Medical Marijuana Defense Bill in Texas

By Paul Armentano


House Bill 1491, an act to allow qualified patients to raise an affirmative defense to prosecution for the possession of medical cannabis, has been reintroduced in the Texas legislature.
This proposal would enact limited legal protections for patients who use cannabis under a doctor’s supervision. It would also enact legal protections for physicians who make oral or written recommendations to their patients regarding the use of medicinal cannabis. The full text of the bill can be read here.
Read complete article here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/medical-marijuana-defense-bill-in-texas

Proposed bill would legalize medical marijuana (Kansas)

After being shot down several times in the past, legislation to legalize medical marijuana was filed again Feb. 15 in the Kansas House of Representatives.
The new bill, known as the Cannabis Compassion and Care Act, calls for the legalization of owning and using marijuana plants for those with “debilitating medical conditions,” such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C and Crohn’s disease. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Health and Human Services for debate.
Fifty-eight percent of adults in Kansas support the legalization of medical marijuana, according to a poll conducted last year by SurveryUSA and sponsored by KWCH, a Wichita-based TV station.
Read complete article here:
http://www.kansan.com/news/2011/feb/20/chris-neal/?news

Auto insurance agency must pay for marijuana


MONTREAL – Quebec’s auto insurance protection agency has been ordered to pay $5,000 to a Quebec man so that he can grow and smoke marijuana in his home.
The man, whose name is protected under provincial law, suffered injuries after a car crash in 1986.
The man, in his 40s, initially requested insurance coverage for marijuana to help treat back spasms, as he said traditional medication did not work.
It was refused.
But in an unprecedented decision made by administrative
tribunal officials in Quebec, which hears appeals from citizens for decisions of provincial departments, said necessary steps must be taken to help with the rehabilitation of citizens injured in car crashes.
That means paying $5,000 for a hydroponic greenhouse in the man’s home, as well as covering water, electricity, plants and soil expenses.
Read complete article here:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/02/19/17339581.html

Seattle Times calls for legalization of marijuana

The Seattle Times is calling for the Washington Legislature to legalize marijuana. In an editorial for Sunday’s editions, the newspaper says the time has come for the states to lead a push against federal prohibition. The editorial was posted Friday on The Times’ website.
The newspaper endorses state House Bill 1550, which would legalize marijuana and sell it through state liquor stores to customers over 21 who consume it in private.
The Times editorial board says the prohibition of marijuana has not worked and wastes the resources of the police, the courts and the jails. The editorial suggests it is better to legalize pot, regulate it and tax it.
Read complete article here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014272965_apwaseattletimesmarijuana.html

Lawmaker Asks PTSD to Qualify for Medical Marijuana Use

By Kacey Drescher
The Senate Judiciary Committee also heard testimony for a bill that calls for revision to the Medical Marijuana Act.
Democrat Senator David Wanzenried is asking the Legislature to authorize post-traumatic stress disorder as a debilitating medical condition qualifying a person for medical marijuana.
Read complete article here:
http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/Lawmaker-Asks-PTSD-to-Qualify-for-Medical-Marijuana-Use-116440449.html

Cannabis Farmers Market Coming to Seattle

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

farmers market.jpg

​​There are two kinds of medical-marijuana patients: those who want to get as close to the clinical experience as possible when getting their cannabis, and those who prefer a funkier, more communal vibe.

If you’re one of the doctor’s-office types–or if you don’t enjoy being around hippies or pot smoke–then trust me, the Tacoma Cannabis Farmers Market is not for you. But if you’re open to a community experience, the market (held on the first Sunday of each month in a warehouse at 1912 Center St.) may just be a glimpse of the future. 

steve elliott toke signals 2 sized.jpg
Photo by Don Skakie
The author examines buds of the Blu-K strain (Blueberry x AK-47) through a magnifying loupe at the Tacoma Cannabis Farmers Market on Feb. 6.

Seattle’s neighbor to the south has hosted the market (limited to authorized medical patients and providers) for the past four months, and having been to all but the first, I can tell you that the consumer empowerment of having a dozen vendors competing for your business is a very heady thing. Better yet, a Seattle version is kicking off in less than two weeks.

Don’t like the price (or the strains, the spiel, or the ‘tude) this guy’s giving you? Walk to the next table. It’s positively exhilarating.

“The farmers-market model is really an advantage to the patient,” says organizer Jeremy Miller. “They’re able to compare quality and cost, as well as have a wider variety of products to choose from.”

Read complete article here:

Marijuana Possession Is The Number One Reason For Arrest In New York City

Marijuana
The NYPD has been unkind to the possessors of ‘kind bud‘.

Marijuana possession was the top reason for arrests in New York city in 2010, according to a report by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services, that was obtained by the Drug Policy Alliance advocacy group.
An astounding 50,383 people were arrested for having marijuana in 2010. That makes up about 15 percent of all arrests in the city.
Since Mayor Bloomberg took over the reigns of the city in 2002, there have been 350,000 people arrested for marijuana possession, according to a statement released by the alliance.
The statement also noted that 86 percent of those arrested since 2002 were African-American or Latino and 70 percent were under 30 years old, despite the fact that “research consistently shows that young whites use marijuana at higher rates,” according to the statement.
Read complete article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/marijuana-arrests_n_822002.html

Luxembourg minister: “Cannabis could be good for us”

Dr Jean Colombera, Green party deputy, has begun a campaign to get cannabis legalised for use in medicene in Luxembourg after discovering that it can be used to treat tumours.

Published on 11/02/2011 by News352 | Read 22 times.
Colombera, a well-known supporter of the use of the cannabis plant in medicine, said that he and his research team are able to prove that the hemp extract, derived from a type of non-active hemp grown in Luxembourg, can help to dissolve brain tumour cells.
Read complete article here:
http://www.station.lu/?p=edito&a=external&id=107231

Weed all be a lot better off

By Arthur Black, Special to Courier-Islander

I love the concept of the tipping point – the idea that there can be a single moment in time when one last critical molecule of resistance crumbles and the whole damn mountainside comes down. Egypt recently found its political tipping point. Rosa Parks was a tipping point for racial discrimination in America. That first third-period Russian goal against our Canadian Juniors (cruising, at the time, to an easy, predicted 3-0 victory) was a sports tipping point. The Russians poured in four more unanswered goals to trounce the Canucks and take the title.
I believe another tipping point was reached last month in Missoula County, Montana.
A kid by the name of Touray Cornell faced a felony charge: possession of an illegal substance punishable by serious prison time. The substance: marijuana, found by a police raid on his home. The amount: 1/16th of an ounce.
One-sixteenth of an ounce equals less than two grams. Too little to roll in a cigarette paper. You could be carrying 1/16th of an ounce of pot around in your pant cuff right now and not even know it. But Touray Cornell was charged and he was going down, just as soon as Dusty Deschamps, District Judge for Missoula County could select a jury.
Er…small problem. When each prospective juror learned what the case was about and how much ‘drug’ was involved, they refused to serve. Juror after juror told the judge they would refuse to convict anyone over such a miniscule amount of pot. Twenty-seven prospective jurors were polled; 22 of them said that not only would they not convict, but the whole farce was “a waste of taxpayer money.” “It’s a mutiny,” wailed the District Attorney.
See complete article here:
http://www.canada.com/Weed+better/4262543/story.html

It´s time police simmer down on pot

by Kyle Melinn

File this under: Old Habits Die Hard.
Police, prosecutors, judges, the whole legal pyramid right up the line can´t crack this old, tired belief that all marijuana is bad all the time — that someone growing pot “needs them some criminal charges.”
Didn´t nearly two-thirds of Michigan voters say two years ago that a limited amount of medical marijuana could be grown legally? That it’s high time police found more productive uses for their time than harassing someone growing a little weed in the backyard?
And, yet, the Court of Appeals gave license to more law enforcement overreach when it allowed criminal charges against Owosso´s Larry S. King, who became a criminal for not having a conventional lock on his backdoor and for covering his 6-foot-high fence with a plastic tarp.
From a nosy neighbor´s property, police went Special Ops-like, using binoculars to spy into a converted dog kennel that King was using to legally grow his medical marijuana. The locked fence was 6 feet tall, but the plastic covering the enclosure was blowing in the breeze, allowing the cops to see real, live marijuana growing.
Justice needed to be served. Michigan State Police Sgt. Brian Fox and Shiawassee County Deputy Jed Eisenberger marched onto King´s property and asked him to produce his stateissued medical marijuana card, which he did.
They asked him to see his marijuana garden. He unlocked the gate for them.
They asked him if he was growing more. King said more plants were inside a closet in his house, but he wanted a warrant before showing those off. A warrant was produced.
Read complete article here:
http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-5460-its-time-police-simmer-down-on-pot.html