By Allen St. Pierre
In another affirmation of cannabis law reform’s political momentum in America, the organizers at VoterPower of Oregon have very likely qualified for the ballot what will be ‘Initiative-28’ this November.
Enough signatures have been gathered, but, in an effort to make sure that enough signatures legally qualify the measure for the ballot it is necessary and politically prudent to turn in the maximum number of signatures to survive scrutiny from the Secretary of State’s office or opponents of cannabis law reform.
Oregon, by all measurement, is one of the best states in the country on cannabis!
The state was the first to decriminalize possession in 1973, the state has had numerous voter initiatives to reform cannabis laws—including the 1998 initiative votes to keep cannabis possession decriminalized (blessedly, an eye-popping 68% of Oregon voters rejected an effort to re-criminalize the possession of cannabis) and Oregon became the ^4th state to pass a voter initiative that allows for the medical use of cannabis by qualifying patients who possess a physician’s recommendation.
Now, in 2010, Initiative-28 seeks to create a state-sanctioned medical cannabis dispensary system where patients can have retail access to cannabis products.
Below is a recent alert from VoterPower director (and former NORML board member) John Sajo letting all concerned cannabis consumers—from Oregon and beyond—know about the politically important opportunity to help get another pro-cannabis law voter state initiative on this fall’s ballot.
If we can all help Oregon get over the top to qualify for the ballot, the state will join Arizona and South Dakota on medical cannabis-related initiatives, as well as California regarding an outright legalization initiative.**
Please contact VoterPower and lend them your help and financial support to make sure that the citizens of Oregon once again have the chance to lead the way on substantive cannabis law reform measures.
Thanks and kind regards,
Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director

Some call it a green rush. In the past five years, the number of medical-marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles has exploded from four to nearly 600. To get a handle on what one city official called a “chaotic situation,” more than 400 were shuttered June 7, following a January vote to limit their numbers in response to complaints that many were catering to recreational users.
When it comes to using the drug for medical purposes, though, no one did it like the ancients. Around 2000 B.C., the Egyptians used cannabis to treat sore eyes. A millennium later, doctors in India could be found mixing the weed with milk to use as an anesthetic. In 200 B.C., the Greeks used marijuana to remedy earaches. Pot even enjoyed its freedom in America’s early days. Farmers in colonial Jamestown were urged to grow hemp, and 19th century medical journals praised the plant’s medical effectiveness.
Such endorsements slowed and eventually became nonexistent after 1937, when the Marihuana Tax Act effectively banned the drug in the U.S. In 1996, California approved marijuana for medical use in treating cancer, AIDS, chronic pain and other illnesses. Today 60% of Americans support legalizing it for medical use, according to an April 2010 AP-CNBC poll. As a result, states are increasingly having to grapple with whether to take this course and, if they do, how to go about prescribing and dispensing the goods. In January, New Jersey became the 14th state to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes. The law, expected to go into effect July 1, is among the most restrictive in the nation, forbidding patients to grow the drug or use it in public and limiting them to 2 oz. a month. And with a handful of other states debating legalization (a measure will be on the ballot this November in Arizona), one thing is certain: Mary Jane has not had her last dance.

Leigh Jones

June 21, 2010

The universe of marijuana laws may be devolving into chaos, but Bill McPike remains a mellow man. For 30 years, the Fresno, Calif., attorney has defended clients against pot charges and counseled entrepreneurs on setting up shop to legally grow and sell the substance that spawned a thousand slang terms.
But whatever its name over the years — Mary Jane, weed, wacky tobaccy — at no other point has the law been so unsettled. A collision of federal policy, state statutes, local ordinances and old-fashioned politics means more clients for McPike to defend and more uncertainty to navigate. Although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said last year that federal prosecutors would back off cases involving medical marijuana usage, authorities in California and elsewhere recently have vowed to rein in what they see as an unwieldy industry of pot growers and consumers.
Added to the mix are a jumble of local ordinances drawing odd boundaries that can make it legal to sell marijuana on one side of the street and illegal on the other. “It creates a lot of problems,” said McPike, 59. A longtime member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, he regularly conducts seminars about conforming with California’s medical marijuana laws. Last month, he hit Burbank’s Holiday Inn to talk about what it takes to establish a medical marijuana business. It was an event organized by the California Medical Marijuana Club. The group’s Web site proclaims that “A friend with weed is a friend indeed.”
McPike also teaches courses on establishing a medical marijuana business through 420 College, the self-described premier medical marijuana school in California. For $250, students get training in opening a nonprofit marijuana business, transporting marijuana, cultivating it and cooking with it. Those who successfully complete the program receive “Bill McPike’s Cannabis Businessmen” certification.
Throughout his 30-year legal career, McPike has seen highs and lows in the support for reforming marijuana laws. But what’s going on now in his home state and elsewhere is unprecedented. In November, California voters will consider an initiative to legalize and tax marijuana.
The patchwork of laws has created plenty of confusion, McPike said, especially among those seeking to start a medical marijuana business. “They just go do it, with no forms to back them up, then the cops come across them and they’re in real trouble,” he said.
GRAY AREA
Fourteen states now allow the cultivation and use of marijuana for medical reasons. Besides California, they include Michigan, New Jersey and Colorado. Last month, the District of Columbia Council approved a law to allow people with HIV, glaucoma, cancer and other chronic diseases to buy medical marijuana from a small number of dispensaries in the city. Also last month, a group of about 100 medical-marijuana workers in California voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The group includes growers and sellers.
Amid the changes in the laws across the country, medical marijuana dispensaries have flourished, with the number of dispensaries in Los Angeles alone estimated at 1,000. In his announcement in March 2009, Holder indicated that government resources would go to catching illegal large-scale dealers and more violent drug-related crimes rather than raiding dispensaries.
But just as the federal government has demonstrated a laxer attitude, local authorities say the proliferation of dispensaries has spawned operations that supply pot for recreational, not medical, reasons. On June 7, the city of Los Angeles announced that it would seek to close 400 dispensaries there. The City Attorney’s Office said the crackdown affects unregistered dispensaries that opened after the implementation of a 2007 moratorium. Also on June 7, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed two bills to increase the oversight of medical marijuana in his state. At the time, Ritter cited the “chaotic proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries” as the reason for the change.
“There’s a lot of gray area,” said McPike, speaking from his home near Shaver Lake, Calif.
At one point in his career, he was defending 32 clients in 16 counties, he said. Many of his clients were prosecuted even though they had with them at the time of arrest documentation showing that the pounds of marijuana they possessed were for legitimate medical reasons, he said. McPike was able to get several of those cases dismissed by filing demurrers — an unusual move in criminal prosecutions. Instead of his clients pleading guilty or not guilty — typically the only two choices in a criminal case — his clients admitted the facts of the case and put the burden on the prosecution to show how it was illegal. “They couldn’t do it,” he said.
McPike grew up in Fresno, a community that he said was steeped in marijuana culture. He worked as a claims adjuster before graduating from Humphreys College Laurence Drivon School of Law in 1980 when he was 29. One of his law professors would become a client, he said.
Trevor Oppliger, a deputy district attorney in Fresno, said McPike knows his stuff. He and McPike crossed paths numerous times as opposing counsel when Oppliger was prosecuting drug cases. “He’s a grandfatherly type, if that makes sense,” Oppliger said. “His experience and knowledge are profound.”
Former Mendocino County deputy district attorney James Lee Nerli described McPike as a “mellow guy.” Now in private practice in Fair Oaks, Calif., Nerli worked opposite McPike on several marijuana cases. “He had plenty of clients. That’s for sure,” Nerli said.
McPike still represents a few individuals, but he spends most of his time consulting with people who want to open dispensaries. More and more of his work involves individuals outside California who want to either use or produce medical marijuana. To set up a storefront shop such as those allowed in California, it takes as little as $5,000, he said.
HOMEGROWN WORK
McPike is not alone in his line of work. Several solo practitioners and law firms, mostly in California, tout themselves as marijuana defense attorneys. For instance, Beverly Hills is home to Allison Margolin’s practice. The 2002 Harvard Law School graduate describes herself as “L.A.’s dopest attorney.” About 70% of her practice focuses on people who have run afoul of California’s medical marijuana laws. Since Holder’s announcement last year, more older, retiree types have gotten into the business, she said.
Then there’s Michael Kraut, also a Harvard-educated attorney, whose pot practice focuses exclusively on criminal defense. He does not assist with startups. He’s a former deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. His clients, he said, most often get in trouble with the law because they simply do not understand it.
McPike said he’s had a steady flow of clients and that it’s been relatively easy to grow his practice over the years by word of mouth. He’s never run a Yellow Pages advertisement.
“I get all kinds of people calling me. I don’t know how they find me,” he said. A few days ago, a gentleman who had recently received two heart stents contacted him to see about becoming part of the marijuana “clubs” that California allows. They are co-ops of sorts that permit medical marijuana users to grow and use their own product.
Later this month, McPike is headed to Los Angeles to conduct a seminar through 420 College. The curriculum includes how to start a marijuana delivery service for just $500.
McPike said he has learned that the best piece of advice for clients is to keep their mouths shut with authorities until they get an attorney. “The biggest mistake is the talk,” he said.

Fairfax, CA ( Marin County) : On Thursday night June 17th ,the Fairfax Planning Commission voted to approve Lynnette Shaw’s plan for one of  the first licensed and regulated medical cannabis delivery system in the nation.
“I am so relieved and happy” Shaw said, tears streaming down her face. “Everyone worked very hard to help update and modernize my historical permit. Fairfax has now also set the standard to regulate safe medical cannabis delivery to homes of qualified members who cannot travel to our licensed facility. I am very proud of our Town and feel honored for all the support we have.”
The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana has been licensed to distribute medical marijuana since 1997. Shaw held the only permit to do so in California for almost ten years, until other municipalities started to regulate the not-for-profit sales of medical cannabis. There have been very few problems over the 13 years the Marin Alliance has been open, and not a single violation of her lengthy list of conditions.Shaw also submitted and received several other modifications to her permit that loosened up many of the very strict rules she has been required to enforce under the threat of losing her permit if one violation occurred.
“It has been very hard to enforce all those conditions, but we did. Some people got very angry when we could never make any exceptions for anyone. We started off with 84 rules, later modified to 72, and now it’s 63 conditions. There were several more outdated rules that were removed, but the delivery regulations increased it back up to 63. I hope that the patients will find it easier now, with less rules to follow” Shaw stated.
It will be interesting to see if more and more “deliver to your door” operations such as this start sprouting up now that this one has been officially approved.

A Winnipeg company plans to use public funding to put paper products made from farmers’ crop leftovers, such as straw, to the test. The federal and Manitoba governments on Friday pledged a combined $400,000 for Prairie Pulp and Paper, a company aiming to build North America’s first commercial-scale non-wood pulp and paper mill in rural Manitoba.

Ultimately, the company aims to put up a paper plant capable of making 200,000 tonnes of paper per year, employ 300 to 500 people, and would require a capital investment of about $600 million, the governments said.

With much of the state engaged in discussion over legalization, the local medical marijuana community is taking steps to develop Southern Humboldt into what they hope will be a center for sustainable outdoor medical marijuana grows.
Medical marijuana advocates met Saturday night in Garberville to discuss creating health and safety regulations and to encourage education for sustainable growing. The panel discussion ranged from marijuana growing education at 707 Cannabis College, a newly formed institution in Garberville, to a proposed dispensary for the Southern Humboldt Community Hospital, to creating new policy around medical marijuana.
Syreeta Lux of the newly formed Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel –an organization created after a forum in March about what the marijuana industry will do if pot is legalized — said local growers have to collaborate to keep up with the rest of the industry.
She said there are growers in the Bay Area who are organizing and Humboldt should do the same.
”Regardless of what happens in the fall, we feel as a group it’s time to move forward with marketing legal marijuana,” she said.
The group is also hoping to create industry standards, work that is similar to the Bay Area-based Medical Cannabis Safety Council.
Sierra Knolle, a member the Medical Cannabis Safety Council and a Southern Humboldt resident, said the council is trying to implement a safety-based production process that
could be proposed to policymakers. The council is looking at many elements, including contaminants, water quality, sanitary practices, and industry models.The council has members who are mostly a part of the urban growing industry, and Knolle encouraged more Southern Humboldt growers to get involved so they’re opinions could be heard.
”To see the difference with the urban growers to the country growers — it’s night and day,” she said.
Michael Geci, a longtime emergency room and holistic medicine doctor from Montana, discussed the science behind medical marijuana. The founder of the Montana Botanical Analysis Lab, Geci performs tests on medical cannabis at his lab in Montana to identify potency and determine the optimal strength for individual patients.
He said medical marijuana needs to be treated like other medications. Geci said there needs to be more research on what is optimal for medication, not just an optimal high.
”There are a lot of people who don’t want to be high,” he said. “There are a lot of people who don’t want to smoke pot — people want an option.”
Montana Public Radio commentator and lobbyist Kate Cholewa talked about how to bridge the gap between the medical marijuana community and policymakers.
She encouraged advocates to reach out to representatives and remember that they are trying to create policy for a product that doesn’t fit into any existing model. Cholewa recommended reaching out to supporters of organics or environmentalists — groups that could see the value of outdoor, sustainable growing.
”We get to create this — this is a whole different way of doing politics,” Cholewa said. “We’re not trying to change something, we’re trying to create it.”

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon Board of Pharmacy voted to change marijuana from what’s known as a “Schedule I controlled substance” to a “Schedule II.”
How will this affect pot in Oregon? And what does this mean?
“A schedule I drug means that it has no medicinal value that is recognized,” said Lane County Chief Deputy District Attorney Patty Perlow. “A schedule II drug has recognized medicinal value but a high risk of abuse.”
There are five classifications of controlled substances throughout the United States, Schedule I being the most dangerous and schedule V the least.
Some Schedule I drugs include LSD, heroin and psychedelic mushrooms. These have a “high abuse potential and no acceptable medical use in the United States,” according to the State Board of Pharmacy.
Other Schedule II drugs include methamphetamine, oxycodone and cocaine. The board describes these as “high abuse potential with severe psychological or physical dependence liability.” But they are accepted for medical use in the U.S. by prescription.
“Cocaine is a drug that’s abused a great deal,” Perlow said, “but it’s also used by plastic surgeons in surgery.”
This reclassification, however, does not change the legality of the drug or the sentencing if you’re caught with it.
“Changing it from Schedule I to Schedule II will not change the penalties,” said Perlow. “It’s more symbolic.”
Symbolic for people like Jim Greig, a medical marijuana patient and a spearhead for Initiative 28 — which would legalize medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.
“It’s been stigmatized since the 30s and it’s about time that people recognize it’s medical value,” he said.
But a Schedule II classification isn’t what Greig was hoping for. He believes marijuana is not addictive, and says the Board of Pharmacy did not do enough scientific research.
Greig says the Drug Policy Forum of Oregon is planning an appeal, hoping to reclassify marijuana as an even less serious controlled substance.
He wants cannabis to fall under Schedule V. “That’s where it properly would be placed,” he says. “It’s the safest herb known to man.”
Less than an ounce of marijuana already falls into Schedule V.
Federal law still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, but Perlow said Oregon follows state law. KVAL News asked Perlow if Oregon being the first state in the nation to classify marijuana as anything less than a Schedule I drug is a big deal.
“This is a big deal for the proponents of the medical use of marijuana,” she says. “But for the criminal involvement with marijuana, there will be no effect.”

Getting researchers of biopolymers and biocomposites and those who design products using them into the same room was an educational experience for those participating in the Midwest Biopolymers and Biocomposites Workshop May 11 at Iowa State University.
“The great amount of interaction between industrial participants and academia made the workshop a great success. We had meetings that ran into the evening after the workshop and have had many follow-up inquiries,” said David Grewell, Iowa State professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and workshop coordinator.
The 94 participants were nearly equally divided between those from industry and academia. Speakers from commercial groups alternated with those from the research laboratory.
Anil Netravali of Cornell University started things off with an overview of the status and future of green composites. He said research in his lab has produced biocomposites that are stronger than existing materials, for example soy composites that can replace two by four lumber used in structures with one by one composite boards.
Craig Shore, founder of Creative Composites Ltd., spoke of his company’s acoustic door that incorporates such natural products as kenaf, hemp and flax. Applying the latest research to find possible new products motivated him to participate in the workshop.
“One of the exciting things with the workshop is to see what research is going on and what potential next steps there could be,” he said. “We’re always looking for products that we could move into more biobased. If we know where the research is going now, that might help us identify more opportunities.”
Products made from composites are expanding beyond building applications, according to presenters at the workshop.
Grewell presented the results of work with plastics made from blends of zein, a corn protein, and soybean protein. His team developed products such as wrapping for large bales of hay, lubrication sticks for use on train locomotives and pots for transplanting plants that would biodegrade in the soil and provide nutrients for the growing plant.
When marketing biobased products, manufacturers should be careful not to oversell the environmental benefits of the products, according to Ramani Narayan, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University. He advised using biodegradability information based in science and generally accepted standards to counter misleading or deceptive claims.
A variety of biobased plastics, rubbers, composites and coatings are being studied by Richard Larock, distinguished professor of chemistry at Iowa State. He said that bioplastics from natural oils have been improved by adding fillers, some from agricultural commodities, that reinforce the mechanical properties and increase thermal stability.
The many potential products and uses helped build the industry presence at the workshop, according to Grewell.“The level of interest in bioplastics by industries reflects the fact that these materials are no longer a dream but are now reality,” he added.
The workshop was sponsored by the Center for Crops Utilization Research, Bioeconomy Institute, Center for Industrial Research and Service, Iowa Department of Economic Development, and Institute for Physical Research and Technology.

This week the rivers re-open following the end of the closed season and bait giant Sonubaits has released a new range of barbel baits just in time.
There are four new products – pellets, paste, hook pellets and liquid enhancers.
The pellets differ to your traditional offerings as they have an elliptical shape that prevents them from rolling along the bottom in flowing water. You can get these in 4mm, 6mm, 8mm and 12mm sizes so they can be fed loose, put through a feeder, placed in a dissolving PVA bag or used as hookbaits. There is 1kg of pellets in each bag.
The Barbel & Carp paste is a ready prepared offering that can be moulded around a hair rigged pellet or boilie and the Barbel & Carp Hookbait Pellets are 11mm in size, packed full of flavour and soft enough to hair-rig without drilling. Both the paste and hook pellets are available in hemp and halibut, hemp and cheesy garlic and hemp and spicy sausage flavours. Matching liquid enhancers are available in the same flavours.
Price is £3.99 for the elliptical pellets, and £2.99 for the paste, hook pellets and liquid attractors.

The Oregon Secretary of State finished the verification of the 109,843 accepted signatures from the Coalition for Patients Rights 2010 to put Initiative 28 on the ballot in the November elections.   More signatures are needed before July 2 in order for Initiative 28 to qualify for the ballot.
The Oregon Secretary of State released the results of their verification on their website:

6/18/10 Verification of early submittal of signatures completed. Petition contained 74,537 valid signatures, or 67.86% of the 109,843 signatures accepted for verification. The number of signatures accepted for verification includes 1,764 sponsorship signatures. Chief petitioners may submit additional signatures not later than 07/02/10.

A Western Slope dispensary in Colorado

Courtesy of Larry “L.K.” Kirk

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• Producers will be licensed with the state of Oregon for a $1000 annual license fee, that enables them to grow marijuana and sell it to dispensaries for a profit.  Producers will pay a 10% tax on gross revenue to the state.
• Dispensaries will be licensed with the state of Oregon for a $2000 annual license fee, that enables them to sell marijuana to licensed cardholders for medical purposes.  Dispensaries will also pay a 10% tax on gross revenue to the state.

Producers and dispensaries will be required to “submit quarterly reports on all of their financial transactions, including transfers for no consideration.”  They will also be “subject to reasonable inspection by the department.”  DHS will be required to establish administrative rules to implement the act within six months, including requirements for minimal security and permissable locations of dispensaries.  “I 28 will create a system based on appropriate regulation that will allow Oregonians to decide how to best get medical cannabis products to the patients that will benefit from it,” says Sajo.