On medical marijuana, the public is way ahead of officialdom. Statewide, 71 percent of Florida voters voted in favor of the medical marijuana amendment last November. In Flagler County, the margin was the same. In Volusia County, 73 percent voted to approve. Overwhelming support. Particularly in a state like Florida which is known sharp political divisions on most issues. Even so, the Legislature was so reluctant to pass legislation putting the amendment into effect that nothing was approved during the regular spring session. [continues 541 words]
Thirty-eight percent of the 17,591 patients registered in Hawaii's medical marijuana program were located on the Big Island. Recently released data by the state Department of Health indicates the trend of medical marijuana patients in Hawaii is changing. Thirty-eight percent of the 17,591 patients registered in Hawaii's medical marijuana program were located on Hawaii Island, according to the data released Friday. That's down from 40 percent in March and 42 percent in December. Meanwhile, the percentage of patients hailing from Oahu has jumped from 25 percent in December to 29 percent last month, a more than 1,300-patient increase. The Big Island's patient count increased by about 300 people in that same time, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported. [continues 278 words]
The medical marijuana industry officially has its guidelines with the passage of a bill out of the Florida Legislature on the last day of a three-day special session. The votes were 29-6 in the Senate and 103-9 in the House. The few no votes were mostly Democrats who wanted fewer restrictions in the bill, but also a few Republicans who remain against the idea of medical marijuana on principle. Gov. Rick Scott said he "absolutely" will sign the bill. That means big changes for patients, caregivers, doctors and growers, compared with the far more limited medical marijuana law passed by the Legislature in 2014, which resulted in seven grower/dispensers in the state. [continues 906 words]
TEMPLE TERRACE -- Dropping a giant joint in favor of the "USS Maryjane" seemed to smooth the waters for a pro-marijuana entry in this year's Temple Terrace Fourth of July Parade. The new float designed by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws featured the flag-festooned ship crewed by some military veterans and painted with the slogan, "Hemp for Victory." The theme plays off a World War II film from the Department of Agriculture that praised the nation's hemp farmers for their work in creating strong ropes from the stalks of marijuana plants for the armed forces. [continues 227 words]
Walk into a medical marijuana dispensary in New Jersey and the first thing to hit you is the stink. Weed's scent is a sour blast that seems to reek of citrus, diesel, and skunk. At the Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, charcoal air purifiers -- encased in gleaming steel and larger than jet engines -- are strategically placed through the facility. It's hard to say whether their presence tempers the odor, which is generated by thousands of cannabis plants growing under lights in the same building. [continues 707 words]
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Saying its time has come, state Sen. Morgan McGarvey on Wednesday called on the legislature to consider legalizing medical marijuana to relieve pain and suffering of terminally ill people. "It's 2017," McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat, told members of the joint House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. "I think it's time we had a conversation about medical marijuana without snickering." Members of the committee took no action on legislation McGarvey is proposing for the 2018 legislative session but no one spoke against the proposal and some committee members spoke in favor of the measure that went nowhere in the past two legislative sessions. [continues 676 words]
Two Healing Health locations re-open after fire inspections but only for existing buyers Two London marijuana dispensaries are back in business after temporarily closing this month following a visit from a fire inspector, but neither of the pot shops are taking on new customers. Healing Health Compassion stopped selling cannabis at its Dundas Street store for several days - moving its inventory off site - and closed its Wonderland Road location after a fire inspector visited the Dundas shop June 4, prompting fears of a crackdown by city officials. [continues 305 words]
Dr. Caroline MacCallum wants doctors to know that cannabis "isn't the taboo medicine" they might think it is. Not only has she used it successfully to treat more than 50 conditions, she has also seen how it has helped her patients stop using prescription opioids. MacCallum, a specialist in complex pain and cannabinoid medicine, is the medical director at Green Leaf Clinic in Langley, where she assesses patients for their eligibility for Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations program. [continues 922 words]
As was widely foreseen, the Liberals' "Legalize marijuana in as awkward, truculent, and impractical a way as possible" legislation has created a whole new industry. I don't mean selling weed, of course: we had that trade before. I'm referring to newspaper columns, op-eds, and interviews about how crummy this law is. I have about 120 deadlines in the next 12 months, and I could use this topic for ... 30? Maybe 40? For now, let me cover just one aspect of legalization: the issue of roadside testing for marijuana impairment. The law contains provisions to permit this, and the constitutional angles are being smacked around like a tetherball. There seems to be a widespread assumption that because the law permits on-the-spot testing for impairment, such testing must be a practically possible thing; a solved problem. [continues 778 words]
Province has concerns about pot legalization but next moves remain unknown MANITOBA - Justice Minister Heather Stefanson says she has "lots of concerns" with the federal government's new legalized marijuana legislation tabled Thursday, but won't speculate publicly what Manitoba's next move will be. "We want to listen to Manitobans and consult on that," she told reporters Thursday. The federal government's proposed law, which sets the minimum age to purchase marijuana at 18, gives provinces some latitude to increase that age, but Stefanson declined to say whether she believes 18 is too young to buy marijuana. [continues 621 words]
PARTICIPANTS in the annual 4/20 event at the Manitoba Legislative Building are likely to be in an even more celebratory mood this year as the federal Liberal government is poised to introduce legislation to make good on its promise to legalize pot. The April 20 bash, which extols the consumption of cannabis - especially the smoking of it - may also have a more political undertone as local medical marijuana advocates protest a lack of consultation by the Pallister government before introducing a bill last week setting out new rules to deal with cannabis when legalization occurs. [continues 816 words]
Another week, another massive study by top doctors and scientists finding limited medicinal value to marijuana. When liberal politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson claim to be implementing "evidence-based" public policy, I find it odd they have such a blind spot with pot. A new report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research - reviewed 10,700 studies on the medicinal qualities of marijuana and concluded there is "conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective" for only three conditions: chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity. [continues 414 words]
Here we go again. Another week, another massive report by top doctors and scientists finding very limited medicinal value to marijuana. In an age when liberal politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson claim to be implementing "evidence-based" public policy, I find it odd that they have such a blind spot when it comes to pot. A new report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research - that reviewed the results of 10,700 studies on the medicinal qualities of marijuana concluded that there is "conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective" in treating only three conditions: chronic pain in adults, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms (although there was "limited" evidence of "clinician-measured" spasticity relief). [continues 613 words]
All Newman resident Phillip Blanton wanted to do, he said, was bring some comfort to his granddaughter, who has stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma. But his California medical marijuana card counted for nothing in Texas, where the 67-year-old now faces felony drug possession charges. Blanton was driving to Houston to see 20-year-old Makayla Farley, who's being treated at the Houston Methodist Hospital cancer center. She's fighting for her life, he said, has a hard time eating and is always throwing up. She's on morphine and other drug cocktails for pain. "I was going to give her Papa's cookies to help with the nausea and pain and to help her relax." [continues 863 words]
Willie Nelson wants his friend Loretta Lynn, who recently revealed that she tried marijuana for the first time at the age of 84 for her glaucoma but didn't like it, to give pot a second chance. "She's got a lot of guts," Nelson said during a recent interview with The Associated Press in Nashville, Tennessee. "She'll try anything. Maybe I should help her." The 83-year-old outlaw country icon actually wants to help a lot of people give marijuana a try. He's attached his name to a line of legal marijuana being sold in Colorado and Washington called "Willie's Reserve," after decades of personally advocating for the legalization of marijuana. [continues 412 words]
It took me awhile to perfect the cookie recipe. I experimented with ingredients: Blueberry, Strawberry, Sour Diesel, White Widow, Bubba Kush, AK-47 -- all strains of cannabis, which I stored, mixed with glycerin, in meticulously labeled jars on a kitchen shelf. After the cookies finished baking, I'd taste a few crumbs and annotate the effects in a notebook. Often, I felt woozy. One variation put me to sleep. When I had convinced myself that a batch was okay, I'd give a cookie to my 9-year-old son. [continues 1942 words]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Dr. Joseph Dorn has had a unique vantage point when it comes to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in Florida. Dorn was the medical director of Surterra Therapeutics, which is one of the six dispensing organizations licensed to grow and distribute medical cannabis in the state. He resigned from that position two months ago and has opened a medical marijuana treatment center as Amendment 2 takes effect on Tuesday. The constitutional amendment, which was approved by 71 percent of Florida voters, allows higher-strength marijuana to be used for a wider list of medical ailments. However, the true measure of what the amendment means won't be immediately seen until a new set of rules are adopted and implemented by the Florida Legislature and the Department of Health. [continues 558 words]
Arizona continues efforts towards legal marijuana The failure of Prop 205 may have been a sobering realization for some, but others still have high hopes for the future of marijuana in Arizona. Several new efforts have popped up to change the landscape of Arizona's marijuana landscape since voters rejected this year's recreational proposition. The most promising initiative comes from the Independent Wellness Center in Apache Junction, and intends not to legalize recreational marijuana, but to increase the number of qualifying conditions for patients to be eligible for a medical marijuana card. [continues 525 words]
Marijuana advocate approached N.L. police months ago about starting a dispensary Marijuana advocate Ryan Stratton said when he first heard about pot dispensaries popping up in St. John's, he was a little bitter. Back in May, he approached the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary about starting a marijuana dispensary in town, and he got a firm, unequivocal "No." "I can't help but feel really slighted and bitter about that," he said. "Are you kidding me? I would love to own the first dispensary down there, make it professional, make it well done, get the best product out there." [continues 302 words]
Early this year, a disabled former automobile body worker named Greg Vialpando explained to lawmakers in New Mexico how medical marijuana helped his chronic back pain. State legislators were considering a bill backed by workers' compensation insurers that would have exempted them from paying for medical marijuana. But Mr. Vialpando and another patient described how smoking the drug let them escape years of stupor caused by powerful prescription narcotic drugs known as opioids. The lawmakers ended up dropping the bill, and Mr. Vialpando's expenses for buying marijuana are covered by insurance. [continues 932 words]
