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Legislator Accuses Medical Marijuana Group Of ‘Harassment’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 25, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

CLUELESS! Rep. Jim McClendon, chairman of the Alabama House Health Committee, called constituent emails “harassment”

Health Committee Chairman Unwilling To Read Citizen Emails

Ah, representative democracy. When citizens have concerns, they contact their elected representatives, right? Right?? One Alabama legislator apparently could use a basic civics lesson; it seems Republican Rep. Jim McClendon has forgotten for whom he works. On Thursday morning, he sent an email message to constituents, colleagues and newspapers statewide accusing medical marijuana lobbyists of “harassment.”

McClendon, chairman of the Alabama House Committee on Health, apparently felt quite put upon by the emails sent by members and supporters of the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition, a group fighting for safe access for medicinal cannabis patients in the Heart of Dixie.

5,600 More Montana Patients Denied Rights And Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 25, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Cannabis Now Magazine

Losing Legal Status and Providers, Suffering Patients Plead for Voters to Oppose IR-124

As Montana fully implements Senate Bill 423 after a June 2011 injunction was lifted by the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, the vast majority of currently legal patients are losing their rights. The state’s data show that 5,598 patients will now lose their status as registered, legal medical users of marijuana.

Medical Marijuana Advocates Launch Election-Based Website

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 25, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Examiner.com

New tool enables patients, advocates to make informed choices by reviewing voting record of elected officials

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) on Thursday launched a new website — VoteMedicalMarijuana.org — that provides patients and their supporters with the tools they need to make informed decisions about the candidates in their districts. The new website will give visitors a pass/fail “grade” for how their Member of Congress has voted on medical marijuana since 1997.

Report: 210K Marijuana Possession Arrests in CO in Last 25 Years

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 25, 2012 News

THC Finder

Blacks and Latinos Disproportionately Arrested

Colorado Voters to Decide on Making Marijuana Possession Legal With November Vote

With just two weeks remaining before Colorado’s voters decide whether to make marijuana possession legal in their state, a new report — “210,000 Marijuana Arrests In Colorado, 1986-2010” — reveals that more than 200,000 people have been arrested in Colorado since 1986. Police made more than half of those marijuana arrests in just the last 10 years.

The study, based on FBI-UCR crime data, reports that nearly everybody arrested was young. In the last ten years, 86 percent of the people arrested were 34 years or younger.

In the last decade, Colorado arrested Latinos for marijuana possession at 1.5 times the rate of whites, and arrested blacks at 3.1 times the rate of whites.

But young blacks and Latinos use marijuana at lower rates than young whites.

Victory! Historic Decision Issued In Medical Marijuana Case

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 24, 2012 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Medical Marijuana Legal Blog

Fourth District Court of Appeal rejects requirement that all collective members must be actively involved in cultivation

The Fourth District Court of Appeal for California on Wednesday issued a unanimous published ruling in a landmark medical marijuana case that reverses the conviction of a San Diego dispensary operator, Jovan Jackson, convicted in September 2010 after being denied a defense in state court. Wednesday’s historic ruling also reversed the lower court’s finding that Jackson was not entitled to a defense, providing the elements for such a defense in future jury trials.

“This landmark decision not only recognizes the right of dispensaries to exist and provide medical marijuana to their patient members, it also grants a defense for those providers in state court,” said Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana advocacy group. Elford also argued Jackson’s appeal before the court.

Physicians Endorse Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 24, 2012 Legislation, News

Arkansans for Compassionate Care

Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the committee behind Issue 5, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, will soon announce a growing coalition of more than 70 Arkansas physicians who have endorsed the measure. The campaign plans to hold a press conference to discuss the support for Issue 5 among physicians in the coming days.

“As physicians, we appreciate the suffering patients endure,” said Dr. Marvin Singleton, past president of the Missouri State Medical Association and now a resident of Fayetteville. “Marijuana is well known within the medical community to alleviate the suffering of patients with MS, cancer, Crohn’s Disease and other serious illnesses.

“If a doctor believes that a patient could benefit from the use of medical marijuana, neither the doctor nor the patient should face criminal penalties for pursuing that relief,” Dr. Singleton said. “Issue 5 is a compassionate measure. Moreover, it has been drafted to ensure that only seriously ill patients will qualify to use medical marijuana. I encourage all voters to support it.”

MT Supreme Court Denies Medical Marijuana Rehearing

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 23, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

KULR8.com

The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a motion filed by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association in its constitutional challenge of the state’s medical marijuana law. The motion asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a recent decision overturning significant parts of a lower court’s injunction against the law.

As a result of the September 11 ruling overturning the injunction, the provisions in the current medical marijuana that limit providers to no more than three patients, and prohibit them from recouping back end operational costs, are now in full effect according to the state’s attorney general’s office. Until the injunction was overturned, the average provider had 16 patients, and the average production cost covered by registered patients was approximately $240 per ounce.

AL House Health Committee Calls Nov. Med Marijuana Meeting

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 23, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition/Facebook

Ron Crumpton, left, and the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC) travels the state attending public events and drumming up support for medical marijuana. This shot was taken at the 2012 Boll Weevil Festival in Enterprise.

Years of hard work by the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition (AMMJC) is starting to pay off.

House Bill 2, The Alabama Medical Marijuana Patients’ Rights Act, is scheduled for a pre-session meeting before the Alabama House Health Committee next month, with experts on medicinal cannabis invited to speak.

“Rep. McClendon is having a meeting of the Health Committee to hear proponents and opponents of Medical Marijuana, November 14, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in the Joint Briefing Room,” Committee Clerk Mary Ruth Davis emailed bill sponsor Rep. Patricia Todd on Tuesday.

According to Ron Crumpton, co-president of AMMJC, Rep. McClendon told Rep. Todd that testimony on HB 2 will not be limited unless it gets redundant.

Police Chase Down, Kill 3 Fleeing Dogs In Marijuana Raid

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 23, 2012 News

Motor City Muckraker

James Woods explains how Detroit police killed his three dogs

“Don’t hurt my dogs!” screamed James Woods during a mid-October marijuana raid in Detroit. The police didn’t listen; they fatally shot three of his dogs, reportedly as two of the animals ran to get away. The third dog — a young pit bulldog named Tank — was shot in the face at close range by a 12-gauge shotgun, despite being confined inside a locked fence outside where he was unable to harm anyone.

Woods was forced into a corner last week when the first shot rang out. Fearing police would hurt his two other dogs — who were inside the house — Woods cried out, “Please! They won’t hurt you! Stop chasing them! They’re just scared.”

Witnesses report that the other two dogs, Hump and Janey — in what could only have been a grotesque and nauseating scene — were chased around by police and then shot as the dogs fled.

Marijuana Advocates File Brief with D.C. Circuit Alleging Federal Policy Harmful

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 23, 2012 Legislation, Medical, News

The Daily Chronic

Appeals court issued rare order last week for supplemental briefing on “standing” in landmark federal case

Less than a week after oral arguments in the landmark federal case to reclassify marijuana for medical use, the plaintiffs filed an additional brief late yesterday at the request of the court. In the case Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration, the D.C. Circuit issued an order last week seeking details on the harm sustained by plaintiff and disabled U.S. Air Force veteran Michael Krawitz as a result of the federal government’s policy on medical marijuana.

The federal appeals court will use this additional briefing to decide whether the plaintiffs have legal “standing” to bring such a lawsuit against the government. The lawsuit argues that the government has acted arbitrarily and capriciously by keeping marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value.

By ignoring the overwhelming scientific evidence, ASA argues that the federal government has kept marijuana out of reach for millions of Americans who would otherwise benefit from its therapeutic value.

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