Msgt. Tom Vance: Pot bill will not be called up...

Written by :  Msgt. Thomas Vance

Monday night, 19 March 2012, on Kentucky Tonight with Bill Goodman on Kentucky Educational Television the topic was Prescription Drug Abuse bills and what the Assembly might be doing about them. As has been shown recently and known by medical marijuana users, those who use medical marijuana for pain generally use less prescription pain killers over time and many find they no longer need them. On the program was State Senator Tom Jensen the Chairman of the Senate Judicial Committee where the Gatewood Galbraith Memorial Medical Marijuana, SB129 is currently. Near the end of the program Mr. Goodman read to the Senator a question that was emailed in. The question was that given the fact that prescription pain medication use is lowered by using medical marijuana instead, shouldn’t the Senate Judicial Committee be calling up Senate Bill 129 the medical marijuana bill? Senator Jensen said basically that the bill would not pass the committee because the committee members are not knowledgeable enough about the issue, the bill had no support in the senate and until it has the votes he will not bring it up. The Senator went on to suggest that the Kentucky Attorney General who was also on the program might not approve.

I must take issue with the statement that there is no support in the Senate for the bill since it was filed by Senator Perry Clark and co-sponsored by the Senate Minority Leader Senator Kathy Stein and Senator Denise Harper-Angel. These are pretty influential Senators to support a bill that is supposedly going nowhere. Senator Clark has said that there is plenty of support for the bill and he expects it to pass next year.

It is interesting to note that the citizens of Kentucky who need this medicine have been told to wait another year in the same week we take note of President Nixon’s rejection of the results of the Shafer Commission. The Shafer Commission, appointed by President Nixon, was asked to study America’s drug problem and make policy recommendations accordingly. The commission recommended, among other things, that possession of and transfer of small quantities of marijuana should not be a criminal offense. March 22^nd is the forty year anniversary of the rejection of the commission’s recommendations and the beginning of the Government’s War on Drugs. Marijuana would again be a scapegoat, used to harass not Mexicans in the southwest but Anti-Vietnam War protesters.

Forty years, billions of tax dollars, millions arrested and incarcerated, innumerable lives and families destroyed, and for what? The Vietnam War protests are long over. Can we, for the love of God, can we please put an end to it here in Kentucky while we wait for the Federal Government to come to it’s senses.

We have destroyed the credibility of our government and law enforcement with the untrue statements we have used to keep this war going, a war that thankfully with ballot initiatives for full legalization this coming November in Colorado, Washington, California, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Oregon, might be finally coming to a long awaited end. It will be interesting to see to what lengths the Government will go to keep the War going should any one of these initiatives pass. On to November!

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Kentucky Veterans Survey Reschedule Cannabis

Kentucky Veterans Survey

Reschedule Cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II

Please print your name if you believe veterans should have access to cannabis/marijuana with their doctor’s approval

Print Name	License type	Specialty

Kentucky Medical Practitioners Survey

Kentucky Medical Practitioners Survey

Reschedule Cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II

Please print your name if you believe cannabis/marijuana doesn’t meet the “no accepted medical value” requirement of a Schedule I drug

Print Name	License type	Specialty

Action Alert: Legalize Medical Marijuana in Kentucky

 

 

SENATE BILL 129

The Gatewood Galbraith Memorial Medical Marijuana Act

Legalize Medical Marijuana in Kentucky

· Changes Marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II

· Allows qualified patients to possess 5 ounces and to grow 5 plants

· Requires State Pharmacy board to set up rules for distribution

· Allows Physicians to prescribe without penalty

 

What to do

1) Find and Email your State Senator at www.lrc.ky.gov

Example: Dear Senator _______, I’m writing you today to ask you to support Senate Bill 129, The Gatewood Galbraith Memorial Medical Marijuana Act. Marijuana is clearly not a dangerous drug and it definitely has Medical value. Kentucky doctors and patients should decide appropriate medical care, not Washington Bureaucrats . Sixteen other states have passed similar legislation and I believe that Kentucky should join those states and protect citizens with illnesses from legal sanctions. Our veterans returning from war especially deserve access to marijuana for the physical and emotional trauma they’ve suffered. It’s the Christian thing to do! Note: Personalize your email and include examples of people who are in need.

2) Follow up with a call to the Legislature Message line @ 1 (800) 372-7181

You can also call your State Senator directly. Their contact Information is available on their webpage on the lrc website. You can use the above example, but be sure to personalize your call and include examples of people you know who have a medical need. Ask them to co-sponsor the legislation.

3) Repeat the above two steps with your State Representative

You have both a State Senator and a State Representative. This is a Senate bill. Ask your representative to write and sponsor a companion bill for the House of Representatives.

4) Make an appointment to meet them in Frankfort to discuss the bill

They are your voice in government. They can’t refuse to meet with you. If you have the courage to speak to them in person, be sure to dress and conduct yourself professionally. You will probably only get 15 minutes with them, so be prepared and bring this flyer or some other document that supports your position. You will enjoy the trip to Frankfort, it’s a beautiful place.

5) Copy this Flyer and share/post it everywhere!!!

Send a quick email to legalsmile2012@gmail.com so that I can get information to you rapidly. We will have to act quickly when the bill goes before committee. Please let me know your story and if you wish to testify before the committee (anyone can). It’s your government!!!

LINKS:

SB129 Ky Legislature

The Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Act of 2012

Kentucky Medical Marijuana/Cannabis Act

The White House - Resources

U.S. attorney breaks silence on medical-marijuana battle

U.S. attorney breaks silence on medical-marijuana battle

Details from last week’s Benjamin Wagner chat with press and pot advocates

By David Downs
Read 10 reader submitted comments

This article was published on 03.08.12.

Medical-cannabis patients and providers should expect ongoing persecution in California. However, media backlash due to the nearly half-year-old federal crackdown is affecting at least one prominent drug warrior: United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin Wagner.

Wagner broke the Department of Justice’s near silence with regard to the crackdown during a candid, hour-long talk and question-and-answer session last Tuesday at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon. The $30-a-plate affair took place on the 15th floor of 1201 K Street, and inside, Wagner admitted that the cannabis cleanup was the idea of the four U.S. Attorneys in California, not Washington, D.C.

The four were upset because of what Wagner called “flagrant” marijuana sales in the state. So they declared war on medical marijuana last October, sending out hundreds of forfeiture-warning letters to dispensaries across California. His office is in the process of seizing at least one dispensary in Sacramento, while officials have closed more or less every dispensary in Sacramento County.

He reiterated that they’re not going after patients and caregivers, rather interstate transporters, huge pot farmers and illicit dispensaries grossing tens of thousands of dollars per day in cash.

But the media critique of the war is wearing on Wagner, it seems. He said he counts on good press to create a “deterrent effect” in regard to cases of mortgage fraud, child exploitation, human trafficking and major gang violence. But he’s not getting any of that.

“I think that the members of the press would be forgiven for thinking that marijuana enforcement is all that we do,” he said. “It is far from the most important thing that we do. I have many other higher priorities that have a much bigger impact on public safety. I did not seek the position of U.S. attorney in order to launch a campaign against medical marijuana.”

Wagner was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 and has been with the DOJ since 1992, primarily in the Eastern District. When he and the other three U.S. attorneys took office at the end of 2009, “We found that we were in the middle of an explosion of marijuana cultivation and sales,” he said.

Federal policy didn’t change, rather “what we saw … was an unregulated free-for-all in California in which huge amounts of money was being made selling marijuana … to virtually anybody who wanted to get stoned.”

Wagner said that’s not what California voters approved. Stores marking up pot 200 percent is “not about sick people. That’s about money.”

His reaction has been “quite measured,” he said. Most dispensaries just got warning letters.

“In a few instances, after ample warnings, we’ve brought civil-enforcement actions while reserving criminal prosecution for the most flagrant violators of not only federal law but state law,” he said.

He referred to cases such as one where seven Roseville and Fresno suspects were indicted in February for growing pot with doctor’s recommendations and running a dispensary as a front to traffic it to seven states in the Midwest and South.

Wagner also warned that a season of raids in the Central Valley is coming in 2012, and that mega pot farmers are on notice that if they plant again this year, their land could be seized.

He tried to make the case that pot is just a fraction of what his office does, referring to 61 indictments on mortgage fraud last fiscal year.

During audience questions, activists asked why the federal government says marijuana has “no medical use,” yet the United States has patented its ingredient, cannabidiol, for treating strokes.

“What I know about marijuana as medicine you can probably put in a thimble,” he said.

But health policy is not his job, he said. “My advice to you is to write your congressman.”

Sacramento lawyer Alan Donato asked for guidelines for local dispensaries to avoid federal attention.

“I’m not in a position to be of much comfort,” Wagner said. “You don’t ask the CHP, ‘How many miles over the speed limit can I go before you pull me over?'”

Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, asked if the failed drug war would ever make Wagner say “Enough is enough” to his boss, Attorney General Eric Holder.

“That’s hard to say,” Wagner said. “I totally understand the debate over legalization as opposed to criminalizing narcotics.

“It really depends on what the cost-benefits are. Marijuana is obviously not nearly as destructive as [methamphetamine]. The risks in legalizing marijuana may be significantly less that meth.”

But prescription drugs “are the biggest, worst drug problem in terms of trends … [and] that’s a legal drug.”

SN&R news intern Matthew W. Urner got the biggest attention of the lunch, asking Wagner if he ever tried the second-most-commonly used mind-altering substance in America, and if so, what he thought.

“Uh,” said Wagner, “I’ll say that I went to college.”

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The Real Facts About Marijuana DUI Laws

Submitted by NORML on Mar 21, 2012

By "Radical" Russ Belville

I was recently interviewed by Keegan Hamilton of the Seattle Weekly regarding my research posted here on per se DUID statutes and the effects they had on DUID arrest statistics, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports (see: Thirteen states have marijuana per se DUID statutes).  Keegan’s piece was fair and entitled “Marijuana DUI Law Impact Remains Unclear Despite Analysis of Arrest Statistics”, which is true.  His lede paragraph:

After Nevada enacted a strict “per se” law restricting the amount of THC motorists are allowed to have in their blood, drugged driving arrests increased a whopping 76 percent statewide. But when a similar policy took effect in Ohio, arrests there decreased by a modest 4.8 percent. Such is the conflicting data recently presented by NORML, which further muddies the debate about Washington’s proposal to legalize marijuana and start treating stoned drivers like drunks.

Keegan goes on to fairly report:

Taken with a sizable grain of salt, it makes interesting to look at how changes in arrest patterns were markedly different across the country. In addition the 76 percent spike in Nevada, Indiana drugged driving arrests shot up 33 percent after adopting a per se THC blood limit, while Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Iowa all saw modest single digit increases. Five states had single digit decreases in drugged driving arrests.

But for some people, all they had to see was that first sentence with “drugged driving arrests increased a whopping 76 percent statewide” to fire up the laptop for another round of Frighten The Patients!!! into voting against legalization of marijuana.  This from a blog post entitled “Marijuana DUIs Went Up 76% In Nevada With Per Se Limit”

Numbers Put The Lie To Claims Washington’s I-502 Won’t Harm Patients

Well, if the message you’re sending them is “open season on medical marijuana patients,” then congratulations; mission accomplished!

After Nevada enacted a strict “per se” law restricting the amount of THC motorists are allowed to have in their blood, “drugged driving” arrests increased 76 percent statewide, reports Keegan Hamilton at Seattle Weekly.

What do you bet that a big portion of that 76 percent increase in cannabis DUIs came at the expense of medical marijuana patients — many of whom must medicate at a level such that they will show up over the limit any time they are tested?

As Keegan’s piece (if you bothered to read past the first sentence) pointed out, there is no way of knowing, since these law enforcement agencies haven’t been keeping separate track of marijuana DUIDs vs. other drug DUIDs vs. alcohol DUIDs.  Now here’s some differences between Nevada and Washington, the details the author of this piece is not telling you, facts one can easily glean from reading the entire piece Keegan wrote on Seattle Weekly, or by merely paying close attention to the graphic included on this post. I know facts get in the way of sensationalism and page hits, but let’s indulge:

-- Nevada can bust you per se for 2ng/mL of THC in blood, a lower threshold than I-502′s 5ng/mL
-- Nevada can bust you per se for 10ng/mL of THC in urine, a standard that I-502 does not include and Washington law currently does not have
-- Nevada can bust you per se for 15ng/mL of THC metabolites in urine, a standard that I-502 does not include and Washington law currently does not have
-- Nevada can set up a roadside sobriety checkpoint and sniff around every driver who passes through, which is unconstitutional in Washington.

Also, if the author would care to follow up on the DUID stats in Nevada (which, again, are not the stats of only-marijuana DUIDs; they include alcohol DUIDs as well), he’d find that since medical marijuana passed there in 2000:

2001 = 8,824 Nevada DUIDs
2002 = 5,186 Nevada DUIDs*
2003 = Incomplete Data*
2004 = 9,133 Nevada DUIDs
2005 = 9,746 Nevada DUIDs
2006 = 11,060 Nevada DUIDs
2007 = 12,538 Nevada DUIDs
2008 = 14,445 Nevada DUIDs
2009 = 15,234 Nevada DUIDs
2010 = 13,412 Nevada DUIDs

*Hmm, what’s going on there with 2002 & 2003?  Well, a little digging into the data (something I’m paid to do) and you find that unlike the rest of the years on this list, in 2002, the year before the per se DUID went into place, only 3 law enforcement agencies reported their arrest data to the FBI.  In the other years, there were 31 to 34 of Nevada’s law enforcement agencies reporting.  In 2003, the year the 2ng/mL per se DUID went into effect, Nevada’s data was so incomplete the FBI didn’t even bother reporting it in the Uniform Crime Report.

So, if we’re willing to concede a pattern of an upward trend in DUID arrests 2001-2009, then it’s safe to say 2002′s complete data would be at least 8,824, if not more DUID arrests.  So the actual increase 2002-2004 is more likely around +3.5% or lower, not +76%.  Also, interesting, is it not, that in 2010, DUID arrests dropped almost 12%!  This as applications to Nevada’s program were quadrupling and when new applications out-numbered renewals 2.3-to-1.

Now, I knew all this as I wrote my original piece, but I decided to publish it as-is lest anyone accuse me of ignoring facts that might color the outcome.  Here they are, the facts, number of DUIDs reported to the FBI the year before and the year after a per se DUID went into effect.  Like any researcher, you start with a hypothesis (“Passing a per se DUID will make DUIDs go way up”) and you collect data to support or disprove the hypothesis.  I contend, and Keegen pointed out, that this data is illustrative, but ultimately useless, since there are so many variables at play.  Most notably, none of these states have legalized marijuana.

But since we’re illustrating and bringing up “Nevada is a medical marijuana state…”, let’s take a look at the other significant medical marijuana state in the debate, Michigan.  Now, it’s true, Michigan’s per se passed in 2003 before its medical marijuana law did in 2008, but it isn’t like many of those medical marijuana patients in Michigan weren’t already toking before the law hit the books.  After their per se DUID law passed, DUID’s dropped almost 9% from 50,022 to 45,568.  What about after medical marijuana?

2008 = 35,534 Michigan DUIDs
2009 = 38,941 Michigan DUIDs
2010 = 34,882 Michigan DUIDs

So… there were 23% fewer DUID arrests in 2010 in Michigan than the year after per se DUID hit the books, even after registering 131,483 patients, even as the cops there can bust them per se for ANY ng/mL of THC in blood or urine.  Also of note – for those 2008 & 2009 numbers, cops could also bust tokers for any metabolite in urine as well, until in 2010 their Supreme Court ruled metabolites aren’t drugs.

Finally, the caption on my picture used without my permission that reads “NORML’s “Radical” Russ Belville thinks a “huge rash of DUIs” which might follow passage of I-502′s per se THC blood limits might really be a good thing” is disingenuous and unbecoming of an alleged professional journalist.  There is nothing good about anyone getting a DUI they don’t deserve; my quote clearly states that if such a thing happened, there would be public outrage.  Also, the concluding “Washington patients, how do you feel about becoming part a “huge rash of DUIs?” Radical Russ seems to think you should take one for the cause”, is insulting, especially considering I smoke more pot more often than most Washington patients, though I’m once again not surprised to find the author forgetting about the 90% of Washington’s pot smokers who currently don’t have protection from prosecution for possession of a pound and a half and fifteen mature plants.

I’m also embarrassed about the “Tool of the Town” quip I made once, off-handedly, on my show – that was uncalled for.  It also was so uncreative in comparison to the ad hominem attacks fostered by the author upon many of my readers who had visited his blog to offer comments.  From here on out, I strive to be civil and attack ideas only.  Foremost on my list: the idea that one should pass up the first opportunity one’s state has had in 40+ years of Drug War to finally begin dismantling prohibition because one fears they may smoke pot, drive, get pulled over, demonstrate impairment, fail a sobriety test, get taken for a blood draw, and have it come up >5ng/mL and be convicted of a DUID, which they’d be convicted of now if they went to court with >5ng/mL, unless they had $10-$15,000 to hire a really creative lawyer.

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Marijuana-Like Compound Found Effective Against Late Stage HIV Infection

Marijuana-Like Compound Found Effective Against Late Stage HIV Infection

According to a new study published in the journal PloS ONE, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine discovered that marijuana-like compounds can inhibit the multiplication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in late-stage AIDS by acting on viral receptors.

Medical marijuana is prescribed in diseases which are accompanied by appetite suppression or by sever weight loss also for management of chronic pain, symptoms that are usually present in late stages of AIDS. Through this study, scientists found out that on the surface of immune cells a type of receptors called cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, are triggered by marijuana-like compounds and can inhibit the dissemination of human immunodeficiency virus throughout the body. It is very important for scientists to understand what are the effects of activated CB1 and CB2 receptors, because in the future they hope to be able to develop new drugs that can slow the progression of HIV infection to AIDS.

“We knew that cannabinoid drugs like marijuana can have a therapeutic effect in AIDS patients, but did not understand how they influence the spread of the virus itself. We wanted to explore cannabinoid receptors as a target for pharmaceutical interventions that treat the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent further progression of the disease without the undesirable side effects of medical marijuana.”, leader of the study said.

When it enters the body, the HIV virus infects T helper lymphocytes (cells that are expressing CD4 receptor), making them ineffective in fighting infection. In order to disseminate, human immunodeficiency virus needs that inactive T helper lymphocytes to be activated by the immune system. In late-stages of AIDS, in viral genome mutations are produced in order to penetrate inactive T helper lymphocytes, action that is mediated by a signaling receptor called CXCR4. By using marijuana-like chemicals, cannabinoid receptor agonists which are able to activate CB2 receptors, researchers observed that activated CB2 receptor can block CXCR4 receptor, thus suppressing the spread of viral infection to inactive T helper lymphocytes.

By triggering CB1 receptors it was observed that marijuana-like compounds have the same effects as marijuana, causing unwanted side effects. Scientists want to develop marijuana-like compounds that are only triggering CB2 receptors, because this CB2 agonist reduce the infection of inactive T helper cells.

“Developing a drug that triggers only CB2 as an adjunctive treatment to standard antiviral medication may help alleviate the symptoms of late-stage AIDS and prevent the virus from spreading,” researchers added.

It has been observed that HIV infects inactive T helper lymphocytes by using CXCR4 receptor only in advanced stages of AIDS, so marijuana-like compounds seem to be effective only in advanced stages of the disease.

Due to the fact that the results of this study were very promising in vitro, researchers want to develop a lab mouse model with late-stage of AIDS to test the effectiveness of marijuana-like compounds that are triggering CB2 receptors in vivo.

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Marijuana Smuggler Who Served 30 Years in Prison Wants to Convince Florida Old Folks to Support Medical Marijuana

 

 

Lucy Steigerwald | March 16, 2012

Robert Platshorn is against the war on drugs; so much so that he spent 5k on two pro-pot billboards. The 69-year-old director of Florida National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) did so as part of "The Silver Tour," which is a campaign to convince senior citizens in South Florida that medical marijuana is a good thing.

Platshorn is a rare senior citizen indeed. Seniors (Florida has lots of 'em!) are credited as the reason for the failure of California's Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative. And in in general, older populations do frown on legalization. Gallup in 2011 charted 39 percent of folks 65 and older as in support of legalization of marijuana; compare that to the 62 percent support from those aged 18-29. The thing about Platshorn, though, is that he spent much of his time in those younger, more pro-pot demographics in prison. In 2008, Platshorn finished out a 30-year term for marijuana smuggling as part of the "Black Tuna Gang."

As part of the Silver Tour, Platshorn put up two billboards in support of medical marijuana, one of which is to the right. They will run for a month.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Down the road apiece, just after a billboard advertising a service for clogged drains, stands the second big sign. "Reschedule Medical Marijuana" it reads. Below it is a quote from former administrative Judge Francis L. Young's ruling about pot in a 1988 case: "One of the Safest Therapeutically Active Substances Known to Man."

The billboards urge viewers — some 54,500 cars pass that section of Sample Road daily, according to the state Department of Transportation — to learn more at The Silver Tour, the billboards' sponsor.

Platshorn surely is not the most sympathetic face of the pro-legalization movement, at least not to those on the fence about the issue, but it's cool that he's now taking the slow and sneaky path to convince those most skeptical.

Here's a sampling of a Miami Herald article written on the occasion of the former drug-smuggler's release from jail. The implication seems to be that weed trafficking was a gentleman's game in the 1970s. He was, after all, non-violent:

This was just business, and good business wasn't violent, not in the mid-Seventies, when Platshorn ran his transcontinental racket. Marijuana suppliers were family-run enterprises mediated by political figures and local law enforcement intent on keeping a lid on the trade while lining their own pockets. And he trusted his partners. They were his stoner buddies, and he knew they'd come through for him.

"It was a hippie era," Plat­shorn says. "You tell a guy you'll pay him $1 million, you pay him."

Those were the years before the cocaine blizzard swallowed South Florida, and Platshorn was just an entrepreneurial pothead leading the 007 existence he'd always dreamed of — and smoking some really good weed while he was at it.

Back in Florida, he had a handful of yachts at his disposal. From a posh suite at theFontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, he operated an auto auction, a marina club, and a barbershop. He used canal-front stash houses and wore stylish plaid leisure suits with broad collars as sharp as spearheads....

Platshorn and friends would be accused of smuggling, or at least attempting to smuggle, 500 tons of marijuana into the United States during the mid- to late Seventies. When the gang was busted in September 1978, the DEA proclaimed it the most sophisticated drug ring it had ever encountered.

Platshorn's 1980 conviction was a major coup for drug enforcement agencies, the first join FBI/DEA enterprise. In all, eight of the gang's central members were convicted in two federal trials, but the leaders — Platshorn and Robert Meinster — would pay the stiffest price: prison sentences totaling 108 years between them.

The rest here.

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Wisconsin patients go West for medical marijuana approvals Continue reading on Examiner.com Wisconsin patients go West for medical marijuana approvals

MADISON - Oregon's largest newspaper, the Oregonian, published an article on Feb. 20, 2012, that reported on the increasing number of out of state patients registering for Oregon's medical marijuana program, the only state medical cannabis program that accepts out-of-staters, "Hundreds of out-of-staters find comfort in obtaining Oregon medical marijuana cards."

I was interviewed for the article, which included a photo of me in my apartment posing next to a highway map of Oregon mounted on a door with a copy of my Oregon registration above.

The article included some quotes that really cut to the root of why I would travel to another state each year to gain that state's approval as a medical cannabis patient:

"Storck, the medical marijuana activist in Wisconsin, which doesn't have a medical marijuana program, carries his Oregon card with him wherever he goes even though it isn't likely to offer him much legal protection.

"To be able to have at least one state say, 'Yes, we accept that you are a patient,' means so much to me," he said. "It was worth the trip to be recognized as a patient. I have been fighting my whole entire adult life for my medicine. My own home state, where I was born, won't recognize that."

A map of Oregon hangs in his home, a reminder that his marijuana use is legal here.

"I am really thankful to Oregon," Storck said. "I am legal in every inch of that state and that is a beautiful thought for me." -- "Hundreds of out-of-staters find comfort in obtaining Oregon medical marijuana cards," Oregonian, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Wisconsin patients go West for medical marijuana approvals - Madison norml | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/norml-in-madison/wisconsin-patients-go-west-for-medical-marijuana-approvals?CID=obinsite#ixzz1pQowwjyx

Marijuana: Willie Nelson endorses Oregon Cannabis Tax Act

Country music star and marijuana enthusiast Willie Nelson is endorsing the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2012. The superstar appears in a recently released ad throwing his support behind the initiative to end the prohibition on marijuana and restore the production of hemp in Oregon.

The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 is a citizen’s initiative campaign to regulate marijuana and restore hemp. Just as ending alcohol prohibition and regulating that market has protected society, regulating marijuana will help wipe out crime. Restoring hemp, made from the seeds and stems of the marijuana plant for fuel, fiber and food, will put Oregon on the cutting edge of exciting new sustainable green industries and create untold multitudes of new jobs.

Advertisement

The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 (OCTA 2012) is gathering signatures to qualify for the November general election ballot. If passed, the legislation would:

• Regulate the legal sale of marijuana to adults through state-licensed stores
• Allow adults to grow their own marijuana.
• License Oregon farmers to grow marijuana for state-licensed stores.
• Allow unlicensed Oregon farmers to grow cannabis hemp for fuel, fiber and food.
• Raise an estimated $140 million a year by taxing commercial cannabis sales to adults 21 years of age.
• Save an estimated $61.5 million as law enforcement, corrections and judicial costs.
• Increase public safety.
• Restore respect for the law.
• Create environmentally sustainable jobs.

The following is the text of the OCTA 2012 advertisement by Willie Nelson:

“Hi, I'm Willie Nelson. I urge you to support the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act to regulate marijuana and restore industrial hemp. This initiative will end adult marijuana prohibition and let our criminal justice officers focus limited resources on real criminals, not on marijuana users like me. OCTA will also allow farmers to grow hemp for fuel, fiber & food, to create jobs and help our economy. Please support OCTA. Thank you!”

By all accounts, the prohibition on marijuana is a failure. Marijuana prohibition does not work: prohibition is a historical and contemporary failure. It is time to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. It is time to free the weed.

For more information about OCTA 2012, visit the website, sign a petition, make a difference.

For more political news, information, and humor, check out Left Coast Lucy on Facebook.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Marijuana: Willie Nelson endorses Oregon Cannabis Tax Act - Portland Progressive | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/progressive-in-portland/marijuana-willie-nelson-endorses-oregon-cannabis-tax-act#ixzz1pQo8nmGH

Phototron Announces Personal Indoor Marijuana Growing for Medical Use Not the Target of Feds

US Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin Wagner Speaks in Sacramento and Says He's Not Going after Medical Marijuana Patients and Caregivers

GARDENA, Calif., Mar 16, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Phototron Holdings, Inc. PHOT -16.67% (otcqb:PHOT), the hydroponic growing systems company behind the "grow your own" revolution, believes the continued crackdown, resulting in the closure of hundreds of dispensaries and seizures of large-scale cannabis grow operations, is making personal indoor growing systems more attractive to medical marijuana patients.

Speaking at a recent press luncheon in Sacramento, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin Wagner said he's not going after medical marijuana patients and caregivers, but he is cracking down on interstate transporters, huge pot farmers and illicit dispensaries grossing tens of thousands of dollars per day. He also issues a warning to large-scale pot farmers that a season of raids in the Central Valley is coming in 2012.

"Medical marijuana patients have fewer options for obtaining their medication safely, and in many places are faced with having to travel long distances or get untested medication off the street," said Craig Ellins, Phototron's CEO. "So patients are increasingly growing their own medication and Phototron's systems are perfect for personal use."

About Phototron Holdings, Inc. Phototron Holdings, Inc. PHOT -16.67% (otcqb:PHOT) designs and manufactures cutting-edge indoor mini-greenhouses capable of year-round growth of herbs, vegetables, flowers, fruits and medicines, better, stronger and faster than traditional farming methods. The Phototron Hydroponic Indoor Grow System, commonly called grow boxes, is built upon decades of research on the optimal temperature, light, water and nutrient needs of plants. The Phototron System uses proprietary lighting that mimics the sun's rays to grow nutrient-rich, pesticide-free, eco-friendly crops faster and in more bountiful quantities than those of traditional gardening methods, resulting in fruits and vegetables of superior taste and quality.

Phototron systems and accessories are available for purchase from the company's website at: www.phototron.com

For comprehensive investor relations material, including fact sheets, presentations conference calls and video, please follow the appropriate link: Investor Presentation, Investor Portal and Investor Fact Sheet.

Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's "safe harbor" provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause Phototron's actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated, including the risk factors identified in Phototron's filings with the SEC.

SOURCE: Phototron Holdings, Inc.

        
        Phototron Contact: 
        Phototron Holdings, Inc. 
        Todd Denkin 
        Toll-free: 800-651-2837 
        sales@phototron.com 
        or 
        Financial Communications: 
        Trilogy Capital Partners, Inc. 
        Darren Minton, President 
        Toll-free: 800-592-6067 
        info@trilogy-capital.com
        

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Family Guy: Bag of Weed

Cannabis Science, Inc. Begins Pre-Production of Groundbreaking Cannabis Television Documentary

press release

March 13, 2012, 11:29 a.m. EDT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Mar 13, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cannabis Science, Inc. CBIS -15.68% , a pioneering U.S. biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis (marijuana) products, is excited to be embarking on a medical marijuana documentary project. Pre-production of this groundbreaking educational film is currently underway.

Many documentaries about marijuana have been made, typically focusing on getting high or the medicinal effects and benefits. Cannabis Science will be first documentary to focus on the science behind medicinal cannabis, including untangling the history of marijuana's reputation, the improvement it can bring to people's daily lives, and what breakthroughs could be on the horizon for this emerging industry.

Modern science supports a long list of illnesses that cannabis can treat: Multiple Sclerosis, Cancer, Arthritis, HIV/Aids, Asthma, Alzheimer's Disease, Anti-aging, Auto Immune Disease, brain trauma (closed head injury), Crohn's Disease, chronic pain management, Diabetes, digestive illnesses, Gastro Intestinal Reflux Disease (GERD), high blood pressure, Glaucoma, Influenza, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Tourette Syndrome, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), etc. The science gives a foundation for understanding the broad spectrum of benefits that can be achieved by increasing the cannabinoid activity in people suffering from so many illnesses.

Part of the science that will be explored are the various forms marijuana can take as a medication, including edibles, pills, liquids, and strips that dissolve on the tongue. The documentary will investigate how these forms are processed in the body and can reverse or minimized the effects of disease. Cannabis Science is first and foremost a "patient orientated company." Therefore, patients will be interviewed, giving the audience a glimpse at the real, positive benefits the medicine provides for those with chronic illness, as opposed to the prevailing and false belief that marijuana is addictive and even harmful.

Other documentaries showcase marijuana culture, likening it to the popular view of the 1960s and marijuana use running rampant among the hippie population. Cannabis Science's documentary, however, will show cannabis in a positive light and demonstrate that what has been, and is, taught by prohibitionists is false, and ignores modern science, history, and the voice of patients. The documentary will also focus on the co-founders of Cannabis Science, how the company is working to target critical illnesses, conducting much needed research, and is developing cannabis-based medications. The audience will hear the views of doctors who have discovered for themselves through treating patients the amazing benefits that cannabis based medicines can provide for their patients.

While the main focus of the documentary is not political, learning the truth about the science of cannabinoids will educate the public on the damage caused by prohibition. Patients whose circumstances could have drastically improved and who could have reduced the severity of their illnesses much earlier from medical marijuana will be interviewed. The film will explore the reasons behind the delay in world governments opening up to the idea that medical marijuana is a beneficial reality.

About Cannabis Science, Inc.

Cannabis Science, Inc. is at the forefront of pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana research and development. The second formulations will address the needs of patients choosing to use concentrated cannabis extracts to treat their ailments. Eventually, all Americans will have access to a safe and effective FDA approved medicine regardless of which state they live in. To maintain that marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug with no medical value is scientifically absurd. Cannabis medicines, with no effective lethal dose, are far safer than aspirin, acetaminophen, and most other OTC drugs that kill thousands of Americans every year.

The Company works with world authorities on phytocannabinoid science targeting critical illnesses, and adheres to scientific methodologies to develop, produce and commercialize phytocannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products. In sum, we are dedicated to the creation of cannabis-based medicines, both with and without psychoactive properties, to treat disease and the symptoms of disease, as well as for general health maintenance.

Forward Looking Statements

This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing works such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc. does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Cannabis Science, Inc.

        
        Cannabis Science Inc. 
        Dr. Robert J. Melamede, 1-888-889-0888 
        President & CEO 
        info@cannabisscience.com 
 
www.cannabisscience.com            or 
        Robert Kane, 1-561-234-6929 
        Investor Relations Management 
        rkane@cannabisscience.com 
        info@cannabisscience.com 
 
www.cannabisscience.com            


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Medical Marijuana Bill Stalled in Committee

Medical Marijuana Bill Stalled in Committee

3/11/2012 10:23 AM EDT Tags: drugs, assembly, sb129, marijuana

A long awaited and much needed medical marijuana bill has finally been filed in the Kentucky Assembly. State Senate Bill 129, the Gatewood Galbraith Memorial Medical Marijuana Act was filed on January 31, 2012 by Senator Perry Clark of Louisville. The bill is simply written. It reschedules marijuana in Kentucky from Schedule I dangerous and having no medical value, to Schedule II dangerous but having medical value. This allows physicians to prescribe the drug for qualifying conditions to be determined by the doctor. The bill allows for cultivation of 5 marijuana plants and possession of up to 5 ounces per month. The regulation of distribution is left up to the Pharmacy Board.

The bill caught activists and patients completely off guard. Activists have been writing and petitioning the Assembly for years to get this bill and they immediately sprang into action. They have been organizing over the internet and are pressing their own legislators and all the members of the Assembly individually and as a group to support and pass this legislation. Senator Kathy Stein of Lexington immediately signed on as co-sponsor and the bill has been sent to the Senate Judicial Committee where it has run into a bit of trouble. The Committee Chair, Senator Tom Jensen has so far refused to bring the measure up in committee. Without his calling up the bill it could be dead for this year. Senator Jensen has not been forthcoming with his reasons for holding up the bill. He could be thinking that the bill will die in committee and disappear. I’m afraid that is not going to happen. Now that a bill has finally been filed legislators can expect to see it from here on out till it becomes law. If a legislator wanted to get rid of this bill so he won’t have to deal with it, it might behoove him to get it over with rather than drag it out for another year or years, as could be the case.

After listening to Drug War propaganda for their entire lives I imagine there is some trepidation among legislators regarding their support for marijuana law reform but it is unfounded. There as yet has not been any type of voter backlash directed at legislators. With an approval rating of 81% in nationwide polls, medical marijuana legislation should not be controversial and patients should not have to wait another year to access this effective medicine.

The course of action for supporters of SB129 will be for them to prevail upon Senator Jensen to end his obstructionism and bring the bill up and pass it favorably out of committee. There can be no moral justification for the Assembly to not get this bill passed this year. For the members of the Assembly to ignore the suffering of our sick and disabled citizens and to make them suffer unnecessarily is appalling and a black mark against what should be a concerned and caring leadership.

Whatever the reason for the Judicial Committee not taking up SB129, the lack of action is sending a message to the citizens that their leaders are indifferent to their suffering. The Assembly may be able to wait another year , but those of our citizens with life threatening conditions might not be around when the Assembly finally gets to it.

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DEFEND YOUR CONSTITUTION BEFORE IT IS TOO WEAK TO DEFEND YOU!

Teen tobacco 'epidemic' shocks surgeon general By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

Many of America's teens smoke cigarettes as well as use smokeless tobacco, and the tobacco industry's marketing fuels their addiction, says the first U.S. surgeon general's report on youth tobacco use since 1994.

"The numbers are really shocking," Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said in an interview, citing data in today's report that nearly one in four high school seniors and one in three young adults under age 26 smoke despite a half-century of federal warnings about tobacco.

"It's a problem we have to solve," Benjamin said, calling it a "pediatric epidemic" in need of greater public action. She said one of every three young smokers will quit and one of the others will die from tobacco-related causes. She said adolescents, because their bodies are developing, are more susceptible than adults to nicotine's addictiveness and tobacco's damage to hearts and lungs.

The voluminous report finds that progress in reducing youth cigarette smoking — quite dramatic from 1997 to 2003 — has slowed in recent years. It says more high school students are using smokeless tobacco and many (at least half of white and Hispanic male tobacco users and nearly half of Hispanic female users) both smoke and chew tobacco.

The report concludes that the tobacco industry's $10 billion in annual marketing, some of it in promotions to reduce prices, encourages young people to begin and continue their tobacco use.

"Tobacco marketing is a big cause of the problem," said Danny McGoldrick of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, citing his group's report this week on the industry's partnerships with convenience stores to prominently advertise and display tobacco products.

Another factor, McGoldrick said, is the industry's successful opposition to state tobacco tax increases, which the report credits as an effective way to fight smoking.

"There's already quite a (tax) burden on adult smokers," said Ken Garcia of Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company. He says about half the price of a pack of cigarettes is state and federal taxes, and states have not used much of the industry funds they've received via a national settlement in 1998 to curb teen use of tobacco.

"We're talking billions," Garcia said, adding that Philip Morris alone has paid $55 billion to states as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998.

"We market our products to adults," Garcia said.

Philip Morris relies on direct mail, websites that require age verification and the nation's retailers, which are not allowed to sell tobacco products to youths under age 18, he said.

"They say they don't market to youth, but this group is influenced by it (marketing)," the surgeon general said, noting that teens are exposed to such ads.

Benjamin said she's not taking on Big Tobacco or the states but encouraging a renewed emphasis on anti-tobacco efforts that work, including price hikes, smoke-free laws and cessation programs. She said, "My goal is to make our next generation smoke-free."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Medical marijuana backers to lobby California lawmakers rather than push for ballot initiative By Peter Hecht, McClatchy Newspapers

Medical marijuana backers to lobby California lawmakers rather than push for ballot initiative

By Peter Hecht, McClatchy Newspapers

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Medical marijuana advocates are dropping efforts to qualify a November ballot initiative to regulate California's dispensary industry and instead plan a media campaign to lobby the Legislature to tackle the issue.

Cannabis industry groups including dispensaries, medical marijuana growers and a powerful union drafted the proposed measure in the face of an ongoing federal crackdown on California's $1.5 billion medicinal pot trade.

But a top campaign director said initiative planners instead have decided to run television and radio ads to urge lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown to enact rules governing how medical marijuana outlets operate in the state.

"We're not doing the initiative. We're pulling the plug on it," said Dan Rush, director of the Medical Cannabis and Hemp Division for the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has been organizing California pot workers for the past two years.

Rush said Thursday that he had secured $1.2 million in pledges, mostly from the dispensary industry, toward $2 million to gather signatures for a November initiative.

But with time running out and other major funders undecided over whether to pursue a ballot or legislative strategy, Rush said initiative backers decided to take their case to the Capitol instead. He said the money pledged to date will be used for "a full-on media campaign," including lobbying and likely television and radio spots this summer.

Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced legislation seeking to accomplish many aims of the ballot initiative, the proposed Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act.

Ammiano's Assembly Bill 2312 would create a Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement under the state Department of Consumer Affairs to approve or deny permits for dispensaries and oversee medical marijuana cultivation, transportation, distribution and sales.

The Ammiano bill also includes a provision in the proposed initiative to mandate that cities and counties permit one dispensary for every 50,000 residents unless local voters approve local ordinances to ban them.

But the Ammiano bill scraps plans for a 2.5 percent statewide tax on medical marijuana businesses in favor of provisions allowing local governments to impose a one-quarter percent to 2 percent tax on medicinal pot transactions.

"They were not going to get a tax passed in Sacramento," said Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Even a regulatory measure for marijuana could prove a tough sell to lawmakers, many of whom are skittish about being portrayed as pro-dispensary.

The proposed ballot initiative came together after California's four U.S. attorneys announced charges Oct. 7 against targeted dispensaries, growers and financial speculators in the medical marijuana market and threatened pot business landlords with seizures of properties.

Backers of the initiative were up against a June deadline to gather a half-million valid voter signatures to qualify the measure.

"I always felt it was an uphill battle because we started so late," Gieringer said.

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Nearly 11,500 Kentuckians with Alzheimer’s live Alone

KENTUCKY (3/8/12) - Advance planning for future legal, financial and long-term care needs is critical for the estimated one in seven Americans − or 11,430 Kentuckians − diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and who still live alone, up to half of them without an identifiable caregiver, according to the Alzheimer’s Association® 2012 Facts and Figures Report, released today.
“Alzheimer’s and other dementias take our loved ones through unfamiliar territory, and advance planning in the early stages of the disease allow them to build a care team, make financial plans and prepare for future safety concerns, while they are still cognitively able to do so,” said Teri Shirk, president and CEO of the Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, which offers a variety of resources for individuals with Alzheimer’s as well as their family members and other caregivers.
States need to plan ahead as well: Today’s report projects a 500 percent increase in combined state Medicare and Medicaid spending by 2050 due to the expanding population of Alzheimer’s patients. According to the report, which found that someone in America develops Alzheimer’s every 68 seconds, as many as 6.7 million Americans will be living with the disease by 2025, including 97,000 Kentucky residents (a 31 percent increase over 2000, when 74,000 Kentuckians had Alzheimer’s). Nearly 30 percent of those with Alzheimer’s are on Medicare and Medicaid, compared to just 11 percent of those without dementia.
“Caring for people with Alzheimer’s will cost the United States an estimated $200 billion in 2012, an amount that already threatens to overwhelm federal and state budgets,” Shirk said. “Absent intervention, those costs will grow to $1.1 trillion by mid-century. Then there are the out-of-pocket costs to family caregivers, which are projected to balloon 400 percent by 2050. We simply must have a National Alzheimer’s Plan in place that establishes the resources we need to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s, and to ensure much-needed support for those with Alzheimer’s and their families.” A draft National Alzheimer’s Plan was announced February 22, and comments currently are being sought.
Other Kentucky-related statistics included in today’s report:
• The new report reveals there are 15.2 million friends and family members providing care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, including 264,658 caregivers in Kentucky. In 2011, these caregivers provided $210 billion worth of unpaid care nationally; and $3.65 billion in Kentucky (in fact, Kentucky was one of 39 states in which unpaid caregivers provided care valued at more than $1 billion).
• The physical and emotional impact on Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers is estimated to result in nearly $9 billion in increased health care costs in the United States, including $144.6 million for caregivers in Kentucky.
• About 51,000 residents of Kentucky nursing homes in 2009 had cognitive impairments.
Other national statistics in the Alzheimer’s Association® 2012 Facts and Figures report:
• According to the Alzheimer’s Association report, there are 5.4 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 5.2 million people age 65 or older and 200,000 people under the age of 65. And 45 percent of adults 85 and older have Alzheimer’s.
• Medicare payments for an older person with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are nearly three times higher, while Medicaid payments are 19 times higher than for seniors without Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
• While only 4 percent of the general population will be admitted to a nursing home by age 80, for people with Alzheimer’s, 75 percent will be admitted to a nursing home by age 80, posing significant economic challenges to state Medicaid budgets.
• Most people survive an average of four to eight years after an Alzheimer’s or dementia diagnosis, but some can live as long as 20 years with the disease.
• Of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, 61 percent rated their emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high.
Alzheimer’s Association’s Facts and Figures
The Alzheimer’s Association’s Facts and Figures report is a comprehensive compilation of national statistics and information on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The report conveys the impact of Alzheimer’s on individuals, families, government, and the nation’s healthcare system. Since its 2007 inaugural release, the report has become the most cited source covering the broad spectrum of Alzheimer’s issues. The Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report is an official publication of the Alzheimer’s Association®.
SurfKY News
Information provided by Danielle Waller

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Prevalence of Marijuana Use by Age

Marijuana for obesity?

 

Have you always dreamt of eating anything you wanted but still losing weight? According to the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, there may soon be a pill that will allow you to stuff your face with all the cake or bacon you can get your hards on without gaining a pound. The Week Magazine reported on Cell Metabolism's discovery:

"...certain brain chemicals with characteristics similar to marijuana might play a key factor in helping you shed pounds without any exercise...It's an endocannabinoid compound called 2-AG. Endocannabinoids, as the name might suggest, share a similar molecular structure to the active ingredients in cannabis. Typically, high levels of 2-AG are found in the brains of mammals, and previous studies suggested that these compounds may make the body crave fat. Scientists think endocannabinoids play a key role in regulating the body's metabolism, or the energy it makes from food."

Researchers tested the theory on mice by altering the brain cells in mice to have low levels of 2-AG. The altered mice did not gain weight despite a a high-fat diet.

It's expected to take close to a decade until the pill, which will lower the levels of 2-AG in humans, is made and the FDA approves it, but if this actually works, we can all really spend the rest of our lives sitting on our couches just like we always wanted. Here's to hoping. It sounds glorious.

[Photo via]

Filed under: Cell Magazine, Diets, marijuana diet pill, The Week Magazine

To contact the author of this post, email guestofaguest@gmail.com

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Marijuana for obesity?

 

Have you always dreamt of eating anything you wanted but still losing weight? According to the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, there may soon be a pill that will allow you to stuff your face with all the cake or bacon you can get your hards on without gaining a pound. The Week Magazine reported on Cell Metabolism's discovery:

"...certain brain chemicals with characteristics similar to marijuana might play a key factor in helping you shed pounds without any exercise...It's an endocannabinoid compound called 2-AG. Endocannabinoids, as the name might suggest, share a similar molecular structure to the active ingredients in cannabis. Typically, high levels of 2-AG are found in the brains of mammals, and previous studies suggested that these compounds may make the body crave fat. Scientists think endocannabinoids play a key role in regulating the body's metabolism, or the energy it makes from food."

Researchers tested the theory on mice by altering the brain cells in mice to have low levels of 2-AG. The altered mice did not gain weight despite a a high-fat diet.

It's expected to take close to a decade until the pill, which will lower the levels of 2-AG in humans, is made and the FDA approves it, but if this actually works, we can all really spend the rest of our lives sitting on our couches just like we always wanted. Here's to hoping. It sounds glorious.

[Photo via]

Filed under: Cell Magazine, Diets, marijuana diet pill, The Week Magazine

To contact the author of this post, email guestofaguest@gmail.com

CONTINUE READING…

Wait Until 2014: Marijuana Legalization All But Dead in California

By Chris Roberts Fri., Mar. 9 2012 at 5:00 AM

 

Union Pulls Plug on Medical Reform, Other Ballot Measures Starved For Cash; Legislature, Ammiano Last Hope for Reform Now

Nobody likes to celebrate with a loss, but for the medical marijuana movement, 2010 and the historic defeat of semi-legalization measure Proposition 19 already look like the good old days.
Feast turned to famine quickly: Multiple marijuana legalization and medical marijuana reform ballot initiatives vied this year and last for a spot on voters' ballots in November. But United Food and Commercial Workers and Americans for Safe Access withdrew on Thursday their Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act, and leading proponents of legalization initiative Regulate Marijuana Like Wine are already looking ahead to 2014.
But with the federal Justice Department's crackdown on California cannabis in full swing, that may be too long to wait, leaving all eyes now on an outspoken lawmaker from San Francisco to save cannabis in California.
Tom Ammiano, you're their only hope.

Oakland union organizer Dan Rush, chief of the Medical Cannabis and Hemp division of UFCW's national chapter, told the Sacramento Bee on Thursday afternoon that the union was "pulling the plug" on the MMCRT, which would have created a state-level bureaucracy to oversee and regulate the state's medical marijuana industry not unlike what Alcoholic Beverage Control does for liquor.
Cash was the main reason, ASA executive director Stephanie Sherer told SF Weekly on Thursday evening: with about six weeks left before signatures were due in Sacramento -- initiatives need over 500,000 valid signatures to qualify; campaigns usually submit 750,000 or more by the April 20 deadline -- the campaign had $1.25 million of the $2 million needed just to pay signature-gathering companies to qualify.
More cash would be needed to run a campaign, so the call was made to focus on Sacramento, said Sherer, who added that the campaign started late and nonetheless "achieved [its] dream: to get something in the Legislature."
"We're not dropping anything," said Sherer, who said the money will be spent on a "public awareness campaign" to sway lawmakers' minds. This may work now when it did not before: leery lawmakers in Sacramento wanted proof that the often divisive and divided medical marijuana movement was not "a mile wide and an inch deep," she said. "Well, we're not."
ASA and UFCW raised the cash in increments of $500 to $10,000 from medical marijuana dispensaries, dispensary organization, patients, advocates, and pot growers big and small, she told SF Weekly (financial disclosure forms have yet to be filed with the Secretary of State).
It's now up to the Legislature and Ammiano, who introduced a bill very similar in language to the UFCW-ASA effort. It has yet to be called for a hearing in committee. A spokesman for Ammiano was not immediately available for comment late Thursday.
Ammiano will need Republican cosponsors as well as support from his Democratic colleagues in order to make any headway.
Meanwhile, the three legalization measures are still starving for billionaires. A few weeks ago in LA, proponents for Repeal Cannabis Prohibition, Regulate Marijuana Like Wine, and the California Cannabis and Hemp Health Initiative issued a "statement of unity" that included a clarion call to rich people. All ballot initiatives were in desperate need of cash; they remain so today.
In 2010, recall, Richard Lee of Oaksterdam University spent millions of his own money to put Proposition 19 on the ballot. The initiative won more votes than Meg Whitman, but was still defeated on the ballot, 46.2 percent for to 53.8 percent opposed. 
Once on the ballot, he received big money contributions from George Soros, Peter Thiel, and other progressive-minded angel investors; those rich pot-loving folk have yet to pony up this year, and it now appears they won't.
Though "anything can still happen," said Steve Kubby, one of the proponents for Regulate Marijuana Like Wine. "I'm all about miracles."
And he might need one. RMLW has $54,000 in the bank and about 200,000 signatures, said Kubby, an "eyeball estimate, mind you" he gave via telephone after looking at a stack of papers in his South Lake Tahoe home. "We have to do an audit, but I can tell you we have a pile."
The challenge now is to figure out how to get a voter initiative on the ballot and how to win a campaign without a billionaires' largess. That has not been done: it was Soros who bankrolled Proposition 215 in 1996.
"I do not understand how a person with billions who enjoys cannabis even on occasion, and who sympathizes with the damages of cannabis prohibition on our society, would not take a shot at real reform for 2012 in the nation's most populous state," said East Bay-based organizer and activist Mickey Martin, who used to head up edibles collective Tainted, Inc. before a federal bust. "For a few million bucks we could have cannabis freedom for 12% of America in one effort. Someone needs to write that check."
Martin pointed to 2016, a presidential cycle, as the more likely "next time around" for cannabis legalization or reform. Kubby pointed forward to 2014, when fundraising and signature-gathering can be done in the cheaper offseason.
"We'll raise the money ourselves, between now and 2014," he said. "I can tell you with certainty, if we don't get onto the 2012 ballot, this will definitely be on the 2014 ballot."
So keep the faith, marijuana users. And try to befriend some billionaires while you're at it.
Follow us on Twitter at @chroberts_yeah, @TheSnitchSF, and @SFWeekly

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House votes 162-161 to decriminalize marijuana

 

 

GARRETT BRNGER,Associated Press

Friday, March 9, 2012

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire House narrowly passed a bill to decriminalize a person's first two marijuana possessions under one-half ounce.
Republican Speaker Bill O'Brien abstained from voting, allowing the bill to squeak by Thursday with a 162-161 vote. The House voted overwhelmingly 228-89 to kill a second bill to legalize and regulate the drug.
Under the decriminalization bill, first offenses would be violations punishable by a $250 fine. The second would be $500. Subsequent offenses would be misdemeanors subject to a year of jail time and a $1,000 fine. Offenders under 21 could also be ordered to take a drug awareness program.
All offenses are currently misdemeanors punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and a year in jail.
The bill now goes to the Senate. If it passes, Gov. John Lynch has promised to veto the measure.
"Marijuana is a controlled drug that remains illegal under federal law. New Hampshire parents are working to keep their kids away from marijuana and other drugs. We should not make the jobs of parents - or law enforcement - harder by sending a false message that some marijuana use is acceptable," Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said after the vote.
In the criminal justice committee's report to the House, Rep. Kyle Tasker, a Nottingham Republican who co-sponsored the bill, called it "a measured and calculated reduction in penalties." Surrounding states have tried similar laws with good results, he wrote in the report.
According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, 14 other states have decriminalized marijuana, including Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut.
Rep. Stephen Shurtleff, a former U.S. marshal, said he supported decriminalization but felt a half-ounce was too much. That amount of marijuana would be equivalent to 20-30 joints, he said.
"When someone is carrying around 20-30 joints they've crossed the line into distribution," said the Penacook Democrat.
Lynch has opposed such bills in the past. In 2009 he vetoed a bill to establish three medical marijuana dispensaries that would have distributed 2 ounces every 10 days to severely ill patients whose doctors approved the drug's use. Lynch cited concerns over cultivation and proliferation beyond the dispensaries as reasons for his opposition.
He also promised to veto another medical marijuana bill last year and a 2010 bill that would have decriminalized possession or transportation of less than one-quarter ounce of the drug. The Senate killed both before they reached his desk.

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O'Malley would veto medical marijuana bill

 

 

Gov. has concerns over federal law

By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun

10:45 a.m. EST, March 9, 2012

Gov. Martin O'Malley likely would veto any legislation to legalize medical marijuana because of concerns over whether it would stand up to federal scrutiny, his spokeswoman said Thursday.

His decision comes as states with programs similar to what Maryland is considering have come under fire from federal prosecutors and were forced to suspend all or parts of their programs. His decision could once again kill an effort that has stalled in the General Assembly for years.

Maryland legislators are to begin debating three medical marijuana bills in House of Delegates committee hearings today.

"We have some serious concerns about liability," said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "Those concerns were raised by U.S. attorneys across the country. Based on those concerns, it is probably likely we would veto any legislation."

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire recently vetoed parts of legislation in that state after U.S. attorneys said state employees would not be immune to liability for violating the federal Controlled Substances Act, which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug.

In Delaware, Gov. Jack Markell halted implementation of a program that would have distributed medical marijuana through nonprofit centers. He did this after the U.S. attorney there said state workers could be held liable and that possession and distribution of drugs was illegal under federal law even if allowed by a state.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler's office also expressed concerns about the legality of medical marijuana in a letter to Baltimore County Del. Dan K. Morhaim, the lead sponsor for two of Maryland's bills. Morhaim had asked whether the bills could lead to federal criminal liability.

"The federal law prohibits use and possession of marijuana, as well as distribution and manufacture, without regard to whether the marijuana is ultimately used to treat a medical condition," wrote Assistant Attorney General Kathryn M. Rowe.

Maryland Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein is expected to testify today that his agency cannot support any of the bills, including one that he previously endorsed, according to a draft of his testimony.

"It is hard to imagine putting state employees in a position where they would face criminal liability," Sharfstein said in a phone interview Thursday.

Sharfstein killed efforts to legalize medical marijuana last year when he cited a lack of scientific consensus about the benefits of marijuana and concerns about regulating a program. Instead, the state agreed create a commission to study how to develop and implement a plan to distribute medical marijuana. The General Assembly did amend state law to allow sick people found with less than 1 ounce of the drug to argue medical necessity as a defense.

This year, lawmakers will consider two bills written using the commission's recommendations and introduced by Morhaim, the only doctor serving in the General Assembly.

One of the Morhaim bills, backed by Sharfstein and law enforcement officials, calls for a strictly monitored program in which an educational research institution would be selected to dispense the drug to patients.

"This is something that needs to be done in a proper and rigorous way as you would do with any medication," said Paul Celano, who served on the commission and is president of the Maryland and D.C. Society of Clinical Oncology and chief of medical oncology at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

The second plan, which Morhaim favors, would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to some patients and create a network of state-sanctioned and supervised dispensaries and growers. The bill is similar to one the Senate passed last year.

Del. Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore City Democrat, has introduced the most liberal bill, which would allow individuals to grow marijuana. She said former talk show host Montel Williams, who said he smokes marijuana to deal with the pain of multiple sclerosis, will testify on behalf of her bill.

Glenn said she doesn't worry about federal law because it is unlikely to be enforced.

"The federal government is on record saying this is not a priority for them," Glenn said. "If a state has a well-written law they are not going to seek any enforcement action. There is no need for patients with cancer and other diseases that become so debilitating to have to suffer."

Kate Bell, a criminal defense attorney with Kaminkow & Woods in Baltimore, said she has represented clients all over the state who have been arrested for possessing marijuana they used to help ease the pain of an illness. She supports Glenn's bill because, she said, it would make the drug most accessible to patients.

"If you are buying it on the black market you are giving your money to a criminal organization," she said. "I have had sick people who have spent the night in jail. Something has to change."

Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey contributed to this report.

andrea.walker@baltsun.som

twitter.com:ankwalker

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