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First Marijuana Dispensary To Open In Downtown Ypsilanti, Michigan

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 30, 2009 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Michigan Medical Marijuana Association

Marijuana’s all over the news in Michigan.

Washtenaw County’s first medical marijuana dispensary will open tomorrow in downtown Ypsilanti, Michigan, reports Jeremy Allen of Heritage Newspapers.

It’s been a year now since The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was approved by an overwhelming majority — 63 percent — of the state’s voters.

“My vision for this dispensary is to find a cure for cancer and to help free thousands of people who are currently in jail cells unjustly for the responsible use of cannabis,” said Anthony Freed, executive director of the Michigan Marijuana Chamber of Commerce.

Dispensary Death Watch #2: Latest Raids, Bans, And Moratoriums

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 18, 2009 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Artwork: Jim Wheeler

Safe access to marijuana remains a distant dream to many patients — even in states which have legalized medical use

One by one, the lights are winking out. In city after city, town after town, in states where medical marijuana is now legal, patients who had dared hope they would at last have safe access to the medicine recommended by their doctors are having those hopes dashed.

The problem? Political cowardice and the panicked reaction of the status quo.

Every week brings more news of freaked out city councils and county boards of supervisors who desperately want to appear to be “doing something” — anything — about the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.

This phenomenon is so far mostly confined to California and to a lesser extent Colorado, but it’s unfortunately also starting to happen in Michigan, Montana and even Maine — where voters specifically approved dispensaries in November.

Rather than showing true leadership by showing genuine concern for patients and communities, too many local government officials are going for the easy, knee-jerk reaction. The level of disregard for the intentions of the voters — who clearly expressed their will by legalizing medical marijuana — is breathtaking.

Washington State Considering Expanding Medical Marijuana Use

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 2, 2009 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Coaster420

Washington state health officials are considering expanding the categories for which medical marijuana may be used.

Washington State health officials are on the verge of deciding whether patients suffering from depression or certain anxiety disorders should be allowed to use medical marijuana as part of their treatment, Molly Rosbach at The Seattle Times reports.

Washington’s medical marijuana law, adopted by voter initiative in 1998, limits the legal use of medical marijuana to patients who have been diagnosed with a “terminal or debilitating medical condition.”

That includes patients with cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and several other diseases causing pain or nausea “unrelieved by standard medical treatments and conditions.”

Sativa Takes Top Spot: Super Lemon Haze Repeats As Cannabis Cup Champion

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 29, 2009 Culture, Global, News

Greenhouseseeds.nl

Mighty Super Lemon Haze extended for another year its reign over the Dutch pot scene at this year’s Cannabis Cup Awards.

A heady sativa, Super Lemon Haze, repeated as the favorite Dutch coffeeshop strain at the 22nd Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. It won last year as well, as reported at CelebStoner.com, and is the first strain to repeat since the Green House’s Super Silver Haze in 1999.

Vanilla Kush from Barney’s placed second in the competition for the top prize. Headband Kush from Green Place finished third.

Both the Green House and Barney’s continued to dominate the Cup as the two powerhouses have for a decade. The last shop to win the Cup other than the Green House or Barney’s was The Noon with the legendary Blueberry, all the way back in 2000.

Judge Orders Cops To Give Man Back 11 Pounds Of Pot, A Little At The Time

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 27, 2009 Medical, News

Photo: Pablo-flores, Wikimedia Commons

Washington judge gives the green light to medical pot patient

An interesting thing is happening in states which have legalized medical marijuana. There’s an ongoing culture war between cops who hate all marijuana, period, and patients who take the law at its word when it says they can use pot legally. From time to time, the patients win big.

Such is the case in Kent, Washington, where King County Judge Mary Roberts ordered the police department to give 11 pounds of seized marijuana back to Matthew Zugsberger, who holds a valid California medical marijuana card.

After police (with the aid of a trusty drug dog) found the stash in the trunk of Zugsberger’s car last February in the parking lot of a pharmacy in Kent, they arrested the Californian and his girlfriend and seized the weed.

Zugsberger says the cops accused him of importing marijuana from Canada (which does happen a lot in this area, being not far from the B.C. border). “Why the hell would I buy pot from Canada if I have a field of it in my back yard?”, Zugsberger reasonably asked, according to the Seattle P.I.

The California man said he began using marijuana medicinally in 2007 to manage nausea caused by a severe injury sustained while working as a underwater welder in the Gulf of Mexico. After the accident, he was prescribed opiate painkillers; Zugsberger said the drugs gave him liver problems, and he was concerned about becoming addicted to them.

Zugsberger pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession and was sentenced to three months’ probation. But defense attorney Aaron Pelley wasn’t done with the case. Pelley, who is active with Seattle-based medical marijuana advocacy organization Cannabis Defense Coalition, filed a petition in August seeking the return of the marijuana to his client, since Zugsberger is a legal medical pot patient.

Legalization Initiative On Track To Make 2010 California Ballot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 23, 2009 Legislation, News

Image by Cooljuno411, Wikimedia Commons

Will California be the first state to legalize?

Richard Lee, founder of an effort to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative for the November 2010 election in California, says the campaign is on track to make the ballot.

Lee, who runs cannabis training institute Oaksterdam University in Oakland, said more than half a million signatures have already been collected. According to Lee, the target of 650,000 signatures will be met by early December.

Ken Masterson, partner in a petition management firm in San Francisco, confirmed Monday that the original plan to complete signature-gathering for “Tax Cannabis 2010” by Christmas is ahead of schedule, according to the Ventura County Star.

To qualify for the ballot, 433,971 valid signatures will be required. Masterson said he checked a random sample of 50,000 signatures and discovered a validity rate of more than 70 percent. At that rate, the goal of 650,000 total signatures would be enough to qualify.

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