cannabisnews.com: D.C. MMJ Program Draws Eclectic Mix of Applicants
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D.C. MMJ Program Draws Eclectic Mix of Applicants
Posted by CN Staff on May 31, 2011 at 10:16:27 PT
By Tom Howell Jr., The Washington Times
Source: Washington Times
Washington, D.C. -- Tamina Pryor and Monique Watson created their new company’s name, “Jahrock,” by jumbling their children’s initials together and admiring the results.“It’s funny, ‘cause it sounds Jamaican,” Ms. Pryor said. So does the reggae music on their company phone line, which offers the soothing refrain of “feel good” while callers wait for someone to pick up.
Ms. Pryor and Ms. Watson, executive assistants who believe in holistic medicine, are among the first D.C. residents to show a formal interest in growing or selling medical marijuana in the District.Since late April, an eclectic mix of potential growers and sellers has written letters of intent to the D.C.Department of Health to kick off the long-awaited program, joining 16 states in legalizing use for qualified patients.Mayor Vincent C. Gray, a Democrat, issued rules last month that require persons interested in cultivating or dispensing medical marijuana in the District to send notification to the Health Regulation and Licensing Administration, a branch of the city health department, by June 17 ahead of a more formal application.In the first three weeks, the agency received nearly a dozen letters from companies expressing interest in both facets of the business, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.With such names as “District of Cannabis,” the hopeful entrepreneurs tout their business acumen, green thumbs or philosophical support for dispensing medical marijuana to the ill and the dying. They include nonprofit activists from Northwest, a rabbi from Takoma and a well-known attorney who represented the “D.C. Madam.”Several applicants, like the women behind Jahrock, speak openly and enthusiastically about their prospects, while others refuse to show their cards while they compete for permits for 10 cultivation centers and five dispensaries.One potential grower, who asked not to be identified, said the “art of surprise” in a competitive and highly regulated environment prevents him from discussing the matter. The marketing partner for another applicant, the Potomac Patients First Group, said he cannot comment, on the advice of attorneys. And one applicant responded to a list of questions with this: “How did you get my information?”A panel of five members — one each from the Department of Health, Metropolitan Police Department, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and a consumer or patient advocate — will score each of the eventual applications based on a 250-point scale that examines criteria such as security and staffing at their facilities, their overall business plans and the opinions of local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.An applicant must be at least 21 years old and not been convicted of any felonies or misdemeanor drug crimes. Half of the $5,000 application fee is non-refundable, which may thin out the pool of applicants.Adam Eidinger said his nonprofit, the District of Columbia Patients’ Cooperative, has been well received by ANCs near their home base in Adams Morgan. After all, he noted, a medical marijuana dispensary is not comparable to a tavern.“You don’t have live music coming out the windows and drunk people coming out the door,” he said.Mr. Eidinger, a longtime D.C. activist, said his nonprofit comes at the issue from a different angle than business moguls dipping into a new market. He said his group is more concerned with patient access and affordability.Plus, official limits on plant cultivation and an unclear patient demand make it a fragile market.“This is no gold rush,” Mr. Eidinger said. “If I were motivated by profit, I would have quit a long time ago.”Mr. Eidinger can speak knowledgeably and extensively about medical marijuana, but certain things are off-limits. That includes their potential cultivation sites — it’s a security issue, he said — or when he realized that cannabis could help his own chronic arthritis.The it’s-still-illegal nature of marijuana use and cultivation, even while medicinal programs emerge around the country, puts the topic on tenuous ground.“This is about people being treated as criminals, who are actually sick,” Mr. Eidinger said.Beyond community approval, cultivation centers must meet tight restrictions on size, a stringent 95-plant allotment, staffing, lighting and buffer zones between cultivation centers and schools.Applicants who agreed to speak about their efforts were either reluctant to disclose their proposed cultivation sites or are still looking for one. What is clear from multiple applications, however, is many of them are looking at sites in Northeast because of the available industrial space in that section of the District.“I found it very difficult to find space, and I was very pleased when I did,” said Montgomery Blair Sibley, who found a facility on New York Avenue in Northeast. He filed an application for his “The Medicinal Marijuana Company of the District of Columbia” on letterhead that features an “Rx” pharmacy symbol superimposed on a marijuana leaf.Mr. Sibley, who represented “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey in 2007, said his legal background should help his navigate the small-print of the permit process and strict government regulations as he pursues this “economic opportunity.”“I believe it’s an industry that’s going to grow rapidly,” he said.But first, he’s got to make the cut.“I think all of us are starting from scratch on this,” Ms. Pryor said, adding, “We’re hoping the process is fair.”Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Tom Howell Jr., The Washington TimesPublished: May 31, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Washington Times, LLC Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/6yuyxVLjCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on June 06, 2011 at 09:23:45 PT
 Had Enough #4
"Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won," the report said. Weeds are just flowers that some people do not want.Drugs are just medicines that some people do not want.{ "THE TWO COMMANDMENTS FOR THE MOLECULAR AGE"IThou shalt not alter the consciousness of thy fellow man.IIThou shalt not prevent thy fellow man from altering his own consciousness. }--page 81, The Politics of Ecstasy by Dr. Timothy Leary [Ecstasy refers to the experience, not the club drug!]The question is simple, my friends. Do you want your ego destroyed (opiates, sedatives, alcohol), or do you want your ego transcended (cannabis, a mild psychedelic ["mind-manifesting". The word was coined by Dr. Humphrey Osmond in the 1950's.], et al.)? It's okay to choose both, but only if you are very careful and very powerful. (see Rites and Symbols of Initiation by Mircea Eliade).(1958b) Rites and Symbols of Initiation (Birth and Rebirth), trans. W. Trask, London: Harvill Press. (The publication of Eliade's 1956 Haskell Lectures at the University of Chicago, 'Patterns of Initiation'. His analysis of initiatory themes implies their ubiquity and structure as a symbolic death and rebirth.)Do you want to go out with a whimper or a bang?Mircea Eliade: From Primitives To Zen http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/ ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question. 
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Comment #6 posted by museman on June 02, 2011 at 10:17:16 PT
 #3
"I to wonder how we can have such a educated country, yet be so stupid."Well thats just it! We aren't an 'educated' country, we are a dumbed down country. Our 'academic institutions' are 100% about making good, compliant slaves, and 0% about Truth.Truth is not taught. Truth is not acknowledged. Truth is considered a 'myth' even as the liars (lawyers) use the word as if they invented it.The public school system is a sick joke, on the people of this country, and the greatest disservice to ever be forced down a child's throat. Parenting has been taken away by the system which forces both parents to slave away at toxic 'jobs' just to have a roof, clothing, and food. It's the tip of the iceberg of a long list of travesties and injustices against humanity in the name of various false propagandas of this government and its false religions of mammon and fear and guilt.There are too many who are willing to compromise the truth, and continue the conditions of dominion and slavery which exist in the guise of 'democracy' etc. Too many who will continue to contribute their time and energy to the failed systems and institutions that have brought our world to disaster of 'biblical proportion.' Too many who will set themselves as stumbling blocks in the way of the real Light Workers, urging us to compromise and capitulate our natural integrity for the sake of some BS the rulers intend to force us into compliance with.But their time is nearly up. The choices of the higher ethics of Love, Compassion, Truth, Justice, Forgiveness, and Mercy will elevate those who embrace them, and bury the rest, -its just an inevitability.Thus it behooves all the pretenders to either get real, or get out of the way, because its all or nothing. Truth or lie. Liberty or bondage. Yes or no.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #5 posted by Paint with light on June 01, 2011 at 19:53:32 PT
Comment 4
Same story, different source,better with comments.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110602/ap_on_re_us/us_drug_war_reportI want to see the full report due out Thursday.Legal like alcohol.
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Comment #4 posted by Had Enough on June 01, 2011 at 18:33:31 PT
Major panel: Drug war failed; legalize marijuana
Major panel: Drug war failed; legalize marijuanaJun 1, 9:02 PM (ET) 
By JONATHAN M. KATZ NEW YORK (AP) - The global war on drugs has failed and governments should explore legalizing marijuana and other controlled substances, according to a commission that includes former heads of state, a former U.N. secretary-general and a business mogul. A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy argues that the decades-old "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." The 24-page paper will be released Thursday. "Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won," the report said. The 19-member commission includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. official George P. Schultz, who held cabinet posts under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Others include former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, U.K. business mogul Richard Branson and the current prime minister of Greece. Instead of punishing users who the report says "do no harm to others," the commission argues that governments should end criminalization of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organized crime syndicates and offer health and treatment services for drug-users in need. and…The office of White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said the report was misguided. The rest found here…http://apnews.myway.com//article/20110602/D9NJE27G3.html
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Comment #3 posted by spauldingstars5 on June 01, 2011 at 18:28:51 PT:
the truth
Awesomely said!! I to wonder how we can have such a educated country, yet be so stupid. I started researching daily on Oct 16, 2009 and I am amazed at what I have learned. Would love to email you, so we can talk. Cannabis/hemp: homes, health, hope, and happiness.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 31, 2011 at 14:23:01 PT
D.C. Medical Marijuana Spared Federal Threats
D.C. Medical Marijuana Spared Federal Threats, For NowWashington, D.C. -- In recent weeks, a number of U.S. Attorneys have sent letters to officials in states with medical marijuana programs to remind them that no matter what their local legislatures say, the federal government still considers marijuana an illegal drug. The District, however, has so far been spared the unwanted federal attention for its nascent medical marijuana program.As NPR reported over the weekend, the letters have forced some states to put their programs on hold for fear of federal raids of state-sanctioned cultivation centers and dispensaries. Arizona, which is currently implementing a voter-approved program, went so far as to file a lawsuit against the Department of Justice late last week seeking to clarify how federal and state interests are balanced in the implementation of medical marijuana programs.The conflict dates back to late 2009, when the Obama administration indicated that it wouldn't prioritize prosecuting individuals who grow or use medical marijuana according to local state laws. Each U.S. Attorney has discretion in how the policy is implemented, though, and at least nine have recently sent letters to states with medical marijuana programs to warn them that they're running the risk of violating federal law.Complete Article: http://dcist.com/2011/05/dc_medical_marijuana_spared_federal.php
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Comment #1 posted by museman on May 31, 2011 at 10:57:43 PT
er, excuse me, but...
"“This is about people being treated as criminals, who are actually sick,” Mr. Eidinger said."Actually it's about people being treated as criminals, who are actually innocent of any REAL crime.And the REAL criminals make law!Oh the time is nearly here!Justice is coming. Truth is and will continue to trump the 'law' in humanity's consciousness until the 'law' which is REALLY the 'lie' becomes a historical artifact that makes people wonder how they could ever be so stupid as to allow it to ride rule over them for so long!LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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