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Las Vegas man had ‘way’ more medical pot than allowed
By DAVID FERRARA
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
If Steven Ficano had anywhere near the amount of pot allowed by his medical marijuana card, police simply would have confiscated the drug and let him off with a stern warning, a Las Vegas detective testified Wednesday.
What police found at Ficano’s northwest valley residence considerably surpassed the legal limit: a total of 68 growing plants, 18 mason jars of pot on the bedroom floor, 50 jars of pot in a wine cooler, 40 jars in a freezer, and 67 jars in a refrigerator, with smaller amounts scattered around the house. The finished product weighed 24 pounds; the plants weighed 28 pounds.
The lead detective in the case, Brian Grammas, said he sought a warrant for Ficano’s arrest after the now 65-year-old let police inside his home in October 2012.
Ficano, who didn’t think he committed a crime, had a medical marijuana card and a note from his doctor that said he could possess more than the ounce of weed patients were allowed at the time.
But Ficano is on trial on felony charges of possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell, just as Nevada’s first medical marijuana dispensary is expected to open up shop.
A jury could decide Ficano’s fate as early as this afternoon. Meanwhile, a co-owner of Euphoria Wellness, about 12 miles away from the Regional Justice Center where Ficano’s trial is being held, said the dispensary could open this week.
In Nevada, possession of less than an ounce of weed without a medical marijuana card is a misdemeanor. Anything more is a felony.
Medical marijuana has been legal since 2000, but cardholders were forced to grow their own pot until last year, when the law allowing dispensaries was passed. For now, cardholders can possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and not more than 12 marijuana plants.
Ficano told police he had a note from his doctor, Ivan Goldsmith, that would allow him to possess 29 plants and 2 to 4 pounds of finished marijuana. At the time, anyone with a medical marijuana license was required to grow the plant at home.
“After looking out at the backyard, there was way greater than that number of plants,” Grammas told jurors.
The officers wanted to look inside a safe in Ficano’s bedroom, so he opened it for them. Inside, he had $51,667 in cash, 14 handguns, eight rifles and four shotguns, according to a police report. A digital scale sat in the garage. The cash and the guns were seized.
The detective said the cash was in small denominations, and the evidence suggested that Ficano might be selling the drug.
But Grammas also told jurors that he found no pay sheet in Ficano’s home and detectives did not try to search his cellphone.
Until his arrest in 2012 on the marijuana charges, Ficano had no criminal record.
Jay Acebo, a Las Vegas firefighter who has lived across the street from Ficano for 26 years, testified Wednesday that he had never seen anything that would indicate his neighbor was selling drugs.
Acebo called Ficano a “regular blue-collar guy,” who often wears shorts and a T-shirt.
Acebo knew Ficano grew tomatoes but did not know he also harvested marijuana plants in his backyard.
Prosecutor Lindsey Moors has said that other neighbors called police concerned about the plants in Ficano’s yard.
The guns were antique lever-action rifles, collectible pistol sets and historical muskets, Ficano’s lawyer Dustin Marcello argued.
The money was a mix of antique currency, bills from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s and a career’s worth of saved cash Ficano had pulled out of his bank account during the recession, the defense attorney said. Some of the pot had been stored in the jars so long that it had grown moldy. Most of the plants were either male or too immature to produce buds.
For 36 years, Ficano ran a furniture repair business. He developed arthritis and has scoliosis. Ficano also used pot to alleviate lingering pain from a car accident several years ago, Marcello said.
After the crash, Ficano was prescribed painkillers and became addicted. Medical marijuana helped him kick that addiction.
Goldsmith, the doctor who prescribed medical pot for Ficano, said he did not intend to authorize as much as police found at the residence.
Marcello suggested that Ficano grew more than what was allowed because he only planted once a year and struggled to learn how to convert the plant into an edible form.
Toward the end of testimony on Tuesday, Marcello asked Goldsmith why he would prescribe marijuana instead of another drug.
The doctor replied: “The times are changing.”
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pot-news/detective-las-vegas-man-had-way-more-medical-pot-allowed
Jury to hear marijuana case as Las Vegas pot shop opens
By DAVID FERRARA
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
On the day a jury could decide Steven Ficano’s fate on felony marijuana charges, less than 12 miles away, Nevada’s first medical marijuana dispensary is expected to start selling pot.
When the police knocked on Ficano’s northwest Las Vegas door almost three years ago, he didn’t think he was doing anything illegal, so he let them in.
He had a medical marijuana license and a note from his doctor that said he could possess more than the legal amount of weed.
At the time, anyone with a medical marijuana license was required to grow the plant at home. Police found much more than the legal amount, and Ficano was charged with two felonies: possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of marijuana.
Now, at 65, Ficano is expected to face a jury on the 15th floor of the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas on those charges starting Tuesday.
Since he was arrested, Nevada lawmakers have legalized pot dispensaries that would help prevent a situation like the one Ficano found himself in.
Euphoria Wellness, the state’s first medical marijuana store, could open as soon as Thursday at 7780 S. Jones Blvd., the same day Ficano’s defense attorney expects closing arguments in the trial.
“I can’t believe they’re still prosecuting him,” said Joe Lamarca, co-owner of the dispensary. “There’s no point to it.”
State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, who authored legislation that allowed dispensaries, said lawmakers wanted to clean up the old statute when they pushed for medical pot shops.
“These people had to take their lives in their own hands,” Segerblom said. “We needed to get a process where people can buy medical marijuana.”
Former District Judge James Bixler, who retired in January, was initially assigned to hear Ficano’s case but removed himself because he invested in the pot business and formed Greenleaf Dispensaries Inc.
“That to me is just outrageous,” said Ficano’s lawyer, Dustin Marcello. “I’m very confident that the jury will see he has an affirmative defense to the charges.”
The lawyer pointed to “a very convoluted, confusing legal framework” in Nevada.
Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that marijuana be declassified as a Schedule 1 drug, and U.S. senators proposed a bill to change that federal policy and facilitate marijuana research.
Some state legislators, including Segerblom, even think marijuana should be legalized for recreational use. Nevada voters are expected to decide a ballot question next year that could do just that.
“We’re trying,” Segerblom said. “We’re really trying.”
A KNOCK FROM POLICE
So with the swaying perceptions of marijuana, how is a jury going to see Ficano’s case? That may be impossible to predict, but they’re required to follow the law the judge gives them.
Last week, District Judge Susan Johnson, who’s presiding over the case, told Ficano’s lawyer he could not try to pick jurors who might be sympathetic.
For 36 years, Ficano ran a furniture repair business. He developed arthritis and has scoliosis. Ficano also used pot to alleviate the “debilitating effects of pain from a previous car accident,” Marcello wrote in a motion to dismiss the case.
After the crash, Ficano was prescribed painkillers and became addicted. Medical marijuana helped him kick that addiction.
Until October 2012, he had no criminal record.
That’s when Metro police performed a “knock and talk” at Ficano’s residence. Through a wrought-iron gate, they could see marijuana plants growing in his backyard. The officers asked if they could take a look around.
Prosecutor Lindsey Moors has said that neighbors called police concerned about the plants in Ficano’s yard.
Ficano told police he had a note from his doctor, Ivan Goldsmith, that would allow him to possess 29 plants and 2 to 4 pounds of finished marijuana. The doctor had prescribed far less pot than cops found at his residence, according to the prosecutor.
An officer told him that the law at the time allowed only three mature plants, four immature plants and up to an ounce of finished marijuana.
Ficano escorted the police to his backyard, where plants were growing and stalks of marijuana were hung upside- down, according to the police report.
Police got a warrant to search the rest of the house and found 68 plants growing in the ground and in black plastic containers.
Officers found 18 mason jars of pot on the bedroom floor, 50 jars of pot in a wine cooler, 40 jars in a freezer and 67 jars in a refrigerator, along with smaller amounts scattered around the house. The finished product weighed 24 pounds; the plants weighed 28 pounds.
CHANGING LAWS
In Nevada, possession of less than an ounce of weed without a medical marijuana card is a misdemeanor. Anything more is a felony.
Medical marijuana has been legal since 2000, but card holders were forced to grow their own pot until last year, when the law allowing dispensaries was passed. For now, card holders can possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and not more than 12 marijuana plants.
The officers wanted to look inside a safe in Ficano’s bedroom, so he opened it for them. Inside, he had $51,667 in cash, 14 handguns, eight rifles and four shotguns, according to a police report. A digital scale sat in the garage. The cash, arranged in various denominations, and the guns were seized.
The cash and a digital scale pointed to evidence that Ficano sold the drug, the prosecutor said.
But the guns were neither assault rifles nor sawed-off shotguns; they were antique lever action rifles, collectible pistol sets and historical muskets, Ficano’s lawyer argued.
The money was a mix of antique currency, bills from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s and a career’s worth of saved cash Ficano had pulled out of his bank account during the recession, Marcello said. Some of the pot had been stored in the jars so long that it had grown moldy. Most of the plants were either male or too immature to produce buds.
Ficano said his marijuana is used only for medicinal purposes.
When he obtained his medical marijuana card through the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, he was given no instructions on how to grow the plant and stay under medical use restrictions.
“He had to figure it out on his own,” Marcello said. “He had to figure it out without any help from the county or state or any agencies. It’s just a shame that we have to go through with this.”
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pot-news/jury-hear-marijuana-case-las-vegas-pot-shop-opens
A Victory for Medical Marijuana
By Lawrence Downes
May 22, 2015 2:52 pm May 22, 2015 2:52 pm 12 Comments
It’s the middle of 2015, and the United States is still fighting its old, failed, discredited war on drugs. But sometimes the battlefield fog lifts a little.
For example: A United States Senate committee has just voted to allow Veterans Affairs doctors to help their patients who want to use medical marijuana.
By an 18-12 vote in the Appropriations Committee on Thursday, senators of both parties approved an amendment offered by Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, and Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, attached to a larger spending bill. The measure would allow doctors – in states where medical marijuana is legal – to sign recommendation forms for patients seeking to use cannabis. Many veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries say marijuana is effective therapy for symptoms like pain, anxiety, nausea and disturbed sleep.
Members of Congress who profess to support disabled veterans should rush to embrace the amendment, and join the larger battle by reformers to build a saner federal approach to cannabis.
The amendment was a part of a larger bill to legalize medical marijuana, the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States, or CARERS, Act, sponsored by Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The Senate has not held any hearings on that bill. Legalization advocates acknowledge that Congress is lagging the states on this issue, but they are willing to take progress where they can get it.
“We will move the CARERS Act piece by piece if we have to, but now is the time for the Senate to hold a hearing on the bill as a whole,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/a-victory-for-medical-marijuana/?_r=1
In Historic Vote, Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Veterans Medical Marijuana Amendment
First Time Senate Has Voted on Marijuana Law Reform
Amendment Would Allow VA Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana to Their Patients in States Where It’s Legal
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bipartisan amendment today, 18 to 12, allowing Veterans Administration (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. The vote is the first time the U.S. Senate has ever moved marijuana law reform legislation forward.
“Veterans in medical marijuana states should be treated the same as any other resident, and should be able to discuss marijuana with their doctor and use it if it’s medically necessary,” said Michael Collins, policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance. “They have served this country valiantly, so the least we can do is allow them to have full and open discussions with their doctors.”
The Veterans Equal Access Amendment was sponsored by Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon. It was added in committee to a must-pass military construction and veterans affairs spending bill. The bill is certain to pass on the Senate floor.
“Veterans see this victory as a major step forward in restoring our first amendment rights within the VA,” said TJ Thompson, a disabled Navy veteran. “This will allow for a safe, open dialogue between providers and patients, and allows veterans to be treated the same as any other patient.”
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specifically prohibits its medical providers from completing forms brought by their patients seeking recommendations or opinions regarding participation in a state medical marijuana program. The Daines / Merkley amendment authorizes VA physicians and other health care providers to provide recommendations and opinions regarding the use of medical marijuana to veterans who live in medical marijuana states.
In 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in Conant v. Walters the right of physicians to recommend medical marijuana, regardless of its illegality under federal law, as well as the right of patients to receive accurate information. The Daines / Merkley amendment supports that first amendment right and restores a healthy doctor-patient relationship.
There are numerous federal healthcare programs besides the VA such as Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP – but only the VA prohibits physicians from discussing and recommending medical marijuana to their patients. A Medicare patient may freely discuss medical marijuana use with her doctor, while a returning veteran is denied the same right.
Studies have shown that medical marijuana can help treat post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, illnesses typically suffered by veterans. A 2014 study of people with PTSD showed a greater than 75% reduction in severity of symptoms when patients were using marijuana to treat their illness, compared to when they were not.
Last year the U.S. House voted five times in favor of letting states set their own marijuana policies. One of the amendments, prohibiting the Justice Department from spending any money in Fiscal Year 2015 undermining state medical marijuana laws, made it into the final spending bill signed into law by President Obama. Advocates of the veterans amendment believe it has a very good chance of making it into the final military construction spending bill that President Obama signs.
A legislative version of the Daines / Merkley amendment was included in groundbreaking Senate medical marijuana legislation introduced in March. The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act is the first-ever bill in the U.S. Senate to legalize marijuana for medical use and the most comprehensive medical marijuana bill ever introduced in Congress. The bill was introduced by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and generated enormous interest.
With the Appropriations Committee approving one element in the bill, supporters say it is time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on the full bill.
“The politics around marijuana have shifted in recent years, yet Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley hasn’t held a hearing on the issue,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “We will move the CARERS Act piece by piece if we have to but now is the time for the Senate to hold a hearing on the bill as a whole.”
.- See more at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/05/historic-vote-senate-appropriations-committee-approves-veterans-medical-marijuana-amend#sthash.hh6uBGMX.dpuf
Will Loretta Lynch change Obama administration's views on legal pot?
Washington (CNN)—The Supreme Court is prodding the Justice Department to weigh in -- for the first time under Attorney General Loretta Lynch -- on the delicate legal issue of how to treat states that have legalized marijuana in the face of a federal ban.
It is a subject the Obama administration has handled gingerly, most recently in 2013, when the department, then led by Attorney General Eric Holder, said it wouldn't challenge the states with legal marijuana as long as they established strict regulatory schemes.
Now neighboring states have brought the regulatory scheme of Colorado before the Supreme Court, and last week, the justices asked to hear the solicitor general's views on the issue as they decide whether to take up the case.
Here's where things could get interesting. Advocates on both sides have been eager to see whether Lynch will take a tougher stand on the issue than her predecessor.
"This is a great test for the Obama administration," said Sam Kamin, a professor at the University of Denver Strum College of Law who helped draft Colorado's regulations and is pleased with the administration's position on the issue. "For Lynch, who is coming in the door, it will give us a sense of her impact on current policy."
During her confirmation hearings, Lynch expressed strong views in favor of upholding the federal ban on marijuana, and she distanced herself from comments made by President Barack Obama who had suggested that the drug isn't more dangerous than alcohol.
"I certainly don't hold that view," she said.
Foes of the legalization of marijuana don't expect Lynch to do a 180 from the administration's position, but they hope she will take a closer look at the issue and, at the very least, investigate the consequences of legalization in Colorado and other states.
"What we learned from the confirmation hearing is that she is uncomfortable with the idea of the marijuana industry being similar to legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco," said Kevin Sabet, the co-founder of Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana).
Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli has months to craft the administration's response to the case before the court, and he could choose to devote the bulk of his brief arguing that the case is not properly before the court. Indeed, the states are asking the court to weigh in directly on the issue, instead of following the normal procedure of allowing the issue to percolate in the lower courts.
But legal experts say the very fact that the court chose to ask for the administration's views, instead of dismissing the case out of hand, could suggest some level of interest.
"Although the justices don't always listen to the solicitor general's recommendation, the fact that they've even asked for it in this case is telling, all the more so because this kind of multistate dispute is typically one in which the federal government has little direct interest or involvement," said Stephen I. Vladeck, a professor of law at American University Washington College of Law and a CNN analyst.
Vladeck says the theory of Nebraska and Oklahoma's suit is that it creates an interstate nuisance for neighbor states to any individual state that legalizes marijuana.
"This kind of not-in-my-backyard legal argument, if successful, could be deployed against any other states seeking to follow Colorado's example -- and could therefore impose a massive obstacle to legalization at anything short of the federal level," Vladeck said.
Attorneys general in Nebraska and Oklahoma claim their states have become a "gateway for the trafficking of illegal Colorado-sourced marijuana." The neighbors are not targeting Colorado's right to legalize marijuana, but instead, how it regulates the market for it. They say that Colorado's scheme is in conflict with federal law and that law enforcement officers in their state have had to "bear the brunt of the problems caused by Colorado's choice to circumvent federal law."
Colorado counters that the court should not hear the challenge. State Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman pointed to a memo released in 2013 under Eric Holder where the DOJ made clear its policy to defer to state-level efforts to regulate marijuana. In court papers, she said that Nebraska and Colorado's principal complaint is with that federal policy rather than the laws of Colorado.
Indeed, in the 2013 memo, then-Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole wrote that the DOJ's priorities included preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors and preventing the revenue of the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises and gangs.
He also addressed states that have legalized the drug by saying,"Jurisdictions that have implemented systems that provide for regulation of marijuana activity must provide the necessary resources and demonstrate the willingness to enforce their laws and regulations in a manner that ensures they do not undermine federal enforcement priorities."
Besides Colorado, marijuana is now legal for recreational use in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia.
"The problem for Oklahoma and Nebraska is explaining to the court what they want at the end of the day," Kamin said. "What they really want is for Colorado to criminalize and enforce laws against marijuana, and that is something they can't force Colorado to do."
But Nebraska and Oklahoma say they are being forced to sue Colorado for its regulatory scheme because the administration "seems unwilling" to do so.
Nine former Drug Enforcement Administrators have filed a brief supporting Nebraska and Oklahoma arguing that the executive branch's "express abdication of its responsibility" to enforce federal drug laws should prompt the Supreme Court to step in and allow the lawsuit to go forward. They argue that the Supreme Court should agree to hear the case directly because the executive branch has "willfully ignored Colorado's violation of federal law"
The court is not expected to act on the issue until next term.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/16/politics/supreme-court-marijuana/index.html
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http://ireadculture.com/article-5461-cadillac-cookies-live-resin.html
State says medical pot businesses may soon start operations
By ERIC HARTLEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
After spending months in limbo, waiting for the state to hash out rules for testing medical marijuana, laboratories might be able to get to work soon. That moves patients one step closer to the first legal sales in dispensaries.
A state health official said Tuesday that all the rules are in place for labs to start testing marijuana. But in a sign of how confusing the process has been, that news came as a surprise to a dispensary owner and a lab scientist, who both expected a longer wait for the state to finalize some rules.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating,” Cindy Orser, chief science officer of DigiPath Labs, said of the wait. “We were hoping to be operational at the end of January. Or February. Or March. Or April. And now it’s May.”
Euphoria Wellness, a dispensary near Las Vegas, has 371 patients preregistered and received its state license weeks ago — the first dispensary in the state to do so. But it can’t sell any marijuana until it’s tested by a state-licensed lab.
“I have people coming to my door every day saying, ‘How come you’re not open?’??” co-owner Joe Lamarca said Tuesday.
Businesses have been spending money on rent, startup costs and workers — money they can’t begin to recoup until they open. Lamarca said he and his partners had to hire and train employees before the dispensary could get its state license.
“Now I’ve trained them, I’m paying them, and I still can’t open,” he said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no one had been able to tell him when he could start selling marijuana. But Steve Gilbert, a state medical marijuana program manager, said dispensaries can start selling as soon as the plants are tested.
It was unclear when patients will be able to buy marijuana. Part of the delay in crafting testing rules has been due to the work of an outside group, the Independent Laboratory Advisory Committee, tasked with recommending to the state limits for pesticides, heavy metals and other substances.
Committee members and state officials have disagreed both publicly and privately, largely about pesticides. And the process has been agonizingly slow.
“They’ve only wanted to deal with one subject matter at a time,” Orser said.
The committee has met four times, with a fifth scheduled today. In early meetings, members and state staffers struggled to figure out how to conduct the meetings.
Not until the fourth meeting, on April 16, did the committee vote on recommended pesticide rules, which led to a formal state policy issued Monday. Even after that vote, there was confusion about how exactly testing will work.
In internal emails provided to the Review-Journal, committee members said they worry the state’s policy — which includes very low detection limits for pesticides — will make conducting lab tests too expensive. That could in turn drive up costs to patients, perhaps forcing people to the black market.
Gilbert said the state understands the concerns but that its hands are tied by state law and regulations.
Pesticide limits could be relaxed eventually. Officials have said some of the overly strict rules are due to a poorly worded regulation that can’t be changed until later this year.
There were 8,925 marijuana patient cardholders in Nevada as of April, 6,420 of them — or 72 percent — in Clark County. Another 594 people statewide had caregiver cards that allow them to administer marijuana to another person.
State officials and people in the industry have said they think the marijuana sold in Nevada will be safer than in other states, where regulations are inconsistent or nonexistent.
But with the delays, Lamarca said, the state has let the perfect be the enemy of the good, with patients suffering the consequences. Unless people are growing marijuana themselves, which is relatively rare, they’ve had to go without — or buy it illegally.
“They’re now forcing people to continue to go to the open marketplace, where nothing is tested,” Lamarca said.
Contact Eric Hartley at ehartley@reviewjournal.com or 702-550-9229. Find him on Twitter: @ethartley
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pot-news/state-says-medical-pot-businesses-may-soon-start-operations
Nevada lawmakers take liking to Colorado's weed economy
DENVER -- As Nevada tries to get a handle on how to regulate medical marijuana, some of its lawmakers flew to Denver last weekend to see how a state that has legalized marijuana for recreational use goes about its business.
When 8 News NOW accompanied the lawmakers as the only television crew on the trip, it became obvious that Colorado's model for regulating marijuana was viewed favorably by the Nevada delegation.
In 2014 alone, Colorado dispensaries sold 150,000 pounds of pot and 5 million marijuana-infused edibles. Numbers like those convinced Nevada state Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas that the marijuana industry could give Nevada's economy a much-needed shot in the arm.
Denver's marijuana industry is growing so fast it generated $150 million last year in sales in what was the first full year of legalization. The industry also created 15,000 jobs, most of which involve working in warehouses where the leafy green plants are grown or in small shops where the weed is sold.
But a growing number of individuals are working in the kitchen. Julie Dooley's bakery now has 12 full-time employees who receive competitive wages and benefits. A favorite product is called Cannabutter.
8 News NOW: "How profitable is this, compared to, maybe, a bakery or someone that's doing the same thing, obviously not with cannabis?"
Dooley: "So, I get to charge a little more for my granola bar, I can tell you that my granola bar is probably one of the most expensive in the country."
Her granola bar sells for $6, The profits from the bakery are so good Dooley said she expects her business will soon outgrow its kitchen.
Segerblom was impressed.
"That's entrepreneurship, that's America,” he said. “We take something and then we figure out how to make it simpler and better, and more effective, and that's what you see here."
On his second trip to Denver, Segerblom showed fellow lawmakers how Colorado's laws make it easy to do business.
"Well I think the one thing I've noticed is the fact that they have a lot more local control, as opposed to state control, and they also have vastly more dispensaries than we have," Segerblom said.
Denver's proactive and pro-business stance on weed has allowed the city's marijuana industry to explode, even in the midst of a two-year cap on how many pot businesses can open. For now, only medical marijuana dispensaries and growers in good standing can sell recreational weed.
"That way, we knew that the people that we were dealing with in retail marijuana had a good, proven track record as medical marijuana businesses,” said Ashley Kilroy, Denver's executive director for marijuana policy.
Come January anyone will be able to apply for a license to grow or sell retail marijuana in Denver.
With new restrictions on spacing and location of marijuana businesses a rush on commercial real estate has made it challenging to find a place to house a new grow operation or dispensary.
But one recently redeveloped neighborhood saw plenty of small dispensaries open before those restrictions took effect.
A section of South Broadway just south of downtown Denver is now known as “The Green Mile.” It's a stretch with 12 dispensaries, nearly one on every corner.
It doesn't take long to figure out that weed customers really like to eat, as one can detect by the number of bakeries and restaurants on Broadway.
"We've seen an increase in business,” said Natasha Soltero of 4G's Restaurant. “We have a dispensary a couple of businesses down, and we even do delivery to them."
Next door to one dispensary is Rebellion Pizza.
"It's brought us more business,” Rebellion's general manager Anisa Mallamo said. “All the people are super friendly and nice. We haven't had any issues or anything like that."
To satisfy its new customers' cravings, Rebellion now serves deep-fried candy bars. Mallamo is more than happy to cater to them.
"We were a little bit excited about it, just because it was more that's happening in this part of town, and there really wasn't anything before that other than all of the industrial businesses that are around here,” she told 8 News NOW.
Again, Segerblom was impressed.
"It's the future,” he said. “I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. I think it's coming to Nevada."
http://www.8newsnow.com/story/28956058/nevada-lawmakers-take-liking-to-colorados-weed-economy
New York Begins Accepting Medical Marijuana Applications
New York State has begun accepting applications for its medical marijuana licenses this week. Applicants can submit questions through May 5th and the Department of Health Services (DOH) must answer those questions by May 14th. The deadline for filing an application is May 29th. The nonrefundable application fee is $10,000 and the registration fee is $200,000.The approved applicants will be announced some time in July.
Only five applicants will be approved to cultivate and dispense approved medical marijuana and they are each limited to four dispensaries. This is where things get a little challenging for the approved licensees. The dispensaries must be geographically dispensed or located in multiple counties across the state, but not in counties that are neighboring or in close proximity. So if you choose New York County, which includes Manhattan and the boroughs, be prepared to give up the suburbs of Westchester or Long Island’s Nassau county. There will be no delivery services unless the DOH provides prior written approval.
According to the statute, these approved licensees had better be ready to hit the ground running as the implementation date for the program is January 5, 2016. Even if a business is approved and licensed, it will need to secure a location and get local approval before building the facility. David Lipton Managing Director of Advanced Grow Labs already operates such a business in Connecticut and plans to apply for a license in New York. “If you go about it the right way, a town in New York may be receptive,” said Lipton. “A lot of people will apply in New York and there’s lot of money, but it’s hard to do.”
However, even if a seasoned medical marijuana business gets approved and maybe even leased a potential building or bought one in anticipation, the build-out takes months. Then it will take another several months to begin cultivating product before it can be dispensed. January 5th looks pretty aggressive by any time table.
When it comes to the actual product, the approved licensees will be limited to five brands of medical marijuana and the DOH will set the price for the product. According to the DOH, “The Commissioner must set the price per dose for each form of medical marijuana sold by any registered organization, and must take into account the fixed and variable costs of producing the form of marijuana in approving such price.” A patient’s income will not be factored into the cost, but the Commissioner could authorize a charity program offered by a registered organization.
Patients will need certification from a registered practitioner, but the DOH has not begun the process for registering the practitioners or the patients yet. Most companies that are applying for licenses in New York are aware that they will need to be prepared for at least two years of losses. The restrictive nature of the New York program will limit the patient population and the dispensary locations.
However, most of these companies are looking at New York as a long term investment. “The license is not valuable because of its short term cash flow. It’s valuable because it’s a long term asset,” said Adam Bierman of MedMen a cannabis consulting firm. “Most people that get these five licenses will figure out how to to stay in power thereafter.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/debraborchardt/2015/04/29/new-york-begins-accepting-medical-marijuana-applications/
Marijuana sales to rake in over $13 billion by 2020
The cannabis industry is the fastest growing business sector in the United States, according to a recent report by market researchers IBISWorld. As legalization becomes more prevalent across the nation, the business of growing and selling weed, for both medicinal and recreational purposes, is predicted to experience no less than an increase of 30 percent each year for the next five years—giving way to a $13.4 billion dollar marketplace by 2020.
These are some pretty impressive figures considering that cannabis remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government. Yet, with 23 states and the District of Columbia having established medical marijuana programs, as well as four states legalizing pot for recreational use, it appears the industry owes a large portion of its success to the cash-generating monstrosity of edible products.
“The growing acceptance of medical marijuana is providing growers and investors with unprecedented opportunities,” Dmitry Diment of IBISWorld said in a statement. “There has been no shortage of demand in recent years, as the industry has benefited from increased acceptance of the legitimacy of medical marijuana products.”
As many as 110 million Americans over the age of 50 are expected to take advantage of legal weed before the end of 2015, with that number increasing by roughly 7 percent within the next five years. Analysts predict the older demographic will become a substantial customer base for the medical sector due to marijuana’s capacity for treating chronic illnesses. Unlike some of the younger generations, baby boomers have a tendency to prefer marijuana edibles rather than smoking—mostly due to the hardcore stigma surrounding this form of consumption during their coming of age.
By the end of 2015, marijuana sales are expected to reach $3.6 billion, which will provide respectable paying jobs for around 75,000 people. Earlier this month, HIGH TIMES reported that entry-level bud trimmers are currently earning as much as $15 per hour, while enjoying an earning potential somewhere between $50,000 to $90,000 per year. So, it stands to reason that the cannabis industry is poised to become one of the highest paying career options for non-college graduates in the nation.
Unfortunately, the latest research finds the biggest risk to the cannabis market, as a whole, stems from the federal government’s refusal to change its policy in regards to the legality of marijuana. According to analysts, this will not stop the increasing demand for a legal marketplace where over half the nation has already legalized the herb for either medicinal or recreational purposes.
“The next five years are expected to see the growth of large commercial cultivators, who will benefit from strong recreational demand across a number of states, including Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia,” Diment said.
http://www.hightimes.com/read/marijuana-sales-set-rake-over-13-billion-2020
DEA Chief Michele Leonhart Retires Over Handling of Colombia Sex Scandal
Drug Enforcement Administration head Michele Leonhart retired Tuesday, the Justice Department said — a week after she came under withering congressional criticism for having failed to get rid of agents who admitted taking part in sex parties paid for by Colombian drug cartels.
Leonhart, who has led the DEA since 2007, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week that she didn't have the authority to fire the agents, who received suspensions of less than two weeks. The committee released a bipartisan statement of no confidence.
"Ms. Leonhart's retirement is appropriate," Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, the committee's chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, said in a statement Tuesday that again slammed "bad behavior that was allowed to fester for more than a decade."
The White House declined to defend Leonhart last week, calling the accusations against the agents "troubling."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest wouldn't comment when asked about Leonhart on Tuesday.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dea-chief-retires-over-handling-colombia-sex-scandal-n345871
President Obama will support marijuana This Sunday On CNN
A new Sanjay Gupta marijuana special airs Sunday on CNN and it will apparently feature President Barack Obama giving his “full support of medical marijuana” and will also speak about other options for drug abuse treatment that don’t involve incarceration.
According to an email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Caller’s Jonah Bennett reports that the special, “Weed 3,” features Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, interviewing President Barack Obama.
During the show, Gupta and Obama chat about a multitude of cannabis-related topics, including the recent bipartisan bill known as the CARERS Act, which proposes rescheduling marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2. When Gupta asks Obama about the bill, the President says, “You know, I think I’d have to take a look at the details, but I’m on record as saying that not only do I think carefully prescribed medical use of marijuana may in fact be appropriate and we should follow the science as opposed to ideology on this issue, but I’m also on record as saying that the more we treat some of these issues related to drug abuse from a public health model and not just from an incarceration model, the better off we’re going to be.”
Obama also points to the decline in tobacco use as an example of how effective public health models can be if taken seriously. Obama said, “You know, one of the great victories of this country has been our ability to reduce incidences of smoking, increase the incidences of seat belt use. You know, we save tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives every single year. We didn’t throw anybody in jail; we just made sure that they were well-informed and if somebody has an addiction, we made sure that we made it easy for them to get help.”
In the past, Obama has predicted that more states will legalize and confirmed that “although marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, the Department of Justice will look the other way.”
Weed 3 airs Sunday at 9pm ET on CNN.
http://thenationalmarijuananews.com/2015/04/breaking-president-obama-support-marijuana-sunday-cnn/
We the people have the right to take whatever medicine helps to save our lives
Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It's time for a medical marijuana revolution !
Dr. Sanjay Gupta puts medical marijuana under the microscope again with "Weed 3: The Marijuana Revolution" at 9 p.m. ET Sunday on CNN, followed by "High Profits" at 10 p.m., a CNN Original Series exploring the business of legal, recreational cannabis in Breckenridge, Colorado.
I see signs of a revolution everywhere.
I see it in the op-ed pages of the newspapers, and on the state ballots in nearly half the country. I see it in politicians who once preferred to play it safe with this explosive issue but are now willing to stake their political futures on it. I see the revolution in the eyes of sterling scientists, previously reluctant to dip a toe into this heavily stigmatized world, who are diving in head first. I see it in the new surgeon general who cites data showing just how helpful it can be.
I see a revolution in the attitudes of everyday Americans. For the first time a majority, 53%, favor its legalization, with 77% supporting it for medical purposes.
Support for legalization has risen 11 points in the past few years alone. In 1969, the first time Pew asked the question about legalization, only 12% of the nation was in favor.
I see a revolution that is burning white hot among young people, but also shows up among the parents and grandparents in my kids' school. A police officer I met in Michigan is part of the revolution, as are the editors of the medical journal, Neurosurgery. I see it in the faces of good parents, uprooting their lives to get medicine for their children -- and in the children themselves, such as Charlotte, who went from having 300 seizures a week to just one or two a month. We know it won't consistently have such dramatic results (or any impact at all) in others, but what medicine does?
I see this medical marijuana revolution in surprising places.
Among my colleagues, my patients and my friends. I have even seen the revolution in my own family. A few years ago, when I told my mother I was investigating the topic for a documentary, I was met with a long pause.
"Marijuana...?" She whispered in a half questioning, half disapproving tone. She could barely even say the word and her response filled me with self-doubt. Even as a grown man, mom can still make my cheeks turn red and shatter my confidence with a single word. But just last week she suddenly stopped mid-conversation and said, "I am proud of you on the whole marijuana thing." I waited for the other shoe to drop, but it didn't. Instead, she added, "You probably helped a lot of people who were suffering."
I don't think we had ever had a conversation like that one. At that moment, I saw a revolution that can bring you to tears.
The word revolution, comes from the Latin revolutio, to "turn around."
I had my own turn around a couple of years ago, and at the time it was a lonely place to hold a supportive position on medical marijuana. Hardly any government officials would agree to sit down and be interviewed on the topic. Even patients I spoke to were reluctant to share their stories.
It can be tricky, I learned, to be on the right side of science but on the wrong side of ideology.
?
It can be tricky to be on the right side of science, but on the wrong side of ideology.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
When we put the first "Weed" documentary on television in August 2013, I didn't know if anyone would watch our yearlong investigation. Even worse, I didn't even know if they would care.
Just two years later, in "Weed 3," we are eyewitnesses to a revolution in full swing. You will ride along with us for the dawn of the first federally approved clinical study on the use of marijuana for PTSD. You will meet patients such as Sean Kiernan, an accomplished investment banker, and Amelia Taylor, a stay-at-home mom.
They are the remarkable and surprising faces of this revolution -- smart, successful and suffering -- unwilling to accept the fact that commonly prescribed medications often used to treat PTSD can be worse than the underlying disorder itself. Sean Kiernan nearly died, trying to get better.
You will see what weed really does to your brain, in crystal clear images. This time around, you will hear from the heads of government agencies earnestly sharing their point of view, both Democratic and Republican senators, and even the President of the United States.
This is what a revolution looks like.
When "Weed 2: Cannabis Madness" aired in March 2014, Boston researcher Rick Doblin believed the right people were watching. Just four days later, Doblin received a letter in the mail he had been waiting on for seven years that finally provided federal approval for his marijuana study. The federal farm where Doblin would have to obtain his marijuana is on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. In anticipation of a scientific revolution, the production of research-grade marijuana there has increased 30-fold in just the past year.
Make no mistake, we have plenty of evidence that the approval and support of the federal government can fast track a revolution at a faster pace than we have yet seen.
It was the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that spearheaded the research into a cure for AIDS, as well as stopping the spread of West Nile Virus. They were also responsible for the awesome task of eradicating polio and smallpox. Other successful federally backed programs include the human genome project, the BRAIN initiative and the Precision Medicine Initiative. There are no shortage of examples where the federal government has been a guardian of our public health needs, and you could argue that medical marijuana would also qualify as a worthwhile investment.
There is now promising research into the use of marijuana that could impact tens of thousands of children and adults, including treatment for cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's, to name a few. With regard to pain alone, marijuana could greatly reduce the demand for narcotics and simultaneously decrease the number of accidental painkiller overdoses, which are the greatest cause of preventable death in this country.
As I sat across from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), I knew something extraordinary was happening.
They were reciting the story of Charlotte Figi and countless other children. They were quoting back the data we had shared from our earlier investigations. They were extolling the potential virtues of the plant, and all of that was before the interview even started. There was an impatience about them, and they seemed in a hurry to make a large dent in marijuana reform.
They want marijuana to be rescheduled. They want it now.
They want doctors to be able to prescribe it at VA hospitals all over the country. They want it now.
They want research dollars freed up to study the plant. They want it now.
They want their fellow lawmakers at the state and national level to acknowledge what most of the world, including the citizens of the United States, have known for a long time: Marijuana is a medicine, that should be studied and treated like any other medicine.
And they want all of it now.
I spent much of our interview challenging them. I needed to remind them that people, long before me or them, have been trying to do many of these same things for 40 years, and had been rejected every time. I reminded them that politicians have a hard time winning elections on the issue of marijuana but less difficulty losing them. I challenged them every step of the way. "This time will be different," Booker confidently told me as he walked out of the room.
I know how easy it is do nothing because I did nothing for too long. Take a good look at the data, educate yourself and talk to the patients, who are often out of options and find their hope in the form of a simple plant.
Journalists shouldn't take a position. It makes sense. Objectivity is king. But, at some point, open questions do get answered. At some point, contentious issues do get resolved. At some point, common sense prevails.
So, here it is: We should legalize medical marijuana. We should do it nationally. And, we should do it now.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/opinions/medical-marijuana-revolution-sanjay-gupta/
President Obama will support marijuana This Sunday On CNN
A new Sanjay Gupta marijuana special airs Sunday on CNN and it will apparently feature President Barack Obama giving his “full support of medical marijuana” and will also speak about other options for drug abuse treatment that don’t involve incarceration.
According to an email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Caller’s Jonah Bennett reports that the special, “Weed 3,” features Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, interviewing President Barack Obama.
During the show, Gupta and Obama chat about a multitude of cannabis-related topics, including the recent bipartisan bill known as the CARERS Act, which proposes rescheduling marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2. When Gupta asks Obama about the bill, the President says, “You know, I think I’d have to take a look at the details, but I’m on record as saying that not only do I think carefully prescribed medical use of marijuana may in fact be appropriate and we should follow the science as opposed to ideology on this issue, but I’m also on record as saying that the more we treat some of these issues related to drug abuse from a public health model and not just from an incarceration model, the better off we’re going to be.”
Obama also points to the decline in tobacco use as an example of how effective public health models can be if taken seriously. Obama said, “You know, one of the great victories of this country has been our ability to reduce incidences of smoking, increase the incidences of seat belt use. You know, we save tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives every single year. We didn’t throw anybody in jail; we just made sure that they were well-informed and if somebody has an addiction, we made sure that we made it easy for them to get help.”
In the past, Obama has predicted that more states will legalize and confirmed that “although marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, the Department of Justice will look the other way.”
“Weed 3? airs Sunday at 9pm ET on CNN.
http://thenationalmarijuananews.com/2015/04/breaking-president-obama-support-marijuana-sunday-cnn/
Federal Bill Would Legalize CBD Nationwide
Folks suffering from seizure disorders all across the United States could soon have access to medical marijuana. Earlier this week, a piece of legislation with bipartisan support was introduced in the House of Representatives that aims to legalize cannabidiol or CBD, which has been shown effective in calming the severity of a number of medical conditions.
The proposal, aptly deemed the Compassionate Access Act, was submitted by Congressman Morgan Griffith, a Republican from Virginia, and Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon on Tuesday, in hopes of reforming federal statutes surrounding the plant. The primary goal of the bill is to get the Drug Enforcement Administration to downgrade marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug, and in doing so, allow the medical community more flexibility to prescribe and dispense the medicine without risking the wrath of federal prosecution.
Similar to the CARERS Act, which is currently gaining some support in both chambers of Congress, the latest proposal would also completely remove cannabidiol from the Controlled Substances Act, and allow CBD oil to be prescribed and distributed in states that have established medical marijuana programs.
“There are countless reports of marijuana’s medicinal benefits in treating conditions including cancer, epilepsy, and glaucoma,” Griffith said in a statement. “It is time to research this further, and, where legal, to allow real doctors and real pharmacists to prescribe or dispense marijuana for legitimate medical reasons for real patients.”
Interestingly, the bill has managed to garner the support of two influential medical societies, the Epilepsy Foundation and the American Academy of Neurology, both of which want to make cannabis available to patients suffering from debilitating disorders, while also eliminating the federal barriers that prevent them from conducting research.
Congressman Blumenauer claims there are enough people currently benefiting from medicinal cannabis to lend support to the argument of rescheduling marijuana and removing certain compounds from the government’s list of dangerous drugs.
“Well over one million patients are currently benefiting from the medical use of marijuana in consultation with a physician and in accordance with state law” he said. “Yet, all forms of marijuana use remain illegal at the federal level, classified as severely as heroin under the Controlled Substances Act. This makes no sense.”
http://www.hightimes.com/read/federal-bill-would-legalize-cbd-nationwide
Ruling on marijuana classification disappoints advocates
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge in California declined Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of most dangerous drugs, disappointing activists who saw the case as a chance to get closer to their goal of nationwide legalization.
U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller said during a brief court hearing that she was initially prepared to rule that marijuana should not be a Schedule 1 drug but then decided it was up to Congress to change the law if it wishes.
"It has been 45 years since Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act," Mueller said, noting "the landscape has changed" since then.
However, the judge pointed out that courts are not designed to act as a maker of public policy and explained that she had made her decision based on the facts of the marijuana growing case that sparked the legal challenge.
"This is not the court and this is not the time" to overturn federal law, she said.
The ruling came after more than 20 states legalized medical marijuana use, and voters in four — Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska — allowed recreational pot use. An effort is underway to legalize recreational marijuana in California as well.
A decision by Mueller to reject marijuana's classification would have applied narrowly to the case she is hearing and likely would have been appealed. Still, it would have set a precedent for other criminal prosecutions and added to the growing push to change federal drug law, experts and advocates said.
The classification of pot as one of the most dangerous drugs has pitted federal authorities against states that have legalized medical marijuana and prompted raids on growers and dispensaries that appear to be operating legally under state law.
"We applaud Judge Mueller for having the courage to hear this issue and provide it the careful consideration it deserves," Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in a statement.
Armentano said NORML has always believed the issue would have to be decided by a federal appellate court.
Legal experts said Mueller's decision to hold a fact-finding hearing last year that included expert testimony marked the first time in decades that a federal district court judge seriously considered marijuana's classification on constitutional grounds. Judges have generally accepted the classification and the federal ban on its use, growth and distribution.
Alex Kreit, a drug law expert at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, called the hearing a "sign that at least some judges are increasingly skeptical of marijuana's status under federal law."
The ruling came in a case alleging that marijuana was being grown in a remote area of Northern California. Attorneys for the defendants had sought to dismiss the charges on the grounds that pot should not be listed among Schedule 1 drugs, which include heroin and LSD and are defined as drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
Defense attorneys argued that marijuana is far less harmful than some legal drugs, and its classification as a Schedule 1 drug was arbitrary in violation of the Constitution.
Defense attorney Bill Bonham, speaking for his fellow attorneys, said he was disappointed.
"I felt that the judge was leaning to grant the motion from our previous hearings," he said.
Mueller plans to issue a written ruling and gave defense attorneys three weeks to regroup before a May 6 hearing to set a trial date.
In a statement after Mueller's decision, prosecutors characterized the defense motion as an attack on the federal Controlled Substances Act, which created the five-tiered drug classification system.
Prosecutors had argued that marijuana met all the criteria for a Schedule 1 drug, saying it had no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. They also argued that Mueller did not have jurisdiction to consider how marijuana was classified.
The criminal complaint filed in 2011 accused 16 defendants of conspiring to grow at least 1,000 pot plants as part of an operation that included land in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California. Several defendants have settled their cases, leaving nine to face trial.
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-declines-remove-marijuana-dangerous-drug-list-175609181.html
DP quoted in Cannabranding Is All The Rage article
As the marijuana business goes legit, longtime advocates with reputations and cash to invest are beginning to flock to the industry. Their hope is that their reputations will help them sell pot to a country with a suddenly insatiable appetite. Investors Privateer Holdings are now backing an effort to bring Bob Marley branded ganja to the market. Willie Nelson is just the latest to throw his hat into the ring. In March, Nelson announced plans to invest in a chain of recreational pot stores in states where marijuana is now legal. He is also planning on launching his own brand of marijuana to sell in these stores called Willie's Reserve.
The increase in branded offerings in the legal marijuana sector is only going to increase in the face of the new face of reform that has become almost like a Jolly Green Giant, popping up in every state. So is a multi-state business strategy, for those with pockets deep enough to play.
"Recreational branding appeals to consumer values and preferences," says to Steve Berg of O.PenVAPE. "As cannabis goes mainstream, we're going to see more branding of all types in cannabis."
That said, the current state restrictions on the industry create huge challenges for all involved. Olivia Mannix, the strategic director and co-founder of Colorado-based consulting company CannaBrand, told MainStreet how she helps her clients meet the challenges that currently face all multi-state marijuana businesses.
"We need to have several strategized marketing angles to enter different states which can be challenging and expensive," she said. Post federal reform, Mannix believes, "we will be able to distribute products from the native state of the cannabis company across state lines rather than having to license the brands."
Marc Ross, an attorney at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference and law professor in New York, concurs that current federal restrictions on marijuana are actually creating an atmosphere where the only recourse for companies with a national vision is to create highly identifiable products and utilize strong branding strategies to establish customer loyalty beyond a single state. "Marijuana can't cross state lines," he said. "This is a potential issue for any multi-state manufacturing and marketing model."
To many operating in the business already, however, there are some advantages of a state-by-strategy that play heavily into company identity if not brand creation. Some, like publicly traded Terra Tech (TRTC) are making this reality an integral part of their business model. This, in turn of course, impacts company if not product branding. As Derek Peterson, company CEO said, "We tailor our operations to comply with all state and local rules and regulations including sourcing our cannabis from cultivators within each state."
While production costs are higher, there is an upside for Peterson. "This allows us to track and verify the quality of our own products from seed to sale, thereby ensuring we deliver only the highest quality, locally sourced medical cannabis products to our patients," he said. "It also allows us to maintain our commitment to supporting local communities by providing jobs and tax dollars in the regions in which we operate."
Branding is also becoming an important form of consumer education. Because marijuana remains federally illegal, there are no government guidelines that exist to help consumers make choices.
"Restrictions on studying cannabis have constricted consumer access to information," Berg said. "However, consumers can now turn to an expanding set of information sources. In states with legal dispensaries and recreational stores, bud tenders can guide consumers and help inform purchase decisions." For now, Berg believes, the mainstreaming of the industry will create a crowd sourced consumer education movement. "The internet has many sites which inform cannabis consumers," he said. "Mobile apps are also jumping in. Mass Roots, for example, is a social networking app that connects the cannabis community."
According to Julianna Carella, the CEO of Auntie Dolores, a medical edible company, "We provide branded educational materials and demonstration days in the dispensary. But really what often appeals to a consumer most is well-branded packaging that is professional and informational." Carella has lots of advice for consumers who rely on branding to help guide their purchases, for either medical or recreational purposes.
She is particularly proud of her company's packaging on this score.
"On our packaging we tell the consumer how many total milligrams of THC, how many milligrams in a dose, and what constitutes a dose of each of our products," she said. "This responsible labelling should encourage responsible behaviour. We believe it's important for all manufacturers to uphold certain standards for consumer safety through education and proper labeling."
Mannix concurs with this approach, and has similar advice for consumers. "Right now there are also other entities which get the information out there to the public and organizations such as NORML and Marijuana Policy Project that help with this," she said. "We would like for patients and consumers to seek out the information they need through the various channels available."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/cannabranding-is-all-the-rage-as-willie-nelson-announces-entrance-to-cannabiz/ar-AAaHjj0
Schedule 1 ruling scheduled for Wednesday
Judge Kimberly Mueller, the federal magistrate who made history by granting defense requests for a five-day hearing on the constitutionality of the continued inclusion of cannabis in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, was originally scheduled to meet with the parties of US v Schweder et al for a status hearing this week — but has delayed that meeting until April 15th.
The latest delay represents the continuance of a pattern. Previously Judge Mueller agreed to a defense request for extended written arguments on the case, and now this is the second time she has delayed a hearing on her own motion pending her ruling on the question.
Obviously, she needs more time. But what can the delay mean for the fate of the defendants accused of trafficking in a Schedule I drug? While the shoals of predicting the actions of federal judges are littered with the hulls of many a journalist’s career (remember the ObamaCare decision?), nevertheless I feel sufficiently bold on this question to float out some educated guesses:
She will rule on the merits.
In their final written arguments, prosecutors pressed for an essentially procedural decision which would have eliminated the question on the basis of the esoteric doctrine of standing. At the time, I thought that the standing argument was the strongest one prosecutors had, mainly by virtue of the fact that arguing the case on the merits was so difficult for them — who could persuasively argue, in the weight of all the accumulated evidence, that cannabis actually belongs in Schedule I, meaning that it has no recognized medical value and cannot be safely administered even under a doctor’s supervision? The standing argument was much stronger, given that it allowed the US Attorneys to sidestep this issue.
Based on Mueller’s comments from the bench, combined with the pattern of delays in constructing her legal theory of the case, it appears unlikely that this judge will dispose of this question on purely procedural grounds. On the final day of oral argument in the case, for example, Judge Mueller posed a hypothetical to the attorneys in the case. “Suppose I reach a decision on the merits,” she said, “using either the rational basis standard or what one judge has called ‘rational basis with bite.'” It’s one of the only clues of her intent from an otherwise poker-faced judge.
The repeated delays in the written argument phase — three now — also favor a decision on the merits. While written opinions on standing can be as arcane as any other topic of law (if not more so), the area of law applying standing to drug law cases is relatively well-developed compared to the novel — indeed, historic — question posed by the merits: is keeping cannabis in Schedule I so out of step with reality as to be unconstitutional?
Finally, judicial economy must be considered. The dockets of federal judges are famously crowded; it makes little sense to devote five days of extremely valuable court time to establishing evidence relevant to the merits of the case if one didn’t intend to decide the case on the merits.
She’s expecting an appeal.
When another federal judge in California, Vaughn Walker, ruled the state’s newly-passed Proposition 8 unconstitutional — thereby opening the door for gay marriage throughout the state — he knew that he was tackling a number of controversial issues, from the legal definition of marriage to principles of judicial activism. An appeal to the 9th Circuit was all but assured; therefore Judge Walker wrote an extensive 136-page opinion which exhaustively covered every conceivable point of fact and law. The effect was favorable, from Judge Walker’s point of view: the 9th Circuit took up the full case without remand or procedural delay, finding his tightly-argued opinion credible. Eventually the Supreme Court of the United States gave their own stamp of approval, allowing the 9th Circuit decision to stand without modification. Home run.
I am by no means the first commentator to compare the national issues of medical marijuana and gay marriage. Both have proven remarkable exceptions to the political impasses which have plagued the national scene for nearly a decade; in the case of gay marriage, when elected representatives moved too slowly to respect rapidly shifting public opinion, the judicial bench led the nation into reform.
Repeated delays in crafting her ruling therefore probably indicate an expectation on Judge Mueller’s part to have her decision subjected to the scrutiny of the 9th Circuit — and possibly the US Supreme Court as well. And that *probably* means…
She will find Schedule I unconstitutional.
An appeal is more likely to come from the US Attorney than from the defense in this case. While defense attorneys Zenia Gilg and Heather Burke are certainly capable of tackling a long game through the federal court system, the cost-benefit analysis of appeal favors the prosecution, as Judge Mueller well knows. Whereas the considerable cost of an appeal would have to be financed privately for the defense, the federal Department of Justice has a practically unlimited bank account to draw against (and no — the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment to the 2015 spending bill does not affect the government’s prosecution budget in this case even one whit). Therefore, prosecutors have a powerful advantage against the accused in the appeals phase; they can grossly outspend them.
But there’s an even more compelling reason to expect a ruling for the defense from Judge Mueller: the federal judiciary, after all, is sensitive to the political winds of public opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts may have famously analogized his job to an umpire “call[ing] balls and strikes,” but legal historians know differently. Judge Walker, for one example, did not decide to overturn a gay marriage ban in a vacuum; rather, with an impeccable sense of political timing, he issued his ruling right at the moment when public opinion was shifting decisively toward allowing gay marriages to go forward. As a result, he was able to influence the national conversation even as he responded to it.
An even more salient example can be found at the dawn of the federal drug war, around a century ago. The 1914 Harrison Act is often remembered as the federal law which first criminalized drugs like heroin and cocaine (though not cannabis), but in reality it didn’t happen exactly that way. In fact, the Harrison Act resembled many of the medical marijuana statutes which have been passed in the last two decades, in that it required that heroin and cocaine could only be dispensed with a prescription and provided other limits on their distribution. As late as 1916, the US Supreme Court enforced this interpretation of the Harrison Act, unequivocally ruling that medical heroin and cocaine were still allowed with a doctor’s prescription — as noted by David Musto in his outstanding drug policy history The American Disease. But then, only three years later the Court did a complete about face, ruling in US v Doremus et al (1919) that the Harrison Act required doctors to wean their patients off such drugs, even if doing so would cause immense suffering for the patient. What had happened to completely reverse Court jurisprudence in only three short years? The answer, according to Musto, was a rapid shift in public opinion.
That is precisely the situation faced by Judge Walker in 2010 on the issue of gay marriage, and faced now by Judge Mueller on the question of cannabis policy. While well-respected polls now show that a majority of Americans favor the legalization of cannabis for all adult uses, the demand for medical marijuana reform is even starker, with up to 80% of US voters demanding that US policy recognize the “drug” as what it really is: a medicine.
A ruling for the defense on this motion would be in step with 80% of Americans; while her decision will make no statement about which of the other four schedules cannabis should belong to, it will unequivocally state that Schedule I is wrong. Few Americans indeed would disagree with that.
What will happen after?
If my prediction is correct and Judge Mueller rules for the defense on the merits, the prosecutors can be expected to immediately move for an appeal and a temporary stay on her ruling until the matter can be heard by the 9th Circuit. Such a move could easily delay any ruling from taking effect until next year.
In the unlikely event that such a motion isn’t granted, then the administrator of the DEA can be expected to immediately schedule cannabis in Schedule II — which happens to be one of the moves contemplated by the CARERS bill just filed in the US Senate.
Thus, a favorable ruling by Judge Mueller will not by itself end the federal war on marijuana. Cocaine is listed in Schedule II, but any would-be Tony Montana in the US still has to worry about DEA raids.
Nevertheless, it would still be a huge win. Just as Judge Walker’s Prop 8 decision had a massive effect on the national politics of gay marriage, so too could a favorable ruling by Judge Mueller finally begin to budge an intransigent Congress into finally respecting the will of the people who voted them in office. Passing the CARERS bill would be a cinch.
http://theleafonline.com/c/politics/2015/03/schedule-ruling-delayed-mean/
New York Issues Final Medical Marijuana Regulations
New York State Officials Ignore Patients, Providers and Industry Experts to Instead Pursue One of the Nation's Most Unworkable Medical Marijuana Programs
ALBANY, NY — Late Tuesday, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) released the final regulations for New York’s medical marijuana program. The announcement followed a period of public comment in which patients, families, experts, and industry professionals submitted more than a thousand letters and emails critiquing the proposed regulations for being too restrictive and unworkable.
In response to this incredible level of input from the public and private industry, the Department of Health made absolutely no substantive changes to the regulations. Instead, they made only handful of technical fixes, such as correcting typos.
Twenty-two other states have passed medical marijuana laws, five jurisdictions have passed laws legalizing marijuana for adult use, and the federal government has made clear that they will not interfere with properly administered state marijuana programs. Despite this, the Cuomo Administration, in its response to the public comments, repeatedly uses federal laws as an excuse for inaction.
Last June, the New York State legislature passed a medical marijuana law after years of advocacy by patients and families across the state. In the final days of the 2014 legislative session, the Cuomo Administration demanded a series of amendments to the bill, severely limiting its scope and creating one of the country’s narrowest medical marijuana programs.
The law that was passed, while narrow, gave the Health Commissioner the authority to make the program more expansive. Unfortunately, the final regulations make clear that the Commissioner will not use his authority to expand the program and that the Cuomo Administration intends to make the program as restrictive as possible – even if that makes the program unworkable and leaves patients to suffer.
For example, although advocates had asked for a clear and transparent process for how conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), will be considered for the program, the final regulations make no mention of covering any additional illnesses, only saying that the Commissioner may issue guidance on this in the future.
“As a veteran, I am dismayed that the final regulations fail to include PTSD, which so many of my fellow soldiers suffer from on a daily basis,” said Bill Gilson President of the New York City chapter of Veterans for Peace. “PTSD is covered in a least nine other states with medical marijuana laws, and given the strong scientific evidence that cannabis can help those with PTSD, people suffering from it New York should also have access. I find it even more upsetting that there is still no transparency or explanation for how PTSD — or any other medical condition for that matter — will be added or excluded from the program in the future.”
For months, advocates have also been raising concerns that low income patients may not be able to access medicine because the cost will be prohibitive. DOH is requiring dispensaries to sell more expensive extracts and concentrates (versus whole plant); has prohibited modes of ingestion, thus, requiring the use of costly vaporizers; and has limited delivery options putting the burden of transportation on sick patients. Each of these factors increases the cost and could leave the poorest and most disabled patients to suffer most. In their public comments, advocates outlined several options by which DOH could provide access for low income patients. The final regulations completely ignore these suggestions. DOH says it may allow dispensaries to give away medicine to those in need, leaving the fate of low income patients to depend entirely on the good will industry.
“Having fought hard for the establishment of the medical marijuana program to serve thousands of sick and disabled New Yorkers – including myself – who are in desperate need of safe and legal access, I’m gravely concerned that the State is setting up a two-tier system where low-income and poor people of color are cut out,”said Robert Tolbert, an 18 year survivor of HIV and board member of VOCAL-NY. “We suggested a number of ways the state could meet the needs of low income New Yorkers, and they chose to ignore them all. This is disgraceful.”
Despite strenuous opposition form advocates and industry alike, the final regulations also prohibit the sale of whole plant matter and limit each producer to manufacturing five strains, even though there are dozens of therapeutic strains for treating a variety of different symptoms and conditions.
“I’m dismayed that DOH chose to restrict access to the whole plant,” said Donna Romano of Syracuse. “Many patients, like me, want the benefits of the natural, whole plant. Important compounds, like terpenoids, can be lost during the extraction process. And doctors and their patients need to be able to try different strains to figure out which ones are most therapeutic for a given condition. There is no sound rationale for limiting access to the whole plant and restricting the number of strains to five.”
Advocates are also concerned that there simply won’t be enough supply to meet demand, especially in rural regions of the state.
“With only five producers and twenty dispensaries for a state with 54,000 square miles and a population of almost 20 million, many patients are going to have a hard time getting the medicine they need,” said Jumanne McDaniel from Long Island, who is living with disability associated with spinal injury. “Many of the patients who will qualify for medical marijuana in New York are gravely ill or severely disabled. They should not have to drive hundreds of miles to get the medicine they need.”
As concerning as the particular provisions that will leave patients to suffer needlessly is the Administration’s disregard for the input of the public and experts in the field.
“Substantive concerns were provided by hundreds of people who are in need of accessing medical marijuana,” said Janet Weinberg, a cancer survivor and leader in Compassionate Care NY, a statewide coalition of patients, families and providers. “They expressed that need, and the Administration did not make any changes. The regulations do not provide consistency in utilizing a medical model. Rather it seems they selected the most restrictive provisions they could rather than working to create maximal access for patients in need.”
Ironically, all of the state’s efforts to prevent diversion will likely have the opposite of the intended effect. Because they will not have access to the medicine they need, patients will be forced to continue purchasing marijuana on the illicit market – subjecting themselves to criminal penalties – or to simply continue suffering. Advocates noted that by releasing the final regulations at the same time as the state budget was being completed, the restrictive, unworkable regulations would get buried in the budget new cycle.
“It’s baffling and downright unacceptable for Governor Cuomo to ignore both the science on medical marijuana and the evidence on medical marijuana programs,” said gabriel sayegh, managing director of policy and campaigns for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Since Cuomo is abandoning patients and families in need in pursuit of a war on drugs approach, we have no choice but to return to the legislature to fix New York’s medical marijuana program.”
http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/42016/new-york-issues-final-medical-marijuana-regulations/
Southern Conservatives Are High on Legalizing Medical Marijuana
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Friday said he would sign into law a bill that would make the Peach State the 24th to legalize medical marijuana, continuing the rapid expansion of cannabis into the Deep South and underscoring a dramatic shift in pot politics for social conservatives in the U.S.
With Deal’s approval, the law will allow certified Georgia families to possess up to 20 ounces of nonintoxicating cannabidiol extract (CBD) for use in treating symptoms of eight health conditions without fear of prosecution.
The law, dubbed Haleigh’s Hope Act after a child it will affect, could help as many as 500,000 Georgians, said Rep. Allen Peake, a Macon Republican who fought for the passage of what was only two years ago a long-shot gambit.
Following on the heels of similar but much narrower laws that passed last year in Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee, Deal, a Republican, has said he’s mainly reaching out to 17 “marijuana refugee” families that moved from Georgia to Colorado in order to be able to legally obtain the substance to help with their children’s treatment.
But more broadly, the sight of Southern Republican governors such as Deal, Gov. Nikki Haley in South Carolina, and Gov. Rick Scott in Florida signing even narrow medical marijuana laws highlights a rapidly shifting political landscape for conservative politicians, including potential Republican presidential candidates.
“This is tough for the Republican Party because it’s got this libertarian component that says that we should legalize, period, and then you’ve got social conservatives that oppose marijuana for health, paternalistic, or moral reasons,” says Rob Mikos, a Vanderbilt University political scientist who specializes in the nexus between federalism and drug policy. “Maybe some conservatives are seeing these CBD laws as a compromise that helps a small subset of the population but doesn’t open the floodgates.”
Just this week, Sen. Rand Paul, a likely presidential candidate, cosponsored with Democrats a federal bill, the CARERS Act, which marks the first time a medical marijuana bill has been introduced in both houses of Congress.
It “could represent a turning point in the national debate about this much-maligned plant,” writes libertarian drug policy expert Jacob Sullum in Forbes.
There have been other signs of philosophical shifts among top conservatives.
Last year, Sen. Ted Cruz railed against the decision by the Justice Department to continue to allow states to experiment with legal recreational marijuana. But earlier this month, Cruz, who announced his presidential candidacy this week, took a different tack, saying federalism should allow for states to experiment with marijuana policy without fear of federal intervention.
At the same time, some legalization proponents say the CBD-only strategy by conservatives is a prohibitionist ruse, since the laws, most of which don’t provide a legal way for patients to actually obtain the extract, still leave legitimate users susceptible to felony prosecutions.
“What appeared at first to be movement within the GOP to buck the usual tone-deaf and compassionless ‘Just Say No’ policy of drug reform has actually turned out to be nothing more than another delay tactic of prohibitionists and a new strategy for Republicans to...appear compassionate while appeasing voters,” writes Tori LaChapelle for Ladybud, a women’s lifestyle site that advocates against marijuana prohibition.
Alternatively, analysts say the acceptance by states like Georgia of even a highly regulated, non-psychoactive medical marijuana protocol represents a deeper debate within the Republican Party over whether helping vulnerable Americans with health conditions will in turn lead to broader acceptance of legal recreational marijuana.
Indeed, on the same day the Georgia House approved Haleigh’s Hope Act, a North Carolina legislative committee voted without comment to kill a medical marijuana bill. To underscore the emotional nature of the issue, one of the opponents of the law, Rep. Dean Arp, was reportedly punched in the back by an activist shortly after the vote.
“Obviously the stories are heart-wrenching,” Arp told WRAL in Raleigh after the hearing. Still, “I don’t think [medical marijuana] is appropriate.”
After the Georgia vote, however, Sebastian Cotte, who moved his family from Georgia to Colorado last summer so his son, Jagger, could legally receive CBD, disagreed with Arp’s sentiment.
The new law “is going to let us come home,” Cotte told WMAZ-TV in Macon.
This story was produced by The Christian Science Monitor.
Nation's Largest Legal Marijuana Giveaway Held in DC
The District of Columbia's recent approval of Initiative 71 legalized marijuana for personal use at home, including growing up to 12 plants per household. However, it does not allow for the buying or selling of pot.
So, where do residents get seeds? Well, the District solved that problem on Thursday with the nation's largest marijuana seed giveaway.
Over 1,300 people confirmed their attendance to pick up the free seeds, which were generously provided by about 50 different people who agreed to share, said Adam Eidinger, leader of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign. He called the seed share “real legalization” because it's not about making money or commercializing marijuana.
“It’s simply about the people who have been buying marijuana from the underground economy," Eidinger told WTOP. "If they grow it, sometime later this year they won’t have to buy it anymore from the underground economy."
Thousands of seeds were separated by genetic strands and packaged into bags of 10 to 20 seeds each. The bags were displayed on tables at the Libertine bar and restaurant in the capital. The Washington Post estimates that enough seeds were given away to produce up to 16,000 pot plants across D.C.
“It really does mark the conclusion of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign. We’ve accomplished our goals,” Eidinger said.
The "massive public drug deal" saw zero protests and attracted little attention from officials. A second seed giveaway is planned for Saturday.
http://www.hightimes.com/read/nations-largest-legal-marijuana-giveaway-held-dc
Google shareholder conference call. The results show successful companies schedule these events.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=shareholder+conference+call
The earnings conference call is a way for companies to relay information to all interested parties, including institutional and individual investors, as well as buy- and sell-side analysts. Conference calls allow companies to highlight successes during prosperous times and calm fears during adverse ones. The most popular time for companies to conduct these calls is immediately following the release of financial results, typically at the end of each quarter; these are known as quarterly earnings-results conference calls.
Traditionally, conference calls that follow the release of earnings news have a facilitator, or a person who essentially acts as the conference call master of ceremonies and introduces the various participants. The call usually starts off with the vice-president of investor relations outlining the conduct of the call and acknowledging that the call will probably contain plenty of "future-looking statements", or predictions about the future of the business (which is always uncertain). By acknowledging future-looking statements, the company reminds investors not to assume that everything discussed in the call will happen for certain.
Conference call participants usually include the chairman, CEO, CFO and, depending on the company and the events under discussion, various other executives. These individuals provide an overview of all the major issues that affected the company's performance during the last quarter. Discussions usually also focus on what can be expected from the company in the upcoming quarters.
A conference call generally ends with a question and answer period, when analysts and investors can ask informed questions regarding the company.
Real-time Internet broadcasting has opened up conference calls to the average investor, allowing him or her to participate in or simply listen to the calls. You can usually find them in the investor relations section of companies' websites, among other places. Conference calls are a great way for investors to stay in touch with their current or prospective companies; a lot of valuable information is often divulged during these calls.
http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/04/052104.asp
Dr. Oz Explains How Marijuana May Relieve Chronic Pain
Dr. Oz show discusses how marijuana might be a safer alternative than opiates in relieving chronic pain.
http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/trading-opiates-marijuana-treat-pain?video_id=4119775440001
Terra Tech Corp. Announces Shareholder Conference Call
Newport Beach, March 25, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Tech Corp (TRTC) will host its first shareholder conference call on Friday, March 27, 2015, at 1:15 PM Pacific Standard Time to discuss its operations. The conference call will include a Q&A session so that investors can have the opportunity to get their questions answered directly from the Terra Tech Corp management team. In order for an investor to have a better chance of receiving an answer to their question on the live call, the Company encourages shareholders to send their questions ahead of time to info@smallcapvoice.com. Questions can also be sent during the call to the same email address, but the company has no way of predicting what the question volume will be during and immediately after the call. The call in number is 1-857-232-0157. Enter conference code 422095 when prompted by the system. A recording of the call will be released for those who cannot attend.
Recording Link: http://www.smallcapvoice.com/trtc/
http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/03/26/718873/10126448/en/Terra-Tech-Corp-Announces-Shareholder-Conference-Call.html
Game Changing Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced to the House
By Mike Adams · Wed Mar 25, 2015
The issue of federal marijuana reform took another step forward this week with the introduction of a proposal in the House of Representatives that aims to overturn Uncle Sam’s opinions on cannabis for medicinal purposes.
On Tuesday, Representatives Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Don Young of Alaska submitted the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, which is a companion bill to a proposal submitted to Congress several weeks ago by Senators Cory Booker, Rand Paul and Kristen Gillibrand. The combined efforts of these legislative offerings serve as a blueprint to overhaul the policies of the federal government by unshackling the cannabis plant and giving it the opportunity to prove itself as viable and effective medicine.
Although 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized and established medical marijuana programs, the herb remains a dangerous Schedule I drug in the eyes of federal law, a conflict of interest that has created a lump in the throat of the medical marijuana community ever since California rolled the first stone down Capitol Hill nearly 20 years ago.
However, the CARERS Act would remedy this debacle between state and federal law to a certain extent. In addition to allowing states that have legalized medical marijuana to carry on with their operation without risking interference from the Drug Enforcement Administration, it would also downgrade marijuana's current Schedule I classification to a Schedule II, which would allow it to be prescribed and researched more freely without violating any international drug treaties.
“The science has been in for a long time, and keeping marijuana on Schedule I—with heroin and LSD—is ludicrous," Cohen said in a statement. "I am pleased to join with Congressman Don Young in introducing this important bill to bring the federal government in line with the science and the American people, respect states’ rights, remove the threat of federal prosecution in states with medical marijuana and help our citizens access the treatments they need.”
One of the most crucial aspects of the CARERS Act is that it would finally allow veterans to gain access to medical marijuana by permitting physicians working at the Department of Veterans Affairs to correlate treatment plans to include the participation in statewide programs. Marijuana has proven to be very effective in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the most common psychological conditions suffered by soldiers returning home from combat.
" VA Doctors should not be muzzled," Cohen told CBS News. "The idea that veterans who go to war and see life squashed out can't talk to doctors about marijuana is absurd. It's crazy."
Another restriction that would be eliminated with the passing of this legislation is the use and possession of cannabidiol or CBD, which is a non-intoxicating compound in marijuana that has shown impressive results in the treatment of seizure disorders. The CARERS Act would remove cannabinoid from the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to import the medicine without any legal ramification.
While some policy experts believe this proposal for federal pot reform is a long shot, President Obama suggested in a recent interview that the rescheduling of cannabis was likely on the horizon.
“At a certain point, if enough states end up decriminalizing, then Congress may reschedule marijuana,” he said.
As it stands, the Department of Justice is technically prohibited from interfering with state medical marijuana laws due to a federal spending bill passed at the end of 2014. Yet, the authority of this legislation comes to an end later in the year, which could put cannabis communities at risk, once again, for a vicious shakedown. The passing of the CARERS Act, however, would ultimately eliminate any future risk of retaliation by federal law enforcement.
But does the bill stand any chance of making it off Capitol Hill alive?
Since the congressional version was submitted earlier this month, the bill has received an outpouring of support. Unfortunately, lawmakers will face an uphill battle trying to convince House Speaker John Boehner to schedule a vote. Yet, while the odds may be stacked against the cause, everyone involved agrees that, eventually, the tides in both chambers will turn and force the passage of this legislation.
http://www.hightimes.com/read/game-changing-medical-marijuana-bill-introduced-house
Marijuana media is buzzing as legal pot gains territory
Cannabis-focused media is on the rise as the spread of legalization creates a demand for cannabis industry news.
Last month, a new local magazine premiered in San Francisco filled with stories about pot-friendly politicians and a comic book starring a joint-smoking dinosaur named Budzilla.
The free publication, SF Evergreen, is a bet by the parent company of The San Francisco Examiner newspaper that people will be eager to read about marijuana. Nevermind that the print media industry is dying. The magazine’s leadership see only opportunity. After all, pot aficionados are legion and the industry they support is sprouting like, well, ganja.
“We think it’s well past time for an industry of this size to have media dedicated to it,” said Chris Roberts, SF Evergreen’s editor.
SF Evergreen is part of a marijuana media boom that comes as pot emerges from the black market into legal legitimacy. New pot publications —in print and online — are popping up with regularity while older outlets are beefing up staff.
Cannabis Now, Culture Magazine, Marijuana Venture and Marijuana Business Daily have all opened for business in recent years to cover pot culture along with the financial side of the industry. Meanwhile, last summer, the thee-year old website Marijuana.com, hired a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has previously worked at MSNBC.com and NBC News, to lead its editorial operations.
The recent proliferation of marijuana media comes as more and more public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans now support legalizing the drug. Medical marijuana is already allowed in 23 states while recreational use is permitted in four, plus Washington, D.C. Several more states could legalize pot in 2016 elections. The drug remains illegal on the federal level, both medically and recreationally.
Amid the increasing acceptance, legal marijuana sales are ballooning. Last year, that market grew 74% to $2.7 billion, according to The ArcView Group, a marijuana-focused venture capital firm. The rise has sparked a coinciding boom in pot media as journalists look to explore the cultural, political, and financial implications — funded, in part by advertising from marijuana dispensaries, sellers of pot-related paraphernalia and suppliers of cannabis farming equipment.
The mainstream media has joined in the push into marijuana coverage. In 2013, a year after Colorado residents approved recreational marijuana in their state, The Denver Post introduced The Cannabist, a website dedicated to the cannabis industry including an editor exclusively focused on the beat along with the paper’s first-ever marijuana critic. At the time, the newspaper promised its readers “the news you need to know as well as the cultural side of what will truly be a historic moment in Colorado history.”
Additionally, the San Francisco Chronicle hosts a cannabis industry blog “Smell the Truth” while Denver’s Westword, the alternative weekly owned by Village Voice Media, has featured its “Ask a Stoner” column since 2012.
Several nationally-read newspapers and magazines (including Fortune) have devoted plenty of ink to the cannabis industry. Last year, The New York Times endorsed marijuana legalization and later ran a full-page ad for a website, Leafly, a Yelp-like service for reviewing marijuana strains and dispensaries. The industry is also well-represented on television, where cable news networks CNN, CNBC and MSNBC have all produced recent series focused on the marijuana industry.
Of course, writing about marijuana is nothing new. High Times magazine, which has been the voice of the marijuana counterculture since it was founded more than 40 years ago, is still going strong. High Times continues to trade on its reputation as one of the cannabis industry’s most reliable sources of information and commentary. As Time reported earlier this year, the pot magazine’s ad pages and web traffic are growing quickly and High Times is seeing solid returns on its events business, which includes “Cannabis Cup” festivals in four U.S. cities with plans for more.
High Times made its own headlines last year when the magazine disclosed plans to create a $100 million fund to invest in the cannabis industry. Despite some initial delays, High Times Growth Fund partner Ivan Wolff told Fortune that the fund has been getting an “excellent reception” and is expected to start securing investments within the next couple of months.
“There’s nobody in the industry that the people at the magazine here don’t know, because they’ve grown up over the last forty years with them,” he said.
And, much like High Times, the rest of the media seems to have grown up in recent years when it comes to marijuana coverage. Once plagued by sophomoric jokes about the pot buddy film Cheech & Chong and the munchies, marijuana’s place in mainstream media has evolved into a far more serious discussion.
Last summer, Al Olson left NBC News to become managing editor of Marijuana.com, a three-year-old website with a staff of nearly 10 people that covers cannabis industry news and lets users post their own content like marijuana-themed photos. Olson left the mainstream media because of what he saw as a reluctance among his colleagues to cover the marijuana industry seriously. While he acknowledges that coverage has improved in recent years, he thinks there could be far more about the business aspects, health, international affairs, crime, entertainment and sports.
“It’s an opportunity for other niche sites to really pick up the slack where mainstream is not doing its job,” Olson said.
Last month, the first issue of SF Evergreen featured a cover story on California’s lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom, with the headline “Citizen Cannabis.” Newsom is a pro-pot politician who plans to run for governor of the state in 2018. SF Evergreen publisher Ari Spanier and editor Chris Roberts said a lot of SF Evergreen’s energy over the next few years will go toward covering the budding political battle over attempts to legalize recreational marijuana in California, where medical pot has been legal for nearly two decades.
The magazine’s parent company is well aware of the print media’s struggles. Recently, it shuttered its long-running and money-losing alternative paper, the San Francisco Bay Guardian. While San Francisco Media Company insists that the new magazine is not a replacement for the Guardian, Spanier and Roberts are adamant that launching a marijuana-focused publication — with a website updated every weekday — is a fairly obvious move in an area where cannabis has been a part of the culture since the flower power era and now boasts 30 medical marijuana dispensaries.
“The population is here. The industry is here. The consumers are here,” Roberts said. But Spanier added that the goal is to reach an even broader market.
“Our view is that anyone walking down the street, smoker or not, would want to pick this up and find some interest in it,” Spanier said.
SF Evergreen has an editorial team of about a half-dozen writers and design staff, many of whom do double-duty contributing to the Examiner and SF Weekly, another sister publication. The magazine printed 85,000 copies for its 32-page inaugural issue and plans as many as many as 40 pages in near future.
Roberts described the response was “overwhelming” and said that callers complained that local distribution boxes had run out of copies. Meanwhile, advertising sales have exceeded the company’s initial goals.
Much of the first issue’s ad space went to local medical marijuana dispensaries and clinics where people can get patient identification cards, a sort of doctor’s prescription. But Spanier expects the advertiser pool to expand, adding that later editions have attracted a local brewery and a handful of restaurants.
“We’re not designing this just for pot-smokers,” Spanier said. “The same people that are patients and recreational users also buy products.”
Watch more business news from Fortune:
http://fortune.com/2015/03/24/marijuana-media-news/
Good News for Medical Marijuana
By Vikas Bajaj
March 18, 2015 2:07 pm
A bipartisan Senate bill that would permit the medicinal use of marijuana in states that allow it is slowly gaining support among lawmakers. The latest to sign on is Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, who became a co-sponsor of the bill on Tuesday.
Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, both Democrats, and Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican, introduced the bill earlier this month. They were joined a day later by Dean Heller, Republican of Nevada. The editorial board praised the bill as “a big step in the right direction” even though it would not repeal the destructive federal ban on marijuana altogether.
Instead, it would remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is meant for drugs that have no acceptable medical uses, like heroin. The legislation would place cannabis into Schedule II, which includes drugs like cocaine and methadone that have legitimate medical uses but have a “high potential for abuse.” It would also ease restrictions on research of marijuana’s medical uses.
The support of Ms. Boxer, who has spent 30 years in Congress and said in January that she will not seek re-election in 2016, adds political heft to the bill and will hopefully encourage more liberal lawmakers to back it, too. Her home state was the first to allow the medical use of marijuana through a ballot initiative in 1996.
A slight majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana altogether, according to polls by Gallup, the Pew Research Center and other organizations. But support is much higher for medical uses of the drug. In a 2013 Pew survey, 77 percent of Americans said marijuana has “legitimate medical uses.”
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/good-news-for-medical-marijuana/?_r=1
Obama Predicts Marijuana Will Be Rescheduled
By Mike Adams · Thu Mar 19, 2015
President Obama spent the majority of 2014 skirting the issue of marijuana reform, but it appears as though some elusive power has finally given the leader of the free world permission to take his cookie-cutter comments on pot reform to the next level.
During an interview with VICE News, Obama took the opportunity to delve deeper into the question of federal pot reform, predicting that Congress could soon be forced to rethink the nation’s cannabis prohibition policies. [Watch the video below.]
The President told VICE co-founder Shane Smith that as the trend of statewide legalization continues to spread, and as bipartisan politics keep coming together in support of the issue, folks on Capitol Hill will have no choice but to make crucial adjustments to the law. Yet, he maintained that any change will be in the direction of criminal justice reform, easing the penalties for non-violent drug offenders, and not a total prohibitionary repeal.
“We may be able to make some progress on the decriminalization side,” Obama said. “At a certain point, if enough states end up decriminalizing, then Congress may reschedule marijuana.”
It is interesting that the President’s comments come just one week after Senators Rand Paul, Cory Booker and Kristen Gillibrand introduced legislation aimed at reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule II controlled substance, and legalizing it for medical use on a national scale. Is this merely a coincidence, or a hint that changes in federal pot laws are right around the corner?
It is somewhat discouraging that while marijuana legalization in Colorado has substantially bolstered the state’s economy—$53 million in state tax revenue—while also creating a wealth of new jobs, Obama suggests the concerns expressed by young Americans over pot reform are misplaced and should be refocused on the bigger picture.
“It shouldn't be young people's biggest priority,” Obama said. “Let's put it in perspective. Young people, I understand this is important to you. But you should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”
Contrary to what President Obama would have you believe, the concept of pot reform begs the question: Ask not what your country can do for legal weed, but what legal weed can do for your country. The end of prohibition would lead to the next industrial revolution in the United States, decrease unemployment rates, and boost the gross national product, all while bringing the American dream back from the grave.
With all due respect, Mr. President, marijuana reform should be a bigger priority.
http://www.hightimes.com/read/obama-predicts-marijuana-will-be-rescheduled
Obama Talks Marijuana Decriminalization and Reclassification
Mar 16, 2015 5:05 PM EDT
President Barack Obama is the most powerful former marijuana smoker in America. He's never tried to conceal that, but he has generally laughed off the questions—and there have been many—about whether he'd legalize marijuana.
Only recently, with no more elections to fight for his party, has Obama started to tell interviewers that he wants softer treatment of a popular drug that shares Schedule I status with far deadlier substances like heroin and LSD. In an interview with Vice, after a semi-apologetic question from Shane Smith, Obama expressed optimism that marijuana could be reclassified.
"We may be able to make some progress on the decriminalization side," said Obama. "At a certain point, if enough states end up decriminalizing, then Congress may then reschedule marijuana."
“We may be able to make some progress on the decriminalization side.”
-President Obama
Since 2012, three states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized marijuana. In Colorado and Washington, where marijuana has been legal for more than a year, the drug has proven not only popular but lucrative. Obama's comments to Vice went even farther than what he'd told a YouTube forum in January. "The position of my administration has been that we still have federal laws that classify marijuana as an illegal substance," he said, "but we’re not going to spend a lot of resources trying to turn back decisions that have been made at the state level on this issue."
Decriminalization advocates welcomed the new interview, but asked for more. "The president is right that as voters force more and more changes to state marijuana laws, national policymakers will have no choice but to catch up," said Tom Angell, chairman of the activist group Marijuana Majority, in a statement. "In fact, his administration can reschedule marijuana without any further Congressional action needed. He should do that.”
Indeed, just last week a trio of senators introduced legislation that would remove the threat of felony prosecution for people who use marijuana -- medicinally or recreationally -- in states where it's currently legal. Asked what Kentucky Senator Rand Paul thought of Obama's comment, spokesman Doug Stafford pointed back to the new bill.
"Just introduced it last week with Cory Booker and Kirsten Gilibrand," said Stafford. "Did a press conference and everything. Welcome, we'd love their support for it."
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-16/obama-if-states-decriminalize-it-congress-may-lessen-criminal-penalties-for-marijuana
Landmark medical marijuana bill introduced in US Congress
Washington (AFP) - US senators on Tuesday introduced the most comprehensive legislation on medical marijuana ever brought before Congress, a bipartisan effort aimed at ending federal restrictions on the increasingly accepted treatment.
Twenty-three states already allow the use of cannabis to treat medical conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) and epilepsy, but federal law still exposes users of the drug to potential investigation and arrest.
"Highly-trained officials in our country -- doctors and scientists, medical personnel -- are unable to prescribe and recommend drugs that could alleviate the pain and suffering of their patients," Senate Democrat Cory Booker told reporters.
"Today we join together to say enough is enough," he added. "Our federal government has long overstepped the boundaries of common sense, fiscal prudence and compassion with its marijuana laws."
The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act would remove federal penalties and restrictions for producing, distributing and possessing marijuana for medical purposes, provided there is compliance with state law.
It would give military veterans access to medical marijuana in states where it is legal, and it would crucially allow financial institutions to provide banking services to marijuana businesses.
It would also reclassify marijuana from "Schedule I" to "Schedule II," eliminating current barriers to research and recognizing the acceptable medical use of the drug.
Senator Rand Paul, a likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, pointed to the "tens of thousands of people in our country who have diseases that are incurable and that would like to seek palliative treatment."
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said current law was "clearly a case of ideology getting in the way of scientific progress."
The New York Democrat highlighted the case of constituents whose sick children were in desperate need of treatment unavailable through traditional medications.
Under current law, people who travel to states where medical marijuana is legal would be subject to arrest for crossing state borders and returning home with the drug.
"When a child doesn't have 100 seizures a day, their brain can actually develop, and they can grow, they can have more moments with their families, with their friends. They can develop emotionally," Gillibrand said.
Advocacy group Americans for Safe Access called the legislation "groundbreaking."
Congress last year passed a one-year funding measure including a section that prohibited the Justice Department from using funds to interfere in states' implementation of their medical marijuana laws.
ASA says Tuesday's bill goes further by codifying the change, and expanding restrictions on interference with state medical marijuana laws to all federal agencies.
Sandy Fiola, who was diagnosed with MS in 1988, described medical marijuana as an answer to her prayers, after exhausting traditional medicine options.
"In the early stages of my illness, I did not sleep for about four years," she said, with Booker at her side.
"I obtained some (marijuana) and I tried it. The next thing I knew it was morning, and I cried when I woke up," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/landmark-medical-marijuana-bill-introduced-us-congress-195521939.html
DEA warns of stoned rabbits if Utah passes medical marijuana
Utah is considering a bill that would allow patients with certain debilitating conditions to be treated with edible forms of marijuana. If the bill passes, the state's wildlife may "cultivate a taste" for the plant, lose their fear of humans, and basically be high all the time. That's according to testimony presented to a Utah Senate panel (time stamp 58:00) last week by an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"I deal in facts. I deal in science," said special agent Matt Fairbanks, who's been working in the state for a decade. He is member of the "marijuana eradication" team in Utah. Some of his colleagues in Georgia recently achieved notoriety by raiding a retiree's garden and seizing a number of okra plants.
Fairbanks spoke of his time eliminating back-country marijuana grows in the Utah mountains, specifically the environmental costs associated with large-scale weed cultivation on public land: "Personally, I have seen entire mountainsides subjected to pesticides, harmful chemicals, deforestation and erosion," he said. "The ramifications to the flora, the animal life, the contaminated water, are still unknown."
Fairbanks said that at some illegal marijuana grow sites he saw "rabbits that had cultivated a taste for the marijuana. ..." He continued: "One of them refused to leave us, and we took all the marijuana around him, but his natural instincts to run were somehow gone."
It's true that illegal pot farming can have harmful environmental consequences. Of course, nothing about these consequences is unique to marijuana. If corn were outlawed and cartels started growing it in national forests, the per-plant environmental toll would be about the same.
But backcountry marijuana grows are a direct result of marijuana's illegal status. If you're concerned about the environmental impact of these grows, an alternative is to legalize and regulate the plant so that people can grow it on farms and in their gardens, rather than on remote mountainsides.
Now, regarding rabbits. Some wild animals apparently do develop a taste for bud (and, yes, best to keep it away from your pets). But I don't know that the occasional high rabbit constitutes grounds for keeping marijuana prohibition in place, any more than drunk squirrels are an argument for outlawing alcohol. And let's not even get started on the nationwide epidemic of catnip abuse.
There was a time, not too long ago, when drug warriors terrified a nation with images of "the devil's weed" and "reefer madness." Now, it seems that enforcers of marijuana law conjuring up a stoned bunny?
Not scary enough for the Utah Senate, it seems: the panel approved the bill and sent it to the full Senate, where it will be debated this week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/02/dea-warns-of-stoned-rabbits-if-utah-passes-medical-marijuana/
Pot fight between DC Mayor, Congress could cost the city
WASHINGTON (AP) — The new mayor of the nation's capital was hoping to get along fine with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Instead, they've threatened her with prison and she has accused them of acting like bullies in a showdown over legal pot that could end up costing District of Columbia residents dearly.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser defied threats from Congress by implementing a voter-approved initiative on Thursday, making the city the only place east of the Mississippi River where people can legally grow and share marijuana in private.
But Congress still has the final say over the city's budget and laws, and the Republicans in charge seem determined to make Bowser pay.
"We provide half a billion dollars (annually) to the District. One would think they would be much more compliant with the wishes of Congress," Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican and one of the most vocal pot opponents, said in an interview Thursday.
Actually, the District received more than $670 million in federal funding last year to support its $11 billion budget. The federal money is earmarked for specific programs — including the city's court system.
Republicans will "find some areas where perhaps we have been very generous with the citizens of the District. That will all come with time," Harris warned.
Even top advocates of city autonomy are preparing for tough times on Capitol Hill.
"I do believe it's likely this is a short-lived victory," said Kimberly Perry, executive director of D.C. Vote. "Members of the House are going to come after D.C. with a vengeance on appropriations for 2016."
Before Bowser announced that she wasn't backing down, she spoke with the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, and reiterated that her goal is not to defy Congress, but to honor the will of the voters, said her spokesman, Michael Czin.
"A lot of reasonable people have a different view of this issue," Bowser said Wednesday. "We believe that we're acting lawfully."
Chaffetz said Congress doesn't want the District to become "a haven for smoking pot."
But Bowser has emphasized that the change to the marijuana law is limited in scope.
While possession of up to 2 ounces of pot or up to three mature plants for use in the home is legal, buying or selling pot remains illegal, along with smoking in public and possessing marijuana on federal property. The main difference is that city police will no longer be handing out $25 civil fines for possession.
When Republicans are in charge on Capitol Hill, their priorities often clash with leaders of the reliably liberal city, where three out of four registered voters are Democrats.
For example, Congress has prohibited the District from spending any money on abortion, except for a two-year stretch when Democrats controlled the House and Senate as well as the White House. When the abortion restriction was restored in 2011, then-mayor Vincent Gray led a sit-in outside the Capitol and was arrested.
Bowser, then a D.C. Council member, also was arrested in that protest, but she complained that it didn't accomplish anything and pledged a more collaborative, less headline-grabbing approach.
What she's finding, though, is that collegiality also depends on who runs the committees.
Gray had a cordial relationship with the previous oversight committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa. He supported what District leaders call "budget autonomy," allowing the city to spend its local tax revenue without authorization by Congress.
But Chaffetz and other Republicans say Bowser could face prison for violating a federal law barring agencies from spending any unappropriated money. It's a clear signal that the District can't expect to win more independence.
"Mr. Issa had a more pragmatic perspective and was willing to hear us out, work with us and not be public about the battles," said Janene Jackson, who was Gray's liaison to Congress and is now a lobbyist with Holland & Knight. "This is a very public difference of opinion. The letter stated severe consequences. It does not bode well."
http://news.yahoo.com/dc-legalizes-pot-capital-despite-threats-congress-113701508.html
Mayor Muriel Bowser for President !
Legal marijuana begins in Washington DC
A Capitol high: Legal marijuana use begins in DC
It’s now legal to get high in the nation’s capital, so long as you do it in private.
A voter-approved initiative legalizing limited recreational use of marijuana took effect Thursday. But with some Republicans on Capitol Hill threatening legal action against the District of Columbia, the future of pot in the federal city remains a bit hazy.
“It's legalization without commercialization,” Adam Eidinger, chairman of the DC Cannabis Campaign, told “Power Players.”
While adults can now legally possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana -- about a large sandwich bag’s worth – it’s still against the law to buy or sell it and smoke in public, according to city officials.
“There are no store fronts where people who are 21 and older can just walk in and buy a bag of marijuana, unless you're a medical marijuana patient,” said Eidinger, who’s has spent the last 15 years campaigning for legal pot in his hometown.
For now, the only legal way to get weed is to grow it. Under the law, District residents are allowed up to six plants.
“And they just can't sell it,” Eidinger said. “As soon as you start deriving income, you're violating the initiative.”
But some Republicans in Congress, which provides a check on District governance under the Constitution, say steps to legalize weed in the District amount to dangerous defiance of federal law.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, has even threated prison time for Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The budget bill passed by Congress in December and signed by President Obama explicitly bans D.C. from enacting the marijuana legalization initiative -- despite the fact that it was approved in November by voters at a 2-to-1 margin.
Eidinger says the interference by lawmakers is “undemocratic and offensive.”
“When these out of state, mostly Republican congressman, try to interfere with local democracy here … they make their party look bad,” he said. “They’re supposed to be the party of home rule, of local democracy, of states' rights, of business entrepreneurship, of freedom, and when they go against marijuana, they contradict every one of those things.”
DC’s pot legalization measure comes on the heels of a similar ballot initiative in Alaska, which went into effect Tuesday and legalizes marijuana for private use in that state. Recreational marijuana is also legal in Colorado, Oregon, and the state of Washington.
For more of the interview with Eidinger, including why he believes making pot legal is good for public safety, check out this episode of “Power Players.”
ABC News’ Ali Dukakis, Tom Thornton, Tom D’Annibale and Gary Rosenberg contributed to this episode.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/a-capitol-high--legal-marijuana-use-begins-in-dc----235501656.html
DC Mayor vows to move forward with marijuana legalization despite republican threats of jail
In the final hours before marijuana possession is scheduled to become legal in the nation's capital, House Republicans have warned District of Columbia officials that they could go to jail if the measure to legalize goes into effect, but D.C.'s mayor has not backed down.
"You can go to prison for this," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in a Wednesday interview with The Washington Post about the marijuana law that is supposed to go into effect Thursday. "We’re not playing a little game here."
In a letter sent to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday, Reps. Chaffetz and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told the mayor that if the city decides to move forward with the legalization of marijuana in the District, "you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law."
"We believe that we're on very strong legal ground," Bowser said Wednesday, Reuters reported.
"My Administration is committed to upholding the will of DC voters. We will implement Initiative 71 in a thoughtful, responsible way," Bowser wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
In a statement Wednesday, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) blasted what she called “unnecessarily hostile congressional reactions" to the District moving forward with its marijuana law. Norton specifically called out Chaffetz, characterizing his letter and comments to the media as "baseless threats" that fail to acknowledge that there is a "good-faith and honest" difference of legal opinion on the effects of a provision within the recently passed federal spending bill that seeks to block D.C.'s marijuana law.
That difference of opinion arises from language used in a provision introduced by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) aimed at blocking D.C.'s ability to use funds to enact marijuana laws, which was tucked into the federal spending bill Congress passed in December. Initially, the bill said that D.C. may not "enact or carry out" any law to legalize marijuana, but it was altered in the version that was signed in to law to read that D.C. cannot "enact" any law to legalize marijuana. Norton, along with multiple congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), believe that the measure was "enacted" by voters when they approved it in November and are in favor of allowing the law to move forward. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) submitted the marijuana legalization initiative to Congress in January, ignoring the GOP's effort to block the measure.
D.C.'s city government is mostly autonomous, but the U.S. Constitution gives Congress final say over the District's laws. As such, there has been much debate over whether the District can implement its recently passed marijuana law.
In November, D.C. voters approved an initiative that legalized up to 2 ounces of recreational marijuana for personal use and up to six marijuana plants for home cultivation. While marijuana sales remain banned under the measure, there has been some discussion of implementing further legislation that would allow for sales and taxation of cannabis.
A mandatory 30-day congressional review of the bill has been ongoing, but the clock is running out for lawmakers to take action against marijuana legalization in D.C. The measure will automatically go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if Congress does not interfere.
“The District is not responsible if the Republican language failed to convey their apparent intent, and their failure should not result in unbecoming threats to District officials," Norton said. "It is particularly absurd and threatening to conclude that differences in opinion between lawyers for Republicans and lawyers for the District put city officials 'in knowing and willful violation of the law.’”
In their letter to Bowser, Chaffetz and Meadows wrote, "It is a basic legal tenet that legislation is not enacted and does not become law until the final act effectuating that process occurs."
They go on to say that even the District's act of transmitting the initiative is already "likely in violation" of law.
"Given Congress's broad powers to legislate with regard to the District of Columbia it would be unprecedented for the District to take actions proscribed by legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President," they wrote.
In the letter, the House Republicans also demand that Bowser provide a list of any D.C. employee who participated in the enactment of the marijuana law, as well as the employees' salaries and how much time they've spent on action surrounding the measure. They also ask for a tally of all funds used to enact the law, as well as for any related documents.
Marijuana policy reformers were appalled by the suggestion that any D.C. officials could go to jail over the new law.
"I thought putting people in jail for using marijuana was absurd enough, but a member of Congress threatening the mayor of the nation's capital with prison time just for implementing the will of her city's voters is completely unacceptable," Tom Angell, chairman of reform advocacy group Marijuana Majority, told HuffPost. "Other Republicans would do well to distance themselves from these undemocratic comments."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/25/dc-marijuana-legalization_n_6752598.html
In a twist, fight for medical pot goes to Florida Statehouse
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republicans lawmakers in Florida who once opposed medical pot are now embracing it, motivated by the strong show of support from voters and worried that another constitutional amendment during next year's presidential race could drive opponents to the polls.
Last year, lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Legislature passed a law to allow low-potency strains of marijuana helpful to a very limited group of patients. But many people argued it was inadequate and took the fight to voters with a constitutional amendment that would have widely expanded the drug's availability to the sick. It got about 58 percent of the vote in November, but needed 60 percent to pass under Florida law.
Though it was a rare defeat amid a wave of efforts across the U.S. to legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use, it sent a powerful message to legislators in Tallahassee. Amendment 2 garnered more support than any statewide candidate and served as the impetus for the introduction of medical marijuana bills for the legislative session, which begins March 3.
"It's the ultimate poll," said Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican. "It shows that there is momentum for this issue, that it will likely pass in the future and that there is an ability right now in this window of time to address this issue in the legislative process."
Brandes opposed the ballot measure, but is now sponsoring a medical pot bill. Two House Republicans have also filed a companion bill.
Brandes believes the legislative process better affords the opportunity to debate and amend the proposal. His bill was hailed by United for Care, the group that lobbied for a comprehensive medical marijuana law and put the issue on ballots last year.
Brandes' bill has earned the opposition of the Florida Sheriffs Association, an influential lobby that also opposed Amendment 2.
"There's a lot of things in that bill that resemble the problems with the constitutional amendment," said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the legislative chair of the sheriffs association. "There's a lot of loose language in it that would allow probably de facto recreational use."
The sheriffs want more restrictive language in the bill and said medicine shouldn't be smoked. In other states, medical marijuana dispensaries have found high numbers of patients opt against smoking, instead using capsules, lozenges, drinks, foods, lotions, face masks and all sorts of other products.
Ben Pollara, executive director of United for Care, said lawmakers shouldn't be "dictating the best way for the patient to take their medication."
Though 23 states have passed comprehensive medical marijuana laws, none are in the South. A handful of southern states have measures such as the law passed in Florida last year, legalizing the drug for small populations or for medical research. Medical marijuana bills are also under consideration in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
Another sticking point in Florida is just who exactly would be allowed to use medical pot. Both the Senate and the House proposals would permit people with certain conditions to use it, including AIDS, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig's disease and multiple sclerosis. But the House version wouldn't allow it for people with chronic pain, nausea or seizures or other debilitating illnesses that aren't included on the list.
That would disqualify many patients, including M.J. Seide, a 64-year-old Hollywood resident. She said she has persistent pain from a congenital disease and countless surgeries. She buys marijuana illegally and has found it helped alleviate the pain while avoiding powerful prescription pills that left her incapacitated.
"I don't believe that it's up to the Legislature to be able to pick and choose who gets to suffer and who doesn't," she said. "It has to be left up to the physician who he gets or she gets to prescribe a medication to."
http://news.yahoo.com/twist-fight-medical-pot-goes-florida-statehouse-170030981.html
85-year-old Houston Republican fights to legalize marijuana
Saying marijuana is not “the weed of the devil,” an 85-year-old Republican activist has become the face of marijuana legalization in Texas, reports KHOU.
Houston grandmother Ann Lee, who has spoken in support of marijuana legalization in her native state and is headed to Washington to speak with lawmakers, admits that she was not always a supporter of pot.
That changed after her son was involved in an accident and needed medical marijuana to treat his condition.
“We realized marijuana wasn’t the weed of the devil which I had been known to say,” she explained.
Saying she has always been outspoken and active in Republican circles, Lee admits that she is getting more attention than ever, possibly due to her age and the focus of her crusade.
“I don’t know whether it’s my age, the white hair, what is it, but it does seem to strike a chord. I’ve been an activist for many years, but I’ve never had the response that I’m now getting” Lee said, adding that she is wholeheartedly behind marijuana legalization.
“It’s just me, I believe in this.”
Legalization activists have called her the perfect weapon as she heads off to Washington.
“It’s not Republican to support prohibition,” said Lee, explaining that adults have the right to use marijuana.
“The government has no business telling you you cannot.”
Watch the video below from KHOU:
http://bcove.me/6n4au2qo
Closing Arguments in Marijuana Rescheduling Case
By Paul Armentano · Thu Feb 19, 2015
Yesterday in Sacramento a federal judge heard closing arguments in a motion challenging the constitutionality of marijuana’s Schedule I classification. At issue is whether a rational basis exists for the government’s contention that cannabis is properly designated as a schedule I substance – defined as possessing a “high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use in treatment,” and “a lack of accepted safety … under medical supervision.” A federal court has not heard evidence on the matter since the early 1970s.
Lawyers for the federal government argue that it is rational for the government to maintain the plant’s prohibitive status as long as there remains any dispute among experts in regard to its safety and efficacy. Defense counsel – attorneys Zenia Gilg and Heather Burke of the NORML Legal Committee – contend that the federal law prohibiting Justice Department officials from interfering with the facilitation of the regulated distribution of cannabis in over 20 US states cannot be reconciled with the government’s continued insistence that the plant is deserving of its Schedule I status.
In October, defense counsel and experts presented evidence over a five-day period arguing that the scientific literature is not supportive of the plant’s present categorization. “Numerous clinical trials have been conducted using whole plant marijuana and have concluded the evidence strongly suggests therapeutic value,” defense counsel affirmed in a written brief filed with the court last month. “Physicians in 23 states and the District of Columbia have been recommending whole plant cannabis for treatment of a myriad of medical conditions. The United States, through SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of HHS), holds a patent [on the therapeutic utility of the plant.]”
“… It is unimaginable to believe that if heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or even over-the-counter medications were being distributed in 23 states and the District of Columbia, Congress and the President would abdicate all regulatory authority to those jurisdictions, and then cut off all funds … to intervene in related distribution activities. … Even the most vivid imagination would be hard pressed to reconcile such action with a ‘rational belief’ that marijuana is one of the most dangerous drugs in the nation.”
In a brief filed with the court by the federal government, it contends: “Congress’ decision to treat marijuana as a controlled substance was and remains well within the broad range of permissible legislative choices. Defendants appear to argue that Congress was wrong or incorrectly weighed the evidence. Although they failed to prove even that much, it would be insufficient. Rational basis review does not permit the Courts to ‘second guess’ Congress’ conclusions, but only to enjoin decisions that are totally irrational or without an ‘imaginable’ basis.”
They add: “Congress is not required to be ‘right,’ nor does it matter if the basis on which Congress made its decision turns out to be ‘wrong.’ All that is required is that Congress could rationally have believed that its action – banning the production and distribution of marijuana – would advance its indisputably legitimate interests in promoting public health and welfare. Because qualified experts disagree, it is not for the Courts to decide the issue and the statute must be upheld.”
The Judge is anticipated to rule on defense’s motion within 30 days.
Legal briefs in the case, United States v. Pickard, et. al., No. 2:11-CR-0449-KJM, are available online here.
http://www.hightimes.com/read/closing-arguments-marijuana-rescheduling-case
Fuel Cell Manufacturers Struggle As Technology Remains Uncompetitive Long Term
Even Without the Threat of Electric Vehicles, PEM Fuel-Cells Already Have Heavy Technological Competition From Alternative Fuel-Cells
Mantra Energy (OTCQB:MVTG) is preparing to launch a fuel cell that is safer, cheaper, lighter and more compact than conventional fuel cell technologies such as those produced by BDLP and PLUG. By utilizing a mixed stream of fuel and oxidant, the MRFC eliminates the costly and failure-prone membrane and greatly simplifies the reactor design, resulting in estimated cost savings of 60 to 80%.
While fuel cell technologies have seen several billions of dollars of investment the past decade, high costs and technical challenges have prevented widespread adoption. As their fuel cell technology would be significantly lighter, safer, simpler and most importantly cheaper than existing solutions, they are positioned as the leading contender for future fuel cell vehicles should they even gain traction.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2913576-fuel-cell-manufacturers-struggle-as-technology-remains-uncompetitive-long-term