| Dr. Steven Jenison. |
Minnesota may be closer to legalizing medical marijuana than anyone realizes. At a press conference earlier this year, Gov. Mark Dayton reiterated his opposition to medical marijuana and argued that “objective information” was needed in the debate, seeming to slam the door shut.
But a couple weeks later, some legislators and public health advocates met privately with Dr. Steven Jenison, the first director of New Mexico’s medical marijuana program, to talk about the potential challenges of implementing a similar program in Minnesota. Seriously.
The Minneapolis City Pages did the digging and has the complete story.
A little more than half of Arizonans are in favor of legalizing marijuana, according to the latest poll on the subject.
The Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll asked more than 700 Arizona residents whether they believe the sale of marijuana should be made legal. Fifty-one percent were in favor, and 41 percent were opposed. Phoenix New Times has the full story.
The effort to legalize marijuana in Missouri has suffered a setback as the state’s leading legalization group, Show Me Cannabis, has decided to postpone its ballot-initiative efforts until the 2016 elections instead of going for it this year.
The decision comes after weeks of phone polling indicated that 51 percent of likely Missouri voters in 2014 opposed legalization, compared to 45 percent who approved. Those numbers are far below the 60 percent that John Payne, the executive director of Show Me Cannabis, has said would be necessary for the group to put the money and organizing effort into what what would be a monumental victory for this mostly conservative Midwestern state.
The Riverfront Times has more.
In a move chided by most medical marijuana patients and just about every medical marijuana collective owner in the state, the Washington state House last night approved a bill that would eliminate medical pot shops as they currently exist and force patients into a heavily-taxed recreational system.
House Bill 2149 passed by a vote of 67 to 29 last night, has been billed as a way to help keep federal agents out of Washington as well as a way to help funnel more tax revenue through the recreational system. The measure also decreases the total amount of plants patients can grow at home from 15 down to six and drops possession limits from 24 ounces to three.
Just two months after filing title language for a ballot initiative legalizing limited amounts of cannabis with the state, the Drug Policy Alliance says they will not be moving forward with their California proposal in 2014. According to one spokesman for the campaign, 2014 was a “trial run or dress rehearsal for 2016”.
And they aren’t alone. Longtime activist Ed Rosenthal says he’s no longer pursuing his ballot measure any longer either.
Kern County, which stretches from the California Coast Ranges, east over the Sierra Nevada mountain range and into the Mojave Desert, has been a key battleground in the war on medical marijuana over the past two years in Southern California.
In June of 2012, a 69% majority of voters approved Measure G, which enacted a de facto ban on all storefront dispensaries in the county, as a reaction to a rapid addition of pot shops in the relatively small high desert towns. Bakersfield, the county seat, was exempt as it had its own regulations in place, but the rest of the county saw restrictions so tight, that all existing weed shops found themselves out of compliance almost overnight.
Local cannabis advocates have spent the past year and a half arguing against Measure G, calling it a farce and political stunt, to no avail. Their latest attempt, however, used an idea you almost have to be baked to come up with – and it worked.
| Carly Melin. |
Just about everyone who’s met privately with Minnesota’s top cops to talk medical marijuana has walked away from negotiations using the same two words — brick wall.
“They had blanket opposition to marijuana reform,” State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL) told us last month while we were researching a story about the upcoming legislation. “There were no provisions in the bill they could support and they weren’t willing to work with us at all.”
Minneapolis City Pages has the details.
| Big photos and more below. |
Late last month, Denver Westword reported that a potentially groundbreaking case involving medical marijuana patient Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic fired by DISH after a positive drug test, is headed to the Colorado Supreme Court. In the meantime, the Colorado branch of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is developing drug-testing guidelines for employees, whether they’re patients or recreational users — and members on this mission are using a progressive policy in Boulder as a starting point. Details at Westword.com
A Quinnipiac University poll released this week says that 88% of New York residents are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana in the state, sparking the debate that perhaps the Empire State is finally ready for a nice heavy dose of indica dominant cannabis. This is up 17% in just two years.
| vagueonthehow/Flickr |
| New York residents are high on the idea of fresh pot laws |
Only 9% of New Yorkers are against the idea, but hell, only 39% of residents think that full recreational legalization of weed is a bad idea, with over 57% in favor of just skipping the “medical” step, and making pot legal for all adults.
An Iowa state senator has introduced a medical marijuana bill to the state legislature, but says advancing the bill any further would be a long shot.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City says he doesn’t have the bipartisan support in both the state House and Senate whatsoever for Senate File 79, which would allow for qualifying patients to cultivate and possess up to 2.5 ounces of herb at a time as well as create state-regulated medical cannabis dispensaries.