Archive for January, 2010
CBS News: “Pot Measure One Step Closer To California Ballot”
January 30th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
As a general rule, NORML tends not to publicize or comment on ballot initiative drives — including campaigns we are involved in — until they have officially qualified for the ballot. But in this case, we (and the mainstream media) just couldn’t resist.
Pot Measure One Step Closer to California Ballot
via CBS.comAn initiative to make marijuana legal, and open to local taxation and regulation, is one step closer to getting on the California ballot this November.
2 bills would legalize medical marijuana
January 29th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Laws would be more stringent than other states’, Morhaim says
Sen. David Brinkley, center, and Del. Dan Morhaim, right, co-sponsors of medical marijuana legislation to be introduced this session, held a press conference with patients, including Debby Miran, left, and other legislators to explain the details of the bill, which will be more restrictive than the ones enacted in other states. Miran, of Lutherville, used medical marijuana for four months while undergoing treatment for leukemia and a bone marrow transplant. (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis / January 26, 2010)
Medical marijuana doctors “need to come out of the closet and be part of the solution,” says CannaMed medical director
January 27th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
WestWord.com: Attorney Rob Corry has significant issues with Senator Chris Romer’s legislation concerning the relationship between doctors and medical marijuana patients.
Less critical is Dr. Paul Bregman, the medical director of the CannaMed USA doctor referral service. Bregman actually believes the senator “is on the right track” even though the doc’s a comparatively high-volume prescriber of the sort who’s drawn criticism from both Romer and Ned Calonge, Colorado’s chief medical officer. Moreover, he encourages other doctors working in this specialty area to “come out of the closet and be part of the solution.”
Most medical marijuana physicians are laying low right now, but Bregman, a trained radiologist who’s been involved in the prescribing of medical marijuana for around three years, is open to speaking with the press — although he’s not always happy with the results. In today’s Denver Post article about Romer’s bill, he complains about being misquoted: “They used the word ‘ridiculous,’ and I didn’t say the word ‘ridiculous.’ I said ‘outside the law,’” he maintains.
Beverly Hills NORML Director Cheryl Shuman testifies on the cruelty of banning medical marijuana patients from transplant lists
January 25th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
NORML.org: Recently the Los Angeles City Council held hearings on the thorny issue of medical marijuana dispensary regulation. For years city officials have abrogated their duty to create sensible regulations for the dispensaries that have proliferated across the Los Angeles basin. The number of dispensaries has ballooned to over 500 (not the 1,000+ often claimed) following an ineffective moratorium on the retail medical marijuana outlets.
As usual, the hearings were packed, with medical marijuana patients and activists flooding the chambers to add their testimony to the record. One citizen petitioning her government for a redress of grievances was the Executive Director of the new Beverly Hills NORML 90210 (http://www.norml90210.org/become-a-member.php), Cheryl Shuman. In sixty seconds of testimony, Cheryl recounts her own personal medical marijuana tragedy, one that has befallen many desperately ill patients who use cannabis — even legally — and require life-saving organ transplants… Read the rest of this entry »
Virginia looking to Decriminalize Marijuana
January 23rd, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
ohhburn.com: Lawmakers in Virginia are looking to decriminalize marijuana! Republican Delegate Harvey B. Morgan, a pharmacist, has 31 years in the House and is the second-most senior delegate. He says he thinks criminalizing pot has done nothing to curb its use and is introducing House Bill 1134 that would change simple possession from possible jail time to a civil fine of $500. The bill also looks to increase the amount of weed needed to be considered for the charge of possession with the intent to distribute and remove the mandatory two and five-year sentences for distribution.
CA Supreme Court Strikes Down Medical Marijuana Limits
January 22nd, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
ohhburn.com: Unanimously the California Supreme Court struck down a law that looked to impose limits on the amount of weed a medical patient can legally possess! As a result of the voter-approved Proposition 215, passed in 1996, patients with a doctor’s recommendation were allowed to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.
In 2003, there was this Legislation created to give law enforcement a guideline on when to make marijuana possession busts. The Legislature decided that patients could have up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana and grow as many as six mature or 12 immature plants. The law did allow, however, a patient to have more if a doctor stated that amount was insufficient and individual cities had the power to allow patients to grow and possess more marijuana, but not less.
‘Live Like It’s Legal’: Landmark Cannabis Hearing In New Zealand
January 20th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Dakta Green, founder of New Zealand’s most visible cannabis club, will argue in court Wednesday that marijuana laws are a fundamental breach of his rights, in what is being called a “landmark” hearing.
Green will argue before Judge Keirnan in Auckland District Court that cannabis laws discriminate against users of the herb, and that the severity of marijuana penalties under the Misuse of Drugs Act violates New Zealand’s Bill of Rights Act.
“Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous drugs but are legally available,” Green said. “Cannabis causes less harm to our community.”
A Doctor’s Case For Legal Pot
January 20th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
In most of my substance-abuse patients I am far more concerned about booze than marijuana.
By DAVID L. NATHAN
Most Americans are paying too much for marijuana. I’m not referring to people who smoke it—using the drug generally costs about as much as using alcohol. Marijuana is unaffordable for the rest of America because billions are wasted on misdirected drug education and distracted law enforcement, and we also fail to tax the large underground economy that supplies cannabis.
On Monday, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill legalizing marijuana for a short list of medical uses. Outgoing Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine says he will sign it into law. This is a positive step, as cannabis has several unique medical applications. But the debate over medical marijuana has obscured the larger issue of pot prohibition. Read the rest of this entry »
Washington State: “We’re not going to prosecute marijuana possession cases anymore”
January 18th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
In his first few days as City Attorney, Pete Holmes has sent a major message to the Citizens and Legislature of Washington State.
Several marijuana possession cases have been dropped already and 50 more are being reviewed. Barring “out of the ordinary circumstances” the City of Seattle will be the safest place for a toker in the state.
So! What about the rest of us? Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey: Medical Marijuana Bill signed into law
January 16th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
SERIOUSLY ILL patients in New Jersey, those who suffer from debilitating ailments like multiple sclerosis or cancer, won a victory in the State House this week.
Lawmakers approved a controversial bill that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for medicinal purposes. Governor Corzine signed the law on Tuesday, making New Jersey the 14th state to allow medical marijuana. It was the most significant legislation to come out of the lame-duck session.
It is a godsend for patients like Mike Oliveri, who grew up in Oradell and moved to California in 2008 to take advantage of that state’s medical marijuana law. Oliveri, who has muscular dystrophy, says marijuana is the most effective medicine to ease pain in his legs and back and to calm his stomach. Read the rest of this entry »