UPPER MERION - Passage of legislation that legalized medical marijuana in Pennsylvania marked the end of seven long, hard years of negotiation. Now that Gov. Tom Wolf has signed the measure into law, the push is on to explain the ramifications, including possible business opportunities tied to the medical marijuana field. Wolf, who had adamantly backed the bill through approval by both the House and Senate, swiftly added his signature, which made the bill law. That kicked off the long process of working within the boundaries that the commonwealth agreed upon to bring cannabis to medical patients. Doctors will need to be certified; growers and processors will need to establish a business model; and licenses for 150 dispensaries will be issued in the next year. [continues 1143 words]
Legalization Has Patients and Businesses Seeing Green Pennsylvania joined the growing list of states to legalize medical marijuana when Gov. Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 3, the Medical Marijuana Act, into law on April 17. To date, 23 other states and Washington D.C. have legalized either medical marijuana, recreational marijuana or both. It's been about a month since the passage of the MMA, as the law is known, but it will be a while before marijuana growers and dispensaries are up and running. [continues 1659 words]
Bill to Allow Nonsmoking Use Wins Bipartisan Support A Delaware County Democratic senator continues the push to legalize medical marijuana, but dual-party support might not be enough to push along the legislation. The bill, Senate Bill 3, was presented by Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, and Republican Sen. Mike Folmer, R-48, of Lebanon, at the Senate Government Committee hearing Wednesday. It garnered bipartisan support in the Senate for the second time. "Today's hearing made it clear that we can create a medical cannabis protocol in the commonwealth that is among the best in the country," Leach said in a prepared statement after the hearing. [continues 636 words]
State lawmakers took their oath of office on Jan. 6, solemnly promising to uphold the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions. But it shouldn't stop there, says State Rep. John Lawrence, R-Chester County. They should swear to something else, too: that their pee is clean. Lawrence said candidates for state-level elected office should be subject to a drug test, and he is floating legislation that would require it. "I think that voters would be very interested in knowing," Lawrence said. [continues 612 words]
CHICAGO - If Radley Balko is right, it may be the dog lovers of America who touched off a movement to rein in the strongarm tactics that have accompanied the militarization of the country's police forces. Balko, who writes The Washington Post's "The Watch" blog on criminal justice issues, says that police these days too frequently shoot people's pets when making a raid, and people are becoming fed up. I recently read Balko's book, "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces," after spending some time in a firearms class. In that class was a retired policeman who firmly subscribed to the "us vs. them" mentality Balko so vividly illustrates. [continues 648 words]
WEST CHESTER -- For the second time in a month, a Chester County Court judge has declared a mandatory sentencing provision inserted into a drug trafficking charge unconstitutional because it contradicts a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down in June of last year. Common Pleas Court Judge Phyllis Streitel, in a one-page order issued April 29, said the provision that would set a prison term for the defendant, Demetrius Aaron Hardy of Las Vegas, Nev., at three years could not be applied to him in the formal charges leveled by the prosecution without butting up against the high court's decision. [continues 1096 words]
WASHINGTON - Legal marijuana is spreading like a weed across the land but it has yet to take root in the place where people might benefit most from inhaling: the U.S. Capitol. The Maryland General Assembly finished work Monday on a marijuana decriminalization bill, joining two dozen other states and the District in some form of legalization. Colorado and Washington allow recreational pot, while most others have legalized only medical marijuana, but the combined campaign has redefined the meaning of a grass-roots movement. [continues 687 words]
The arguments over the use of marijuana and just how it affects the human body rage on every day as more and more states across the country debate the legalization or at least the decriminalization of pot. However, what can't be argued is that smoking marijuana is more than likely going to leave you in a condition that shouldn't include getting behind the wheel of a car. And then toss in texting while driving to boot and you have a deadly combination. [continues 466 words]
WASHINGTON - Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is yet another victim of the war on drugs. Prohibition is not working. It is time to try something new. Hoffman, 46, was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment Sunday morning, apparently the victim of a heroin overdose. According to widely published reports, there was a syringe in his arm. Police found the place littered with small plastic bags stamped "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Hearts" - brand names that street dealers use. [continues 700 words]
HARRISBURG - A bill introduced in the state Senate Tuesday would make Pennsylvania the 21st state to legalize the use of medical marijuana. But don't count on the bill becoming law anytime soon. Gov. Tom Corbett has refused to sign any such bill until the federal Food and Drug Administration approves cannabis for medical purposes. Nevertheless, the bill's bipartisan sponsors - state Sens. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, and Mike Folmer, R-48, of Lebanon County - - are lobbying hard for its passage. [continues 292 words]
Pot Prices Double As Retailers Roll Out the Green Carpet SAN FRANCISCO - At Medicine Man Denver, a shop in Colorado's capital that began selling marijuana for recreational use last week, people waited in line to get their first taste of legal weed. Some shouted "Freedom!" to the cheering crowd as they walked out with bags of dope. They also paid about double the cost of medical marijuana. Customers were charged $45 for an eighth of an ounce of recreational pot, compared with $25 for an identical amount that he sells for medical purposes, said Andy Williams, the president and chief executive officer. [continues 791 words]
Garrett Brann is about to turn 3 years old. He has a form of epilepsy known as "Dravet Syndrome," which is robbing him of his childhood, a normal life, and so much more. The disease manifests itself primarily in almost constant seizures. Garrett routinely has more than 100 seizures, of varying degrees of intensity, every day. Garrett's story is obviously sad, but what makes it truly tragic is that there is a treatment which could very possibly end Garrett's seizures and allow him to live a normal life. However, because that treatment is a derivative of marijuana, he is not allowed to have it. [continues 672 words]
Two state senators introduced a bill Monday that would legalize the use of medical cannabis in Pennsylvania. State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, discussed the importance of this bill in the context of children who suffer from a severe epilepsy disorder called Dravet Syndrome. Leach has introduced other bills related to marijuana legalization in the past but this was the first time he had the support of a Republican co-sponsor. State Sen. Mike Folmer, R-48, of Lebanon County, is on board with this proposal. [continues 484 words]
LEAWOOD, Kan. - Two former CIA employees whose Kansas home was fruitlessly searched for marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted, possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables. Adlynn and Robert Harte sued this week to get more information about why sheriff's deputies searched their home in the upscale Kansas City suburb of Leawood last April 20 as part of Operation Constant Gardener - a sweep conducted by agencies in Kansas and Missouri that netted marijuana plants, processed marijuana, guns, growing paraphernalia and cash from several other locations. [continues 605 words]
As anticipated, State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-17), who represents parts of Montgomery County, has unveiled the full text of his controversial marijuana legalization bill, called the "Regulate Marijuana Act" - Senate Bill 528 in the current session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, according to a Leach spokesperson. The bill states that "in the interest of the efficient use of law enforcement resources, enhancing revenue for public purposes and individual freedom, the people of this Commonwealth find and declare that the use of marijuana should be legal for persons 21 years of age or older and taxed." [continues 649 words]
State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, has plans to resurrect a bill that would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Pennsylvania. Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's anti-marijuana laws recently told the Associated Press they were encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state. Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states. Leach said he intends to resurrect his bill to allow marijuana use for medical purposes and will also sponsor a bill to decriminalize the drug. [continues 742 words]
The week after the election, a few of my students said that they were planning vacations in Colorado or in Washington state. They were kidding. I think. On Nov. 6, voters in both states approved referenda that permit the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana, subject to the same sorts of regulations that apply to the use of alcohol. Relaxed marijuana laws are at odds with federal laws, and the Drug Enforcement Administration acted quickly to remind the defiant voters that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, and that the DEA's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act will continue. Some experts suggest that it will take the Supreme Court to resolve this classic clash between the rights of the states and the authority of the federal government. [continues 533 words]
PLYMOUTH - The legal troubles facing the two eldest sons of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid seemed to mount Thursday. It has been learned that, in the wake of a serious accident Tuesday, Garrett Reid, 23, reportedly waived his right to remain silent and admitted to police that he used heroin the day he allegedly ran a red light and collided with another vehicle at Germantown Pike and Arch Road. The operator of the second vehicle, a 55-year-old Mount Carmel woman, was cut out of her car by emergency personnel and flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. An officer responding to the scene approached Reid's vehicle, a Jeep Liberty, and reportedly observed an ammunition container in the rear compartment and the butt of a handgun under the driver's seat. [continues 336 words]
LOWER PROVIDENCE - In an effort to reduce substance abuse and anti-social behavior in Methacton School District, a police officer will be assigned to Arcola Intermediate School this fall. According to Lower Providence Police Department Chief Francis Carroll, the department is eligible for a $63,700 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) that would pay for the school resource officer. Though the plan calls for basing an armed police officer at Arcola, the Lower Providence officer would also be responsible for four district elementary schools. [continues 797 words]
COURTHOUSE - Ernest Scott III, the son and namesake of the former Norristown councilman, will get another legal crack at having his sentence reduced for the drug and fraud crimes he committed in connection with the Scott family's illicit "businesses." Montgomery County Judge Richard J. Hodgson, acting at the direction of the state Superior Court, Monday resentenced Scott, 28, formerly of the 800 block of George St., Norristown, to the same 6- to 10-year sentence he is now serving at the Albion state prison in Erie County. [continues 467 words]
