| cityofjackson.org |
| Jackson, Michigan. |
Lawmakers in Jackson, Michigan apparently know how medical marijuana patients should use the space in their homes better than medical marijuana patients themselves.
At least, that’s the message they sent last night by passing an ordinance on a 4 to 3 vote that would limit medical marijuana use and cultivation to just 20 percent of someone’s home. The law goes into effect Sept. 12, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Almost exactly two years ago, on August 5th, 2011, the Coronado Police Department received an anonymous tip that Michael Lewis and his wife Lauren Taylor were operating an illegal covert daycare operation, and worse, that they were smoking weed around the children.
Acting on that tip, officers visited Lewis’ home on upscale Coronado Island, and were allowed entrance to the residence by Lewis and his wife. Satisfied that there was no secret babysitting cartel headquartered in the home, officers did discover Lewis’ personal stash of pot, for which he promptly provided a valid California doctor’s recommendation. What should have been the end of the story was just the beginning of a two-year-long nightmare for Lewis, his wife, and their two kids.
| Facebook.com |
| Eli Traufield. |
Eli Traufield’s Facebook photo gallery alternates model-esque shots like this one with family pics featuring his son. But most of the posts tout the healing abilities of marijuana — appropriate given that he’s listed as an owner of Fort COllins ORganics and Earthly Elements, a dispensary. Problem is, Earthly Elements is no longer open — a fact that appears to have grabbed the attention of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, which participated in a bust of Traufield that included serious charges and the seizure of 350 plants and more than 61 pounds of pot. Denver Westword has the full story.
As we told you last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce some rather substantial changes to federal drug policy this week including dropping mandatory minimum sentencing in some drug cases, early release for non-violent offenders, allowing states to handle more drug cases and, eventually, bi-partisan drug reform at the congressional level.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance, we can expect Holder’s comments sometime today in his remarks to the American Bar Association national convention in San Francisco.
| state.nj.us |
| New Jersey Governor Chris Christie isn’t sympathetic to severely sick children. |
Yesterday was the original deadline for a New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to sign a bill increasing access for medical marijuana for sick and needy children in his state, and here we are today with no signature.
Thankfully, Christie has been given an extension of sorts until August 19. We say thankfully, but every day that this asshole holds off on signing the bill is one day longer that children have to suffer and pushing the signing back by even an hour is despicable at this point.
The State of Michigan is one step closer to allowing people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to access medical cannabis legally this week after a state panel gave approval to a citizen petition to add the condition to the list of qualifying medical marijuana ailments.
The Michigan Marihuana Act Review Panel voted 7-2 Tuesday, pushing the motion forward to a public hearing sometime in the next 60 days according to state law. An official vote only be can be taken after public testimony.
| IMCC from Google Maps. |
An Inglewood marijuana dispensary that was the first pot shop in Los Angeles county, according to its owner, was shut down by police today and will likely close for good.
Paul Scott of IMCC Wellness Center says numerous police officers showed up shortly after 1 p.m. and raided his store. He told us that cops at the scene said the other dispensaries in Inglewood — he estimated there were 3 of them — would also be put out of business today. LA Weekly has the full story.
| Wikimedia commons/Dnd523. |
| Dr. Sanjay Gupta. |
Arguably the most well-known doctor in the United States this week has announced that he is now in favor of legalizing medical cannabis and that he was wrong to speak out against medical marijuana in the past.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanja Gupta says that five years ago, the research he was seeing just wasn’t there to prove that cannabis was a beneficial substance in America. At the time, Gupta rallied against cannabis, even penning an article in 2009 titled “While I Would Vote No on Pot”. But he now says his position was flawed, and it was mostly at due to his own willful ignorance on the matter.
“Medical marijuana may be right for you.” That is all the sign out in front of doctor Brian Murray’s office said Wednesday afternoon, and there was a line out the door according to the Chicago Tribune.
Murray is the first physician to open up his doors in the city specifically for diagnosing patients who think they might benefit from medical cannabis. The only issue is: medical marijuana won’t be available legally for some time in the state.
A medical marijuana proposal in Arkansas is one step closer to reality today after the state attorney general gave approval to the official title and popular name of the bill: The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act.
As we told you back in July, the original proposal had been turned down by the attorney general for being too vague – notably language stating that patients would not be allowed to grow their own cannabis.