| Graphic: MERCY Centers |
Any eligible patient in the United States may now obtain a medical marijuana card in Oregon.
The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) may no longer require Oregon residency as a part of the medical marijuana permit application process, reports Rachel Cheeseman at The Oregon Politico.
Applicants formerly needed to supply proof of residency as well as Oregon identification as part of their application. However, OMMP was informed by the Department of Justice that such a requirement was inconsistent with the language of the bill.
Tawana Nichols, OMMP manager, said while the program was created with the intent of specifically benefiting Oregonians, there was no requirement of Oregon residency written into the bill, so they could not lawfully require it.
| Photo: Transylvania Phoenix |
| Dianne Feinstein must be tired of being a senator. She does some really dumb stuff sometimes — like opposing pot legalization. |
Ol’ Di-Fei once again looks a lot like a LINO — Liberal In Name Only.
California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, has lent her voice and support to the effort to defeat Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure on the state’s November ballot, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.
Feinstein, a prominent Democrat who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, has signed the ballot argument against Prop 19. On Monday, she made a statement through the opposition campaign calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”
| Photo: KTLA-TV |
| Marijuana — 1.5 tons of it — was found inside this tanker car in L.A. suburb Commerce, California. |
A late-night police chase ended with a big pot bust and the discovery Monday of 3,000 pounds of marijuana concealed in a railroad tank car that came into the United States from Mexico this month, reports Nardine Saad of The Associated Press.
Numerous bundles of cannabis weighing up to 50 pounds each were removed from the gooey inside of the petroleum rail tanker by late morning Monday, and many more packages were still inside, according to police Detective Gus Villanueva.
| Photo: Terry Schmitt/UPI |
| “Sativa Steve” shows off one of dozens of varieties of pot in a medicinal cannabis shop in San Francisco. |
San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries have to play by the rules — and some marijuana advocates couldn’t be happier about it, reports Chris Moody at The Daily Caller.
The City by the Bay passed new rules last week regulating the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in baked goods and other edible items, which according to observers takes the city one step closer to making pot a mainstream product.
The new regs, announced by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, require that all baked goods including marijuana are individually wrapped with labels that list the exact amount of cannabis in the product.
Marijuana edibles cannot resemble any kind of candy that may attract children, and no one under legal age may be present during the baking of manufacturing process, according to the new regulations.
Dispensaries that offer both hot and cold products on the same premises, such as brownies and milk shakes, are required to have a special permit from the Public Health Department.
| Photo: NationalChamps.net |
| North Carolina’s Quan Sturdivant, a likely first-round draft choice in next year’s NFL draft, was arrested Saturday morning on marijuana charges. |
North Carolina star linebacker Quan Sturdivant, who was a first team All-ACC selection in 2009, was charged with possession of marijuana following his Saturday morning arrest.
Sturdivant, 21, of Oakboro, N.C., was arrested by Albermarle police and charged with possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, misdemeanor, reports the Raleigh News & Observer.
The senior linebacker was pulled over at Bojangles’ at 11:15 a.m., according to police, reports Jonathan Jones at The Daily Tar Heel.
“We are disappointed in Quan’s actions over the weekend,” said North Carolina football coach Butch Davis.
“This is not the type of behavior we expect from our student-athletes,” Davis said. “In addition to the outcome of the legal process, he will also face disciplinary action from within the football program beginning immediately.”
| Photo: MLive.com |
A Royal Oak, Michigan man met with city officials in May to discuss his plan to avoid foreclosure on his 23,000-square-foot warehouse by leasing it to medical marijuana growers, according to documents posted on the city’s website.
If all the warehouse’s space is used for growing cannabis, the building could become the biggest marijuana facility in the state, Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine publisher Rick Ferris told the Detroit Free Press.
| Photo: KFBB |
A Montana group is ending its traveling medical marijuana clinics, after facing criticism for their patient screening methods.
The Montana Caregivers Network has been hosting clinics for more than a year, reports KFBB.
The cost of clinic visits was $150, and for that fee, the network brought together patients who wanted to receive a medical marijuana recommendation with doctors who were willing to authorize them.
Even though Montana Caregivers Network said it will no longer be hosting the traveling clinics, the group isn’t stopping its work completely.
| Graphic: Senior Zen |
A 70-year-old eastern Kentucky man has been indicted on federal charges of growing marijuana with intent to distribute and illegally possessing firearms.
Federal prosecutors claim that Charles Edward Polly was growing at least 100 marijuana plants. They said he also had eight firearms, including four shotguns, reports Carl Keith Greene of the Corbin Times-Tribune.
Polly was also charged with intending to distribute “a mixture containing a detectable amount of marijuana,” whatever the hell that means.
The 70-year-old wasn’t supposed to have guns, and he had previously “been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” Polly had weapons including two 12-gauge shotguns, one 20-gauge shotgun, one .410-gauge shotgun, two .22-caliber rifles, a .22-caliber revolver, and a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
Polly, along with Ann Marie Smith, 40, of London, Ky., were also charged Wednesday with misrepresenting qualifications for Supplemental Social Security income.
| Graphic: Reality Catcher |
Maine’s medical marijuana program took a big step towards safe access for patients Friday, with the announcement of three licensed, non-profit corporations to grow and sell marijuana.
Northeast Patients Group, a recently formed corporation with roots in California, was selected to establish four of the eight approved dispensaries. The nonprofit organization will establish facilities in Portland, Thomaston, the Augusta area and the Bangor area, reports Meg Haskell at Bangor Daily News.
Aroostook County will be served by Safe Alternatives for Fort Kent, and western Maine will be served by the Remedy Compassion Center.
With 27 separate applications to start one dispensary in each of Maine’s eight public health districts, the state approved only six. According to state officials, the criteria for approval included applicants’ experience and proposed plans for record keeping, inventory control, security and patient education.
No applicant was approved for the districts that serve York County and Washington and Hancock counties., said applications for these regions failed to meet the state’s dispensary standards.
| Graphic: CBS/AP |
The latest Field Poll (PDF) finds likely California voters oppose Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative, by a narrow 48 percent to 44 percent margin.
The survey’s results suggest a grim outlook for the measure, according to poll director Mark DiCamillo, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
“Historically, for measures that don’t start out with a lead, the chances of passage are much lower than those that start out with a lead,” DiCamillo said. “If they start out behind, history suggests a 10 to 15 percent chance of passing. Some do, but it’s very rare.”