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Washington, R.I. Governors Ask Feds To Reclassify Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 30, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire: “Has anybody died from marijuana?”

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee have asked the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a drug that can be prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists, in a move that would require the federal Food and Drug Administration to conduct new studies.

The move by the governors gives new political muscle to the debate on the legal and medicinal status of marijuana, which has been raging across an American cultural divide for decades, reports Michael Cooper at The New York Times.

“The divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients who may need medical cannabis,” the governors wrote on Wednesay to Michele M. Leonhart, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“In the year 2011, why can’t medical cannabis be prescribed by a physician and filled at the drug store just like any other medication?” Gregoire said on Wednesday, reports Vanessa Ho at SeattlePI.com.

Medical Marijuana Reduces Traffic Deaths, Alcohol Use: Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Medical, News

West Coast Leaf

Medical marijuana makes our roads safer, according to a new study

A groundbreaking new study shows that laws legalizing medical marijuana have resulted in a nearly nine percent drop in traffic deaths and a five percent reduction in beer sales.

“Our research suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana reduces traffic fatalities through reducing alcohol consumption by young adults,” said Daniel Rees, professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver who coauthored the study with D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University.

Weed Leads On ‘We The People’ Petition Website

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2011 Culture, Legislation, News

The Op-Toons Review

Obama’s response to calls from the public for marijuana legalization

Petitions relating to the legalization of marijuana far exceed those on any other subject posted to a U.S. government website designed to garner citizen feedback described as “an experiment in democracy.”

During the first two months since the Obama Administration launched the We The People petition website, 119 active petitions were posted on November 14; petitions that fail to meet the 25,000-signature threshold after 30 days are removed from the site and archived, reports Joseph Marks at Nextgov.

Presidential Hopeful Gingrich Calls Medical Marijuana A ‘Joke’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Medical, News

The Chronicle

Newt Gingrich: “See, when I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral. Now it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality … That’s why you get to go to jail and I don’t.”

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich does not support the legalization of medical marijuana, and in fact, would like to see the United States adopt a tougher policy against the use of cannabis and other substances, including the death penalty for some dealers.

Gingrich on Saturday told Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody that California showed medical marijuana was a “joke.” He introduced legislation to legalize the use of medicinal cannabis in 1981, but has since changed his mind about it, reports Eric W. Dolan at The Raw Story.

“What has changed was the number of parents I met with who said they did not want their children to get the signal from the government that it was acceptable behavior and that they were prepared to say as a matter of value that it was better to send a clear signal on no drug use at the risk of inconveniencing some people, than it was to be compassionate toward a small group at the risk of telling a much larger group that it was OK to use the drug,” Gingrich claimed.

Banking Problems Could Kill Medical Marijuana In Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

CreditCards.com

Colorado medical marijuana business owners are desperately writing letters to every bank in the country asking if they can please, oh please, just have a bank account.

About 150 dispensary owners across the state are looking for banks that will take their accounts, said Tanya Garduno, president of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council and owner of Medical Cannabis Center, reports Monica Mendoza at InsuranceNewsNet.

The medical marijuana industry has already survived regulations, licensing, security and thick stacks of almost impenetrable rules and legalese.

Tell City Council: Don’t Ban Medical Marijuana In Los Angeles

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 26, 2011 Dispensaries, News

AIDSOVERSIXTY

This numbskull, Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, wants to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the nation’s second-largest city

Some members of the Los Angeles City Council want to ban medical marijuana patients’ cooperatives and collectives outright.

Patients and other community members have been working with the council to promote, develop, and implement sensible regulations for the city since 2005, according to Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Banning patients’ associations now — as suggested by Councilman Jose Huizar — means the City Council would turn its back on the large majority of local patients who rely on cooperatives and collectives for safe access to medicine.

“If they do a complete ban, where are the patients going to get their medicine?” said Yamileth Bolanos, president of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times. “Medical marijuana is going to stay in the city no matter what. [Huizar is] choosing to have the gangs and cartels running it rather than having the very best operators that they can.”

New Database Can Identify Marijuana Strains Through DNA

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Growing, News

University of New Haven

The simplify the process for cops (who, as we know, need for things to be as simple as possible), Coyle and her team developed a “collection card” Officers can rub a bud onto a card, then mail it to UNH’s lab.

A new marijuana DNA database can tell if a particular batch of cannabis is one of more than 25 types that have been genetically mapped by a forensic botanist in Connecticut.

DNA analysis has almost unlimited potential in helping patients and breeders — once it’s used for that purpose, instead of to bust us.

But before you get too pumped about this exciting new service, I should point out that word “forensic” in botanist Heather Coyle’s job description. That’s right, this DNA analysis is meant to benefit cops and federal agents, not cannabis patients or breeders.

Petition Circulating To Legalize Marijuana In Missouri

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Legislation, News

peter.a photography

A petition now circulating in Missouri would place a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot to legalize marijuana for people 21 and older.

The “Show-Me Cannabis Initiative” calls for a repeal of marijuana prohibition in the state, reports Kevin Murphy at the South County Times.

The measure would regulate cannabis similarly to the way Missouri currently regulates alcohol. Marijuana would be legal and sold by licensed stores, or could be grown at home for personal use. Medical marijuana would be available to those with a physician’s recommendation, including those under 21 with parental consent and a doctor’s supervision.

Dutch To Find Illegal Cannabis Plots From Space Via Satellite

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 25, 2011 Global, Growing, News

RCMP

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police used satellites to gather intelligence about this marijuana grow operation hidden deep in the heart of Mount Seymour, on Vancouver’s North Shore. Dutch police say they’ll begin using satellite images to find cannabis crops early next year.

With the coming to power of a right-wing government, the Netherlands is less and less cool about cannabis. Dutch police and local governments in the southern Netherlands plan to work with the European Space Agency to find illegal marijuana plots hidden in fields of corn and asparagus by using satellite data.

The experiment will begin early in 2012, using images taken from orbit to identity cannabis plants, according to Max Timp, a spokesman for the municipality of Venlo, which is leading the misguided project, reports Rudy Ruitenberg at Bloomberg.

While growing marijuana is illegal in the Netherlands, authorities “tolerate” up to five cannabis plants for personal use. The country’s southernmost province, Limburg, has set up a program called “Green Gold” to stamp out the illegal rural growing of marijuana, this year removing 4,140 plants with a claimed street value of three million euros ($4 million).

High Times Cannabis Cup Shut Down By Cops In Amsterdam

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 23, 2011 Culture, Global, News

Big Buds

Police shut down the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam today. It will be relocated and is still a “go.”

The 24th annual High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, for the first time in its history, has been raided by Dutch police. According to reports, attendees were searched as they left the event.

The unprecedented raid comes as a wave of more conservative cannabis policies and attitudes engulfs the Netherlands.

In a video posted to YouTube, police can be heard announcing the event was being shut down and that attendees are subject to search, reports High Times. Vendors were asked to remain at their booths while attendees left.

High Times has announced that the event will continue Wednesday night with a scheduled concert at the Melkweg a concert hall in Amsterdam, followed by a full day of the expo — including Cannabis Cup voting — at the Borchland (Borchlandweg) on Thursday, the final day of the competition.

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