civil Liberties Union and his attorney, Daniel Grow, Casias said he filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning in Calhoun County Circuit Court against WalMart Stores Inc for wrongful termination last November, reports the Battle Creek Enquirer.

The 30-year-old Battle Creek, Mich, cancer patient had undergone a routine drug screening after hurting his knee on the job last year. The test showed that Casias had marijuana in his system and he was fired, even though he is registered as a legal medical marijuana patient in Michigan.

Montel Williams To N.Y.: Pass Medical Marijuana Now

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 28, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: The Daily Voice

Montel Williams uses medical marijuana to ease the symptoms of MS, and he advocates for safe access for other patients

Former talk show host, U.S. veteran and New York resident Montel Williams on Tuesday will urge Governor David Paterson and members of the state Legislature to act quickly in order to finally pass New York’s medical marijuana bill.

The bill would create one of the best regulated systems in the country for providing seriously ill patients with safe and effective access to medical marijuana when doctors recommend it, according to patient advocates.

Under New York’s bill, the state department of health would play an active role in regulating dispensaries that would be licensed to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients.

N.M. Patients Face Medical Marijuana Shortage

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 24, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: KOAT-TV

A medical marijuana shortage in New Mexico — which, for the second year in a row, is seeing its state-licensed dispensary system struggling to supply patients with cannabis — means those who use it might not be able to get the relief they need, reports KOAT-TV in Albuquerque.

According to a man who runs Peace Medical Marijuana Consultants, a nonprofit group counseling medical marijuana patients, there are around five dispensaries in New Mexico, with almost 2,000 patients.

House Republicans Move To Block D.C.’s Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 24, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: You Are Hated!

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz wants you to stay off the pot.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) announced Wednesday afternnon that they have introduced a resolution to disapprove the District of Columbia’s city law legalizing medical marijuana, reports Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post.

“While derivatives of marijuana are available in pill form for medicinal purposes, smoked marijuana is a health danger, not a cure, and therefore remains a harmful and dangerous drug for people of all ages,” the clueless Chaffetz said.

Chaffetz, a Mormon convert, Brigham Young graduate and right-wing crank already known for opposing progressive legislation of any sort, is the creepiest sort of reactionary, the “I used to be a liberal” young kind of earnest, clean-cut, gay-marriage-opposing, pot-hating, wholesome-looking wingnut.

N.Y. Patients Call On Governor To Include Marijuana In Budget

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 22, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Matt Deturck/Rochester City Newspaper

Chronically ill patients from across New York state gathered in Albany on Tuesday to make a final plea for Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature to include a compassionate medical marijuana program in the state’s budget.

An overwhelming 71 percent of New York voters think medical marijuana laws are a “good idea,” according to a February 4 Quinnipiac University poll.

On Monday, the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York became the latest state health group to endorse New York’s medical marijuana bill.

“Lawmakers need to stop playing games while patients’ lives hang in the balance and include medical marijuana in the budget,” said Richard Williams, a Richmondville, N.Y., resident who suffers from HIV and hepatitis C.

“I have found marijuana to be the best available treatment for the joint damage, nausea and appetite loss caused by my HIV medication, but I am forced to break state law and become a criminal if I seek such relief,” Williams said. “Along with countless other patients, I have waited for more than a decade while other states have passed medical marijuana laws protecting patients and New York has refused. The time is now.”

Illinois: Plan To Burn 5,525 Pounds Of Pot Ignites Activists

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Brian Jackson/Sun-Times

Headed for the incinerator: 5,525 pounds of marijuana seized last week by the Cook County sheriff’s office

Medical marijuana activists are hotly protesting plans by Cook County, Illinois, officials to burn more than 5,500 pounds of cannabis seized last week in a big pot bust.

“Depending on its purity, that represents a lot of medicine that could have helped so many Illinoisans,” said Julie Falco, a North Side woman who uses marijuana to ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Her reaction was echoed by others calling on Illinois to join 14 other states in legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, reports Vernon Clement Jones at the Chicago Sun-Times. Last Wednesday’s seizure of 5,525 pounds of pot — and the subsequent plan to burn the cannabis — has ignited a hot debate.

Judge Orders Pot Patient: Stay 1/4 Mile From Your Own Stepkids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 21, 2010 Culture, Medical

Graphic: Slate

Earlier this year, a judge in rural Washington who called the state’s medical marijuana law “an absolute joke” and “an excuse to be loaded all the time” ordered a stepfather, Julian Robinson, to stay at least a quarter-mile away from the teenagers he has helped rear for the past 13 years, because he is a medical marijuana patient.

That means Robinson can’t be around the children, even though they live in his home near Castle Rock, Wash., with his wife and their four younger children, reports Gene Johnson of The Associated Press.

Robinson said he sometimes stays with friends, or rolls out a foam sleeping pad in his neighbor’s horse trailer. He said he misses baseball games and church services with the kids.

Britain Approves Liquid Marijuana As Prescription Medicine

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 18, 2010 Medical, Products

Photo: Drog Riporter

Sativex, unlike the pill Marinol, has more than 60 of marijuana’s cannabinoids instead of just THC.

Sativex, a cannabinoid-based liquid medicine sprayed under the tongue, has been approved for use in Great Britain to help treat the muscle spasticity suffered by multiple sclerosis patients, it was announced on Friday.

Sativex is a natural marijuana extract that is provided by British-based GW Pharmaceuticals. It was approved in 2005 for use in Canada to treat neuropathic pain.

“Once again, the scientific community has confirmed that marijuana is medicine and it can provide safe and effective relief to patients suffering from certain conditions,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.

“Sadly, our federal government, through the Drug Enforcement Administration, has blocked effective research into the therapeutic effectiveness of marijuana,” Kampia said. “The United States could be leading the world in the development of cannabinoid-based medicines, but instead our government has ceded this industry to the U.K., while intentionally prolonging the agony of patients in this country.”

The Food and Drug Administration has already approved for medical use in the United States the pill Marinol, which contains only marijuana’s principle psychoactive component, THC.

California Considers Taxing Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 18, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: CBS News

A bill to tax medical marijuana like tobacco is scheduled for hearings by the California State Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee next Wednesday, June 23.

The bill, SBX6-16, sponsored by Sen. Ronald Calderon of Montebello, Calif., would tax all sales of cannabis (except wholesale-level distribution to collectives, cooperatives or dispensaries) at a rate equal to the tax rate on tobacco products.

If it seems a little odd to you that medicine would be subject to the “vice” tax on tobacco, which has no medical uses, you’re not the only one. Many patient advocates strongly oppose taxing medical marijuana.

Montana: Anti-Pot Petitioners Face Off With Pro-Pot Protesters

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 17, 2010 Culture, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: KULR 8

An effort to repeal Montana’s medical marijuana law, which would once again make criminals of the state’s 16,000+ cannabis patients, is stirring emotions from activists on both sides of the doobie divide.

The “Safe Community, Safe Kids” petition is being handed out across the Big Sky State. The group needs 25,000 signatures by Friday, June 18, to qualify for the November ballot, reports Nicole Grigg of KULR 8.

On Wednesday, medical marijuana advocates protested at Billings’ Centennial Park where anti-pot petitioners were collecting signatures.

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