Minnesota state officials don’t know squat about pot. But in time, they will.
The rules governing Minnesota’s medical cannabis program, which went out last week, are only a first draft based on conversations with other states and a review of relevant literature. They are an impressive one at that, but a best guess of what it takes to get off the ground in a crazy quick period of time.
Delaware is known for having some of the most obscene and outdated pot laws in the United States, with possession of even small amounts of the ganja punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,150. Not only is this powdered wig injustice smearing the permanent records of many citizens who would not otherwise have a criminal history, but in most cases, these people cannot even afford the proper legal council to give them a fighting chance in court.
Fortunately, attorney Thomas Donovan maintains the belief that petty pot offenders should not have to shell out big bucks for a solid legal defense, which is why he now offers free legal services to stoners.
Supporters of Oklahomans for Health say they are about 26,000 signatures away from hitting their goal to get a medical marijuana proposal on the November ballot.
But the going has been slow and time is running out.
Crashes involving alleged stoned driving continue to get a great deal of attention following this year’s start of legal recreational marijuana sales. Note the story of Emily Strock, who reportedly admitted to consuming one bowl of pot and drinking one beer prior to a grisly Denver-area crash but has only been charged with driving under the influence of drugs. The accusation came down before blood test results were final.
But have legal pot sales led to more Colorado highway deaths thus far in 2014? One report says “no” — and that cheers a Colorado marijuana business representative. Denver Westword has more.
The Florida anti-medical marijuana group called “No on 2” has made a lot of noise about the supposed dangers of legalizing medical weed in Florida. Some of its claims include that weed leads to gay sex and AIDS, weed has more cancer-causing compounds than cigarettes, weed causes more accidents and ER visits, and weed dispensaries will be the new pill mills.
But the latest argument is a bizarre mix of ignorance and bewilderment, soaked in offense. It’s weird enough to be from the The Onion. No on 2’s latest claim: that Amendment 2 will lead to people being able to sell pot cookies, which would be the new date-rape drug. Setting aside the colossal obtuseness of the claim for a minute, it’s important to remember what is behind No on 2. Money. Big, big money.
Medical-marijuana patients from Arizona and other states could shop legally at as-yet-unopened Nevada dispensaries under a plan being developed by Nevada authorities. Chad Westom, bureau chief of the Nevada Division of Public & Behavioral Health, said on Monday that his state’s new medical-marijuana program will honor out-of-state registration cards.
According to Nevada law, dispensaries could honor out-of-state cards as long as the state that issued the card has an official database of patients and “allows the Division and medical marijuana dispensaries in (Nevada) to access the database.” Nevada officials hope to have an interstate-access agreement in place by 2016. More over at the Phoenix New Times.
Award-winning American comedy icon Robin Williams died yesterday from an apparent suicide. Williams long battled with substance abuse, but he always managed to keep a sense of humor about it as these segment on alcohol and marijuana from his 1986 “Live at the Met” show and 2009’s “Weapons of Self Destruction”.
A bizarre story out of Ohio in which a woman burned off her fingerprints to hide her identity has a Colorado connection — one that appears to pertain to Ann Marie Miller, a onetime medical marijuana caregiver charged with assorted crimes who has been written about in other capacities in the past.
The name’s the same and many of the details are extremely similar in a story that’s strange and getting stranger. Denver Westword has more.
Was anyone out there expecting a delivery of 30 pounds of methamphetamine from a 24-year-old fellow who is a citizen of the United States?
It’s not coming, advises the U.S. Border Patrol.
| Hap Cameron in Colombia on one of his many global adventures. |
When Amanda Cameron met her now-husband, Hap Cameron, on the beach in Mexico in 2006, she didn’t have the slightest clue that the nice guy from New Zealand would eventually become her husband — or what she’d have to go through to get his green card. That story is being turned into a film, Loving In Limbo, and the Camerons are hoping to raise enough cash by Today, August 11, to pay for the film’s post-production and cover a few festival entry fees.