Medical marijuana patient numbers dipped to their second lowest total since recreational cannabis sales began in January. As of the end of July, there were 111,804 medical marijuana patients on the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment statistics — just 825 patients more than were on the list January 1 — even though more than 20,000 new-patient applications were submitted over that span.
| “Instead of putting this guy in jail, somebody should be studying him,” Dr. Charles Goldman, cancer surgeon at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines |
Unless you are one of the very few who qualify for Iowa’s recently passed, and highly restrictive, medical marijuana program, the law is clear in the Hawkeye State when it comes to possessing and growing cannabis.
A first offense of possessing any amount of weed in Iowa can earn you a fat $1000 fine and up to six months in the clink. If they catch you growing pot in Iowa, you’ll be looking at a much steeper fine and anywhere from five, to twenty five, years in prison.
So it was kind of a big deal when 48-year old Benton Mackenzie left the courtroom with just probation yesterday, after being found guilty of cultivating 71 cannabis plants after a police raid on their property back in June of last year. Under the circumstances, however, it’s easy to see why the Judge showed some leniency.
Berkeley California is arguably one of the most progressive cities in the country. With that in mind, it’s not shocking at all that the city now requires medical marijuana dispensaries to donate up to two percent of their products to low-income patients in the city. The plan goes into effect in August 2015.
Of course, mainstream media like Fox News have picked up on this and are running with it, implying that the city is just handing out weed.
Despite lawmakers’ claims that MMJ patient numbers are growing because of people trying to avoid recreational taxes on pot, patient numbers actually dropped slightly between May and June to 113,506 total red-card holders (down about 1,700 people). In fact, the only population that seems to be increasing on the registry are minors, whose numbers grew from 335 at the end of May to 357 at the end of June.
In recent months, lawmakers have started looking into tax figures from recreational marijuana, which are at about half of what the state had projected before legalized cannabis sales to adults 21 and up began in January. Now the state is saying taxes for the first six months are running about $21.5 million short. Part of the problem, they say, is that the prediction of patients jumping off the MMJ registry in droves just didn’t happen.
According to data released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, there were 115,210 registered medical marijuana patients in Colorado at the end of May — close to a record high. That has lawmakers concerned, not because it means there are a lot of sick people in Colorado, but due to the loss of tax revenue from retail cannabis.
| Joe Ross/Flickr. |
Congrats, Travers Narcotics team: you raided a marijuana dispensary that wasn’t trying to hide what they were doing and have prevented patients from accessing state-legal cannabis they use as medicine.
Cops raided the Magic Buds Medical Cannabis store in Wexford County, Michigan Tuesday, taking cash, business and patient records along with the stock of medical cannabis. The raid came after a judge ordered the shop to close last month for operating against state laws that prohibit dispensaries.
New Mexico’s Donna Smith says she was fired illegally for her off-work consumption of medical cannabis to deal with post-traumatic stress she was diagnosed with after serving in the military in the 1990s. New Mexico has laws against discriminating against people for their medical conditions, she argues.
But her employer, Presbyterian Health Services, says they are “protecting” their other employees from Smith and her off-work, medical use of cannabis.
| Rand Paul. |
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul this week stood up for state medical marijuana rights, filing an amendment to Sen. John Walsh’s jobs bill that would allow the 33 states with some form of legalized medical cannabis to “enact and implement laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana for medical use” without the feds intervening.
New statistics by the Arizona Department of Health Services show that Arizona now has more than 50,000 qualifying, adult patients.
As of June 30, the state had 52,638 “active cardholders,” which is a 9.1 percent increase from the last official number published by the agency on March 28 of 48,231 patients. The recently released quarterly report also shows 93 minor patients and another 94 minors being treated by caregivers, which is a 34 percent increase over those same categories in the March 28 report. That increase could be due to a judge’s ruling in late March that allows the use of concentrated marijuana, which can be used in pills or food items for youngsters with epilepsy or other serious ailments.
More over at the Phoenix New Times.
| Benton Mackenzie in court. |
Benton Mackenzie doesn’t have much time left. The angiosarcoma eating away at his blood vessels and leaving fist-sized tumors on his skin is in the final stages. He’s in pain. It’s why he chose to grow cannabis at his parent’s Iowa home where he lives with his wife. It was worth the risk, a risk that ultimately led to his conviction for cannabis cultivation earlier this month along with his wife.
Without much strength or time left, though, Mackenzie wants to be comfortable. So he’s travelled from Iowa to Oregon where he can legally purchase cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation. It’s likely a last trip for Mackenzie, his wife and their son. And one he is already enjoying.