Cannabis News

In 1996 it passed the first national initiative to make marijuana available by prescription to relieve pain, nausea, and other physical maladies. In July of this year, Oakland became – by a wide margin (80 percent to 20) – the first US city to assess a tax on the sale of marijuana. Read More... Two WA State Lawmakers Offer Pot Legalization Bill Posted by on December 18, 2009 at 07:41:43 PT By Malcolm Maclachlan Source: Capitol Weekly WA State -- A pair of legislators in the state of Washington have submitted a marijuana legalization bill much like the one introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D - San Francisco, back in February.

The bill was introduced by state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, with Rep. Roger Goodman as the principal coauthor. The two Democrats represent Seattle-area districts. Four other legislators have also signed onto the bill. Goodman was scheduled to join Ammiano on a conference call with reporters Thursday morning. Read More... Plans for Colorado MMJ Legislation Take Shape Posted by on December 18, 2009 at 05:40:17 PT By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post Source: Denver Post Denver, CO -- State leaders have unveiled figures showing a large portion of medical-marijuana recommendations are written by doctors who are barred from writing other prescriptions.

As of mid-August, three quarters of pot recommendations came from 15 doctors, half of whom operated on restricted licenses, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter said. The number of medical- marijuana patients has tripled since that time to about 30,000 statewide, according to health department figures. Read More... Congress Gets Its Act Together Posted by on December 17, 2009 at 18:27:19 PT By Bill Piper and Naomi Long, AlterNet Source: AlterNet Washington, D.C. finally seems to be getting the message that the war on drugs has failed.

Following years of resistance if not outright hostility to reforming our nation's drug laws, Congress has passed two major changes to U.S.drug policy as part of an end-of-year omnibus spending package that President Obama signed into law yesterday. Read More... Marijuana for Medicine Posted by on December 16, 2009 at 14:30:23 PT By Doug Smith Source: Arkansas Times Arkansas -- State Sen. Randy Laverty of Jasper says that after the news media reported last month on his proposal to legalize medical marijuana, he got more response than on any issue he'd been associated with in his 15 years as a legislator — telephone calls, e-mails and personal contact. “And it was all positive. That never happens.”

Laverty says that at the next regular legislative session, in 2011, he'll introduce a bill to permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The time may be ripe. Read More... Marijuana Is Not a Harmless Drug Posted by on December 16, 2009 at 04:36:05 PT By Chet Phillipe Source: Visalia Times-Delta USA -- The issue of medical marijuana is a charade. Consider the following:

Its destructive power: Nicotine is the most addictive drug in the world and kills 400,000-plus people annually. Marijuana is addicting and more dangerous than nicotine because of the euphoric feeling. It's seven to 14 times more powerful today than in the 1960s. Read More... The Slippery Slope of Marijuana Regulation Posted by on December 15, 2009 at 19:19:01 PT By Tim Rutten Source: Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, CA -- There are about 120 Starbucks coffee outlets within the Los Angeles city limits. According to the most reliable estimates, there are somewhere between 900 and 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries.

Mull over the implications of that comparison and you're on the way to understanding why the City Council seems enmeshed in an endless wrangle over how to regulate the number and sites of the nonprofit cooperatives allowed by local ordinance to distribute cannabis to individuals with doctors' prescriptions. Read More... Med Pot Bill Stirs Strong Emotions on Both Sides Posted by on December 15, 2009 at 11:50:48 PT By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel Source: Journal Sentinel Madison, WI -- In 1989, Jacki Rickert of Mondovi weighed just 68 pounds. Marijuana helped her put on weight and relieve the symptoms of her connective tissue disorder, Rickert said Tuesday as she urged lawmakers to make the drug legal for medicinal purposes.

"When your doctor looks at you and says, 'If we cannot get weight on you . . . you will die' - that's what it comes down to, 'You will die' - you do whatever you have to do," Rickert told the Assembly and Senate health committees. "We've never wanted to break the law, but sometimes you have to." Read More... Swift Action Sought on Medical Marijuana Posted by on December 15, 2009 at 04:41:04 PT By Tim Craig, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Washington, D.C. -- D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said Monday that he wants to move swiftly to establish regulations for distributing medical marijuana now that Congress has voted to lift restrictions on city drug policy.

Gray said the council will use Initiative 59, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 1998, to begin crafting a policy that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients with serious illnesses. Read More... Medical Marijuana Apartheid: Different Rules Apply Posted by on December 14, 2009 at 10:32:48 PT By Joshua Holland, AlterNet Source: AlterNet USA -- About 80 percent of Americans approve of medical marijuana laws, but some conservatives are incensed that state legislatures keep passing them.

In a recent column, George F. Will, the Washington Post's bow-tied curmudgeon, decried the reefer madness he sees taking over California, sweeping across Colorado and perhaps even coming to a normal state near you. Read More... Romer Proposes State Support Medical Marijuana Posted by on December 14, 2009 at 05:50:08 PT By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post Source: Denver Post Denver, CO -- If federal authorities in the future prosecute Colorado's medical cannibis growers and wholesalers, the state could pay to defend them in court under a provision unveiled Sunday by state Sen. Chris Romer at a Denver medical-marijuana health fair.

Romer, a Denver Democrat who is proposing legislation to regulate the budding industry, wants to use a database to track growers and their plants for health safety and law-enforcement purposes. Read More... Vote Moves D.C. Closer To Medical Marijuana Posted by on December 13, 2009 at 18:07:32 PT By James Hohmann and Tim Craig, WP Staff Writers Source: Washington Post Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday that clears the way for the District government to allow medical marijuana use and to spend local tax dollars to help low-income women pay for abortions.

More than a decade ago, D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that would allow for the possession, use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana if recommended by a physician for serious illnesses. Read More... Trouble Ahead for Medical Marijuana in California Posted by on December 13, 2009 at 10:18:10 PT By Alison Stateman, Los Angeles Source: Time Magazine CA -- California and Los Angeles have been pioneer sites for the expansion of the legal right to use marijuana. But, now, local officials may be at the forefront of curtailing some of that exuberance. If the Los Angeles City Council has its way, the plethora of largely unregulated medical marijuana facilities that have become a neighborhood blight in parts of the city may finally be brought under control. L.A. officials and medical marijuana advocates estimate may there be as many as 1,000. But in a preliminary vote on Tuesday, the council indicated its intention to cap the number of such dispensaries at just 70. Read More... Colorado's Marijuana Mess Posted by on December 13, 2009 at 06:19:07 PT By Vincent Carroll Source: Denver Post Denver, CO -- State lawmakers shouldn't kid themselves about the looming fork in the road for medical marijuana, or the inescapable tradeoffs.

On the one hand, they can pass some version of Denver Sen. Chris Romer's plan to provide state licenses to marijuana dispensaries and growers. But if do, they'll solidify a marijuana industry that serves not only a rapidly growing number of genuine patients but many recreational-minded frauds as well. And Colorado will have created, in one fell swoop, a class of potentially influential marijuana entrepreneurs. Read More... Maine Marijuana Rules Will Take Time To Implement Posted by CN Staff on December 13, 2009 at 05:21:14 PT By Adam D. Krauss Source: Foster's Daily Democrat Maine -- A task force has until the end of the month to recommend how Maine should implement its new medical marijuana law, which calls for a patient registry and dispensaries.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci convened the 14-member group to "implement the will of the people" after nearly 60 percent of voters backed Question 5 in November. He said the group will ensure there are "appropriate safeguards in place to protect the public health and safety." Read More... Let's Help Patients in Pain Posted by on December 12, 2009 at 14:51:45 PT By Rep. Mark Pocan Source: Journal Sentinel Wisconsin -- It's time for Wisconsin to join the growing number of states that give their ill and ailing citizens a wider array of health care options.

The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act would allow patients and their doctors access to a medicine that has fewer side effects than many addictive, legally prescribed pharmaceuticals on the market that are taken by millions of Americans every day. It is time we help people like Teresa Shepherd. Read More... Council To Consider Marijuana Measure Posted by on December 12, 2009 at 10:20:39 PT By Sara Leaming, The Spokesman-Review Source: Spokesman-Review Spokane, WA -- A group advocating for relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws by Spokane police is set to appear before the Spokane City Council on Monday. Citizens for a Sensible Spokane seeks council approval of a ballot initiative to make marijuana offenses the “lowest law enforcement priority,” below all other felony or misdemeanor crimes.

The aim, organizers said, is to make it easier for medical marijuana dispensaries to distribute the drug. “It doesn’t make marijuana legal,” said Ian Moody, spokesman for the grass-roots initiative. “But it does take the pressure off dispensaries so they are able to assist patients more freely.” Read More... A Plan for Medical Marijuana Posted by on December 11, 2009 at 09:47:59 PT By State Sen. Chris Romer & State Rep. Tom Massey Source: Denver Post Denver, CO -- Marijuana. Most people see it as a recreational drug and are skeptical of its tangible, medical benefits for patients with chronic pain, including those whose use of prescribed narcotics often leaves them vulnerable to addiction.

Take, for instance, Janice Beecher. A Coloradan since 1968, she suffers from osteoarthritis and chronic back pain. Until recently, she had to take as much as four oxycodone just to make it through the day. Fortunately for her, a permit to use marijuana legally allows her to live without debilitating pain to go days without taking this highly addictive drug. Read More... Jewish Leaders Testify for Medical Marijuana Posted by on December 10, 2009 at 13:53:02 PT By Lee Chottiner, Executive Editor Source: Jewish Chronicle Pennsylvania -- Ruth Damsker still remembers how her husband, Jeffrey, a physician, was terminally ill with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He tried several therapies to find relief — all without success. Finally, his physician suggested an alternative treatment: marijuana.

“He thought it would be helpful, but obviously my husband was uncomfortable experimenting with it because he knew it was illegal,” Damsker recalled. “It really saddened me that he was unable to have an alternative therapy that would at least make him feel more comfortable.” Read More... L.A. Council Puts Off Vote on MMJ Dispensaries Posted by on December 10, 2009 at 06:06:32 PT By John Hoeffel Source: Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, CA -- The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday shunted a vote on its much-delayed medical marijuana ordinance most likely into next year, worried that the draft proposal could eliminate most dispensaries and lead to just a few "big-box" pot stores in isolated industrial areas.

The unexpected decision slowed the breakneck schedule the council had adhered to in recent weeks in its drive to pass an ordinance before the end of the year. The council has been on fast-forward since October, when a judge ruled that the city's moratorium on dispensaries was invalid, leaving Los Angeles with almost no power to shut down hundreds that have opened without permission in the last two years. Read More... Growers Rally for Medical Cannabis Posted by on December 10, 2009 at 05:41:15 PT Staff Report Source: Daily Lobo New Mexico -- The pot pioneers of New Mexico are meeting in Santa Fe on Friday to show support for the Department of Health’s Medical Cannabis Program.

The DOH is holding the meeting to consider approving new medical conditions, including Hepatitis C, that could warrant patients having a cannabis I.D. card. As of now, patients with one of 15 medical conditions can be prescribed medical marijuana. Read More... Council Cautious on Legal Marijuana Posted by on December 09, 2009 at 19:44:05 PT By David C. Lipscomb, The Washington Times Source: Washington Times Washington -- D.C. officials Wednesday said they would proceed cautiously if Congress lifts a federal roadblock to implementing a voter initiative approved more than a decade ago that called for legalizing medical marijuana.

Congress is poised to pass an omnibus spending bill that will not include a rider known as the Barr Amendment, which has blocked the District from legalizing medical marijuana. Read More... L.A. Acts To Cap Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Posted by on December 09, 2009 at 06:23:23 PT By John Hoeffel Source: Los Angeles Times Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles City Council took several key steps Tuesday toward completing an ordinance that would regulate the city's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries, voting to sharply limit the number and location of stores.

The decisions, reached after hours of often heated debate, came more than 4 1/2 years after the council first looked at the issue. At that time, there were four known dispensaries in the city. Hundreds opened while the city failed to enforce a moratorium on dispensaries and pass an ordinance. Read More... State Uneasy About New Pot Law Posted by on December 09, 2009 at 05:06:05 PT By Kevin Miller, BDN Staff Source: Bangor Daily News Augusta, Maine -- A task force on medical marijuana grappled with issues of patient confidentiality, law enforcement and quality control Tuesday in the wake of Mainers’ vote granting sick people easier access to the drug.

Under seven guidelines passed by nearly 60 percent of voters in November, Maine will expand the list of qualifying ailments for use of marijuana as well as regulate a system of dispensaries where patients can buy the drug. Read More... LA Council Set To Vote on Pot Ordinance Posted by CN Staff on December 08, 2009 at 19:59:56 PT By Greg Risling, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles City Council could vote Wednesday on a much-anticipated medical marijuana ordinance that would greatly reduce the number of pot dispensaries in the city and push them to industrial areas.

Council President Eric Garcetti instructed the city attorney's office to return with a draft ordinance that included a host of revisions debated Tuesday during a marathon six-hour session. Read More... Ambivalent About Pot Laws Posted by on December 08, 2009 at 18:14:27 PT By Lori Pyter, Community Columnist Source: Journal Sentinel Wisconsin -- The idea of legalizing marijuana has never been something I have seriously considered. More recently, as the issue of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes in Wisconsin has become a realistic possibility, and one that I support, I began exploring the pros and cons more carefully.

In this process, I learned that Wisconsin was actually the 33rd state to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1982, although the statutes later were changed. I wonder why that happened. Read More... MMJ: State Should Move Beyond Drug's Stereotype Posted by CN Staff on December 08, 2009 at 14:59:50 PT By Patriot-News Editorial Board Source: Patriot-News Pennsylvania -- The good news is that Pennsylvania finally is having a discussion about medical marijuana.

Last week the House Health and Human Services Committee heard from patients, doctors and advocates who said the state should legalize the use of medical marijuana for those suffering debilitating medical conditions. Now the bad news: In our socially conservative state this is likely as far as the debate will go on the issue. Read More... L.A. Council To Discuss Medical Pot Ordinance Posted by on December 08, 2009 at 08:46:43 PT Daily News Wire Services Source: Contra Costa Times Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday will discuss a proposed ordinance that would give qualified patients access to medical marijuana while shutting down hundreds of facilities in an effort to keep the drug away from recreational users.

The latest version of the proposed ordinance prepared by the City Attorney's office is expected to undergo major revisions during Tuesday's deliberations. Read More... Medical Marijuana Documentary Nears Completion Posted by on December 08, 2009 at 07:06:59 PT By Wallace Baine Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel Santa Cruz, CA -- Aspiring filmmakers Charlie Hall and Bevin Bell-Hall approached the Santa Cruz-based Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana with the idea of a certain kind of documentary. Five years later, the two have emerged with an entirely different kind of film.

The married team of filmmakers is preparing for the final stage toward the release of "WAMMovie," which they are submitting for inclusion in several film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, its more maverick sister Slamdance, San Jose's Cinequest and the San Francisco Film Festival. Read More... Drug Testing Planned for Iditarod Mushers Posted by on December 07, 2009 at 08:46:43 PT By Matias Saari, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Source: Juneau Empire Fairbanks -- The Iditarod plans to test mushers for drugs and alcohol in March, a change that many mushers don't have a problem with unless one asks three-time champion Lance Mackey.

"I think it's a little bit ridiculous," Mackey said Wednesday night from his home near Fairbanks after a training run. "It is a dog race, not a human race. It (using a drug) doesn't affect the outcome of the race." Mackey, a throat cancer survivor who has a medical marijuana card, admits to using marijuana on the trail and thinks his success has brought about jealousy from some fellow competitors. Read More...

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Drug Testing Planned for Iditarod Mushers Does Smoking Marijuana Make Men Infertile? Erpenbach Bill Would Legalize MMJ in State Medical Use of Marijuana Just a Smoke Screen Medical Marijuana Testimony Worth Hearing The Secret To Legal Marijuana? Women Pot Haze Clouding Level of Dialogue It Is Time for Medical Marijuana Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients Using Marijuana To Fight Substance Abuse Medical Marijuana Gets Hearing in Pa. House Lawmakers Ponder Medical Marijuana Hearing Explores Whether Marijuana Should Be Legal Pa. Bill To Allow Medical Marijuana Gets Hearing Denver Council Crafting Regs for Medical Pot Shops MMJ Hearing To Consider Expanding Its Use Right To Grow Pot Is Like a Right To Be Uninsured State Panel Debates Access To Medical Pot House Bill Pushes PA To Legalize Marijuana Med Pot Advocates Roll Out Poll Showing Support New Jersey Likely Next To Legalize Med Marijuana Pot: Make It Legal It's Time To Approve Medical Marijuana Plain Talk: Time To End The War on Pot — Period End 'Medical' Sham and Just Legalize Marijuana Pragmatism Spurs Debate Over Marijuana Laws Breckenridge Tweaks Laws To Make Way for Marijuana At This School, It’s Marijuana in Every Class Another Thing Europe Doesn't Agree On Police Department as Medical Dispensary? L.A. Council Says Pot Shops Could Accept Cash Council Debates Medical Marijuana Guidelines LA To Set Pot-Club Rules Washington State Should Decriminalize Marijuana The War on Weed: Marijuana Is Basically Harmless L.A. To Debate How Many Dispensaries To Allow Support for Legalizing Marijuana Grows Rapidly Inching Toward Legalization Apply State Sales Tax To Medical Marijuana Colorado Even Tried Pot Tax Stamps CA Cop Urges Colorado To Sort Out Its MMJ Laws Medical Marijuana: No Longer Just for Adults Stockbroker Crusades for Medicinal Marijuana The AMA's Reversal on Marijuana Los Angeles Gets Tough on Medical Marijuana Shops Prosecutors Attack Proposed L.A. Ordinance Relief, Not Reefer, is Reason for Bill Let Desperate Patients Have Pot What Would Marijuana Legalization Look Like? L.A. City Council Puts Off Medical Marijuana Vote Panel To Discuss Effect of R.I. Law Governing MJ AMA Supports Medical Marijuana Studies LA Weighs Curbs on Medical-Marijuana Dispensaries Employers Wonder If They Have To Chill Out LA Council To Consider Medical Marijuana Ordinance D.A. Says He'll Target Pot Dispensaries High Fashion in The Medicinal High Business Marijuana Dispensers Welcome Ruling Colorado To Tax Sales of Medical Marijuana Ex-U.S. Attorney: Time To Change Pot Laws AG Suthers Says Colorado Can Tax Medical Marijuana Council Committees Support Pot Dispensaries Doctors Lighten Up on Marijuana Research Medical Marijuana Bill May Have Chance of Passing Wisconsin Democrats Support Medical Marijuana NM's Medical Pot Program Has Slow, Cautious Start New Futures for Cannabis-Based Medicines Boomers See Views Relaxing on Marijuana Panel To Begin Research on Legalized MJ Funds AMA Urges Feds To Reclassify Marijuana American Medical Association Making Right Moves Medical Marijuana Industry's Growth Spurs Backlash Romer's MMJ Bill Would Target Dispensaries A Few Years Ago, I Would Have Been a Criminal Lafayette Patient Credits Marijuana for Her Sight Marijuana Moves Into the Open in a Ski Town CO Justice Commission Suggests Lighter Penalties LA Submits New Draft Ordinance on Med Marijuana Colorado Medical-Pot Backers Form Trade Group The Growing Pot Economy AMA Calls for Feds to Review Marijuana Restriction MMJ Gets a Boost from Major Doctors Group Michigan's Cannabis College is Quite a Joint Judge Overturns Colorado Medical Pot Restrictions Judge Tosses Out Health Board Decision on Med Pot Cities, Counties No Longer Mellow About Pot New Mexico Approves 5 Medical Marijuana Producers Grassley Proposing Limits To Federal Drug Study Lawmaker: End Medical Pot Free-For-All Right Call on Medical Marijuana

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Resources
NIDA - Common Drugs of Abuse lists commonly abused psychotropics. U.S. National Library of Medicine is an execellent resource for medical information. For recreational use of psychotropics one will find Hyperreal informative. Drug Sense, Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Reform Coordination Network, and NORML are among the many organizations seeking to reform cannabis laws.

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