Search Results: split (98)

Photo: Jeffrey L. Weinstein, Attorney at Law
N.J. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari: Gov. Christie’s proposed rules “unreasonably limit the supply of, and reduce qualifying patients’ access to medical marijuana”

​A sponsor of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law on Monday introduced a resolution that would repeal what he called “restrictive” proposed rules for the program if Gov. Chris Christie does not make them at least resemble the original legislation.

“Many of the rules are not only burdensome and unnecessary, but they propose amendments to the new law, not merely regulations to enact it,” wrote Ken Wolski, a registered nurse who is also executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey (CMMNJ), on Tuesday.

Angry words were exchanged between the offices of Gov. Christie and of Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), the medical marijuana law’s sponsor, reports Susan K. Livio at NJ.com.
Behind the controversy is the Christie administration’s decision to license just two growers statewide, to supply just four dispensaries from which cannabis could be sold. Dispensary owners could apply and pay an additional fee to open one satellite location each, according to the proposed rules.

Photo: StoptheDrugWar.org
New Hampshire Statehouse: Legislators believe marijuana legalization is “too much, too soon” for The Granite State.

Committee Members Say They Prefer to Focus on Passing a Medical Marijuana Law and Decriminalizing Personal Possession

Marijuana legalization and regulation won’t be happening next legislative session in New Hampshire.
The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday concluded its interim study process on HB 1652, which would tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol, and passed on the opportunity to recommend the bill for next legislative session.
The proposal was simply “too much, too soon,” according to Rep. David Welch (R-Kingston), and Welch’s phrase was repeated by several other committee members during the almost hour-long discussion.
However, the interim study process was “very positive and productive overall,” according to Matt Simon, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy (NH Common Sense).

Photo: KOB
Patients and caregivers spoke in favor of adding depression to the list of qualified conditions for medical marijuana in New Mexico. The board then recommended adding depression by a 5-2 vote.

​In a pivotal split vote, a panel that advises New Mexico on medical marijuana policy voted Wednesday to allow major depression as a qualifying condition.

The board also unaimously voted to allow some patients to exceed the legal amount of medical cannabis for personal use, on a case by case basis, report Kayla Anderson and Taryn Bianchin at KOB Eyewitness News.
The recommendations now go to Dr. Alfredo Vigil, health department secretary. If he agrees, depression would be the 16th medical condition approved for patient medical marijuana use, reports Phaedra Haywood at The Santa Fe New Mexican.

Photo: WXIA
Kathryn Johnston, 92, was shot five times by six officers after they busted down her door in a botched drug raid.

​The city of Atlanta will pay $4.9 million to the family of a 92-year-old woman killed in a botched November 2006 drug raid, Mayor Kasim Reed’s office announced on Monday.

Kathryn Johnston, 92, was shot to death by narcotics officers serving a so-called “no-knock” warrant. Investigators later determined the raid was based on falsified paperwork saying that illegal drugs were present in the home. Three former police officers were sentenced to prison terms for the cover-up that resulted, reports CNN.
The Atlanta Police Department’s drug unit underwent a major, though probably largely cosmetic, housecleaning as a result of the incident.
Johnston’s family will receive $2.9 million sometime in fiscal 2011, according to the mayor’s office, with the other $2 million to be paid in fiscal 2012, on or before August 15, 2011.

The latest research points the way towards increasing the potency of cannabis chemicals or their synthetic analogues

Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered the latest in a long list of chemicals your body naturally produces that resemble those found in marijuana — chemicals they say could eventually be turned into a smokeless cannabis replacement that offers and increases the full efficacy of marijuana’s most useful effects.
In previous papers, scientists have noted that the body manufactures several cell signals that mimic the actions of marijuana-derived chemicals. This class of compounds known as endocannabinoids, from the Latin “endo,” for inside, and cannabis, the scientific name for marijuana, plays a vital role in the human body’s regulation of things like inflammation, reports Jason Mick at DailyTech.

Photo: CBS13
Bishop Ron Allen: “I don’t think they understand how many lives are going to be lost. In our community, legalizing drugs — I don’t think they clearly understand the carnage.”

​A group of black pastors, priests and other religious leaders has come together in recent weeks to peddle Reefer Madness and fight against Proposition 19, the California ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.

Bishop Ron Allen of the International Faith Based Coalition and his followers have opened a new, potentially crucial front in the battle over Prop 19, reports Jesse McKinley of The New York Times, pitting those afraid of more widespread use of pot against those who see legalization as a sane exit strategy in the war on cannabis.
At a recent rally on the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento, several pastors allied with Allen used over-the-top language trying to inflame a tiny crowd, describing marijuana as “the most sinister drug,” and asking that “the demonic spirits be cast back into hell.”

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.”

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.”

Photo: Guanabee

​The price of marijuana could plummet as much as 80 percent, and consumption would rise, if Californians approve Proposition 19, the cannabis legalization measure on November’s ballot, according to a detailed analysis by researchers at Rand’s Drug Policy Research Center.

Currently between $300 and $450 an ounce in California, the cost of pot could drop as low as $38 by eliminating the expenses and challenges of operating in the black market, according to the study, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.
The researchers admitted they weren’t certain how much pot use might be spurred by cheaper prices, but they noted one typical estimate is that a 10 percent drop in price typically increases use by about three percent. Other factors, such as getting rid of the legal risks associated with marijuana use, could also increase usage between five percent and 50 percent.

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

​Delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention endorsed I-1068, the marijuana legalization initiative, with an overwhelming 62 percent “Yes” vote, 314 to 185, on Saturday.

The executive board had given no recommendation on the initiative, because “the committee was even more split than the delegates,” said State Vice Chair Sharon Smith, reports Bryce McKay at PubliCola.
“We expected this to come to a floor discussion,” Smith said. “There are some things that are clearly Democratic Party values, and then there are things like this that aren’t so clear.”
These welcome signs of the Democratic Party growing a backbone when it comes to cannabis issues are encouraging; there’s definitely a whiff of change in the air.
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