| Photo: gothamist |
| Poet/activist Rick Burnley, 71, wowed ’em at a New Mexico Department of Health hearing on medical cannabis. |
When the New Mexico Department of Health’s Cannabis Advisory Board held a hearing last month, they may not have expected to hear poetry.
But hear a poem they did, and a good one at that, from cannabis activist Rick Burnley, 71, who attributes his good health to smoking marijuana for 50 years.
“Greetings from the Land of Enchantment,” Burnley tells Toke of the Town. “I’m a marijuana activist, and a well known anti-war poet with about 50 videos posted on YouTube.
“Several months ago I performed ‘Doobie Or Not Doobie’ at the NMDOH hearings for patients and providers. It was videotaped and posted on YouTube a couple of weeks ago,” he told us.
“It got a standing ovation, so it’s worth checking out.”
| Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog |
The six state-licensed growers and sellers for New Jersey medical marijuana patients have just been announced by the state health department.
The list of dispensaries, known as “alternative treatment centers,” or ATCs, in New Jersey, as reported by Susan K. Livio at NJ.com, is as follows:
• Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center Corp., Manalapan, Monmouth County
• Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc., New Brunswick, Middlesex County
• Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., Bellmawr, Camden County
• Compassionate Sciences, INc., either Burlington or Camden County
• Foundation Harmony, Secaucus, Hudson County
• Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Essex County
The state health department released the list of winning applicants on Monday, despite the Legislature’s intent to repeal the medical marijuana program rules draft by the Christie Administration.
| Photo: Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal |
| Lynette Shaw of Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana dispenses medical cannabis to a patient |
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is thought to have begun audits on at least 12 medical marijuana dispensaries in California, under the decision that past business deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting businesses that traffic in Schedule I or II drugs from making such deductions on their tax returns.
The move, which could bankrupt every dispensary it targets, is being fought by the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS, reports Kyle Daly at The American Independent. (The IRS claims MAMM owes millions of dollars in back taxes.)
Lynette Shaw, founder and owner of MAMM, hopes to strike back before the IRS can deliver more “final determinations” to other dispensaries currently being audited.
|
Expect the Montana Legislature to crack down on medical marijuana, State Rep. Jon Sesso (D-Butte) told the Montana Bar Association on Friday.
Sesso, the House minority leader, said he expects “significant reform,” but not outright repeal of the 2004 Medical Marijuana Act, approved by an overwhelming 62 percent of Montana voters. He spoke to the lawyers’ group in Butte, reports Tim Trainor at the Montana Standard.
“The abusers will be on notice, probably in the next 30 days,” Sesso said. “If you aren’t legitimately sick, you are not going to be able to use.”
| Photo: Medical Marijuana Oil |
| Dr. Sean McAllister’s research has shown that CBD, a compound from cannabis, shows great promise in fighting cancer |
Two of the major compounds in marijuana — THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) have cancer-fighting properties, according to scientists researching them. But while the biological mechanisms THC uses are well documented, there are still mysteries surrounding the lesser-known CBD.
Clinical trials prove that CBD eases pain and inflammation, reports Dana M. Nichols at the Stockton Record. Sean McAllister, a scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, has, along with his research associates, used CBD to shrink cancerous tumors.
| Graphic: DarkGovernment |
Federal regulators stepped into a firestorm of controversy recently when they ordered banks in California’s North Coast area to spy on the transactions of customers who are suspected of making money in the medical marijuana business.
In a heavy-handed bid to crack down on California’s cannabis industry, federal officials have ordered the banks to look out for “suspicious activity” by dispensary owners, reports Clarence Walker at AlterNet. That is making it very difficult for medical marijuana dispensaries which are legal under state, but not federal law, to conduct business.
| Photo: Budbandit/Way Too Many |
Altitude Wellness Center in Denver thought a Coke machine in the lobby would be a great idea. Give cotton-mouthed customers a chance to wet their whistles, and perhaps make a dollar or two in the process? Win-win.
But when the center asked for a machine a few days ago, the Coca-Cola Company stiffly informed them it has a corporate policy against placing Coke machines in businesses that sell marijuana.
When AWC decided to go public with the rejection, Coca-Cola backed down, with a representative pledging to apologize, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword.
According to Melissa, daughter of AWC owner Roger (they asked that their last names not be used), an AWC rep called the local Coca-Cola distributor shortly after opening about a year and a half ago and requested a cooler to put in the business. Every month since then, the owners have bought between $200 and $300 worth of Cokes to give customers.
| Graphic: Geocurrents.info |
By Jack RikessToke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
“It’s just not worth it for me,” Argos said as he ground the pungent coffee beans.
“I put in around about a grand or so, per plant, not counting labor and love. Breaks my heart to have to let it go for anything less than $1,500 individually. Especially because I know the kids across the valley are picking up my medicine and bringing it to L.A., getting two grand and half for an elbow. Calling it whatever those Hollywood types are smoking these days.”
I sat at his table listening the rain hammering his mountain cabin while Argos hand-cranked the beans into one of those old-fashioned meat grinders.
“It’s getting bad and crazy at the same time,” he told me. “Folks I’ve known who’ve grown for years, through the droughts and the DEAs, are pulling up stakes and leaving.”
| Graphic: Reality Catcher |
Two bills to broaden the decriminalization of marijuana in Maine got bipartisan support from lawmakers at public hearings Thursday, but were — surprise, surprise! — opposed by law enforcement officials.
One measure, L.D. 754, would double the amount of usable marijuana that individuals could possess and still have it treated as a civil, rather than a criminal, offense, reports Rebekah Metzler at Maine Today. The other, L.D. 750, would decriminalize possession of up to six cannabis plants.
“It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals,” said state Rep. Ben Chipman, an independent from Portland, when he spoke to lawmakers on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
“I just do not think that it’s reasonable to allow 2.5 ounces to be a civil infraction but having zero tolerance for plants and forcing consumers to the black market,” Chipman said.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Maine since 1999, and voters legalized dispensaries in 2009. The Maine Legislature in spring 2009 doubled the amount of marijuana a person could possess without facing criminal charges from 1.25 ounces to 2.5 ounces. Chipman’s proposal would double that amount again, to five ounces.
| Photo: Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review |
| Scott Shupe is shown sitting in Change, the Spokane marijuana dispensary that he co-owned, in this 2009 file photo. Shupe was convicted on March 17, 2011, on felony drug charges after a jury rejected his argument that Washington’s medical marijuana law allows dispensaries to operate. |
How long now until more raids?
In a case closely watched by both the medical marijuana community and law enforcement, a Spokane, Washington jury rejected arguments Thursday that the state’s medical marijuana law should be interpreted broadly to allow for commercial dispensaries, convicting a provider of multiple drug trafficking charges.
Scott Q. Shupe, who co-owned one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane, argued that a broad interpretation of the state’s medical marijuana law means that dispensaries can supply authorized patients, provided they serve just one patient at a time, reports Thomas Clouse at The Spokane Spokesman-Review.