Browsing: Medical

Photo: Kathy Johnson/MyCentralJersey
John Wilson, an MS patient, at his sentencing Friday for growing medical marijuana

​A New Jersey man with multiple sclerosis was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for growing marijuana — which he said was for medicinal purposes —  in his back yard.

Wilson, 37, was growing 17 marijuana plants.

Tragically, the sentence handed down to John Wilson is the minimum prison term he could have received under New Jersey law, reports Michael Deak at MyCentralJersey.com.
Wilson’s attorney, James Wronko, said he plans to file a motion to stay the sentence pending an appeal.

Graphic: Esquire

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is actively lobbying members of the Legislature to oppose safe access to medical marijuana for Colorado veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

On Monday, March 22, the Colorado House Judiciary Committee will consider HB 1284, a bill to regulate the distribution of medical marijuana in Colorado. Rep. Sal Pace will offer an amendment to allow individuals diagnosed with PTSD to have access to medical marijuana if they have a recommendation from a psychiatrist.
The actions of the Colorado Health Department stand in stark contrast to the thoughtful process followed by its counterpart in New Mexico, which added PTSD to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana patients in that state in February 2009.

Photo: KATU
Medical marijuana patient Paul McClain: “I feel that I was complying with state regulations”

​Oregon medical marijuana patient Paul McClain is facing court next month on a charge he says he never expected. “If [they rule]according to the law…,” he said, “then I’m going to be exonerated.”

McClain goes on trial next month for illegal marijuana possession. Officers found a bag weed and pot pipes in his backpack during a search last month at the Springfield Justice Center, the city’s police station, reports Tom Adams at KATU.com.
“It’s our belief that he’ll be convicted based on the definition of the law,” said Springfield Police Sergeant Tom Borchers.

Graphic: Marijuana Policy Project

​On Thursday, March 18, the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will receive testimony on SB 627, a bill that would make Maryland the 15th state in the nation to have an effective medical marijuana law.

Sponsored by Frederick County Republican Sen. David Brinkley, the bill would allow state-regulated outlets to to dispense medical marijuana to patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor.
The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Senate President Mike Miller, Minority Leader Allan Kittleman, Minority Whip Nancy Jacobs, and Deputy Majority Leader Robert Garigiola, among others.

Graphic: Joplin NORML

​The Missouri House snuffed out efforts to legalize medical marijuana during the middle of a debate on banning fake pot. One ignorant Representative called medical cannabis “a party, not an illness.”

The amendment, which popped up in a House debate to criminalize the “synthetic marijuana” sold under K2, Spice and other brand names, was voted down. But the bill banning fake pot received first-round approval, reports Marty Swant of the Columbia Missourian.
“Who are we to tell terminally ill patients that some substance that can provide them relief isn’t good enough for them?” said Rep. Jason Holsman (D-Jackson County), one of a small group of Democrats who pushed for the measure.
Holsman also said there were several other benefits to allowing limited medical usage of cannabis. He said it would keep non-violent drug offenders out of prisons, and allow the state to tax marijuana purchases.

Graphic: pyrello3000

​The nation’s largest marijuana policy reform organization on Tuesday joined Toke of the Town in calling upon shoppers across the country to boycott WalMart Stores, Inc. The boycott is to protest the unjust and possibly unlawful firing of a medical marijuana patient and sinus cancer survivor who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor.

Joseph Casias, 29, legaly uses medical marijuana to alleviate the pain resulting from his cancer, which is in remission.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is asking shoppers to demand WalMart abandon its discriminatory policy of firing employees who are legal medical marijuana patients under state law.
After dutifully working at a WalMart in Battle Creek, Michigan, for five years, Casias was suddenly terminated because he tested positive for marijuana during a drug screening administered after he sprained a knee on the job.

Photo: Renee Resser
Michael Shane Howard was attacked and killed by robbers who wanted his medical marijuana. While he lay dying, the cops took his plants.

​A Washington medical marijuana patient has died after being attacked by robbers who were after his pot crop. When local police were called to the scene, rather than investigating the assault, they started questioning mortally injured Michael Shane Howard about how many plants he had.

The police told Howard, who had just been clubbed in the head with a crowbar, that the medics would “probably just put a big bandage in his forehead and leave him at the house.”
Two days after the attack, as Howard lay dying, the police called Howard’s good friend and roommate, Renee Resser, and asked when she was going to go visit him in the hospital.
Then while Renee visited Howard at the hospital, she got a call from a friend telling her officers from the Pierce County, Washington Sheriff’s Department were raiding her home.
When Renee rushed home, she was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car for 2-1/2 hours; officers told her it was because she lived in the same residence as Howard, even though his grow operation was outside in a shed.
“They took all his plants and equipment,” Renee said. “It’s so sickening that they are more worried about his meds than finding out who attacked him. His skull was bashed by a crowbar; it seems like they are not even trying to find out who did it. It makes me sick to my stomach!”

Photo: WOOD-TV
The Michigan Medical Marijuana Association organized a rally Sunday, March 14, 2010 at the Battle Creek WalMart parking lot.

​A rally was held Sunday in support of Joseph Casias, a former employee of the year and registered medical marijuana patient battling cancer who was recently fired from his job at WalMart for using the doctor-approved herb, reports Dani Carlson at WOOD TV.

More than 100 people turned out for the demonstration to support Casias, a five-year employee at the Battle Creek, Michigan WalMart store. He was terminated after testing positive for medical marijuana.
Casias has a doctor’s recommendation for cannabis and is a legal, card-carrying medical marijuana patient.
Casias, who uses marijuana for pain from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor, said he shouldn’t have been fired in a state where medical marijuana is legal.

Graphic: disinformation
It’s time for WalMart — and other corporate chains — to join the 21st Century.

​WalMart pulled a major bonehead move this week when it sacked a cancer patient — a former Associate of the Year — for following his doctor’s advice and using medical marijuana, which is perfectly legal in Michigan. As a direct result, medical marijuana advocates are now organizing a nationwide boycott of the retail giant.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company, notorious for its corporate stance of social conservatism, looked like a big, dumb, lumbering, heartless beast. But WalMart still hasn’t budged, and is completely unapologetic about firing Joseph Casias, who suffers from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.
The wave of revulsion and outrage over WalMart’s treatment of Casias is growing exponentially as more people learn what was done — and with 80 percent of the American public supporting medical marijuana, the results of a boycott could be substantial.
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