[photo] It's been reported that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as his attorney general pick. Sessions has been a vocal opponent of the marijuana industry. (Scott Olson/ AP) President-elect Donald Trump's announcement that he plans to nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions -- a vocal opponent of marijuana legalization - -- to be the country's next attorney general has many in the young but growing legalized marijuana industry deeply concerned. That includes in Pennsylvania, which legalized medical marijuana this spring. The state is expected to begin accepting applications for medical cannabis grower/processor and dispenser permits early next year, with the goal of making medical marijuana available to patients by 2018. [continues 889 words]
BLOOMFIELD, N.M. - Charles C. Lynch seemed to be doing everything right when he opened a medical marijuana dispensary in the tidy coastal town of Morro Bay, Calif. The mayor, the city attorney and leaders of the local Chamber of Commerce all came for the ribbon-cutting in 2006. The conditions for his business license, including a ban on customers younger than 18 and compliance with California's medical marijuana laws, were posted on the wall. But two years later, Lynch was convicted of multiple felonies under federal law for selling marijuana. He is one of hundreds of defendants and prisoners caught up in the stark conflict between federal law, which puts marijuana in the same class as heroin with no exception for medical sales, and the decisions by many states to authorize medical uses. [continues 654 words]
WASHINGTON - For the first time, the U.S. House voted yesterday to block the federal government from enforcing its marijuana laws in states that have approved use of the drug for medical purposes. Marijuana advocates called the vote historic. "This is a game changer that paves the way for much more policy change to come," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans For Safe Access, a group that has lobbied to end federal penalties for marijuana use. The plan passed 219-189, with 49 Republicans teaming up with 170 Democrats to approve the measure. [continues 414 words]
For the first time, the House of Representatives voted early Friday to block the federal government from enforcing its marijuana laws in states that have approved use of the drug for medical purposes. Marijuana advocates called the vote historic. "This is a game changer that paves the way for much more policy change to come," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans For Safe Access, a group that has lobbied to end federal penalties for marijuana use. The plan passed 219-189, with 49 Republicans teaming up with 170 Democrats to approve the measure shortly after midnight. [continues 433 words]
WASHINGTON - In January, President Barack Obama said reclassifying marijuana and making it legal in any way "is a job for Congress." "It's not something by ourselves that we start changing," Obama said in an interview with CNN. In February, 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives shot back in a letter to the president, telling Obama he should use his executive power to make the change on his own. Caught in the middle are the more than 1 million Americans who use marijuana for their physical and psychological ailments. [continues 315 words]
WASHINGTON - In January, President Barack Obama said reclassifying marijuana and making it legal in any way "is a job for Congress." "It's not something by ourselves that we start changing," Obama said. In February, 18 members of the House shot back in a letter to the president, telling Obama he should use his executive power to make the change on his own. Caught in the middle are the more than 1 million Americans who use marijuana for their physical and psychological ailments. They say they face daily uncertainty about whether they' ll be able to get the drug they need or whether they' ll be arrested for possessing it. [continues 290 words]
WASHINGTON - In January, President Barack Obama said reclassifying marijuana and making it legal in any way "is a job for Congress." "It's not something by ourselves that we start changing," Obama said in an interview with CNN. In February, 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives shot back in a letter to the president, telling Obama he should use his executive power to make the change on his own. Caught in the middle are the more than 1 million Americans who use marijuana for their physical and psychological ailments. [continues 782 words]
WASHINGTON - Gov. Jay Inslee and the state's legislators are poised to make history as they devise a plan to harmonize their medical cannabis program with one that allows anyone 21 or older to buy and possess marijuana. What Washington lawmakers decide will shape how patients are treated elsewhere in the nation. Inslee has shown courage implementing Initiative 502, pushing the federal government through letters and meetings to accept his state's new adult-use marijuana law. As a congressman, he fought to protect the medical cannabis program in his state from federal interference. [continues 550 words]
Dispensaries Note Hassles The District's medical marijuana program has enrolled just 59 patients since the first city dispensary opened for business in July - - far below estimates for participation. Operators of cultivation centers and dispensaries and their potential customers told the D.C. Council on Monday that the city's strict policies have stifled the program's growth by severely limiting who is eligible to receive medical marijuana. They also said patients and doctors remain fearful of breaking federal law by participating. [continues 760 words]
SEATTLE - The female marijuana plant, sold for its sticky psychoactive chemicals, is where the value lies in the marijuana industry. But the industry has long been dominated by men and can be crassly sexist, particularly in underground pot commerce. Women are relegated to supporting roles and sometimes blatantly viewed as sex objects, according to a study published this year. One Craigslist ad for pot trimmers posted by a grower in California sought a "good looking girl" willing to have sex. Legalization in Washington state, though, could give women recourse for sexual harassment and withheld wages, and make the industry safer for women in general, said Lydia Ensley, a Seattle dispensary operations manager. [continues 706 words]
From Washington State to Washtenaw County, Women Are Spearheading Policy Change. Members of the group Michigan Moms United gathered outside the state Department of Human Services last week, along with other groups protesting the controversial removal of 6-month-old Bree Green by Child Protective Services from her Lansing family. The child's father suffers from seizures and is a medical marijuana patient; her mother is a registered caregiver. An Ingham County Court referee ruled that Bree was in danger because her mother had marijuana in the house and someone with a gun could break in. [continues 923 words]
State's Highest Court Rules That Local Governments Are Permitted to Outlaw Medical Marijuana Dispensaries A unanimous state Supreme Court ruled on Monday that local governments can outlaw medical marijuana dispensaries if they desire, rejecting arguments that the state's landmark medical marijuana law prohibited such bans. The ruling from the high court was not unexpected - the justices had telegraphed as much during oral arguments in the case several months ago - but it was still a setback for medical marijuana activists. [continues 850 words]
Not Surprisingly, the Favorite Time of Stoners Everywhere Is Steeped in Misinformation. Warren Haynes, the Allman Brothers Band guitarist, routinely plays with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, now touring as "The Dead." Having just finished a Dead show in Washington, D.C., the musician gets a pop quiz from this reporter: Where does "420" come from? He pauses and thinks, hands on his side. "I don't know the real origin. I know myths and rumors," he says. "I'm really confused about the first time I heard it. It was like a police code for smoking in progress or something. What's the real story?" Depending on who you ask, or their state of inebriation, there are as many varieties of answers as strains of medical bud in California: It's the number of active chemicals in marijuana; it's tea time in Holland; it's those numbers in that Bob Dylan song multiplied. [continues 1995 words]
Security cameras have been installed, scales calibrated and signs declaring "no returns" hung on the walls at Capital City Care. There's just one thing missing before the District's first medical marijuana dispensary can open its doors: the marijuana itself. TOP: David Guard is general manager and co-founder of Capital City Care, which is set to open next month as the first licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the District. "It's very high-grade, very pure, very potent marijuana," said David Guard, cofounder and general manager. "But first, everything has to be triple-checked. We have a high level of security and an inordinate number of cameras." [continues 592 words]
21 States Allow Medical Pot Use WASHINGTON - Marijuana will continue to be considered a highly dangerous drug under federal law with no accepted medical uses, after a U.S. appeals court Tuesday refused to order a change in the government's 40-year-old drug classification schedule. The decision keeps in place an odd legal split over marijuana, a drug deemed to be as dangerous as heroin and worse than methamphetamine by federal authorities, but one that has been legalized for medical use by voters or legislators in 21 states, including New Mexico. [continues 387 words]
DEA Classification of Pot As a Dangerous Drug Will Stand, Appellate Judges Say. WASHINGTON - Marijuana will continue to be considered a highly dangerous drug under federal law with no accepted medical uses, after a U.S. appeals court Tuesday refused to order a change in the government's 40-year-old drug classification schedule. The decision keeps in place an odd legal split over marijuana, a drug deemed to be as dangerous as heroin and worse than methamphetamine by federal authorities, but one that has been legalized for medical use by voters or legislators in 20 states and the District of Columbia. [continues 386 words]
Let's look at where the presidential candidates stand on medical marijuana With the late summer breezes cooling us south of 100 and this being an election year, it's time for you to adjust your blindfold and prepare to pin the tail on the animal of your choice. I usually prefer a donkey, but you can pick an elephant or a Teabilly fuckstick if you want. Medical marijuana isn't going to be a key issue in this campaign, despite the sad musings of at least one blogger (Steph Sherer of The Huffington Post, who laughingly seems to think MMJ can swing the election). But Mr. Smith thinks it's worth turning the grow lights on our presidential contenders to examine where they stand on the topic. I doubt many voters will decide based solely on MMJ, but surely some will. So let's take a look: [continues 550 words]
Candy drops distilled from real fruit. Gourmet chocolate bars. Carrot cake that melts in your mouth. Stop by the average medical marijuana dispensary, and these cannabis-infused, professionally wrapped goodies and many more like them beckon from beneath glass cases. That delights cannabis customers - - but it worries local officials who have to oversee the hazy world of medical pot, where the drug is legal under state law but is still federally banned. Once mainly the province of brownie-making hippies, pot edibles are now turned out by trained chefs whose products are checked by special Bay Area laboratories that assess marijuana quality. There are few state guidelines defining how pot edibles can be made and sold, however, and a flurry of local attempts to do that has done little to change the fact that the edibles industry largely regulates itself. [continues 825 words]
Now Three Years Old, Michigan's Medical Marijuana Law Is Still Getting Sorted Out Marijuana has twice played a role in bringing significant changes to the life of Barb Agro. The first time was a blessing. A former police dispatcher, the 71-year-old great-grandmother from Lake Orion suffers from arthritis in both of her knees. "It's really bad," she says. Because she's allergic to aspirin, she used Tylenol to ease the pain for years. "But the amount I had to take was so much," she says. "I worried about it damaging my kidneys." [continues 5481 words]
Lies, Flip-Flops and Vagueness From the Feds on Medical Marijuana Last Friday the federal government ruled that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as one of the most dangerous drugs in existence. It took the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency nearly nine years to reach this conclusion. Medical marijuana advocates had asked that cannabis be removed from the list of schedule one drugs -- the most restrictive category -- in light of growing evidence that it helps treat such ailments as glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and the side effects of chemotherapy. [continues 993 words]
