Search Results: providers (314)

Rand Paul.


Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul this week stood up for state medical marijuana rights, filing an amendment to Sen. John Walsh’s jobs bill that would allow the 33 states with some form of legalized medical cannabis to “enact and implement laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana for medical use” without the feds intervening.

Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle
Protesters of President Obama’s medical marijuana crackdown march down Broadway in downtown Oakland


Justice Department uses prosecutorial discretion to seek decades in prison for legal Michigan cultivators
Five medical marijuana patients and caregivers will be sentenced in federal court next week, highlighting the human cost of the federal government’s intolerance for state medical marijuana laws.
Two medical marijuana caregivers from Monroe County who were convicted earlier this year in federal court will be sentenced at 3 p.m. Monday, October 1, before U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson (231 W. Lafayette Blvd, Detroit). Gerald Lee Duval Jr., 52, and his son, Jeremy Duval, 30, were raided by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in 2011 and charged with felony cultivation, maintaining a place to cultivate marijuana, and conspiracy to distribute.
In April, the Duvals were convicted at trial, the expected result of federal laws that prohibit any medical defense or reference to state law in front of juries.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Following the Montana Supreme Court’s September 11 ruling overturning an injunction on parts of the current medical marijuana law, the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS) is now ordering a majority of the state’s providers to decide which patients they will cancel from their rolls.
The directive is intended to bring the providers into conformity with the current requirements of the state’s medical marijuana law without the injunction in effect. Today, DPHHS is mailing letters to 267 providers, leaving more than 5,400 patients without safe access to a medical marijuana provider.
 
“I spoke with my provider last week,” said Doug Shaw, a 61-year-old patient in Libby, Montana. “He says I’m on my own now, and he doesn’t know anyone sticking with the program.”
“Where I am I supposed to go for medical marijuana?” Shaw asked. “Maybe the Legislature will provide it to me.”

Graphic: Students for Sensible Drug Policy

A bipartisan group of legislators introduced three bills in Congress on Wednesday which, for the first time in history, would federally protect and support medical marijuana patients and providers in states where the medicinal use of cannabis is legal.

The first of the bills, the “States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” would modify federal law so that individuals acting in compliance with state law are immune from federal prosecution. The other two bills, which address banking and tax issues faced by medical marijuana providers, are the first two bills in the history of Congress to protect and advance the interests of medical cannabis businesses.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is the lead sponsor of the States bill, which has garnered bipartisan support in past sessions of Congress.

Photo: Eliza Wiley/Helena Independent Record
Chris Williams of the Montana Caregivers Association watches as DEA agents and local law enforcement raid his Montana Cannabis grow operation on March 14. Willliams is now suing the federal government.

​Two Montana medical marijuana providers have accused the United States government of civil rights violations in what is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind, in response to a federal crackdown on medicinal cannabis operations nationwide.

The owners of Montana Caregivers Association and MCM Caregivers said that federal raids on medical marijuana businesses across Montana in March were unconstitutional, exceeded the government’s authority and preempted the states’ medical marijuana law, reports Matt Volz at the Associated Press. Montana’s medicinal cannabis law was approved by an overwhelming 62 percent of voters in 2000.

Photos: SanLuisObispo.com
Charles and Rachel Tamagni were arrested on December 27 for operating a mobile marijuana dispensary. All charges have now been dropped, according to their lawyer.
“They were put through hell for nothing, their names dragged through the mud. Now, it’s like ‘Oops, sorry, never mind.’ “
~ Attorney Patrick Fisher

​A Southern California couple arrested for operating a mobile medical marijuana dispensary won’t be facing any jail time — because they are no longer facing charges.

Officials from the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s office said they are dropping charges against the Paso Robles couple, Charles Tamagni, 47, and his wife Rachel Tamagni, 57, according to Patrick Fisher, one of their attorneys, reports Cal Coast News.
“We have to get confirmation in court, but they told us over the phone that they are rejecting charges,” Fisher said.

Graphic: Cannabis Defense Coalition

​The city of Tacoma, Washington, has ordered eight local medical marijuana dispensaries to stop doing business by Saturday, sparking outrage among patients and providers. Cannabis advocates are planning an impromptu rally at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to support the dispensaries.
In a three-paragraph letter dated October 14 from Tax and License Manager Jodie Trueblood, dispensary operators were told that selling medical marijuana “to more than one patient” is illegal in Washington state, and outlines possible penalties if the shops don’t comply, reports Stacia Glenn at the Tacoma News-Tribune.
Business licenses will be revoked, fines and penalties could be assessed, and criminal prosecution isn’t out of the question, according to Trueblood’s letter.
Dispensary workers said on Monday that they were surprised when they received the cease and desist letters. Some have already appealed the decision, with others saying they plan to do so.
Advocates say that hundreds of supporters have been mobilized for a rally before Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. If they are unsuccessful on getting the dispensary question onto the Council’s agenda, they said they plan to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Photo: ImageShack

​New Jersey officials setting up the Garden State’s deeply flawed medical marijuana program heard Wednesday from people hoping to get one of the six licenses — two licenses for growers, and four licenses for dispensaries — called for by the new law. The feedback wasn’t positive.

The New Jersey law, described as the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the nation, is so strict that both prospective growers and sellers say some patients might keep getting their pot from illegal dealers.
At the hearing in Trenton, N.J., one prospective dispensary owner criticized the proposed rules by saying “anybody would be a fool to apply,” reports Brian Thompson at NBC New York.

Graphic: North Coast Journal

​In yet another example of America’s weird double standard when it comes to medical marijuana — which is now legal in 14 states — legitimate medical cannabis providers have been denied banking services or even had their existing accounts terminated, just for being involved in the medical marijuana business.

Fifteen members of Congress sent a letter Friday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging him to issue “written guidance for financial institutions,” which would commit the Department to not targeting institutions whose account holders are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

The patient advocate group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) said it has received “dozens of reports” over the past couple of years from medical marijuana providers in California, Colorado and other states who have either been denied financial services or even had their existing bank accounts terminated with little or no justification.

i.ehow.com

​Colorado should pay to defend medical marijuana growers and dispensaries in court if federal authorities arrest them in the future, a state senator said Sunday.

The provision was part of a plan unveiled yesterday by State Senator Chris Romer, reports Jessica Fender at The Denver Post.

Romer, a Denver Democrat, is proposing legislation to regulate the booming medical marijuana industry in Colorado. He wants to use a state database to track growers and their plants for health, safety, and law enforcement purposes, he told a crowd at a medical marijuana health fair.
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