medical marijuana

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City

One by one, across California, the lights are winking out.

In city after city, town after town, patients who had dared hope they would at last have safe access to the medicine recommended by their physicians are having those hopes dashed by political cowardice, inertia, and the status quo.

In case you haven't noticed, medical marijuana is yet another front in the culture wars. Conservative hamlets which aren't yet ready for the 21st Century notion of patients being legally allowed to treat themselves with cannabis are turning off the light of hope for those who have already waited 13 years for the hope of Proposition 215 to become a reality. Read more »

OAKLAND – Bill O'Donnell illegally self-medicated with marijuana for years for a combat injury and post-traumatic stress from military service in Vietnam – landing him in jail once for possession.

Today, O'Donnell, 58, legally selects medical marijuana pot brands from the "bud tender" at the Coffeeshop Blue Sky in downtown Oakland. And he feels proud the dispensary soon will pay taxes on his purchases – thanks to Oakland's passage of the nation's first cannabis taxation law on July 21.

"I've gone all the way from doing 60 days in jail to paying taxes on this," O'Donnell said. "I'm glad to help out – legitimately."

When 80 percent of Oakland voters approved a gross receipts tax that charged the city's four pot dispensaries $18 for every $1,000 in revenue, they added political smoke to efforts in other California cities to treat municipal budget deficits by taxing medical marijuana revenues. Read more »

A medical billing company may be blowing smoke, but could reimbursing patients for medical marijuana lower drug costs for employers?

By Jeremy Smerd, Workforce Management Online, July 2009

In mid-June, Rhode Island became the third state to legalize the sale of marijuana for medical use, giving momentum to advocates who believe the legalization of the drug offers a dose of sanity for the nation’s costly health care system.

Now that more states are legalizing the sale of the marijuana used solely as a medicine, the next hurdle for reformers who say the drug is more cost-effective than pharmaceuticals is getting those who pay for health care—insurers and employers—to reimburse patients for its use. Read more »

Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

I swear, it is like grade school with these big important federal guys, it's like they haven't learned a thing in spite of what the society is very clearly telling them

What does a government do, when law enforcement sees itself as an institution above the law? How does a career cop know more about medicine than doctors and more about science than... well you get the idea.

The new "Drug Czar", which is a stupid term if there ever was, Gil Kerlikowske, is a dinosaur in this day and age, along with groups like the California Narcotic Officer's Association. Together, they are working to undermine state laws that clearly have accepted marijuana's medical applications. Read more »

Officials say docs may be abusing power, but do officials just want to limit registry?
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

State health officials are concerned about a massive increase in applications to the medical marijuana registry and are evaluating ways to increase oversight.

The health department says it is receiving nearly 2,000 new applications each month — up 5,616 between July 2008 and June 30 — more than doubling the registry over the past three months. As of June, the health department had received 8,918 applications — 4,282 of those applications were received between April and June.

Officials are concerned that doctors are abusing their professional powers in authorizing the applications. They say the majority of the applications are coming from “young men” with chronic pain, suggesting that young recreational pot smokers are abusing the system with the help of corrupt doctors. Read more »

By Charlotte Eby
Originally published on August 1, 2009

DES MOINES - Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, 53-year-old Barbara Douglass can no longer walk and uses a scooter.

But she has found one way to cope with a condition she calls "ungodly and terrible" and to steady her shaking hands - smoking marijuana.

"It doesn't make it better, but it makes it easier," said Douglass, who also is legally blind.

Douglass, of Lakeside is one of two Iowans who are part of a federal program that allows them to smoke marijuana legally for their medical conditions. Each month, Douglass gets a can of prerolled marijuana cigarettes from her doctor. She finds she is more active after smoking it.

Douglass has a message for Iowa policymakers who are about to start analyzing the issue: Marijuana is medicine. Read more »

Originally published on July 30, 2009

By Steve Elliott

A recent court case in San Diego has revealed some California police officers are basing their sworn court testimony in medical marijuana cases on badly outdated, legally inaccurate information.

This goes a long way towards explaining why it is that so many law enforcement officers in the state still seem to harbor such personal animosity toward medical marijuana and those who use it, even after it's been legal in the state for 13 years. Above and beyond the seemingly eternal cop/pot dichotomy, the cops' own "medical marijuana training materials" tell them that -- contrary to the law -- there's no such thing as medical marijuana, and that all marijuana is illegal! Read more »

Originally published on July 30, 2009

DALY CITY — Kim Siani wants to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the city.

The 40-year-old resident said in order to fill his prescription, he has to drive one hour south to San Mateo or into San Francisco, where he has trouble finding parking and frequently has to wait.

“It’s a hassle,” he said. “The City is the hardest time and I don’t have an hour to spend going to San Mateo for my prescription.”

Siani has not submitted his application to operate a medical marijuana dispensary, but has already signed on with a Southern California-based company under the name Soultree Art of Healing Co-op to receive help with such business details as revenue and taxation management.

Daly City officials are not pleased with the idea.

“I look at issues of safety and of who might be exposed and who wouldn’t be,” Daly City Mayor Sal Torres said. “Daly City is not the mecca for people who might have prescriptions for this kind of product.” Read more »

Colorado Springs Facility Believed To Be The State’s Largest With 1,400 Patients.

BOULDER - Boulder County Caregivers offers 16 glass jars of marijuana with names like Skinny Pineapple and Early Pearl Maui, priced at $375 to $420 an ounce. There are marijuana capsules and snacks made with cannabis butter, such as rice crispy treats.

Co-owner Jill Leigh urges customers to try a syrupy tincture she calls “the Advil of medical marijuana.” A drop under the tongue gives less of a high but the same pain relief as smoking, she says.

Leigh’s sales are legal - and taxed - under Colorado’s voter-approved medical marijuana law. Her marijuana dispensary and nearly 60 others serve a rapidly growing number of users with little oversight. Critics of the system say it’s prone to abuse and point to a growing number of younger patients. But a recent state effort to impose more controls failed. Read more »

Iowa is about to explore whether sick residents should be allowed to use marijuana to treat health problems, including pain and nausea. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy, which regulates pharmacy practices and the distribution of prescription drugs, has voted unanimously to hold public hearings around the state.

Though the Iowa Legislature would have to approve any changes to the law regarding the medical use of marijuana, the pharmacy board deserves credit for initiating a statewide conversation.

Iowans should pay attention and get involved. The meetings are this state's opportunity to examine the scientific research and opinions. This matters because at the end of the day, the use of marijuana for medical purposes isn't about being "soft on drugs" or catering to those who think it's their "right" to smoke marijuana.

It's a medical issue. Read more »