A moratorium on medical marijuana will continue in Manchester for at least another 90 days. The council voted 6-1 to continue with the moratorium, after the village's attorney recommended some small alterations to the proposed ordinance crafted by the planning commission and sent to the council in July. Trustee Marsha Chartrand was the lone dissenting vote. She said she wanted to have something in place sooner than later. "If we have something good, we might as well go with it," she said. [continues 284 words]
People will be lined up for a Pot 101 course at Concordia University College next weekend, but don't expect your typical stoners. The two-day seminar is aimed at people who either use or grow medical marijuana and those who want to. Most medical pot patients in Alberta buy their weed off the street because it's such a headache wading through government red tape to get it, says Don Schultz, who's organizing the event. It's also almost impossible to find a doctor willing to provide a prescription for medical pot -- a Health Canada requirement. [continues 531 words]
Eastern Michigan University is looking to ban medical marijuana use and possession on campus, a move that will put the college in line with other state institutions who have barred the drug, including Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. The university says that although the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act of 2008 permits marijuana use with a certified prescription, federal laws such as the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendment of 1989 prohibit the drug on campuses. [continues 113 words]
TRENTON - A state lawmaker and medical marijuana advocates Monday accused the Christie administration of poor oversight of the state's medical marijuana program and questioned whether background checks of major players were being conducted. The reaction came after The Sunday Star-Ledger reported that a member of the medical advisory board at one of the state's medical marijuana centers has ties to Solomon Dwek, conman and key informant in the now infamous "Jersey Sting." "The governor needs to do a better job backgrounding the vendors," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who co-sponsored the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. "It was his handpicked vendors." [continues 618 words]
Smuggling marijuana into the prisons by way of a waste paper basket in the visitor's restroom may seem like a good idea at the time, but would be smugglers might want to come up with a Plan B. Waste baskets in the visitor's restroom is the first place police check. The arrest of [name1 redacted], 30, of Detroit, was helped along by the phone conversation she had had previous to the drop with one of the inmates at the St. Louis Correctional Facility. [continues 259 words]
Panelists Monday night for different reasons criticized the federal government for its handling of the medical marijuana issue. Former U.S. Attorney William Mercer of Billings, and state Reps. Gary MacLaren, R-Victor, and Diane Sands, D-Missoula, discussed the tensions of changing federal policy on medical marijuana and its effect on Montana. Voters here, by a wide margin, had approved an initiative in 2004 to legalize the use of marijuana for certain medical reasons. The panel discussion kicked off the conference, sponsored by the Burton K. Wheeler Center, on medical marijuana in Montana. It continues today at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel. [continues 704 words]
The number of medical marijuana cardholders continues to drop under a stricter, new state law, but an industry official said many ex-patients are turning instead to the illegal black market, a legislative committee heard Monday. As of Aug. 31, Montana had about 25,500 medical marijuana cardholders, down nearly 16 percent from the 31,500 registered as of May 31, according to a report presented to the Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee. What's more, the number of providers who sell medical marijuana to patients has plummeted by a far faster clip, from 4,650 on May 31 to 285 on Aug. 31, or nearly 94 percent. Providers were known as caregivers under the previous law. [continues 578 words]
Marijuana smokers are less likely to be obese than nonsmokers, according to a recent study. The study found that roughly a third of those who smoke at least three times a week are less likely to be obese than those who do not smoke at all, according to a Sept. 8 Time magazine article. Researchers analyzed two national studies consisting of 52,000 people and found that 22 percent of those who did not smoke marijuana were obese, compared to 14 percent of marijuana smokers who were obese. [continues 407 words]
HELENA -- Panelists Monday night for different reasons criticized the federal government for its handling of the medical marijuana issue. Former U.S. Attorney William Mercer of Billings, and state Reps. Gary MacLaren, R-Victor, and Diane Sands, D-Missoula, discussed the tensions of changing federal policy on medical marijuana and how its effect on Montana. Voters by a wide margin had approved an initiative in 2004 to legalize the use of marijuana for certain medical reasons. The panel discussion kicked off the conference, sponsored by the Burton K. Wheeler Center, on medical marijuana in Montana, It continues Tuesday at the Red Lion Colonial Inn. [continues 703 words]
