Medical Marijuana

While medical marijuana numbers continue to rise in Colorado, they are still far below the peak achieved last year.

As of the end of May, there were 98,910 card-holding medical marijuana patients in the state according to MMJ registry numbers released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

But at this time last year there were over 128,000 patents registered in the state. From July to November of 2011 almost 50,000 patients dropped off the official rolls, but there has been a small, steady climb since December to the current number just under 100,000.

Where are the patients going? Simply put, they are returning to the registry slowly. More invasive rules regarding tracking in the state are seemingly making some patients wary of who is following the course of their medical history.

Most patients live in the Denver metro area and severe pain is the most common reason for medical cannabis recommendations.

Patients know very well that medical marijuana is illegal under federal laws, and the idea that the feds are seeing them purchase medical cannabis and knowing what they purchased is unsettling at best. So patients dropped off the registry and went another route, most probably moving back into the black market.

But as time goes on more patients are going back to the convenience and quality of regulated medical marijuana. While it is disconcerting for the feds to know your business, they are only going after providers and caregivers so far, and unless they start randomly arresting people who are solely patients, it is unlikely they will prosecute individual patients at all, unless they want to arrest 100,000 people.

The numbers will likely continue to climb in Colorado, at least until the federal government decides to thoroughly crack down on dispensaries in the state.

Source: http://blogs.westword.com

In November voters in Massachusetts will be voting on, among other things, whether or not to legalize medical marijuana. So far, law enforcement officials who came out against a marijuana decriminalization measure in 2008 are taking a softer view on this issue, at least as far as campaigning against it.

“I don’t intend, right now, to do any campaigning on this issue. I’ve let people know where I stand,” said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early, who is president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.

Early said he personally opposes the initiative because it’s too broad and could allow marijuana prescriptions for too many ailments. “I see the headaches that California had . . . You want to make sure you get this right and you have to learn from other people’s mistakes,” he said.

But Early says he sees merit in medical marijuana itself. “My take is this: I have compassion and no problem helping someone who is dying from a cancer that could benefit by helping them keep food down through the use of medical marijuana,” he said. “I’ve also had friends who’ve died from cancer who may have benefited from medical marijuana but did not try marijuana because it is illegal to do so.”

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone addressed the issue in a statement: "I remain open to considering the legal use of medical marijuana, if there is clear and convincing evidence to a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty that the medical benefits of marijuana cannot be obtained in any other way or form, and provided that proper regulatory measures are in place to ensure that there is systemic accountability that prevents abuse in distributing, obtaining and using medical marijuana.”

In 2008 the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association came out against decriminalization, but they have yet to take a position on medical marijuana. Will the silence of law enforcement help medical marijuana pass in MA this fall?

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com

A state legislator in Michigan is sponsoring a bill that he says would make it easier for patients to get their medication.

State Rep. Mike Callton’s bill would allow towns and cities to decide whether or not to have medical marijuana “provisioning centers.”  State Attorney General Bill Schutte recently declared dispensaries illegal, and Callton hopes his bill will allow for more access for patients.

Rep. Callton talked about his bill at a meeting Tuesday night at Birmingham's Baldwin Public Library in Oakland County, Michigan, where many run-ins with law enforcement have patients skittish.

"How many of you have been arrested?" Callton asked the crowd. Ten people raised hands.

"How many have had your property seized?" he asked next. Six hands went up.

"And how many of you live in fear of being arrested?" Just about every hand went up.

While in states like California allowing cities and towns to decide on dispensaries can lead to discrimination and a step back for patients, in a state like Michigan it is better than state authorities saying there can be no dispensaries at all.

Callton’s bill - House Bill 5580 - would guide municipalities on how to regulate marijuana distribution centers, he says.

Callton is one of a handful of Republican lawmakers who think patients in Michigan should have fewer obstacles to obtaining medical marijuana. That’s a big change of heart for the chiropractor, who said he voted against allowing medical marijuana in Michigan when the statewide vote was held in 2008, but then began seeing patients who benefited from medical marijuana.

He says one was "a sweet 75-year-old lady, definitely not a hippie," who was able with medical-marijuana candies to control her tremors from Parkinson's disease "enough to get a good night's sleep again.”

Once you see how medical marijuana helps people, it’s impossible for most to see it the same way ever again.

Source: http://www.freep.com

Sunday night medical marijuana advocates in gathered in front of President Obama’s Oakland, California campaign headquarters to film the video below and welcome the President to town.

This was the night before the Obama fundraiser and the medical marijuana rally in Oakland that happened Monday. Activists used a projector to project the famous medical marijuana quote from then-Presidential candidate Obama about using Justice Department resources to circumvent state laws. The quote then burns away, leaving the word “liar” and the website campwakeupobama.com.

Many are wondering what has changed for Obama. Why did he sound so progressive as a candidate and has become so tyrannical as President? Did he have a change of heart on now sees medical marijuana as a dangerous thing? Does he agree with federal policy that says cannabis has no medical value at all?

Or is it a matter of money? Does he need millions of dollars from Big Pharma in order to fight the cash machine of Mitt Romney? Can he get that money from nowhere else?

In other words, will medical marijuana patients have to pay for Obama to get reelected? Will he reward them in his second term for their suffering now?