By Ed Brayton
A lawsuit against Walmart for firing a Battle Creek man for using medical marijuana to help with an inoperable brain tumor despite such usage being legal in Michigan is set to begin on Friday in federal court in Grand Rapids.
Joseph Casias uses medical marijuana in full compliance with Michigan law, but Walmart still fired him for a positive test for the drug even though he was the employee of the year in his store just two years earlier. The ACLU is representing him in court.
http://michiganmessenger.com/43368/med-marijuana-lawsuit-against-walmart-to-begin
Month: November 2010
Medical marijuana from the feds? Meet Irvin Rosenfeld, whose MMJ is supplied by U.S. gov’t
by Michael Roberts
The differences between the federal government’s marijuana laws and MMJ rules in Colorado are vast. Ask Chris Bartkowicz, who faces years in prison for growing cannabis he said was for medical purposes. So why are the feds supplying Irvin Rosenfeld almost 300 marijuana cigarettes every 25 days? He’ll explain during an appearance in Denver this weekend.
As noted in the Cannabis Therapy Institute release, Rosenfeld won the right to use marijuana medically way back in 1982, and while rule changes have been made since then, his access has been grandfathered. He’s reportedly among just four people in the country to have this right, as he explains in his new book, My Medicine.
Rosenfeld will promote this tome during a free talk and book-signing on Saturday afternoon at the Oriental Theatre. Get details from the aforementioned release, on view below along with a video of Rosenfeld.
Cannabis Therapy Institute release:
Federal Marijuana Patient Promotes Book in DenverDenver — Irvin Rosenfeld is one of only 4 medical marijuana patients in the country that receive cannabis legally from the federal government. Irv will be in Denver for a speaking engagement and book signing on Sat., Nov. 13 at the Oriental Theatre in Denver at 3:00pm.
Irv is a 57 year-old successful stockbroker from south Florida. Irv smokes the marijuana to relieve chronic pain and muscle spasms caused by a rare bone disease. When he was 10, doctors discovered that his skeleton was riddled with more than 200 tumors, due to a condition known as multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis. Despite six operations, he still lives with scores of tumors in his bones.
After a long struggle with the federal government, Irv Rosenfeld won the right to access medical marijuana in 1982. Thirteen people with debilitating conditions were allowed into the Compassionate Investigative New Drug (IND) program to receive government-grown marijuana. In 1992, President George Bush discontinued the program, but Irv still receives almost 300 marijuana cigarettes every 25 days from the federal government. The cannabis is grown by NIDA at the University of Mississippi.
Irv’s book is called My Medicine: How I Convinced the Federal Government to Provide My Marijuana and Helped Launch a National Movement. The book will be available for purchase and will be signed by the author.
Irvin Rosenfeld Talk and Book Signing
Oriental Theatre
4335 W 44th Ave, Denver, CO
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010
3:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Schedule
Talk: 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Book Signing: 4:00pm to 5:30pm
The event is FREE and open to the public.
The book makes a great HOLIDAY GIFT for the patient or advocate on your list.
SPONSORSHIP
The talk is sponsored by the Cannabis Therapy Institute Patient Advocacy Project. Click here to support CTI’s mission of protecting patient’s safe access to medicine:
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/donate.html
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/11/medical_marijuana_from_the_feds_meet_irvin_rosenfeld_whose_mmj_is_supplied_by_us_govt.php
Hemp biofuel blazes competition
by Grant Banks
Researchers at University of Connecticut have found that industrial hemp has properties that make it attractive as a raw material for biofuel production
While the food versus fuel debate continues to put crop-based biofuel production on the back burners it might just be Cannabis sativa that blazes the competition. Researchers at University of Connecticut have found that industrial hemp has properties that make it viable and even attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel. Hemp biodiesel has shown a high efficiency of conversion (97 percent) and has passed laboratory’s tests, even showing properties that suggest it could be used at lower temperatures than any biodiesel currently on the market.
The plant’s ability to grow in infertile soils also reduces the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food according to Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering at UConn.
“For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel,” said Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives, peanuts, and rapeseed. “It’s equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won’t need the high-quality land.”
Cannabis sativa is known for it’s ability to grow like a “weed” in many parts of the world, needing little fertilizers, or high-grade inputs to flourish. But the seeds, which house the plant’s natural oils, are often discarded. Parnas points out that this apparent waste product could be put to good use by turning it into fuel.
“If someone is already growing hemp they might be able to produce enough fuel to power their whole farm with the oil from the seeds they produce. The fact that a hemp industry already exists means that a hemp biodiesel industry would need little additional investment,” he said.
Although growing hemp is not legal in the U.S., Parnas hopes that the team’s results will help to spur hemp biodiesel production in other parts of the world. And while the Proposition 19 ballot in California to legalize Marijuana was defeated last week, the pathways have been opened for more discussion on Cannabis sativa production in the U.S..
As for other industries that utilize Cannabis plants, Parnas makes a clear distinction between industrial hemp, which contains less than one percent psychoactive chemicals in its flowers, and some of its cousins, which contain up to 22 percent.
“This stuff,” he pointed out, “won’t get you high.”
http://www.gizmag.com/hemp-biodiesel-dope-biofuel/16852/
Cannabis Scratch and Sniff Cards
Dutch officials in Rotterdam and The Hague are hoping upwards of 30,000 people will commit their olfactory glands to the pursuit of illegal marijuana grow operations in Holland. The crime-busting plan involves sending out scratch & sniff cards impregnated with marijuana scent to 30,000 homes, hoping to educate people on how pot plants smell, so they can call police when they sniff-out an illegal grow-op.
The 8 by 4 inch (20 by 10cm) card calls on citizens to “Assist in combating cannabis plantations!”, with helpful sleuth hints such as looking for places where the curtains are always drawn, where there are buzzing noises, or illegal electrical hook-ups and, of course, the sweet, hay or sage-like aroma of healthy cannabis plants.
The Dutch government decriminalized the use and possession 5grams (0.18 ounces) of cannabis back in 1976, and people can generally grow up to five plants for their personal use without facing prosecution. However, black-market and criminal activities are valued at around €2 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) annually and may number up to 40,000 grow-ops.
Each year around 6000 illegal grow-ops are found, with around 300 in Rotterdam, according to Richard Anderiesse, who is part of the city’s cannabis task force. Concern about the grow–ops, apart from being illegal, include the risk of fire and water loss due to illegal tapping into the supplies.
http://www.greenmuze.com/nature/garden/3215-cannabis-scratch-and-sniff-cards-.html
The DEA wants to make it easier to sell marijuana
… if you’re a pharmaceutical company.
It was, of course, fascinating (although unsurprising) how fast Marinol was able to get moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. Marinol is, after all, synthetic THC (or dronabinol) and marketed to function the same as marijuana (although its limitations can be quite severe compared to whole plant cannabis).
Marinol has, interestingly, even marketed itself as “legal marijuana.”
Well now the DEA is concerned that some companies who want to sell “legal marijuana” might have a hard time doing it, so they’ve published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would allow them to open up the definition of Marinol in Schedule 3 to include “Any drug product in hard or soft gelatin capsule form containing natural dronabinol (derived from the cannabis plant) or synthetic dronabinol (produced from synthetic materials).”
After all, they want companies to be able to market alternative versions and generic versions of Marinol…. just so long as it isn’t actually cannabis.
(ii) Any drug product in hard or soft gelatin capsule form containing natural dronabinol (derived from the cannabis
plant) or synthetic dronabinol (produced from synthetic materials) in
sesame oil, for which an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) has been approved by the FDA.
Once again you have the DEA and the FDA working together to make sure that the pharmaceutical companies are taken care of without having to worry about trivialities like proving “accepted medical use.”
When drug products that reference Marinol® receive FDA approval, they will have a currently accepted medical use in the United States.
Actual cannabis, on the other hand, is claimed by the DEA to not have a currently accepted medical use in the United States, despite reams of evidence.
You can comment on the proposed rule making by January 3. Not sure what good it’ll do. Not even sure what comment I’d make… “Yes, please expand the definition because that might eventually lead to…” or “No, don’t let the other drug companies in until cannabis itself gets invited…” Not that the DEA is going to be interested in what I have to say.
http://www.drugwarrant.com/2010/11/the-dea-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-sell-marijuana/comment-page-1/
Schwarzenegger: ‘No One Cares If You Smoke a Joint’
Tmz : Soon-to-be-former governor of Kaleefornia Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t have been more blunt on the topic of weed last night — telling Jay Leno that in CA, “No one cares if you smoke a joint or not.”Ahnald hit “The Tonight Show” to talk about the recent elections, when Leno brought up a pro-pot bill the gov just signed, making cannabis possession “like a speeding ticket.”
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http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/entertainment/201011/103617.php
Insured home deliveries of medical marijuana in Marin begin next week
The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax will begin making pot deliveries to members of its collective next week now that insurance concerns have been resolved, organizers said.
“Finally!” said Lynnette Shaw, founding director of the only licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the county.
Fairfax’s Planning Commission approved the service in mid-June. Shaw said that since then she has been working with the town attorney fine-tuning insurance coverage she is required to have before initiating the new service.
Shaw said the policy, which is being provided by Sacramento-based Statewide Insurance, indemnifies the town of Fairfax from any damages caused by the delivery service, as well as insuring the delivery people and their goods.
“The marijuana itself is insured in case of damage, or flood, or disaster, or theft or accident,” Shaw said. “If the van rolls over and the pot gets messed up, that pot is insured.”
Mike Aberle, director of Statewide’s medical marijuana division, said, “We can insure every aspect of the cannabis and hemp industry, whether you’re talking about a dispensary or delivery or a grower, or edible manufacturer, doctors, lawyers, you name it.”
Despite the Planning Commission’s approval, Fairfax Police Chief Chris Morin said he has some reservations.
“We have a public safety concern for the couriers themselves, the patients and potentially others when the marijuana is being transported,”
Morin said. “You don’t know if someone is going to try to rob these people. Innocent bystanders could get involved.”
Shaw said that to enhance safety, all deliveries will be made by a two-person team: a clean and sober driver and a qualified medical marijuana patient who is a member of the alliance.
“A member of my collective is being transported to hand the marijuana over to another member of my collective,” Shaw said. “So we’re in perfect compliance.”
Due to the insurance policy, the couriers will never carry more than $2,000 worth of marijuana with them at any time.
Initially, Shaw said the delivery service will operate only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. But she plans to add more days as demand increases. She will deliver in Marin beyond the Fairfax town limits, even though her permit doesn’t provide for that.
“The town of Fairfax doesn’t have the power to authorize me,” Shaw said. “It’s up to the membership and myself what we do with this outside the town of Fairfax.”
Shaw estimates that there are already 23 services delivering medical marijuana in Marin, none of which are licensed. She said she used that as part of her argument when she was seeking permission from the town.
“I told them I was getting killed,” Shaw said.
Deliveries will be made only to Marin Alliance members. But if other medical marijuana patients have a state identification card or an ID provided by the Alameda County Public Health Department, they may order marijuana and join the alliance when the delivery is made, Shaw said.
“It takes two minutes to sign up,” she said.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_16526594
Judge gives Fresno pot growers until Nov. 30 to harvest
Board Takes Action On Medical Marijuana – Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Board of Pharmacy took action Tuesday by making marijuana a drug with medicinal purposes.
The Board of Pharmacy agreed to re-classify marijuana from a schedule one to schedule two drug.
The new classification by the board means is that marijuana still has a high potential for abuse, but is now considered to have accepted medical use in treatment.
Previously as a schedule one drug, marijuana would have no proven or acceptable medical use.
This will now classify marijuana with other narcotic drugs such as opiates and methadone.
But that was the extent of the board’s action. Members denied a petition requesting the board to make rules on the use of marijuana.
Board chair Vernon Benjamin said that goes beyond the scope of the board’s rule-making authority.
Benjamin said the board can regulate drugs and professional pharmacists, but then put the responsibility back on the Iowa Legislature.
“We can’t set any penalties. We can’t set any guidelines on how marijuana’s going to be produced, what standards are going to be. And I think all those kind of things are things the legislature’s going to have the ultimate say-so about anyway,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin said the likelihood that the Legislature would take up the issue in the upcoming session, from what he’s heard, are slim, but he added that anything can happen during the legislative session.
http://www.kcci.com/r/25606653/detail.html
Potheads say ‘No to Prop 19’
Many outspoken marijuana users have stated that they are against California’s Proposition 19, saying that while the proposition sounds like a dream come true, in reality it is a huge step backward in the movement to legalize marijuana.
Marijuana users have stated their stance is pro-legalization but anti-Proposition 19. Their view is that Proposition 19 will not legalize marijuana but in fact place more restrictions upon it.
Most media state that the proposition will fully legalize marijuana, though in fact, the proposition will put restrictions where there are none currently, such as reversing freedoms users now enjoy under Proposition 215 and paving the way for the current marijuana industry to be corporatized, eliminating small-time marijuana farmers.
Denis Peron, author of Proposition 215, denounced the new proposition saying it would be “thinly-veiled prohibition.”
Many users developed their negative stance after reading and completely analyzing Proposition 19. Under Proposition 19, marijuana would not be fully legalized; people would only be allowed to carry up to one ounce and it would have to have been bought from a legal marijuana dispensary.
Many people don’t know that, thanks to marijuana already being decriminalized, the penalty for carrying an ounce now is only a mere citation and a $100 fine at maximum. Under Proposition 19, that small punitive measure would go away, but the proposition adds other measures for minors and those who give marijuana to them that are not already in place.
Under the proposition, a person who gives marijuana of any amount to a minor would face up to six months in jail and a $1000 fine. The current penalty for a gift of marijuana one ounce or less is a $100 fine.
Also under Proposition 19, users would not be able to smoke in the presence of minors, not even in the privacy of their own homes. Under Proposition 215, users are able to smoke in their homes or any place where smoking is allowed as long as they have their prescription, regardless of minors being present. Proposition 19 would take this freedom away.
Another problem users have with Proposition 19 are the restrictions it would place on the current industry of marijuana that Proposition 215 enables. Under Proposition 19, the only people who would be allowed to sell marijuana are people who obtain an expensive and difficult-to-get license.
Current small-time marijuana growers and sellers who make a decent profit under Proposition 215 would no longer be able to sell. Marijuana users worry that, under Proposition 19, the small-time growers would be pushed out and replaced with big time corporations, effectively destroying the industry the growers have built over the years.
Users claim that Proposition 19 is not the right way to legalize marijuana. They believe that people should hold out and wait for a better law to be written, one that doesn’t have all the problems that Proposition 19 creates.
Another plan – the California Hemp and Health Initiative – is already seeking signatures for inclusion on the 2012 ballot. This new initiative fixes many of the problems that Proposition 19 creates and was even approved by the late Jack Herer, the “father of the legalization movement.”
Users worry that if Proposition 19 passes, this new initiative won’t stand a chance in 2012 because the big corporations formed after Proposition 19 will not allow it to pass.
Proposition 19 is not the only road to legalization available – it is simply the first. Dragonfly De La Luz, a pro-legalization blogger, wrote in an article: “This is not our only chance to vote yes to legalization, but it may be our only chance to vote no to the corporatization of cannabis.”
By Keelan Taylor – Smith – Foghorn Staff – http://www.thedmcfoghorn.com/news/potheads-say-no-to-prop-19-1.1738908