Nine medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon – six in Portland alone – have been forced to shutter their doors after state officials say they were operating illegally and in opposition to the state’s newly-launched medical marijuana program.
For some, it is because they were too close to schools. Others simply didn’t have a license, or even an application in the works, but kept their doors open anyway.
On Friday, the University of Colorado-Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its first Buechner Breakfast of the 2014-2015 school year. The topic: “Driving Stoned: The Challenges of Regulating Marijuana and Driving.”
Most of the arguments about marijuana impairment and driving that panelists Robert Ticer (chief of the Avon Police Department and chair of the Impaired Driving Task Force) and Mike Elliott (executive director of Marijuana Industry Group) traded back-and forth were not new. But some of the audience commentary shed light on alternatives to testing blood for THC.
Through early October, the state is accepting applications from entities interested in becoming one of Minnesota’s two official medical marijuana growers.
Via a spokesperson, family members from one prominent Twin Cities business, Bachman’s Floral Gift & Garden Centers, told the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal they’ll throw their hats in the proverbial ring, though the spokesperson said the Bachman’s Floral business itself won’t be involved.
| Legalize this for medical reasons in Florida. |
Super trial lawyer John Morgan is on the road this month talking up Amendment 2, the move to legalize medical marijuana in Florida that he’s pumped millions of his own dollars into supporting. That’s when Morgan made two deadly errors, at least in the minds of Amendment 2’s opponents: He appealed to potheads and sounded a little drunk while doing so. This morning, the tape makes its debut in the newest attack ads against the proposal.
“If you motherfuckers don’t get up and vote,” Morgan tells the raucous crowd, “Fuck it all, we can’t win.”
He’s right, motherfuckers. Vote.
| Chris Lollie. |
For ACLU-MN Executive Director Chuck Samuelson, the most likely explanation for the way Chris Lollie was treated by St. Paul law enforcement — including his rough arrest and the charges he was subsequently hit with — is skin deep. “The justice system is slanted against African American males, and this is a perfect example,” Samuelson told us during a recent interview.
“Marijuana possession, African Americans are seven times more likely to be arrested than white males,” Samuelson said. “African Americans serve 10 percent longer prison terms, are more likely to be searched than whites are, they’re stopped more and when they’re stopped they’re treated more harshly. It’s not right, that’s not something we should accept but anybody who says this isn’t a problem is probably smoking illegal drugs.”
More at the Minneapolis City Pages.
| Sheriff Scott Israel has more important things to do than campaign against affordable healthcare for Floridians. |
United for Care, a pro-medical marijuana lobby backed by attorney John Morgan, faces its biggest opponent: Florida’s cops. In June, members of the newly formed Don’t Let Florida Go to Pot coalition assembled in Tallahassee to educate voters on the dangers of marijuana and discourage voters from passing Amendment 2, which will be on the ballot this November. Although the group has more than 100 partners, its biggest advocate is the Florida Sheriff’s Association.
However, support from that group is not unanimous — only 63 of Florida’s 67 sheriffs have jumped aboard the Reefer Madness train. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is one of the outliers who has resisted joining. His stance is notable not only because he runs the biggest police agency in Florida but because BSO is the largest sheriff’s department in the country. More at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.
| Photo by Sage Ross, CC by-sa |
It’s an almost cliched stoner adage that Big Pharma is actively working to keep marijuana illegal so they can keep you on their pills. We’ve all had the at least one encounter with a pro-pot zealot who will delve deep into this subject at the drop of a hat.
But the thing is: it’s all true. Take Dr. Herbert Kleber, a leading anti-pot academic from Columbia University who has fought hard against marijuana legalization for years – all while on the payroll of Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, as well as several other high-profile painkiller manufacturers. He’s not alone, either.
The Pennyslvlania legislature opens one week from today, and state Senators are expected to get right back to work moving a medical cannabis bill leftover from last session through to approval.
Starting October 1, anyone caught with ten grams of pot or less in Maryland will face a ticket instead of jail time. Fines increase with each time you’re busted, starting at $100 on first offense, $250 on second offense and mandatory clinical assessment for substance abuse on third offense.
The conflict between the increasing numbers of state laws favoring the medicinal or recreational use of marijuana, and the federal government’s insistence on keeping its use highly illegal, has led to a dangerous amount of grey area attached to any of the various pot laws passed around the country so far.
One place where this grey area is in full effect every single day – whether the boss knows it or not – is the workplace. Though the courts have historically favored the employer in cases involving medical marijuana, one man in New Mexico just bucked that trend in a Worker’s Comp decision whose ripple effects could set a very meaningful precedent for future cases.