| TokeoftheTown.com |
Pennsylvania legislators have two routes to legalize medical marijuana after a bill identical to an existing Senate measure was introduced Monday in the state House
House Bill 1181, named for former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer who campaigned for marijuana reform during his tenure in the late 1960s, would legalize marijuana use for patients with doctor’s recommendations It joins Senate Bill 770, which was introduced earlier this month.
Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931, with the Sal Sagev Hotel becoming the state’s first legal casino. Fast forward 82 years, and quite a bit has changed, not just in Las Vegas, but across the state.
In the home of Sin City, it’s hard to imagine being the “first” to do anything. But last weekend, Robert Calkin and the California-based Cannabis Career Institute did just that, when they hosted nearly 70 students for Nevada’s first-ever medical marijuana school.
In a time of extreme uncertainty in the marijuana industry, one thing is still certain, business is booming.
According to data released in a 180 page report last month by Medical Marijuana Business Daily, retail medical cannabis sales in the U.S. are predicted to rise between 10-15% over last year – potentially earning up to $1.5Billion in 2013. Fueled by legalization in Washington and Colorado, and favorable marijuana polling across the country, the Marijuana Business Factbook 2013 predicts that we will see that billion and a half in weed sales double in 2014, to $3Billion nationwide, and then double again to upwards of $6Billion annually by 2018.
Does L.A. really want to see 90 percent of the marijuana dispensaries in the city close down?
Apparently they do. An internal poll by the folks backing May ballot Measure D, which would do just that, shows that likely voters favor the proposed city law by a rate of 52 percent. Opponents of the would-be ordinance don’t seem to disagree with that. Dennis Romero at L.A. Weekly has more.
| Yup. |
Marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes–relieving stress and pain and fighting hunger and nausea–for centuries if not millennia. But now, a pair of doctors in San Francisco claim that they’ve compiled reliable data showing that a certain compound in cannabis–cannabidiol–may actually cure cancer.
Unlike THC, the ingredient in marijuana that makes you feel stoned, cannabidiol is a non-toxic compound of the plant that has no psychoactive qualities, and it’s been the focus of an ongoing series of trials at the San Francisco-based California Pacific Medical Center. The OC Weekly has more.
The Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that more than 256,820 veterans who served over the last 12 years suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder — a consequence mostly of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Medical marijuana may help with the symptoms, but vets still can’t use it to treat their symptoms, as Veterans Affairs or the White House does not permit it.
While nothing prohibits a veteran from participating in state marijuana programs or receiving treatment at a VA facility, the use of marijuana is not permitted on VA property and no VA pharmacy will dispense it or help pay for it.
The Maryland legislature has approved a bill creating a state-regulated medical marijuana program, pushing on to the governor’s office for final approval. Earlier today the state Senate passed a third and final reading of the bill 42-4, marking the end of its legislative journey over the last few months.
| MPP. |
| Cathy Jordan. |
Back in February, police raided the home of Florida Cannabis Action Network president Cathy Jordan and charged her and her husband Robert with cultivating marijuana. Jordan, who uses cannabis to manage Lou Gehrig’s disease. Thankfully, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office has a heart, and dropped the case because Cathy clearly needs the marijuana for medical reasons. Hopefully this drives a message to Florida legislators who have stalled on a proposed medical marijuana bill this session.
For more, check out the Broward-Palm Beach New Times coverage.
West Virginia medical marijuana users will remain illegal in the eyes of the law thanks to the House of Delegates refusing to allow a floor vote on a proposed medical marijuana bill earlier this week.
Despite nearly two-dozen supporters speaking on behalf of House Bill 2961 before the Health and Human Resources Committee – and not a single person speaking out against it – the chairman refused to move it forward.
Maryland caregivers may soon have the same protections as medical marijuana patients in that state after the general assembly yesterday passed laws allowing them to possess up to an ounce at a time.
Laws passed in 2003 and 2011 allow patients to use medical necessity as a defense in court if they are busted with pot and paraphernalia. Caregivers would now have the same protections, which won’t necessarily keep them from being arrested but will allow them a valid argument in court. Charges could either be dismissed or dropped to a $100 civil fine.