Global Commission on Drug Policy |
Global Commission on Drug Policy |
Medical marijuana patients in Connecticut now have the ability to purchase medical cannabis from a licensed dispensary after the Healing Corner and Arrow Alternative Care opened their doors Monday afternoon after nearly two years of waiting.
The centers, two of six in the state, opened their doors to long lines yesterday after finally receiving product from Theraplant, one of four state-licensed pot farms legally allowed to supply the dispensaries.
ThierryEhrmann/Flickr |
So, the new Pope isn’t down with pot. What a shocker.
After riding an almost unprecedented wave of mainstream popularity, Pope Francis somehow surprised a whole lot of stoners last week by officially condemning cannabis use, as well as the rising tide of legalization, in a speech given to the International Drug Enforcement Conference.
At precisely 2:51 a.m. on Friday, June 20, the New York State Assembly passed the Compassionate Care Act, which (when the bill passes the senate, as it is widely expected to, when it is taken up around 10 a.m.) will make New York the 23rd state in the union where medical marijuana is legal…as long as you don’t smoke it. Seriously: Patients will need to use a vaporizer, pills or other extraction method. The use of joints, bongs and pipes–anything you light up–is strictly verboten.
Under the new law, physicians will have to go through a certification and registration process before they can prescribe the drug legally. Patients, likewise, will need to be certified by a doctor, and they will have to register with the Department of Health, which will provide an ID card proving one’s certification, but they will be free to carry up to 30 days supply of medical pot.
Toke of the Town. |
Pro-medical marijuana organization, Oklahomans for Health is kicking off their petition drive today at the state capitol in Oklahoma City.
Chip Paul, spokesman for the group, says they need to gather 160,000 signatures to get their proposal on the ballot. In order to do that, Paul says they’ll also need to raise some coin.
A bill that would legalize medical cannabis for certain qualifying conditions in New York faces its first obstacle today in the state Senate Health Committee. The seventeen-member panel will decide whether state Sen. Diane Savino’s bill will move forward to the full Senate for consideration.
But that might be tough going.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and a bud of marijuana that Minnesota medical marijuana patients won’t technically won’t be able to access . |
Though qualifying Minnesota medical marijuana patients will only have the option of vaporizing and eating concentrated forms of marijuana, at least they’ll have access. Less than two months ago medical marijuana seemed dead, at least as far as this legislative session was concerned. But during a press conference this afternoon, Scott Dibble and Carly Melin announced that the Senate and House have come together on a medical marijuana compromise.
Yesterday, medical marijuana’s House supporters announced a big compromise they hope will be amenable to law enforcement and signed into law by pot unfriendly Gov. Mark Dayton.
The compromise, announced at a Capitol news conference by House Speaker Paul Thissen (D-Minneapolis), Majority Leader Erin Murphy (D-St. Paul), and Rep. Carly Melin (D-Minneapolis), “would create a medical cannabis clinical trial, allowing limited participation by children who are suffering and adults with severe illnesses,” a House DFL news release says. The bill gets it’s first hearing today, and could potentially pass before the end of the session.
An Iowa state senator has introduced a medical marijuana bill to the state legislature, but says advancing the bill any further would be a long shot.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City says he doesn’t have the bipartisan support in both the state House and Senate whatsoever for Senate File 79, which would allow for qualifying patients to cultivate and possess up to 2.5 ounces of herb at a time as well as create state-regulated medical cannabis dispensaries.
Despite medical cannabis being legalized in the state, the Illinois Department of Public Health clearly thinks medical marijuana users are still criminals. Proposed rules for the program unveiled yesterday by the department would require all patients to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check before they could use the plant.
Thankfully, these are just draft proposals and there will be plenty of time for public comment on these stupid, onerous restrictions.