Just days into her new job at a hospice in Cottonwood, Esther Shapiro claims she was fired because she uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia. The hospice sent her for a drug test, and she warned them it would come back positive. Shapiro said the next day, a nurse manager told her the hospice's insurance company thought she was too much of a liability. "It was, basically, in my opinion, crap," Shapiro told "I was fired unlawfully." Across Arizona, employers and workers are settling into an uneasy relationship with medical marijuana. While a 2010 voter-approved law forbids employers from discriminating against medical-marijuana patients, the law provides no protection for employees who are impaired at work. [continues 1239 words]
Editor's note: This is the first story in a three part series looking at marijuana issues on the North Coast. The proliferation of large scale, outdoor marijuana grows in Humboldt County has law enforcement agencies sometimes feeling like they're fighting a forest fire with squirt guns. Consequently, agencies are trending toward collaboration as this growing season hits full swing, with federal and local police looking to work together to take out some of the most egregious operations. "It's one of the most beautiful parts of this country, but it's just being destroyed by marijuana cultivation," said Randy Wagner, the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's special agent in charge of Northern California operations. "I can tell you, we're going to be hot and heavy in Humboldt County from here on out." [continues 731 words]
Jenny Durkan, U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, Says Marijuana Shops Shouldn't Operate Within 1,000 Feet of Schools or Playgrounds. Naughty, Naughty. One question: What about marijuana shops more than 1,000 feet away from schools and playgrounds? In Western Washington, hundreds of them continue to flip off every law in sight and their neighbors to boot while Durkan's office shows little apparent interest beyond a few token busts. On paper, Durkan at the recent behest of Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama says she won't tolerate the trafficking of marijuana under the guise of "medicine." Other U.S. attorneys are walking this talk seriously; they've been moving against hundreds of dispensaries in Eastern Washington, California and other states. [continues 339 words]
To the editor Douglas Stellato Kabat's letter "Achieving higher performance," Aug. 17, was an exercise in creative and flawed thinking. His points arguing pot can be a performance-enhancing drug are flawed. Numerous studies and my own anecdotal experience tell me just the opposite; it's more difficult to focus on physical tasks when your concentration must be at its highest level to perform, especially in a sport like judo. While those like Mr. Kabat who want more studies done to further demonize pot, it's perfectly legal for Olympic athletes to drink themselves into a drunken stupor. A hangover is definitely not going to give an edge to any athlete. Alcohol is much more damaging, but this product gets a pass from the World Anti-Doping Agency because it sponsors the Olympic games. [continues 70 words]
Dear Editor, Let me be frank ... Until we legalize our largest agricultural cash crop, marijuana, our economy will contiue to be sluggish, at best. We cannot expect our economy to prosper as long as we keep the biggest agricultural commodity America has ever known illegal. It's not going to happen, folks. On the other hand, if we legalize marijuana, our economy will go right through the roof ... off the charts! Marijuana is huge, already developed, already in place, all ready to go in all 50 states. Legalize marijuana - recession is over, immediately and permanently. We need legal weed! David L. Hornberger, age 70 [end]
The hallucination was startling: Outside the window was the front yard of my boyhood home. But I was hundreds of miles and decades removed from that house. Not only did I think I was looking back through time but across space as well. As a writer, I am used to imagining strange things, but the feeling that I could touch the past was exhilarating and terrifying. All because of a cookie- an "edible" that was meant to be medicinal. It was no ordinary cookie. Its origins go back to the 1950s. That was when the first cookbooks featuring marijuana in recipes appeared. But it was in the '70s that the popularity of "special brownies" really gained traction. [continues 593 words]
Florence Siegel knows how to relax. A glass of wine, classical music - - preferably Bach - and a toke off her pipe. At 88 years old, Siegel suffers from arthritis in her back and legs and is one of many seniors who have turned to marijuana for pain relief. As a bonus, Siegel says, the pot has helped her sleep better than the pills her doctor had previously prescribed. Since 1996, 16 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana. Senate Bill 420, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, "prohibits any physician from being punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes." [continues 423 words]
Rancho Mirage - The struggle between the city and a medical marijuana dispensary it shut down through a temporary restraining order is expected to return to court today. Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Evans granted the order Aug. 6, because the Rancho Mirage Safe Access Wellness Center, doing business as All Valley Desert Cooperative, had opened without a certificate of occupancy or business license from the city. Evans will hear arguments today on whether the temporary order should be extended into a preliminary injunction until the trial begins. [continues 307 words]
PORT ORCHARD -- A bad wreck four years ago left Raymond Alloway with chronic pain in his back, neck and legs and triggered migraine headaches. A year after the accident, he discovered marijuana as medicine and got authorized to use cannabis to relieve pain and headaches. Alloway, though, chose to go beyond helping himself: he and a friend decided to dive into the still-murky, unregulated world of medical marijuana to help other patients get their medicine. They got their nonprofit business license from the state in April and they operate West Sound Quality Co-Op on Mile Hill Drive. [continues 1056 words]
