What if the lawmakers who advocated for the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act back in 2007 had proposed providing medical marijuana for the vague diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder? And what if they had suggested allowing nonprofit producers to be fronts for for-profit growers? And what if they had contemplated partnerships that turn tribal lands into huge pot farms? Well, somebody would probably have said they were high. But in the realm of unintended consequences, all of those money-driven expansions have happened or are in the works. [continues 349 words]
LAGUNA WOODS - Tony Pierce was 21 when he smoked marijuana for the first time. It was an act of rebellion, recalled Pierce. "I thought I was going to hell. I remember feeling tired and then paranoid that my mother would somehow find out." Pierce, now 62, said he had to cut short a career as an Orange County Transportation Authority bus driver after he was laid up by chronic pain from spinal cord cancer. He'd spend 18 hours in bed some days. [continues 1727 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]
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 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]
