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Browsing: Medical

Oakland Rally Protests DEA’s Medical Marijuana Prosecutions

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: westcoastleaf.com
Medical marijuana activist/provider Mickey Martin: “I was not a criminal then, nor am I one now”

​More than 50 people rallied outside the federal building in downtown Oakland, Calif., Monday to protest a one-year halfway house sentence for a medical marijuana activist, and to demand the federal government respect states’ rights regarding medicinal cannabis.

Leading the rally was Michael “Mickey” Martin, who has been sentenced to two years of non-prison confinement after his March 26, 2008 guilty plea for “conspiring to manufacture and distribute” a mixture containing “a detectable amount of marijuana,” reports KTVU-TV.
Martin, 35, ran Tainted Inc., later known as Compassion Medical Edibles, an Oakland-based business producing candies, cookies, ice cream, brownies, energy drinks and other consumables containing cannabis.
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California: Gilroy City Council Votes Again To Sue Marijuana Dispensary

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

MediLeaf

​The city council of Gilroy, California, which had already once approved a lawsuit against a local marijuana dispensary in a closed session, has done so a second time, this time by a 4-3 vote in open session, reports Jonathan Partridge at the Gilroy Dispatch.

The closed session vote on Nov. 16 resulted in Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy on Dec. 15 turning down the city’s request for a preliminary injunction to close MediLeaf dispensary pending a trial. Judge Murphy in part based his action on accusations from the dispensary’s owners that the city had violated the Brown Act, which mandates open meetings.
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Colorado Dispensary Owner Defying Moratorium; Fined $300 A Day

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Carol Hirata/Windsor Beacon
MediGrow owner Lazarus Pino said he’s ignoring Windsor’s moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. “I’m here for the patients. I provide medical care.”

​MediGrow, one of three medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Windsor, Colorado, has been ordered to close in compliance with a 75-day moratorium the town board passed on Dec. 16. But MediGrow’s owner, Lazarus Pino, said Tuesday he plans to stay open.

“I’m here for the patients,” Pino said, reports Lisa Mehring of the Windsor Beacon. “I provide medical care. What’s so bad about helping people medically? I’ve invested a lot of money in this place. I wish they would let me operate.”
Since the moratorium on Dec. 16, the Windsor Police Department has issued a citation every single day the business has remained open. Every citation comes with an appearance in Windsor Municipal Court.
If a judge finds MediGrow in violation, the dispensary could face a $293 fine with a $7 surcharge for every day the business remains open.
Chief of Police John Michaels said there’d been no problem in issuing the daily citations. “We go in, we issue our citation, and we make a little small talk,” Michaels said.
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First Marijuana Dispensary To Open In Downtown Ypsilanti, Michigan

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By on Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association
Marijuana’s all over the news in Michigan.

​Washtenaw County’s first medical marijuana dispensary will open tomorrow in downtown Ypsilanti, Michigan, reports Jeremy Allen of Heritage Newspapers.
It’s been a year now since The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was approved by an overwhelming majority — 63 percent — of the state’s voters. 
“My vision for this dispensary is to find a cure for cancer and to help free thousands of people who are currently in jail cells unjustly for the responsible use of cannabis,” said Anthony Freed, executive director of the Michigan Marijuana Chamber of Commerce.
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Ruling Expected In Colorado Dispensary Case

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By on Dispensaries, Medical, News

Colorado Marijuana Coalition

​A marijuana dispensary in Centennial, Colo., could be back open for business by the end of the day.

An Arapahoe County District Court judge is expected to give an oral ruling Wednesday in a dispute between the city and CannaMart, which was shut down after only a few weeks in business, reports The Associated Press.
CannaMart sued the city, maintaining the marijuana dispensary was a legal business, and that Colorado cities are violating the state constitution when they ban all dispensaries.
The lawsuit has been inching forward for two weeks; last week, the judge said he needed more time to consider the case.
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Vermont Legislator Set To Move Forward On Marijuana Dispensaries

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Darwinek

​Vermont legalized medical marijuana five years ago. But eligible patients who want to use the plant to ease chronic pain and nausea have been forced to either grow their own or resort to the black market, since the state never established a legal outlet to obtain it.

A state lawmaker plans in 2010 to introduce legislation that would solve this problem. The bill would create compassion centers where people on Vermont’s medical marijuana registry can buy their medicine, reports Peter Hirschfeld of the Vermont Press Bureau.
“What is driving me is a sense of compassion and fairness,” said Chris Bray (D-New Haven). “This is a drug we have vetted as a state as being appropriate for people with defined medical conditions and yet we haven’t provided a safe and legal way for them to purchase it.”
Bray said a constituent, one of 189 people registered as medical marijuana patients in Vermont, has suffered because of Vermont’s lack of dispensaries. “He resents the fact, and I think justifiably, that he was pushed into buying medical marijuana from illicit sources, which is expensive and illegal and often not even available to him,” Bray said.
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Big Surprise (Not): Wisconsin A.G. Against Medical Marijuana

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By on Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Quest Magazine
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen wants to keep being able to bust all marijuana users — even the medical ones.

​Wisconsin’s attorney general claims legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes in the state would create serious problems for law enforcement.

While it’s no surprise he thinks so, let’s interpret Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s statement generously: He may actually be right.
That is, if you define “having to pursue real criminals instead of sick and dying patients” as a “problem.” And you could do that, since real criminals are usually a lot more dangerous, can run faster, and sometimes shoot back.
The A.G.’s office was one of only five groups testifying against the medical marijuana bill introduced this month in the Wisconsin Legislature, while more than 100 people testified in favor of it, reports Gil Halstead of Wisconsin Public Radio.
The attorney general claims the bill is “seriously flawed” and “will create a nightmare for law enforcement.” Once again, the dude is probably telling the truth, since lots of cops seem to already have nightmares about pot being legal for anyone, even the sick and dying.
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Rhode Island Releases Proposed Marijuana Dispensary Rules

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Graphic: thefreshscent.com

​Proposed regulations for the operation of compassion centers to dispense medical marijuana have been issued by Rhode Island health regulators, but it could still be up to a year before the first center opens, reports Mike Stanton of The Providence Journal.

“What’s a reasonable timeline? You could be talking about up to a year, or maybe it will take less time,” said Health Department spokesman Robert Vanderslice.

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Cancer Patient Who Smokes Pot Can Stay For Now

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By on Medical, News

photobucket.com

​A northern Michigan woman who was in the process of being evicted by Jan. 1 for legally growing and using medical marijuana has been given a holiday reprieve.

Lori Montroy, 49, of Elk Rapids had been told she must be out of her apartment by the end of the year, or face eviction proceedings in Antrim County court.
The Gardner Group, which manages the building, said the process has been suspended and Montroy’s case will be reviewed after Jan. 4, according to the Associated Press.
Montroy has terminal brain cancer of the type that killed U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, but the Gardner Group says the federal government considers it illegal.
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Pot Is Not A Problem: Colorado Newspaper

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: www.thenightmareblog.com

​A Colorado newspaper has published an extraordinary, ringing endorsement for the state’s booming marijuana industry.

Wednesday’s edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette contained the editorial “Pot, the nonproblem,” which called medical marijuana “the least-important, most-imitation crisis in years.”
“Colorado voters approved medical marijuana 10 years ago,” the editorial points out. “It’s in the state constitution, which trumps local authority. A constitution restricts the powers of government, and the Colorado constitution specifically prohibits government from impeding  the sale of medical marijuana.”
“That leaves room only for the reasonable time, place and manner restrictions applied to other businesses,” the Gazette editorialized. “It’s really that simple.”
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