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S.F. Cannabis Advocates Tell President What Time It Is On 4-20

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By on Culture, News

All photos by Jack Rikess

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By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent
President Obama’s fund raising drive continued in San Francisco on April 20 with a financial pow-wow at the St. Regis Hotel downtown. The President was met by some 75 medical marijuana protesters who had arrived at 7 a.m. at 3rd and Mission. The protesters were carrying homemade signs and chanting that the President has turned his back on the medical marijuana community.
“We’re here because Obama hasn’t provided safe access for patients that need their medicine. Raids are continuing on dispensaries,” David Goldman of Americans for Safe Access explained over his coffee cup.
“The IRS is putting pressure on the banks that do business with anyone in the Medical Marijuana community,” Goldman told Toke of the Town. “The IRS is also disallowing expenses to be used as deductions. No sane business can operate without allowing deductions.”
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Feds Throw Weight Around On Washington’s Med Marijuana Bill

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By on Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is chicken to sign legislation legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries without asking for the federal government’s permission first.

​Gov. Gregoire Practically Invited The Feds To Stick Their Noses In

The feds are throwing their weight around again when it comes to Washington state’s medical marijuana law. A proposal to rewrite the state’s medicinal cannabis rules attracted federal attention after Governor Christine Gregoire asked for “clear guidance” about the U.S. Department of Justice’s position on state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, which would be legalized under the new rules.

Gov. Gregoire, who sent the letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, claims she “became concerned” about a “potential federal crackdown” after speaking with the U.S. attorneys for Eastern and Western Washington, Michael Ormsby and Jenny Durkan, reports Jonathan Martin at the Seattle Times.
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Washington Legislature Legalizing Marijuana Dispensaries

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By on Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical, News

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Directory
Dispensaries already exist in at least King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, but if a new bill passes the Washington Legislature in 2011, they could operate statewide

​A bill which will protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and allow dispensaries has now passed both houses of the Washington Legislature, and will soon be headed for the Governor’s desk.

SB 5073 last month had already passed the Senate, and passed the Washington House late Monday afternoon on a 54-43 vote.
The bill clearly and unambiguously allows state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries. While some dispensaries are already operating, clarity in Washington’s law is expected to help protect dispensary operators from costly litigation and possible convictions.
In addition, SB 5073, as amended, protects all medical marijuana patients from arrest — not just those who register with the state. Currently, no patients are protected from arrest, as has been the case since Washington voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 1998.
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Worth Repeating: What Does ‘May Recommend’ Mean?

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By on Medical, News

Photo: Triple5Light

​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)

National Cancer Institute “Unexplains” Possible Cancer Cure To Nation

So, let me get this straight: We, the cancer patients in the U.S., “misinterpreted” the NCI website information on cannabis? It’s our error? We screwed up? We got it totally wrong? It’s our fault due to our poor reading skills?
We misunderstood the term physicians “may recommend” cannabis to their patients. How stupid of us!

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Feds Threaten Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide

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By on Dispensaries, News

​In a little-publicized memo, the U.S. federal government has indicated that the gloves are off regarding medical marijuana dispensaries, regardless of state laws.

Previous memos had indicated a loosening of federal prosecutions of medical marijuana; however the new memo states very clearly that the feds consider all dispensaries illegal under federal law and that their prosecution is a “core priority” of federal agents, according to the Cannabis Therapy Institute (CTI).
The “Haag Memo” [PDF], written on February 1, 2011 from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag (Northern District of California) to Oakland City Attorney John A. Russo, was a response to an Oakland City Council request for guidance regarding medical marijuana and federal law. The memo was written with consultation and approval from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, according to CTI.
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WA Supreme Court Hears Case: Woman Fired For Med Pot Use

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By on Legislation, Medical

Photo: Stoel Rives World of Employment

​Can medical marijuana patients be fired from their jobs for legally using cannabis with a doctor’s authorization? That’s the question before the Washington Supreme Court, which heard arguments Tuesday from attorneys in the case of a medical marijuana patient fired by a telemarketing firm for failing a drug test in 2006.

Voters in 1998 would be “flabbergasted” to hear someone could be fired for legally using medical marijuana away from work, in this case to alleviate migraine headaches, argued Michael Subit, attorney for the woman called “Jane Roe” in court proceedings to protect her identity, reports Josh Farley at the Kitsap Sun.

“The Legislature understood (voters) were giving broad permission” to use marijuana medicinally, argued Subit, “…and that’s why they [legal medical marijuana patients]can’t be fired.”
But James Shore, attorney representing Teletech, claimed the law passed by voters provides only a defense in court to patients who have a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana. Shore said Washington’s medical cannabis law does not offer employment protection.
“An employer could permit it in the workplace if they want to,” Shore said of medical marijuana. “But they don’t have to.”
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Pot-Hating Bush Holdover Unanimously Confirmed To Head DEA

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By on News

Photo: Huffington Post
Michele Leonhart, just confirmed by the Senate as administrator of the DEA, is a Bush-era drug warrior who has overseen raids of legal medical marijuana dispensaries

​The U.S. Senate has unanimously confirmed Michele Leonhart, a Bush-era holdover who has overseen dozens of federal raids on medical marijuana providers and producers, to head the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Ms. Leonhart’s actions and ambitions are incompatible with state law, public opinion, and with the policies of this administration,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “It is unlikely that we will see any serious change in the DEA’s direction under Ms. Leonhart’s leadership.”

Leonhart had served as interim director of the agency since November 2007. President Barack Obama nominated Leonhart in February 2010 to serve as the agency’s permanent director, NORML reports.
Numerous drug policy reform groups, including NORML, Marijuana Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and others had opposed Leonhart’s confirmation, arguing that her actions as interim DEA administrator violated the Obama Administration’s pledge to allow science, rather than politics, rhetoric and ideology, to guide public policy.
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Where Next For Marijuana Reform? Berkeley Conference Jan. 29

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By on Legislation, News

Graphic: California NORML

​In the aftermath of Proposition 19, California NORML will host a statewide conference to discuss the future of marijuana reform efforts in California on January 29 in Berkeley.

The conference, at the David Brower Center, will feature a public discussion with drug reform leaders, legislators, attorneys, physicians, medical marijuana groups and the press.
The first part of the conference will cover lessons from the Prop 19 campaign; where to go from here, and what changes in wording and tactics should be adopted in future legalization efforts.
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Activists Oppose Confirmation Of Anti-Pot DEA Head

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By on News

Photo: Huffington Post
Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the DEA, is a Bush-era drug warrior who has overseen raids of legal medical marijuana dispensaries — yet Obama is keeping her on.

​The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing tomorrow for Michele Leonhart to serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a post Leonhart has held on an interim basis for two years after serving as deputy administrator under the Bush Administration from 2003 to 2007.

During her tenure, Leonhart has presided over hundreds of paramilitary DEA raids on medical marijuana patients and providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.
Even after the Department of Justice, in an October 2009 memo, instructed federal prosecutors to no longer target medical marijuana providers “whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with state laws,” the DEA, under Leonhart’s “leadership,” has continued to raid individuals and collectives operating under state law.
DEA agents in July flouted a pioneering Mendocino County, California ordinance to regulate medical marijuana cultivation by raiding the very first grower to register with the sheriff.
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Pot-Hating Bush-Era DEA Head To Be Confirmed This Week

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By on News

Photo: DEA
Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the DEA, is a Bush-era drug warrior who has overseen raids of legal medical marijuana dispensaries — yet Obama is keeping her on.

​After more than two years as acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Michele Leonhart, who served as deputy DEA administrator during George W. Bush’s presidency, is scheduled to be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, November 17.

No friends to medical marijuana patients, Leonhart and her former boss, DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, were responsible for more than 200 paramilitary-style raids on patients and their providers.
As acting DEA administrator, Leonhart has continued to raid dispensaries, growers and medical marijuana testing labs despite a change in federal policy under President Obama.
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