U.S. Association of State Legislatures Caution Urged on Tax-Revenue Hopes Lawmakers and others from around the country attended a discussion Wednesday to learn from Washington and Colorado how best to think about legal marijuana and regulate it. But even the experts in the pioneering states don't have all the answers yet, with questions still percolating on how much tax revenue marijuana can generate, and how best to regulate and enforce the use of the substance. Speaking before several hundred people at a panel during a convention of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, cautioned that Washington state should be careful not to be too optimistic about marijuana-tax revenue. [continues 578 words]
Legalized Pot Is Good for Jobs and Tax Revenue in Colorado, but Visitors WHO Come to Buy a Takeaway Supply Become Criminals on Exiting the State An old man with a snow-white beard bounded into the double-wide trailer that houses the only pot shop in eastern Colorado. He wore bib overalls over a white T-shirt, and a huge grin. He was a farmer from Nebraska, and he was 78 years old. "How much can I get for $100?" he asked. [continues 3400 words]
Like many young addicts, Nola Parcells is part conformist, part eccentric. On Wednesday nights, she plays second base and catcher on her softball team. After the game, though, she lets Cash, her albino checkered garter snake, crawl through her platinum blonde hair with lavender highlights to help her relax. Nola is the new face of heroin addiction in Delaware. A student at the University of Delaware, where her dad is a professor, she's white, charming and solidly upper-middle class. [continues 2680 words]
ADRIAN, Mo. - As usual, Gene Halbin rolled a fat one after lunch. He'd taken a couple of hits when two strangers appeared at the front door. Halbin's place sits way out of town, off the blacktop, down a dirt road, round a bend, over a bridge and deep into some woods in northwestern Bates County. Good bet they weren't solicitors working the neighborhood. But they did come with purpose and the first words out of one of their mouths stated it clearly: [continues 1651 words]
As state lawmakers finish the 2013 legislative session, they are beginning to tackle controversial issues such as medical marijuana, campaign finance and phone service with an eye toward leaving for a three-week holiday break on Thursday. All three issues could see votes, even final passage, this week. Still up in the air is a vote on a controversial legislative petition initiative that would require women to purchase an additional rider to insurance if they want abortion coverage in their health plan. Neither Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, nor Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, would promise that a vote would be taken before year's end. A delay until next year would mean the initiative may not go into effect until 2015 if passed. [continues 442 words]
My mom has a few health issues that I feel can be helped with medical marijuana. Do you have any suggestions for how to broach the subject with her? I know she smoked in her late teens and early 20s, but she's almost 60 now. - -Dollface You have it easy. Your mom is already familiar with cannabis and may be a little more open-minded about learning more about weed's medicinal effects. A poll done by AARP in 2004 found that more than 70 percent of adults over the age 45 approved of having access to medical marijuana. [continues 419 words]
Brendan Kennedy and Michael Blue, private-equity financiers, settled into a downtown Seattle conference room in March to meet with a start-up. Both wore charcoal blazers and polished loafers. Kennedy, 41, is the former chief operating officer of SVB Analytics, an offshoot of Silicon Valley Bank. Blue, 35, learned his trade at the investment-banking firm de Visscher & Co. in Greenwich, Conn. Two years ago they quit comfortable posts to form Privateer Holdings, a firm that operates on the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts model: they buy companies using other people's money and try to increase their value. What sets them apart is the industry in which they invest. Privateer Holdings is the first private-equity firm to openly risk capital in the world of weed. Or as the Privateer partners prefer to call it, "the cannabis space." [continues 2798 words]
To the Editor: As someone who has seen the benefits of medical marijuana personally, it is unconscionable for the lawmakers in the state to withhold vital treatment to patients. After open-heart surgery with many complications, one of which left me blind, I was seen by several eye specialists and was told there were no manufactured drugs to expand the blood vessels in the eyes - that sometimes you just have to trust in God. As it turns out, marijuana, created by God, does exactly this, among other benefits. This country and state are enforcing a law that is unconstitutional and unsupported by every study ever done even by the Drug Enforcement Agency. See Francis L. Young's ruling of Sept. 6, 1988, in which he states "the evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance..." Do some research, and you would find that the state police, the American Medical Association, the Nurses Association, the AARP, and numerous others support a change. Victor Polz Malta [end]
As someone who personally has seen the benefits of medical cannabis, it is unconscionable for the lawmakers in the state to withhold vital treatment to patients. After open-heart surgery with a lot of complications left me blind, I was seen by several eye specialists and was told there were no manufactured drugs to expand the blood vessels in the eyes. That sometimes you just have to trust in God. As it turns out, cannabis, created by God, does exactly this, among other benefits. This law is not only unconstitutional, it also is unsupported by every study ever done even by the DEA. See Administrative Judge Francis L. Young's ruling from Sept. 6, 1988, in which he states, "the evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record." [continues 83 words]
In a recurring dream, John Donovan can run without pain. He races down a football field as he did in middle school and glides down a flight of stairs with ease. But in reality, the 25-year-old Red Bank resident wakes up to a relentless aching in his joints, mainly his hips, knees and ankles. Just a few months after the onset of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, when he was 16, Mr. Donovan struggled to run or even walk quickly, he recalled. He now walks with a heavy limp and spends some days in bed, trying to move as little as possible. [continues 1579 words]
Time magazine recently published an interesting statistic: 5.1 percent of Americans aged 55 to 59 smoke marijuana regularly -- a major jump from 2002, when 1.6 percent of Americans aged 55 to 59 admitted to smoking pot regularly. The magazine attributed the rise to the aging of the baby boom generation. And you can look at the stat four ways: One, it shows marijuana use is not just for the young and wild. We can only assume the age bracket -- where AARP membership and senior discounts begin -- was considered significant because it says old people are smoking. [continues 616 words]
Advocates Hope to Get Boost From Boomers in Legalization Effort In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana. Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older. [continues 302 words]
MIAMI (AP) - In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana. Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and '70s grows older. [continues 868 words]
To The Editor: We appreciate that you mentioned us in the recent article, "City Seeks Controls Over Medical Marijuana Stores," but we feel it is important to note we are not a "Marijuana Store." It is true that there are numerous dispensaries throughout Long Beach, but we want the residents to be aware that we are a collective actively working to positively impact the community. Belmont Shore Natural Care is a collection of people pooling their resources in order to provide medical marijuana to the members of the collective. It is our mission to provide a safe place with a comfortable atmosphere for our patients to find their medication. [continues 221 words]
It's been 40 years since a half-million golden children of God trekked to Max Yasgur's soggy farm in upstate New York. Forty years since they painted flowers on their faces, avoided the brown acid and danced in the mud to the likes of Janis and Jimi and Richie and Ravi. They're in their 60s now, those aging hippies who swarmed the remote swath of open space in Bethel, New York, but for many of the South Bay residents who were at what was officially known as the Woodstock Music & Art Fair 40 years ago this weekend, the glow of those magical three days still lingers. [continues 967 words]
The Nov. 4 election will be about more than Barack Obama and John McCain as California voters decide on a dozen statewide propositions dealing with everything from same-sex marriage and redistricting to high-speed rail and bigger cages for chickens. With vote-by-mail ballots landing in millions of California homes and the airwaves starting to fill with 30-second TV spots, voters are beginning to focus on state issues they've been all too willing to ignore up to now. [continues 1683 words]
Last July 25, Congressman Shuler voted against the Hinchey Amendment that would protect states' rights and patients' rights. Medical marijuana is an essential medicine for hundreds of thousands of patients. A poll by the AARP showed that 80 percent of American seniors support the enactment of federal legislation to protect patients who use medical marijuana at their doctors' recommendation. Recently, the second largest medical organization in the country, the American College of Physicians, with 124,000 members, issued a declaration supporting protection for medical marijuana patients and for marijuana to be rescheduled as a therapeutic drug. [continues 132 words]
A Moscow tradition since 1996, Hempfest is filled with characters, music, booths, art and speakers. The theme for this year's Hempfest is "Dispel the myths - Fact and Fiction." From 10 a.m. to dusk, the 12th Annual Moscow Hempfest will provide access to hemp education and advocacy, live music, food and a variety of vendors. Vendors come from across the Northwest selling hemp-related products, such as clothing, jewelry, lotions and soaps. "Vendors offer more than just glass art," said Arlene Falcon, Hempfest organizer and owner of Tye Dye Everything in Moscow. "We have moved all the glass art to the back of the park, making it a more family-friendly environment." [continues 635 words]
Last night, students packed into an Angell Hall auditorium and, with eyes shut tight, raised their hands if they admitted to using drugs like marijuana, mushrooms or cocaine. The questions helped Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, gauge the drug experience of his audience. The Drug Policy Alliance is a nonprofit firm dedicated to ending the "war on drugs." Nadelmann said he hoped his talk would encourage students to become activists in seeking drug policy reform. [continues 434 words]
MADISON -- As Donald Christen remembers it, his father was the one who helped him decide to advocate for legalized marijuana. It happened one day about 20 years ago when Christen, 54, and some friends were at his dad's house complaining about laws banning marijuana. Finally, his father chimed in. "'You guys ought to stop your (complaining). If you don't like the law you should get it changed,'" Christen remembers his father saying. Christen has never looked back. Two groups that Christen is associated with are preparing to circulate petitions to allow expanded marijuana use in Maine. [continues 1216 words]
