| Graphic: Patients Care Collective |
| Berkeley’s Patients Care Collective will mark 10 years in business on Monday, April 4. |
The Patients Care Collective (PCC) first opened its doors in Berkeley, California on April 4, 2001. There were only a handful of dispensaries in Northern California back in the dark days of the second Bush Administration, and none in the rest of the United States. At the time, public perception and the political climate weren’t nearly as compassionate as they are today, and each month brought new reports of DEA harassment. Still, the PCC persevered, and helped to found Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002.
“I want to congratulate the PCC on their 10-year anniversary,” said Steph Sherer, executive director of ASA in Washington, D.C. “Not only have they spent a decade providing safe and affordable access to medical cannabis, but they are true pioneers.”
| Graphic: Garden State Alternative |
Just 11 days after adding a section on medical marijuana to its treatment database, the National Cancer Institute has altered the new page, removing any mention of the evidence that marijuana can diminish and even reverse tumor growth.
In an edit appearing Monday afternoon, NCI replaced a sentence about marijuana’s direct anti-tumor effect with one saying that it is prescribed mainly to control nausea, pain and insomnia for cancer patients, reports Kyle Daly at The Colorado Independent.
The original language, published to the Web on March 17, had read:
The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.
After being changed Monday, it now reads:
The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.
| Graphic: Nug Magazine |
The San Diego City Council on Monday approved restrictive new medical marijuana regulations that will force more than 165 dispensaries in the city to close in the near future and apply for permits to operate.
San Diego becomes the 43rd city in California to pass sweeping limitations on medical marijuana collectives, which have multiplied at a speed that has alarmed city officials, reports Christopher Cadelago at Sign On San Diego. At least 214 California cities have permanent bans on the facilities, according to the Coalition for a Drug Free California.
| Photo: The Huffington Post |
| Medical marijuana application forms went online Monday in Arizona. State law requires that qualified applicants receive their cards within 10 days. |
First Patients Should Be Getting Cards In 10 Days
Arizona patients who act quickly can be among the first to qualify to buy, possess, and use marijuana, which state voters last November legalized for medical use.
Medical marijuana application forms went online Monday in Arizona. State law requires that qualified patients receive their cards within 10 days of applying. All patients are authorized to grow until dispensaries start up later this year.
Department of Health Services officials on Monday made forms available on the agency’s website that a doctor must fill out to get a patient authorized to use cannabis, reports Howard Fischer at Capitol Media Services. DHS Director Will Humble said that while applications won’t be accepted until April 14, those who think they qualify can jump-start the process right now.
And if everything is in order, state law requires the medical marijuana cards to be sent out within 10 days, if patients pay the $150 application fee by credit card.
| Photo: The Detroit News |
| Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is no friend to medical marijuana patients. |
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed court papers on Monday in support of prosecutors in Oakland and Isabella counties, in separate court cases regarding the state’s Medical Marihuana Act.
In the Oakland County case of State of Michigan v. Redden, Schuette filed a brief with the Michigan Supreme Court arguing that unregistered users of marijuana are not entitled to assert a defense under the Medical Marihuana Act against drug possession charges, reports Charles Crumm at the Oakland County Daily Tribune.
| Photo: KCRA |
| This billboard greets drivers coming into Sacramento on Highway 160. Plans call for it to stay up for a year. |
A billboard which advertises medical marijuana evaluations has been raising a few eyebrows as it captures the attention of drivers heading into Sacramento, California.
The sign is on Highway 160, a main highway heading into the downtown area of California’s capitol city, reports KCRA.
Steve Maki, owner of 420 Relief, the company advertising on the billboard, said business has increased since the sign went on display. Maki said his business is a legal operation.
| Photo: Cancer Cure |
| A new medical cannabis section has been added to the government’s National Cancer Institute website. |
Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.Worth Repeating
By Ron Marczyk, R.N.
Health Education Teacher (Retired)
What happened? A new medical cannabis section was added to the official National Cancer Institute website at www.cancer.gov on March 17.
Could this new development be used as a defense in any pending medical marijuana arrest cases, or for the defense of any medical cannabis care center threatened with closure?
| Graphic: OCTA 2012 |
Organizers of a new Oregon state marijuana legalization initiative campaign, Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 (OCTA 2012), are kicking off their petition drive and opening a new office. The Oregon Secretary of State’s Election Division just announced the approval of the petition, Initiative Number 9, for circulation and signature gathering on March 24.
Initiative organizers will have until July 7, 2012 to gather 90,000 registered Oregon voters’ signatures to qualify for the November 6, 2012 ballot.
Petitioners rallied at their new office in Portland starting at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 28 and held a news conference at 10 a.m. The state campaign committee is working to achieve ballot status in three ways: hiring paid petitioners, organizing volunteer petitioners and soliciting Oregon registered voters’ signatures online.
“We’re wasting a lot of money right now on prohibition of marijuana,” said campaign manager Jennifer Alexander, reports KPTV. “We’re losing a lot of industrial benefits from not having hemp.”
The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2012 would regulate the legal sale of marijuana to adults through state-licensed stores, allow adults to grow their own, license Oregon farmers to grow marijuana for state-licensed stores and allow unlicensed Oregon farmers to grow cannabis hemp for fuel, fiber and food.
OCTA 2012 will raise $140 million a year by taxing commercial cannabis sales to adults 21 years of age and older, and save an estimated $61.5 million as law enforcement, corrections and judicial attention can focus on violent crimes and theft.
| Photo: Jeff Fryer/flickr |
| Rep. Jared Polis (C-Colorado) will meet on Wednesday with members of the National Cannabis Trade Association to discuss the federal legislative needs of marijuana-related businesses. |
The National Cannabis Industry Association, the first national trade organization dedicated to advancing the interests of marijuana-related businesses, will discuss the federal legislative needs of the industry at the National Press Club this Wednesday, March 30.
Prominent leaders in the industry will join Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colorado), as well as the manager of See Change Strategy, an independent firm that, on March 23, released the first-ever financial analysis of the legal medical cannabis industry in the United States.
This report, based on interviews with more than 300 people in the industry, projected the total legal medical cannabis market at $1.7 billion in 2011.