There's a lot of talk about high rollers trying to get in on the growing marijuana market. Here's the tale of a couple of low rollers who'd like to get in on a market that - as Donald Trump would say - is gonna be HUGE! Andrea and Ervin Allen run a family- and home-based business on the east side of Detroit. It's called A&E products; they're in the medical marijuana business. Andrea is a medical marijuana caregiver and Ervin is a patient. Their tale of interest in the plant goes back about 13 years when Andrea's father died from cancer. [continues 1360 words]
I saw purple spots. I saw yellow spots. I saw green spots. I saw orange spots. No, I wasn't tripping on some hallucinogen. I was looking at the map of Detroit on display at the City Planning Commission's public hearing on the zoning ordinance for the city's Medical Marijuana Caregiver Centers. Each of the colored spots represented the schools, churches, parks, liquor stores, strip joints, and whatever else the proposed centers would have to be at least 1,000 feet away from as the zoning ordinance is currently written. [continues 879 words]
Lansing - A group seeking to put recreational marijuana legalization on the November 2016 ballot abruptly stopped collecting signatures at the end of September, prompting a competing pro-pot group to speculate the other campaign is faltering. "We've heard rumors they were out of money. We haven't seen them on the street," said Jeff Hank, chair of the MI Legalize campaign. "To take a month off from petitioning is odd." But Republican political consultant Matt Marsden, who is heading the Michigan Cannabis Coalition, says the campaign is taking a "pause" to study the 210,000 voters who have already signed in pursuit of the minimum 252,523 valid voter signatures needed to get on the ballot. [continues 333 words]
It seems that some Michigan political bodies have finally been pushed to give up their wait-and-see approach to marijuana. The wait-and-see was really more of a stall-and-demure and even an ignore-it-and-maybe-it-will-go-away tactic. But citizen actions have finally forced lawmakers to step up. In Detroit and Lansing legislators are addressing the fact that medical marijuana patients actually have to buy their marijuana somewhere. In Detroit that means that the first of two sets of regulations for medical marijuana facilities was passed. It's about time; there are an estimated 148 of them, about one for each of the city's 139 square miles, and they're not clearly legal or illegal. [continues 890 words]
Concerned Detroiters who cringe at the rapid spread of marijuana dispensaries and medical card-holders who rely on the product for treatment packed a public hearing today to debate proposed regulations of the city's medical marijuana industry. The Detroit City Council is considering a proposal that includes a way to license the city's approximately 150 medical marijuana shops. The proposal also has zoning restrictions on how close they can operate near schools, churches and other dispensaries. Eunice Gantt, a lifelong Detroiter, said the growing number of marijuana dispensaries hurts the city's reputation. [continues 504 words]
Nearly eight years after Michigan voters overwhelmingly concluded that marijuana should be available to patients whose doctors prescribe it, state lawmakers are finally addressing some of the most egregious defects in Michigan's Medical Marihuana Act. A package of bills that won lopsided approval in the state House of Representatives last week would establish a rational (if unnecessarily complicated) regulatory scheme for licensing growers, processors, retailers and even those who transport marijuana from one facility to another. The House-approved plan also imposes a 3% tax on retailers' gross income and authorizes doctors to prescribe non-smokable forms of the drug that the Michigan Supreme Court says remain prohibited under the 2008 law. [continues 166 words]
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recently brought up marijuana while speaking to students at Amherst College in Maryland. As she talked about the need to be passionate, she said, "Pick something in your life that you don't like and that you work to change." She acknowledged that some young people were passionate about legalizing marijuana. But then she shrugged her shoulders dismissively as though marijuana legalization was small potatoes - more or less bullshit. I got a similar reaction a few years ago in conversation with a lawyer who has spent his career fighting for civil liberties. When the subject of marijuana came up, he kind of grinned and said, "That's not my issue." The way he said it seemed to imply that he wouldn't give such a lame concern the time of day. [continues 830 words]
Medical marijuana patients claim city officials have targeted them in violation of state law. Warren officials including police harassed medical marijuana patients - - some suffering from cancer -- with tickets and other methods in violation of state law, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against the city. The 23 patients from Macomb County, including seven caregivers plus two businesses, are plaintiffs in the legal action taken in Macomb County Circuit Court. "The city has created an environment of intimidation and fear, that people are afraid to get the medicine they need," said their attorney, Michael Greiner. [continues 485 words]
There's good reason to pose this question. There are two petition initiatives aimed at legalizing marijuana for recreational use on the 2016 ballot - and a June poll showed state voters support legalization 56 percent to 36 percent. Faced with what looks like an inevitable course, politicians in Lansing are discussing doing the same thing legislatively. There are four states that have already legalized recreational use; Ohio is voting on it in November, and several other states will be voting on it in 2016. Presidential elections bring out the largest crowds, and polls say that the majority of voters favor legalization. By the way, 2016 will be the first election where marijuana is an issue. Candidates will be asked about it, especially when visiting states where medical or recreational laws are in effect or on the ballot. [continues 829 words]
Actress Susan Sarandon recently tweeted a message to rappers A$AP Rocky and Action Bronson, saying, "thx for the shout out on '1Train.' Not sure what it means, but let's blaze one & talk about it some time." It comes as no surprise that Sarandon, or Rocky and Bronson would want to blaze one. Sarandon has been an outspoken supporter of marijuana use for years - it probably helped her get through the chilly days on the set of the classic movie Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rocky and Bronson put out tracks that boast about their involvement with the stuff, so there's no surprise there. What's interesting is that the 68-year-old Sarandon reached out across the age and cultural divide to invite the youthful performers for a smoke. [continues 820 words]
In the United States, and in Michigan, autism is growing. In fact, it is growing at such an alarming rate that it has just recently been identified as a significant public health issue, due to statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, a nationwide federal program that tracks autism rates around the country. Estimates show that autism rates have risen in every report since tracking began in 2002, from one in 150 in 2002 to one in 68 in 2010. There is not a cure, however, new studies show, autism can be treated. [continues 378 words]
Back when I was in college, I walked into a friend's dorm room one night to find a bunch of weed scattered on a table with a bunch of ripped up papers. I could tell these guys were buggin' because their eyes were all bugged out as they stared at me. "Can you roll a joint?" one of them implored. Apparently these guys were using something else and needed to chill out. I coolly slipped into a seat, grabbed some papers, and commenced to rolling. These guys were really grateful as they sucked the sweet smoke into their lungs. [continues 858 words]
