OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – More than three dozen Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal government on Monday, asking for marijuana to be reclassified as a drug that can be prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists.

Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug would allow it to be prescribed by doctors and handled by pharmacists. Marijuana is currently classified a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it’s not accepted for medical treatment and can’t be prescribed, administered or dispensed.

In the letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the lawmakers said they supported Gov. Chris Gregoire’s previous request on the issue. Seven Republican lawmakers were among the 42 in both the House and the Senate who signed the letter.

In addition to the letter, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, introduced Senate Joint Memorial 8017 making the same request to reclassify medical marijuana. The joint memorial was scheduled for a hearing in the Health & Long Term Care Committee on Thursday.

Gregoire and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee filed the petition with the DEA last November. Washington and Rhode Island are two of 16 states and the District of Columbia that have laws allowing the medical use of marijuana.

Washington voters approved a medical marijuana law in 1998 that gives doctors the right to recommend – but not prescribe – marijuana for people suffering from cancer and other conditions that cause “intractable pain.”

Last year, Gregoire vetoed most of a bill that made major reforms to the state’s medical marijuana law, saying state workers could be prosecuted under federal law the way the measure was written.

A separate bill this year is attempting to provide medical marijuana patients with easier access to the drug. The new proposal would allow local governments to regulate nonprofit patient cooperatives, which could grow up to 99 plants.

Under the latest proposal, nonprofit patient cooperatives would be prohibited in counties with fewer than 200,000 residents – mostly rural areas – unless local jurisdictions enact ordinances allowing them. The cooperatives would be allowed in counties with a population of more than 200,000 unless local jurisdictions opt out through an ordinance.

The plan would create a voluntary registry for patients.

Source

Interesting idea.

MONTPELIER — Here’s what Shayne Lynn envisions somewhere in Chittenden County: an office as non-descript as a doctor’s office or a pharmacy from which he would sell marijuana to those with qualifying medical conditions.

There’d be a waiting room. Clients would be seen by appointment only. There’d be security. He might also offer clients yoga, acupuncture and Reiki. He’d probably grow the marijuana somewhere else, at an indoor facility.

Lynn could become one of the first people to run such an operation in Vermont if proposed legislation the Senate is expected to consider this week passes.

Lynn, a 40-year-old professional photographer who lives in Burlington, said he believes in marijuana’s medicinal value for those who suffer from chronic pain and he thinks it’s wrong that such people have nowhere legal to buy the relief.

“People having to go out and buy it on a corner from someone — it’s not right,” Lynn said. “I see this as an opportunity to run a successful, local, nonprofit business which would provide medical respectability to the current and future patients on the registry. It would open a more honest, serious dialogue about the benefits of cannabis.”

Medical marijuana has been legal in Vermont since 2004, for those with qualifying illnesses — including cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis — who sign up for the state’s registry. The 2004 law allows patients to grow their own marijuana, but advocates say many find that a daunting task, leaving them with the prospect of making illegal deals for street dope.

The state’s medical marijuana registry specifies, “The Marijuana Registry is neither a source for marijuana nor can the Registry provide information to patients on how to obtain marijuana.”

The answer, advocates say, is to legalize a small number of medical marijuana dispensaries — nonprofit operations that would grow marijuana and sell it to those on the medical marijuana registry.

“They have a right to have this symptom-relief medication, yet we’ve given them no ability to get it in a legal manner in which the product is safe,” said Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, chairwoman of the Senate Government Operations Committee that passed the bill the Senate will consider this week.

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THC Pills – The really easy way.

You need:

• Some high quality ground cheeba, I used approximately 2 grams of some diesel and put it through my grinder, then stuck it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then went through it in a bowl with my fingers to really powderize it.
• A pot or frying pan
• Vegetable Oil
• Pill capsules (this is found at a natural food market, in the bulk foods section I used OO size, which is big, but perfect for your weed pills,or you could always find some old vitamins and use those capsules)

The procedure is easy:

Grind up your weed into a poweder, putting it in the freezer makes it brittle and easy to turn to dust.

Now put your pot or frying pan on the stove at low-medium heat.

Add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and let warm up for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Then add your finely ground bud

You want it to be a sludgy, pasty consistency, to get this consistency I has to add 1.5 more tablespoons, thus using a total of 3.5 on my 2 grams of bud.

Mix the bud and the oil together in the pot by using a spoon to mash.

Try to keep you weed oil in one corner of the pot, and constantly mash together.

I cooked until the weed was fully brown, taking the pot away from the flame if the mixture started to crackle or  bubble for too long, i would say I cooked for about 6 or 7 minuted total.

Then put your pot or pan in the freezer, the oil with tons of brown weed particles in it will turn into a thick sludgy jelly which isn’t that hard to get into capsules. They should look blackish brown.

Eat and enjoy!

With 2 grams and 3.5 tablespoons of veg oil I made 12 large pills, popped one a couple hours ago and the chronic nausea i suffer from is completely gone, and I have a nice little body buzz, if I were trying to get baked off my ass 2 or 3 pills would be perfect.

Although, remember to always keep one rolled

- Kush

With 14 states and the District of Colombia allowing the legal medical use of marijuana, acceptance of the issue is steadily growing in America. A new poll shows that 57 percent of Floridians support legalization of medical marijuana as buzz grows that the issue could be placed on the ballot as soon as 2012.

Bob Norman reports that the poll was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, a Republican firm that worked with Rick Scott’s gubernatorial campaign. The pollsters asked point blank: “If there was a Constitutional Amendment on the statewide ballot to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes only when prescribed by a practicing physician and the election were held today, would you vote YES to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes or NO to stop it?”

57 percent said they would vote YES (roughly 41 percent said they definitely would, and about 17 percent said they probably would). A recent ABC News poll found that across the nation 81 percent of voters support medical marijuana. It’s possible that this poll may even be conservative in estimating support.

Norman reports that such an amendment could come to the ballot in 2012, but 60 percent of voters would need to check yes for such a measure to pass.

While there wasn’t a big statistical difference based on gender and race, slightly more woman were supportive of the measure than men. 59 percent of white voters and 58 percent of Hispanics would vote yes, while only 55 percent of black voters would.

Voters in Miami would support the measure at 58 percent, but West Palm has the biggest munchies for medical marijuana with 73 percent. 79 percent of voters 18 to 24 would vote yes, while even a majority of voters 65 and up are supportive of the measure with 53 percent support.

Source

Read the full article for the rest.

Click to Enlarge

Source: Online Degrees

The Government has legalised medicinal cannabis, but many multiple sclerosis patients allowed to use the commercial form of the drug will have difficulty paying for it, says Multiple Sclerosis Society national director Rosie Gallagher.

“It’s something we’ve been watching for a while, and it’s exciting to hear that its been approved we’d just love to see it subsidised.”

British drug manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals has been given approval to distribute cannabis extracts in New Zealand as a branded drug, Sativex.

In its application to Medsafe, GW Pharmaceuticals said that in therapeutic doses, Sativex sprayed under the tongue may produce side-effects “interpreted as a euphoria or cannabis-like high”.

But Government drug funding agency Pharmac said nobody had applied to have the drug subsidised.

Ms Gallagher said patients would normally expect the manufacturer to approach Pharmac, as the maker had key information on aspects such as the medicine’s efficacy in clinical trials.

“We’d expect the drugs company to make the initial contact, but we’d be quite happy to back them up,” she said.

“There’s so little available in the way of MS medications, and they’re so very expensive that we’re happy to see anything new that comes on the market that has been shown to improve symptoms.”

The main MS drugs – hugely expensive pharmaceuticals such as interferon beta – tended to be aimed at reducing the rate at which patients suffered relapses, but the Sativex cannabis extracts approved for the relief of spasticity were slightly different.

Two cannabis extracts in the drug can help MS patients control continuous or repeated muscle contractions, spasticity which interferes with movements, speech, and walking and may include severe, painful, and uncontrollable muscle spasms.

Even before the medicinal cannabis was legalised, four patients were given special approvals by the Health Minister to use Sativex, two for chronic pain conditions, one for multiple sclerosis and one for muscle spasm, chronic pain and nausea.

Ms Gallagher said there were 4000 people diagnosed with MS in New Zealand – usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 years – and spasticity was one of the most common symptoms.

A cannabis campaigner, NORML spokesman Chris Fowlie, of Auckland, told NZPA that a small spray which could last one week to a month – depending on the dosage rates for an individual patient – cost about $300, and some patients found they could buy illicit cannabis at a lower cost.

“But growing their own or buying it illegally brings significant risks.”

Source

From CNN:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

Ralphie May is an “idiot” — his word, not ours — because he got caught carrying pot through customs in Guam … after he approached a drug-sniffing dog because he thought it was cute.

May was busted for weed last week, but only had to pay a small fine because he was carrying less than an ounce. The comedian tells us he didn’t realize the pot was in his bag when, on his way through customs, he went up to the dog and started petting it.

May, who has a medical marijuana card, explains: “When I got to baggage claim, I actually walked up to the dog. I love dogs and petted Nickey, the beautiful shepherd mix, and she sat down. That indicates to the handler that I had marijuana on me. I didn’t know that, I just thought that dog loved me. Then another dog came over and it sat down as well and I petted that dog too. I was thinking these dogs love me they can tell I’m a dog person.”

May dealt with some very nice customs agents and he explained the mix-up. May says, “The customs agents said they knew I didn’t mean to smuggle drugs into Guam cause no drug smuggler would be stupid enough to walk up to the dogs and pet them.”

Source

Looks like cannabis users have an alternative way to get their marijuana fix. According to published reports, a new line of pot-infused beverages masquerading behind soda flavors are now available to patients with a prescription for medical marijuana. The new sodas, made by Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs, are carbonated drinks marketed to medicinal-marijuana patients who wish to avoid “weed culture” stigmas.

The herbally organic drinks, that come in eight different flavors that include root beer, pink lemonade and grape, serve as alternatives to smoking cannabis and used as an alternative to pain killers.

Legalized marijuana has become legal in 14 states for medicinal use only. Earlier this week, a television commercial advertising medicinal marijuana was aired in California – the first ever broadcast in the U.S.

The ad was shown over Fox affiliate KTXL in Sacramento, and has swirled up a cloud of controversy from community members who worry about the commercial’s effect on children.

The ad features a series of testimonials from customers , all A-typical of our drug culture stereotypes giving testimony about the benefit of using the drug.

Article via Forbes DVD Blog

A Sacramento man who fired a 12 gauge shotgun at a home intruder says he won’t hesitate to use that gun again.

“It’s loaded. All I have to do is cock it and rock it,” said D’Andre Pendarvis.

Pendarvis knows exactly what the home invader, who kicked in the back door of his Oak Park home Monday night, was after, medical marijuana.

In a daring display of defiance, Pendarvis grabbed a recently borrowed shotgun and blasted it loud and clear. His message, “don’t take what’s not yours, including my medical marijuana.”

He called police just before 9:00 p.m. to report the robbery. He said someone, first kicked his door, then kicked it in. The intruder fired two shots from a 9mm gun and Pendarvis fired four shots back.

It doesn’t appear he hit the intruder who took off running. Inside Pendarvis’ home, a bullet blasted through a mirror and a couch. Shards of glass flew across his living room like bullets themselves, piercing his television.

He had just borrowed a shotgun from a friend last week, knowing that marijuana is a hot commodity among crooks. They have said that it is actually green gold. It’s worth almost as much as gold is, ounce for ounce, pound for pound.”

So why put himself at risk by growing plants in his backyard and inside his home? Pendarvis says he uses it to help with insomnia, and admits, what he doesn’t personally use himself, he could possibly sell. He said he’s more fearful of Child Protective Services than the police and that’s why his daughter doesn’t live with him. He said his grow is perfectly legal and so is shooting at someone that you fear is about to hurt you. His message to anyone who comes at him for his pot, “There’s a 12 gauge slug waiting for you.”

Sacramento police say they will likely respond to more of these calls as more people begin to grow pot legally. One officer said, “the odor of pot plants coming from a home or yard, is like a jewelry box sitting right next to a window. “

For years prohibitionists, including our own Drug Enforcement Administration, have claimed — falsely — that the tolerant marijuana policies of the Netherlands have made that nation a nest of crime and drug abuse. They may have trouble wrapping their little brains around this:

The Dutch government is getting ready to close eight prisons because they don’t have enough criminals to fill them. Officials attribute the shortage of prisoners to a declining crime rate.

Just for fun, let’s compare the Netherlands to California. With a population of 16.6 million, the Dutch prison population is about 12,000. With itspopulation of 36.7 million, California should have a bit more than double the Dutch prison population. California’s actual prison population is 171,000.

So, whose drug policies are keeping the streets safer?

Medical marijuana will be available in Germany soon, with the centre-right coalition preparing to make groundbreaking changes to drug laws, a government health spokeswoman said this week.

Doctors could write prescriptions for cannabis, and pharmacies would be authorised to sell the plant once the law had been adjusted, a member of the junior coalition party, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), said Monday.

Marijuana would also be permitted for use as a pain reliever for the terminally ill in hospices and other care facilities, making it a legal part of their emergency pain-relief stocks.

“With this, the sickest people will always have a pain-relieving substance available,” said Ulrike Flack, the FDP’s health policy spokesperson.

The new law will end a long-running struggle between German officials, doctors and health insurers over use of the proven herbal therapy for treating the pain stemming from diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

According to the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (ACM), only 40 patients in the country are currently allowed a medical marijuana prescription – even though law enforcement generally tolerates small amounts for personal use.

Almost two years ago, the conservative Christian Democrats, the FDP and the centre-left Social Democrats all voted against loosening medical marijuana laws. Opponents had warned of the drug’s alleged potential for addiction and doubted its medical benefits.

Source

Medical marijuana is now allowed in airport terminals.

Medical marijuana patients report no problems as they boarded with carry-on luggage and cannabis plants.

Under the new regulations, patients can fly with their cannabis.

They can even change planes in states where it’s illegal.

The TSA told us state laws supersede what it would do in the aviation secor and it would be up to the local law enforcement officials to determine the action they would take based on whatever the person was trying to bring on board an aircraft.

There are restrictions. The final destination must be medical marijuana friendly, and passengers in possession can’t leave the terminal in states that haven’t legalized it.

Source

Medical marijuana is now legal in the District after the Democrat-controlled Congress declined to overrule a D.C Council bill that allows the city to set up as many as eight dispensaries where chronically ill patients can purchase the drug.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said in a statement the bill become law after Congress finished its business Monday night because neither the House nor Senate opted to intervene.

The council approved the bill in May, and under Home Rule Congress had 30 legislative days to review it.

“We have faced repeated attempts to re-impose the prohibition on medical marijuana in D.C. throughout the layover period,” said Norton. “Yet, it is D.C.’s business alone to decide how to help patients who live in our city and suffer from chronic pain and incurable illnesses.”

Although the bill has now cleared Congress, patients will likely have to wait at least several months before they can obtain the drug from a city-sanctioned dispensary.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the Department of Health now have to establish regulations outlining who can bid for a license to open a dispensary. (See how different states handle medical marijuana.)

The law allows patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other chronic ailments can possess up to four ounces of the drug.

Patients will not be allowed to grow their own marijuana, but licensed companies will be able to sell the drug to people who first obtain a doctor’s prescription.

The council also approved a provision in the 2011 budget that calls for medical marijuana to be subject to the city’s 6 percent sales tax. Underprivileged residents who qualify will be eligible to purchase their drugs free or at reduced cost.

Under the legislation, sponsored by council members David A. Catania (I-At large) and Phil Mendelson (D-At large), both non-profit and for-profit organizations will be eligible to operate the dispensaries.

Even after the Department of Health licenses the dispensaries and cultivation centers, they could be delayed by a zoning process in which residents could protest where the dispensaries will be located. The legislation states the dispensaries will not be allowed to be located within 300 feet of a school.

Distributors also will be limited to growing no more than 95 marijuana plants at a given location, an apparent effort to keep dispensers within federal law that heightens penalties on anyone arrested with at least 100 plants.

The law caps a years-long struggle to act on a 1998 referendum in which 69 percent of District residents voted for to allow medical marijuana. Until last year, Congress blocked the city from enacting the referendum.

City leaders, hoping to avoid the quasi-legalization of the drug, say the District will have one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country. They fear a future Congress could reverse the law if it is abused.

- Article from The Washington Post.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs will now be taking a second look at a policy that keeps veterans from using medical marijuana for pain management. As of now, 14 states allow the use of medical marijuana, but still the United States government continues to outlaw use of the plant. This has created a paradox in which some individuals are within their own state laws, but are breaking federal laws by using medical marijuana and could face federal persecution.

Under the new rules, veterans can be denied prescription painkillers if they are found to be using illegal drugs. Up until now, those drugs included marijuana in any form. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs will still not permit veterans in states that do not allow medical marijuana to use the natural painkiller, but veterans who are living in medical marijuana states will be able to use it as a painkiller and still receive other prescription painkillers if their situation calls for it.

The legalization or de-regulation of marijuana has been a hot topic in recent years in many different states. Although no state has ever come close to completely legalizing marijuana, a total of 14 states now allow the substance to be prescribed medically when the situation calls for it. The Department of Veterans Affairs shows that the federal government may be more willing to cooperate on the issue in the future.

A number of other natural painkillers are available, but are not as effective as marijuana. These substances include Capsaicin, shingles and neuropathy.

Source

The medical marijuana patient and caretaker who organized a protest outside the Saginaw County Courthouse last week, says investigators raided his home Tuesday.

Thomas Township resident John Roberts organized the protest, accusing The Saginaw County Sheriff of raiding patients and caretakers. Protesters came from around the state, some holding signs reading, “Learn the Law.”

Roberts, who is vice president of the Tri-City Compassion Club, said at the protest, “Our patients had to suffer because they don’t believe in it. I don’t give a rat’s {expletive} what they believe in.”

Wednesday Roberts told NBC25 he believes investigators raided his home in retaliation. He says now he has patients who will suffer.

Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel says his department had nothing to do with the raid, and that it was part of a federal investigation.

- Article from NBC25

Read more for the video.(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

​The Illinois Legislature is scheduled to vote on a bill Friday that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Pointing to medical research showing marijuana effectively treats pain, nausea and other symptoms of debilitating medical conditions, the bill would allow patients to legally possess marijuana if their physicians diagnose them with a qualifying condition and recommend medical marijuana to treat it, reports Chris Kirk of The Daily Northwestern.

A vast majority of Illinois residents say they support medical marijuana, with the most recent poll showing 68 percent support in the state.

The act includes a variety of qualifying conditions, including cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C and conditions causing pain or nausea that are unresponsive to other treatments.

Federal law still bans the possession of marijuana for any purpose. But the act would provide a great deal of protection for medical marijuana patients because states are now required to arrest or prosecute people for violating federal laws.

The bill is only meant as a pilot program, according to backers, and would automatically be repealed after three years unless extended by the Legislature.

The state Senate has already approved the bill. It must now be passed by the state House and then signed by the governor in order to become law.

State Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) said two weeks ago that it appeared the Illinois bill is a few shorts of the 60 required for passage in the House. Lang said at the time that he wouldn’t call it for a vote unless he knows that the measure will pass.

“What I have to overcome is the basic political calculation that many of my colleagues take,” Lang said. “Ultimately, this is a health care bill. It’s not a bill about drugs. I’m here for people’s health care and pain. We should do this controlled piece of legislation… to help people.”

Written by Toke of the Town

Montana Therapeutics gives marijuana to about 50 people. Monday's firebombing caused about $2,500 in damage but no injuries. (Larry Mayer/billings Gazette Via Associated Press)

The incidents come as the Billings City Council is scheduled to vote Monday night on a six-month moratorium on approving additional marijuana businesses.

A rock was used to break the glass of Montana Therapeutics at 4:30 a.m. Monday, and a beer bottle filled with gasoline was lighted and thrown inside, according to Sgt. Kevin Iffland of the Billings police. A passerby reported the fire.

Fire crews quickly put out the small blaze, Deputy Fire Marshal Trevor Schilling said.

About 5 a.m. a day earlier, surveillance video showed two young men spray-painting “NOT IN OUR TOWN” on the front of Big Sky Patient Care and throwing a rock through the front door followed by a flaming bottle, Big Sky owner David Couch said.

Nobody was injured in either instance.

Trevor McFarren, co-owner of Montana Therapeutics, said his business provides marijuana for about 50 people and has never had a problem, a complaint or even a bad phone call since opening in January, he said.

McFarren said he believes that Monday’s council vote is linked to the attack, which he said caused about $2,500 in damage.

“I’m sure they’re trying to fuel the fire about” the vote, he said. “It’s more of an attack on the community than anything.” Couch also said he has not had any complaints since his business opened in April. He declined to say how many patients Big Sky has.

“If anything good comes out of this, it will probably be a desire for more education in the general public,” he said.

Police have no suspects, Iffland said. Surveillance video may have captured what happened, but the building’s owners do not want to release the video to police until they speak to their attorney, Iffland said.

Detectives were investigating whether the acts were committed by those who oppose such businesses or by business rivals, Iffland said.

Montana is different from other states in that it has no marijuana dispensaries for patients. Instead, each patient is required to designate a caregiver who provides the pot.

The growth has exposed holes in the state medical-use marijuana law that was passed by ballot initiative in 2004, and the state legislature is hearing recommendations on changes from law enforcement, cities, schools and patients who use marijuana.

Meanwhile, Montana’s cities and towns are testing different ways to deal with commercial growers. Some have banned them from within the city limits; others are seeking ways to regulate them like other businesses. Several cities have imposed temporary moratoriums on new businesses while they figure out a permanent solution.

Billings has issued more than 80 business licenses for stores selling marijuana for medical purposes. The council will decide Monday night whether to put a six-month ban on additional stores within city limits and whether to close those that are within 1,000 feet of a school or a park.

Tom Daubert, an advocate for medical marijuana use who led the initiative campaign in 2004, condemned the attacks but also said some of the businesses need to act with more dignity.

Daubert said Montanans never voted for marijuana storefronts that advertise or commercial production centers in residential neighborhoods.

“The law needs to be modernized, with regulation and oversight designed to prevent some of the undignified and unprofessional behavior we are seeing,” he said.

[Written by Washington Post]

As the Billings City Council debates rules for the sale of medical marijuana, the city is receiving applications for new businesses on a daily basis.

City officials said they’ve received more than 70 applications for medical marijuana businesses, and that number has been skyrocketing, with 2 or 3 new applications arriving daily.

The council’s ad-hoc committee on medical marijuana will meet Thursday to discuss ways to govern the growing industry. “You’ll see if not a moratorium, you’re certainly going to see the council step up and protect the school zones,” said Councilman Denis Pitman, “that’ll be the first priority.”

Council members said there’s little that can done to deny prospective businesses from receiving a license. That’s because medical marijuana stores are currently zoned just like any other commercial business.