Business Is Brisk, and Anticipated Problems Never Happened Montville - For a store that sells a product that was illegal in Connecticut five years ago, Thames Valley Alternative Relief has a pretty boring problem: parking. Laurie Zrenda and her niece, Meredith Elmer, both pharmacists, opened the Uncasville medical marijuana dispensary after a yearlong approval process in September 2014. "It was kind of a big, scary endeavor," Zrenda said. More than a year and a half later, a steady stream of up to 150 customers a day walk through the doors of the small shopping plaza just down the road from the Montville public safety building. [continues 773 words]
One of the enduring legacies of Pierre Trudeau's time as prime minister is the legal supremacy of the individual, as articulated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are seeing this played out with greater force than ever today, by an activist high court that swatted aside Stephen Harper's attempts to restrain it, and now orders a meek, politically correct Justin Trudeau government to do its bidding. The Federal Court decreed last week that people have the right to grow their own "medical" marijuana. This ruling is unlikely to be appealed, given that Trudeau the Younger is committed to legalizing marijuana for everyone. [continues 501 words]
One of the enduring legacies of Pierre Trudeau's time as prime minister is the legal supremacy of the individual, as articulated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are seeing this played out with greater force than ever today, by an activist high court that swatted aside Stephen Harper's attempts to restrain it, and now orders a meek, politically correct Justin Trudeau government to do its bidding. The Federal Court decreed last week that people have the right to grow their own "medical" marijuana. This ruling is unlikely to be appealed, given that Trudeau the Younger is committed to legalizing marijuana for everyone. [continues 500 words]
Stockbroker Who Smokes Pot for Pain Relief Says Latest Referendum Not Enough. Irvin Rosenfeld believes the latest attempt to legalize medical marijuana in Florida will pass. But he doesn't believe it does enough. He wants everyone to be able to grow their own pot. Not for partying. For medicine. The Boca Raton stockbroker knows all about it. He turns 63 on Friday. For a third of his life, he's smoked up to 10 joints a day for which he doesn't pay. Your taxes do. [continues 980 words]
Parliament Should Allow Doctors to Prescribe Cannabis Those responsible for the Government's drug policies could not be accused of any exaggerated deference to the world of scientific papers, double-blind trials and laboratory-bound research. The Psychoactive Substances Bill - which outlaws anything likely to alter a user's mindset - was described in the New Scientist as one of the "stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of legislation ever conceived". It demonstrates Parliament moving in the opposite direction to the tonnage of evidence showing that draconian approaches to recreational drug use have failed. [continues 220 words]
SANTA ANA - First, comedian Roseanne Barr blazed trails with her sitcom; more recently she joined the growing reality TV world as she farmed macadamia nuts in Hawaii. Now the onetime presidential hopeful whose slogan was 'Yes, we Cannabis!' is entering the budding medical marijuana industry in Santa Ana. Barr will be an investor and have a licensing agreement with a dispensary that's one of 20 that won a city lottery last year allowing it to apply to operate in Santa Ana, the actress' spokesman and the dispensary's partners said this week. [continues 603 words]
After utterly failing to bring relief even to children with severe epilepsy through a non-narcotic form of marijuana, Florida officials fully deserve the wrath of voters who are on the way to taking matters into their own hands - with a constitutional amendment that would make marijuana available for a wide range of debilitating medical conditions. The medical marijuana amendment has gained enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. It is sponsored by the same folks who fell just short with a similar amendment in 2014. Then, the measure got 58 percent of the vote. This time - in a higher-turnout, presidential election year - the chances of gaining the needed 60 percent seem in the bag. [continues 478 words]
Waterville and Vassalboro school boards also will vote on the policy to allow a caregiver to administer medical marijuana to students at school. Winslow, Waterville and Vassalboro schools are enacting policies to allow students to use medical marijuana in school as districts across the state move to comply with a state law passed last year that allows the practice. The Winslow School Board on Monday voted to approve a policy that allows a parent or legal guardian considered a primary caregiver under Maine's medical marijuana laws to administer marijuana on school grounds to a student certified to use the drug. [continues 611 words]
The Escondido and Poway city councils adopted rule changes this week designed to ensure that medical marijuana dispensaries and the cultivation of marijuana for such purposes won't be allowed in their jurisdictions. Both cities already had regulations banning dispensaries, but decided they needed to tighten those ordinances because of legislation passed in Sacramento late last year that established new rules for medical marijuana. The legislation allows the state to license dispensaries in cities that don't have laws that expressly prohibit them. Cities that don't have rules in place by March 1 will be subject to the state guidelines. [continues 345 words]
THE Medical Research Council (MRC) has published a policy brief acknowledging there was sufficient evidence that the medicinal use of dagga can relieve chronic pain and reduce spasticity in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. The brief summarised the findings of Dr Penny Whiting, an American scientist who conducted a systemic review evaluating the medicinal use of dagga. The publication this week of the brief, prepared for South Africa by Professor Charles Parry, Nandi Siegfried and Bronwyn Meyers from the MRC, follows the introduction of the Medical Innovation Bill in parliament in February 2014. [continues 175 words]
Will Gizmo to Weed Out Drivers Who Take the High Road Hit a Stone Wall? IT'S ALL HAPPENING so fast. Just three years ago, marijuana was illegal for recreational use nationwide. That changed when voters in Colorado and Washington legalized it in 2012. Oregon, Alaska. and the District of Columbia passed similar legislation last year. Philadelphia has reduced possession of a small amount of marijuana to a $25 citation, and Mayorelect Jim Kenney - South Philly Mummer turned pot-friendly progressive - has said he would like to eliminate weed citations altogether. [continues 1213 words]
BURLINGTON (AP) - As more states allow for the use of medical marijuana, the University of Vermont is offering a course in the science of the drug - and the professors say they are challenged by a lack of research on what has long been a taboo topic. Other institutions have offered classes in marijuana law and policy, but the university's medical school is likely the country's first to offer a full course on medical cannabis, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Other medical schools have touched on the topic. [continues 519 words]
The time is long overdue for marijuana to be legalized by both federal and state governments. In 1971, I was a college freshman debater, and one of the issues was whether marijuana should be legalized. As I researched the topic, the arguments were overwhelmingly in favor of legalization, and it was difficult to put together a credible case for continued criminalization. More than 40 years have gone by, and possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law and in 46 states. Only Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. [continues 679 words]
Chicago (AP) - The green-typeface slogan "WE'ED like to be your doctor!" - unmistakably weed-friendly - has attracted hundreds of medical marijuana patients in less than a year to Dr. Bodo Schneider's clinics in southern Illinois and suburban Chicago. In New Jersey, Dr. Anthony Anzalone has a similar following at his three clinics, marketed online with a marijuana leaf logo and a "DrMarijuanaNJ" web address. The two marijuana-friendly doctors in states with similar laws face starkly different treatment by government regulators. When it comes to oversight of boundary-pushing doctors, enforcement practices vary in the 23 states allowing medical cannabis. [continues 731 words]
