Marijuana Blog

Police raid 2 medical marijuana clinics in Ann Arbor

Category: Dispensaries | Posted on Thu, August, 25th 2011 by THCFinder

Michigan State Police drug investigators raided 2 medical marijuana dispensaries in Ann Arbor today, but said the raids had nothing to do with a state appeals court ruling Wednesday that prohibits dispensaries from selling marijuana.

Witnesses said 3 people were taken into custody.

Det. 1st Lt. Wynonia Sturdivant of the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team said MedMar clinic at 1818 Packard St. and A2 Go Green Corp at 206 S. Main St. were raided because their employees allegedly failed to follow guidelines established for operating dispensaries. She declined to be more specific.

Sturdivant said both dispensaries have been under investigation for at least a couple of weeks and the raids are not related to each other. She said she did not know what was seized.

"It's an ongoing investigation," she said.

Police officers dressed in black and wearing masks executed a search warrant at MedMar about noon, seizing computers, boxes, plastic bags and other items. Witnesses said 3 people were taken into custody as part of that investigation.

Shortly after noon today, officers executed a search warrant at A2 Go Green Co-op, seizing boxes of files, computers and brown paper bags. U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents were there, but Sturdivant declined to say why the federal agency was involved.

Police vehicles were parked in the middle lane of Main Street for at least 45 minutes.

Chuck Ream, longtime medical marijuana advocate and partner at MedMar, said two of his employees, were taken away in handcuffs about 10:30 a.m. Another employee was arrested later in the morning.

Ream and 3 other people were holding signs promoting medical marijuana and protesting the police action, yelling at the officers who were carrying items out.

The law enforcement action comes one day after the state appeals court ruled medical marijuana sales are illegal.

(Source) http://www.annarbor.com

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A Medicinal Pot Patch For Pets Coming Soon

Category: Culture | Posted on Thu, August, 25th 2011 by THCFinder

A Seattle company has developed a marijuana pain patch for use on dogs, cats and horses suffering from arthritis, cancer, and other chronic pain. The company, Medical Marijuana Delivery Systems (MMDS), acquired a patent for the patch which was developed in 2000 by Walter Cristobal of the Santa Ana Pueblo Tribe of New Mexico. According to Culture Magazine, Mr. Cristobal created a marijuana skin patch to ease his mother's arthritis discomfort and was ultimately awarded a patent.

This patch allows the trans-cutaneous (through the skin) delivery of the marijuana instead of the traditional smoking, inhaling or eating of the drug and as an alternative to traditional pain medication. The patch will be sold under the trademark Tertacan, and should be available in the United States by the end of this year. Jim Alekson, a spokesperson for MMDS, called the pot patch a "mellow alternative to traditional pharmaceutical painkillers, which have proven harmful, sometimes fatal in animals". The patch will also be available for humans.

Many state laws will have to be amended to allow the purchase of medical marijuana, to allow veterinarians to legally prescribe it, and to allow people who are legally allowed to have medical marijuana to give it to their pets.

Clearly, proper prescribing and dosing are critical, as is the case with any pain patch issued for humans and animals, and abuse can be quite serious. Pets have had serious reactions to pot accidentally ingested or deliberately given to them as a prank. Reactions can include listlessness, uncoordinated physical movements, disorientation, incontinence and other symptoms consistent with the toxicity of an overdose. Most state laws consider illegally providing, or negligently allowing a pet access to pot a crime.

Don't try this at home yet.

(Source) http://technorati.com

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wtf joint

Category: Fun | Posted on Thu, August, 25th 2011 by THCFinder

An interesting way to start off your morning.

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Medical marijuana dispensaries close after ruling

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Thu, August, 25th 2011 by THCFinder

The day after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that medical marijuana dispensaries can be considered a public nuisance and could be shut down, two facilities in Ann Arbor have been raided and facilities all over the state have closed, including the Mt. Pleasant dispensary at the center of the turmoil.

Compassionate Apothecary co-owner Matthew Taylor said a cease-and-desist letter by the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office has forced their doors shut, pushing them toward filing their case with the Michigan Supreme Court.

Under the Court of Appeals ruling, patient-to-patient sales, as happens at some dispensaries, has been deemed not part of the original legislation passed by voters in 2008. He said his facility cannot sell marijuana, which it does on behalf of caregivers who store their excess marijuana in lockers on their premises, and who pay the apothecary a service charge.

“Really, our doors are just open today for political purposes,” said Taylor, who added that “patients are scared, panicking and crying.”

Matt Newburg, a Lansing attorney who will be spearheading the Supreme Court effort, said Lansing dispensaries have also been closed. He is advising his clients to shutter “until the Supreme Court issues a different opinion or there is new legislation.”

In Oak Park, Big Daddy’s Management, which owns five dispensaries in metro Detroit, closed at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the appeals ruling was handed down. Rick Ferris, head of the Michigan Association of Compassion Centers, said patients in Big Daddy’s Chesterfield Township facility were crowding their lobby, wondering what to do.

“I have a building full of patients today,” he said.

At the A2 Go Green Corp, at 206 Main in downtown Ann Arbor, nearby business owners said the raid took place at about 10:20 a.m., shortly after the place opened.

Nearby merchants said they did not see any one being arrested but did see police carrying out boxes.

“I saw cops carrying out big boxes of stuff,” said David Fritz, of David Fritz hair care next door to the dispensary, which is located over Café Felix.

(Source) http://www.freep.com

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