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Oregon Lawmakers Pass Measure To Expand State's
Medical Cannabis Program To Include Patients With Post Traumatic Stress Salem,
OR: State lawmakers have approved legislation, Senate Bill
281, to allow patients with post-traumatic stress to be eligible to
engage in the therapeutic use of cannabis. Members
of the Oregon House of Representatives on Thursday voted 36 to 21 in favor of
the measure. Senators had previously endorsed the bill in April by a 19 to 11
vote. The measure now goes before Democrat Gov. John Kitzhaber for
consideration. The bill
expands the state's existing medical marijuana program, initially enacted by
voters in 1998, to include post-traumatic stress as a state-qualified illness
for which marijuana may be recommended. To date,
only three states - Connecticut, Delaware, and New Mexico - specifically
allow for the use of cannabis to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Clinical
trial data published in the May issue of the journal Molecular <continued
on page 3 > |
Through
the Smokescreen To find clearheaded scientific perspective on cannabis use through the prevailing thick smokescreen requires recognizing just what sort of smoke obscures our better understanding. In the United States, in large part, the smokescreen is made up of culture war-charged political rhetoric and obstructionism from those in positions of authority setting up a prejudicial ideological framing for cannabis use. <continued
on page 3 > ___________________________________________ It's
Difficult for the Government to Live with the Truth - by Dr.
David Bearman for AAMC Earlier this year an op-ed piece
came out written by former DEA Head, Robert Bonner. Bonner said that the DEA
had never blocked research on the medicinal use of cannabis. He is either
badly misinformed or a liar. Bonner's remarks demonstrated the truth of what
the late author James Baldwin wrote, "It is certain that ignorance
allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." Here are just a couple of examples that
I'm presently aware of that <continued
on page 6 > |
Marijuana Dispensaries Becoming Exclusive Domain
Of The
1 Percent
Once a business proposition that
required little more than a few thousand dollars and some gardening
equipment, selling medical marijuana is quickly becoming a dream fit only for
deep-pocketed entrepreneurs. Regulations in states that only recently
legalized medical marijuana are mandating that would-be dispensary operators
set aside large amounts of cash <continued
on page 6 > _______________________________ Nevada Legislators Approve Measure To Allow
For Medical Cannabis Dispensing Operations
Carson City, NV: Lawmakers gave final approval
this week to legislation, Senate
Bill 374, to allow for the establishment of licensed facilities to
dispense cannabis to state-qualified patients. The measure passed with
two-thirds majorities in both legislative chambers. It now awaits action from
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval,
<continued
on page 8 > |
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* Volume 10, Issue 7 * July * 2013
* www.MercyCenters.org *
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* The MERCY News * |
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_____________________ The MERCY News Report is an
all-volunteer, not-for-profit project to record and broadcast news,
announcements and information about medical cannabis in Oregon, across
America and around the World. For more information about the MERCY News, contact us. Via
Snail Mail: The MERCY
News 1745 Capital
St. NE, Salem, Ore., 97301 503.363-4588 E-mail: Mercy_Salem@hotmail.com Or
our WWW page: www.MercyCenters.org Check it
out! ___________________________ MERCY On The Tube!
in Salem,
Oregon area thru Capital Community Television, Channel 23.
Call In – 503.588-6444 - on Friday at 7pm, or See us on Wednesdays
at 06:30pm, Thursdays at 07:00pm, Fridays at 10:30pm and Saturdays at
06:00pm. Visit – http://mercycenters.org/tv/ |
About
MERCY – The Medical Cannabis Resource Center MERCY is a non-profit, grass roots organization
founded by patients, their friends and family and other compassionate and
concerned citizens in the area and is dedicated to helping and advocating for
those involved with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). MERCY is based in the
Salem, Oregon area and staffed on a volunteer basis. The
purpose is to get medicine to patients in the short-term while working with
them to establish their own independent sources. To
this end we provide, among other things, ongoing education to people and
groups organizing clinics and other Patient Resources, individual physicians
and other healthcare providers about the OMMP, cannabis as medicine and
doctor rights in general. The mission of the organization
is to help people and change the laws. We advocate reasonable, fair and effective
marijuana laws and policies, and strive to educate, register and empower
voters to implement such policies. Our philosophy is one of teaching
people to fish, rather than being dependent upon others. Want to get your Card? Need Medicine Now? Welcome to The Club! MERCY – the Medical Cannabis Resource Center
hosts Mercy Club Meetings every Wednesday at - 1745 Capital
Street NE, Salem, 97301 – from 7pm to 9pm to help folks get
their card, network patients to medicine, assist in finding a grower or
getting to grow themselves, or ways and means to medicate along other info
and resources depending on the issue.
visit – www.MercyCenters.org
- or Call 503.363-4588 for more. The Doctor is In ... Salem! * MERCY is Educating Doctors on signing for their
Patients; Referring people to Medical Cannabis Consultations when their
regular care physician won't sign for them; and listing all Clinics around
the state in order to help folks Qualify for the OMMP and otherwise Get their
Cards. For our Referral Doc in Salem,
get your records to – 1745 Capital Street NE,
Salem, 97301, NOTE: There is a $25 non-refundable deposit
required. Transportation and Delivery
Services available for those in need.
For our Physician Packet to educate your Doctor, or a List of Clinics
around the state, visit – www.MercyCenters.org
- or Call 503.363-4588 for more. Other Medical Cannabis Resource NetWork
Opportunities for Patients as well as CardHolders-to-be. * whether Social meeting, Open to public
–or- Cardholders Only * visit: http://mercycenters.org/events/Meets.html ! Also Forums - a means to
communicate and network on medical cannabis in Portland across Oregon and
around the world. A list of
Forums, Chat Rooms, Bulletin Boards and other Online Resources for the
Medical Cannabis Patient, CareGiver, Family Member, Patient-to-Be and Other
Interested Parties. * Resources > Patients (plus) > Online
> Forums * Know any? Let everybody else know!
Visit: http://mercycenters.org/orgs/Forums.html and Post It! |
2 mercycenter@hotmail.com * |
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<continued from BILL TO ADD PTSD TO OMMP PASSES, page 1 > Psychiatry theorized that cannabinoid-based therapies would
likely comprise the "next generation of evidence-based treatments for
PTSD <continued from THROUGH THE SMOKESCREEN, page 1 >
'Tis in our nature: taking the
human-cannabis relationship seriously in health science and public policy -
Sunil K. Aggarwal * National leaders
throughout the twentieth century have taken opportunities afforded by high
office or its pursuit to publicly opine on the dangers of cannabis, such as
when then-Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan famously stated in 1980 that
"leading medical researchers are coming to the conclusion that marijuana,
pot, grass, whatever you want to call it, is probably the most dangerous drug
in the United States and we haven't begun to find out all of the ill-effects.
But they are permanent ill-effects. The loss of memory,
for example Grass (1999)."
Not only is such rhetoric overly simplistic, it also obscures and distorts
pre-existing facts. In this particular case, Reagan's statement obscures the
fact that the American Medical Association testified in 1937 on record to
Congress that, after nearly 100 years of professional experience in Western
medical practice with over 2000 prescribable marketed cannabis preparations (Antique Cannabis Museum, 2012),
practitioners found that cannabis had an irreplaceable therapeutic role as an
aid in the remembering of old and long-forgotten memories in
psychotherapy patients (U.S.
Congress, 1937). When in office,
Reagan's first drug czar, Carlton Turner, blamed cannabis use for young
people's involvement in "anti-military, anti-nuclear power, anti-big
business, anti-authority demonstrations" (Schlosser, 1997), all
dissenting positions toward government initiatives. Such clear scapegoating
rhetoric has roots in the government's racialized Reefer Madness campaign of
the 1930s which linked cannabis use in Blacks, Latinos, jazz musicians, and
juvenile delinquents to racial miscegenation and homicidal mania (Helmer, 1975). With such a long
tradition of distorting rhetoric emanating from leading political authorities
and |
being broadcast
widely by the mass media, it is apparent how politicized cannabis use has
become and how scientific research and knowledge about its use have been
selectively highlighted and skewed to support pre-determined political
objectives. These persistent distortions and political evasions are the
greatest contributors to the smokescreen that obscures collection and
dissemination of accurate evidence on cannabis use. The smokescreen is
perpetuated because, as the saying goes, in war, the first casualty is the truth.
Maintaining existing controversial policies relegating cannabis to the status
of contraband (such as, under US federal law: zero-tolerance for use, a death
penalty for trafficking amounts greater than approximately 66 tons, and
official denial of currently accepted medical use in treatment) tends to be
of a greater priority to governmental bodies than collecting and collating
basic evidence regarding its use to inform public policy and health. What evidence is
gathered is often rejected or simply ignored if politically inexpedient. Here
are a few examples. On occasion, political leaders are actually caught
attempting to make "backroom" deals to ensure that a scientific
commission's findings on cannabis use will have a predetermined outcome intended
to marginalize political enemies. Take, for example, what was explicitly
caught on tape during Richard Nixon's presidency. As documented on
declassified tape recordings from the White House Oval Office on September 9,
1971, Nixon privately told his appointed Commission chair, former
Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer, that it was "terribly
important" the Commission, tasked by Congress with helping to determine
what level of risk cannabis use should be understood to constitute for the
purposes of legal regulation, not come out with a report that was "soft
on marijuana." Strategizing for political expediency over factual review
and nuance, Nixon called for obfuscation: "I think there's a need to
come out with a report that is totally, uh, uh, oblivious to some obvious,
uh, differences between marijuana and other drugs, other dangerous drugs...
" Nixon further warned Shafer: "Keep your Commission in line (CSDP, 2012)." So, despite the
Commission's recommendations to the contrary, cannabis was nevertheless
maintained in the most restrictive category under federal law, Schedule I,
where it has remained alongside heroin for 42 years, officially deemed to be
devoid of medical utility, or safety. After a 14-year-delayed evidentiary
hearing on a citizen-led cannabis- rescheduling petition filed in 1972 which
lasted for 2 <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous page> years, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled in 1988 that cannabis should be rescheduled to Schedule II, with painkillers and anesthetics such as morphine and cocaine with currently accepted medical uses, and that to not do so would be "unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious (SLDP, 2012)." The presidentially-appointed head of DEA rejected his own agency judge's ruling and, in 1994, a federal court finally denied the petitioners' appeal. An additional citizen-petition to reschedule cannabis filed in 2002 was rejected by the DEA after 9 years of delay and is presently under appeal (ASA, 2012). In 2007, another DEA
ALJ ruled that it would be "in the public interest" to have more
than one licensed facility to produce research-grade cannabis, and that a
Plant and Soil Sciences Professor petitioner who had applied in 2001 for a
production license and been denied be granted one. This DEA judge's ruling,
too, was rejected by the DEA head in 2009 and is presently under appeal (MAPS, 2012). The
rejection had the effect of allowing the federal government's hamstringing of
scientific research to continue, with cannabis clinical studies being
approved at an unacceptably slow pace, testing substandard-quality material
produced under a government-backed private monopoly, and supplied only after
potential investigators have waded through tremendous red tape, if supplied
at all. Meanwhile, over the same timeframe, private pharmaceutical interests
backed by highly-profitable international corporate pharmaceutical distributors
have been granted license by the DEA to import and test in large, multicenter
clinical trials in the US proprietary whole plant cannabis extracts made in
company-owned cannabis production greenhouses licensed by friendlier
governments (Aggarwal, 2010). The persisting Schedule I classification of cannabis that the
federal government maintains is itself a smokescreen that is directly
discordant with authoritative, independent, medico-scientific evidence-based
assessments. Publishing in the open-access scientific literature housed in
the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine,
clinical investigators who oversaw seven separate, government-authorized,
gold-standard design clinical trials of the safety and efficacy of smoked and
vaporized inhaled cannabis for specific indications conducted at University
of California medical centers over a 10 years period from 2002-2012 involving
over 300 human subjects reported in an article entitled "Medical
Marijuana: Clearing Away |
the Smoke" that
all trials independently showed benefit. The authors concluded that the
Schedule I classification of cannabis, based on the evidence collected and
reviewed, is "not tenable," "not accurate," and one of
the main "obstacles to medical progress (Grant et al., 2012)."
This position is concordant with the analyses and conclusions in
evidence-based positions papers and reports on cannabis medical science from
leading national medical academies and specialty societies (National Research Council,
1999; American College
of Physicians, 2008; American
Medical Association, 2009). To begin to clear
such a thick and recalcitrant smokescreen of political rhetoric and
interference surrounding cannabis use requires that a massive gust of fresh
air be let into the room. This will help to spur a fundamental perspectival
reorientation that will allow us to breathe freely, return to first
principles, and start evidence-gathering from the beginning. An expedient
smokescreen clearing approach is a historical and comparative ecological one
that focuses on the human-cannabis relationship on a species to species
level. We will come back to the theoretical outlines of this approach; for
now, consider its results. While Cannabis sativa evolved in the Central
Asian-Himalayan region ~36 million years ago (McPartland and Guy, 2004),
it has spread to all regions of human habitation due to the long-standing
fondness Homo sapiens have had for this semi-domesticated botanical cultivar,
evidenced by the undisputed prehistoric archaeological record (Russo et al., 2008) and
ancient textual references (Hillig,
2005). Cannabis's very name belies its longstanding relationship with
humanity, as it was pragmatically given the species name "Sativa"
in 1542 by German physician-botanist Leonhart Fuchs, meaning "cultivated"
or "useful" in Latin (Russo, 2007). It grows
easily in numerous climates as a wild and hardy plant whose palmate fan
leaf's geometry is iconic. Uses of Cannabis sativa include production of textiles,
building material, canvas, rope, paper, and biofuel using the cellulose and
fiber of its stalk; nutritive food, edible oil, and lotions using its oil-
and protein-rich seeds; and, most pointedly, herbal medicines, spiritual
sacraments, and psychoactive inebriants using its phytocannabinoid-rich
resin- producing flowers and leaves which, when ingested after heating, have
robust, non-lethal, receptor- based effects via the human endogenous
cannabinoid, or endocannabinoid, signaling system. <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous page> Such effects pharmacologically are properly
termed "cannabinergic." The endocannabinoid system is an essential
biological signaling system that appeared 600 million years ago in life (Melamede, 2005) and plays
a master-regulatory role in many physiological functions that humans may
naturally wish to self-adjust, such as mood, appetite, memory, inflammation,
muscle tone, pain perception, and stress management, in addition to other
more subtle but equally validated functions such as neuroprotection, bone growth,
immunity, tumor regulation, seizure threshold, gastrointestinal motility, and
intraocular pressure, to name a few (Di Marzo, 2004; Pacher et al., 2006; Vettor et al., 2008). When gathering
evidence to address behavioral questions surrounding human consumption and
production of potentially psychoactive cannabis preparations, it is
absolutely essential that this long, co-evolutionary arc of human history
with this cannabinergic plant be appreciated in order to understand
underlying human values, and desires that motivate cannabis use and prevent
smokescreen prejudices from taking root. The main question is: what sorts of
relationships can humans have with cannabis, aside from aberrant,
pathological, and addictive ones? And, as a corollary to this question, when
cannabis is consumed in contemporary settings, does it necessarily have to be
as a scarce consumerist commodity, or do other relational possibilities
exist? By addressing such questions, a richer understanding of cannabis use
can emerge and lessen the chance that use patterns are improperly understood
as pathological or deviant, when they may fact be perfectly normal and
healthful. Certainly the caveat that cultural controls and norms regarding
cannabis use that play an important public health role may not translate to
all social groups must be acknowledged. A broader
understanding of the human-cannabis relationship beyond the dominating
twentieth century American and colonial prohibitionist sociolegal frameworks
is needed. When there is not a war against cannabis being fought, a less
distorted picture of its effects can emerge. The element of psychological
distress that cannabis prohibition regimes produce is worth seriously
accounting for as it can play a significant role in the conflation of the
effect of cannabis on a user with the effect of the criminal or social stigma
attached to that use (Aggarwal
et al., 2012). A research approach from social science known as political
ecology, taken from anthropology and geography, which is able to incorporate
into its analysis the total human-plant
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relationship and the
effects of local and global sociopolitical forces, is helpful here (Robbins, 2004). Political ecology is
framework used to study human-environment relations that joins cultural
ecology with political economy. Cultural ecology studies how cultural groups
adapt, adjust, and relate to their natural environments, and political
economy studies how political institutions, the political environment, and
economic systems influence each other (Mayer, 1996; Johnston et al., 2007). A
sampling of the results of applying such an approach to demystify the
smokescreen was given above. By applying
political ecology to cannabis use and production, we can begin to understand
and appreciate traditional ecological knowledge regarding its use and
production, extant and extinct cultural practices surrounding cannabis use,
and the history of their marginalization. Western delegates first heard
officially from other countries who wished not to impose absolute prohibition
at United Nations meetings in the early 1960s when the first comprehensive
international treaty that would call for strict controls on cannabis was
being negotiated. Indeed, while a number of thriving civilizations have found
a way to integrate cannabis use into their legally sanctioned cultural
fabrics, such alternate sociocultural and political realities were ultimately
targeted for suppression. Substantial evidence has been
gathered regarding the efficacious use of cannabis as a medicine to treat
specific conditions. Additionally, convincing evidence regarding the use of cannabis
as a non-problematic "recreational" psychoactive substance with a
low potential for addiction has been collected and become increasingly
accepted in the US and abroad. Public policy regimes recognizing such use
patterns-medical marijuana and adult marijuana use-have taken root in several
US states and internationally. However, two human-cannabis use relationships,
oft-neglected in medical and public health literature, but for which
substantial evidence exists are cannabis use as a spiritual or religious
activity and as an herbal or dietary supplement. These use
patterns were presented by international delegates from countries such as
India and Pakistan for respectful consideration at the UN but simply ignored
and censured (United
Nations, 1961; Times
of India, 2012). I call for more research and documentation on these use
patterns globally using the research framework described to fully eradicate
the smokescreen and see clearly what exists. * References: Aggarwal, S. (2010). Cannabis: a commonwealth medicinal
plant, long suppressed, <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous page>
now at risk of monopolization. 87 Denver University
Law Review. Accessed December 29, 2012. Available online at: http://www.denverlawreview.org/medical-marijuana/ * SOURCE = American Alliance for Medical Cannabis (AAMC). June 2013 Newsletter * Contact them at 44500
Tide Ave · Arch Cape, OR 97102 or by visiting
- http://www.letfreedomgrow.com _____________________________________________________________ <continued from IT'S DIFFICULT FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO LIVE WITH THE TRUTH, page 1
> demonstrate the inaccuracy of
Mr. Bonner's remarks. Dr. Donald Abrams of UCSF tried six or seven times to
get a study approved that would demonstrate cannabis was helpful in treating
AIDS Wasting Syndrome and was denied. Finally Alan Lesher, head of NIDA, took
Abrams aside and said something like, "NIDA is the National institute of
Drug Abuse, not the National Institute of Marijuana Use." He urged
Abrams to submit a study to look at possible harms of cannabis. Dr. Abrams
designed such a study and the study was approved. What did the study show?
Cannabis was not harmful to those with AIDS and it helped treat AIDS Wasting
Syndrome. Another example of the
government blocking legitimate research was with Dr. Ethan Russo, a
neurologist, and possibly the most knowledgeable scientist in the U.S. when
it comes to the medicinal use of cannabis. He tried for over four years to
get approval for a study on the benefits of cannabis to treat migraines. There was a strong medical basis
for doing this study. Not only do we have ample contemporary cases of
migraine symptoms successfully treated with cannabis but Sir William Osler, considered
by many to be the founder of modern medicine, wrote in the first textbook of
internal medicine that cannabis was the best treatment for migraine
headaches. That position was reiterated by Dr. Morris Fishbein, long-time
editor of the JAMA. Russo, co-editor of "Cannabis and Cannabinoids"
wrote a sixty-page article in "The Journal of Cannabis
Therapeutics" on the history of cannabis use for treating migraines. His
study was blocked by NIDA. Lastly you have the DEA itself
blocking the proposed study of U Mass botany professor Dr. Lyle Craker. He
wants to study cannabis as a botanist would any other medicinal plant. After
a DEA grow license was denied by the head of the DEA, Cracker appealed and
DEA Administrative Law Judge, Judy Bittner, agreed that the DEA should grant
Dr. Craker the grow license. But by law that was only a recommendation and
DEA head Michelle Leonhardt |
once again denied the grow
license. This blocking of research by the
NIDA/DEA tag team is why in 2009 the AMA said reschedule cannabis so it can
be appropriately studied. What is the DEA afraid of? We have 5,000 years of
medicinal use of cannabis. We know cannabis helps many of our returning
military deal with PTSD and just recently GW Pharmaceuticals and Otsaka
Pharmaceuticals made an effort to take advantage of cannabis' cancer-killing
effects. They filed a patent to use phytocannabinoids (e.g., cannabinoids
like THC and CBD found in cannabis) to treat cancer. Mr. Bonner must live in an
alternate universe to deny that NIDA and the DEA present a one-two punch
blocking reasonable research on medicinal cannabis and making it almost
impossible to study the medicinal value of cannabis in the United States.
That is probably why tincture of cannabis (Sativex) is manufactured in the UK
and distributed by several of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the
world, Bayer (Germany), Almirol (Spain), Novartis (Switzerland), Otsaka
(Japan), none of which is an American company. SOURCE = American Alliance for Medical Cannabis (AAMC). June 2013 Newsletter * Contact them at 44500
Tide Ave · Arch Cape, OR 97102 or by visiting
- http://www.letfreedomgrow.com _____________________________________________________________ <continued from MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES BECOMING EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN OF THE 1 PERCENT,
page 1 > before even applying for a
license, tipping the scales in favor of businesspeople with money to burn.
Drawn-out licensing processes being devised in those states mean permits to
run dispensaries will likely only go to those able to afford a cadre of
consultants and lawyers. Five years ago, Ean Seeb helped
open Colorado dispensary Denver Relief with “four thousand dollars and half a
pound of cannabis.” “I don’t think that would ever
happen again,” said Seeb, who now works as a dispensary consultant. “Somebody
who just has a good idea but little capital would find it difficult to
impossible to go into the business today.” Seeb said he is counseling
clients in Massachusetts, where only 35 dispensary licenses will be granted starting later
this year, to set aside at least $2 million before even considering going
into the medical marijuana industry. Not only are state fees <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous page> related to the permitting process likely to total over $100,000 for many dispensaries, but
the merit-based process for obtaining a license is also expected to privilege
those who can demonstrate they have excess cash to secure an abundant supply
of cannabis. In Connecticut, where rules are
yet to be finalized and the state has only committed to allowing one
dispensary, fees are expected to be higher and competition to secure a cannabis
producer’s license even fiercer. Among other requirements, Connecticut will
ask dispensary owners to post a $2 million bond that the state will be able
to access if operations falter. Seeb is telling clients there to make sure
they have at least $6 million in the bank before moving forward. When it awarded 98 licenses to open medical marijuana dispensaries
10 months ago, the state of Arizona required applicants to show $150,000 in
capital. The vast majority of those getting into the business appeared to be
well-heeled entrepreneurs, according to interviews with license-holders and
consultants in the state. Owners of real estate firms, cellphone shops and
motorcycle dealerships, along with at least one college student with a trust
fund are now in line to become medical marijuana store owners, the
consultants said. None of the new licensees interviewed by The Huffington
Post had any experience running a health care venture, and at least one was
openly disdainful of marijuana as a business. That reality is in stark
contrast to the situation in California and Colorado a few years back, when
dispensaries first became legal. The free-wheeling business, devoid of
regulation or store count limits, was immediately dominated by marijuana
insiders: former legalization activists and growers with connections to the
underground market. Now, industry sources told HuffPost, the average
ganjapreneur is likely to have deep capital pools and a view on the bottom
line, if little love for cannabis as a plant. “It’s just like anything else,
it’s a business opportunity for me,” said Thai Nguyen, who owns a real estate
firm in Phoenix and is partnering with his wife and one of his employees to
open a store called Herbal Wellness Center in central Phoenix. While those
who set up dispensaries in California and Colorado after the drug was first
legalized in those states were often activists with an open pride for their
product, Nguyen expressed concern about how being publicly associated with
the marijuana industry could affect his other businesses. |
Just a few miles away from
Nguyen, a businessman whose previous interests include a cellphone retail
store and a cigar shop said he is trying to open a dispensary in Chandler,
Ariz., mainly as a profit proposition. “I’m a business owner,” Ramey
Sweis, the businessman, said. “Between me and my partners, we have maybe 20
to 30 businesses. We saw this as a good avenue to expand as a business plan.
Nothing more.” State public records show the owner, salesperson and
service technician at Phoenix motorcycle dealership Apache Motorcycles are
among those who received a license to set up a marijuana dispensary in the
state. Randall and Rex Webb, two Arizona businessmen with multiple ventures
throughout the state, are also listed as principals of a non-profit corporation attempting to secure a dispensary
permit, public records show. Repeated calls for comment to those parties
were not returned. Industry sources described a
sort of gold rush mentality for the newly legal industry. "It’s just like seven years
ago when everyone who could became a real estate agent, and they owned a hair
salon but they were also a loan broker or whatever,” said Adam Bierman, whose
firm The MedMen has helped advise dozens of would-be dispensary owners in
California, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. “It’s the same thing. People are
piling in because it’s the hottest industry right now.” “It’s like the Super Bowl is
coming to town,” he added. Kris Krane, who said his firm
4Front Advisors has advised 32 clients in six states on how to set up and
operate medical marijuana dispensaries, said there is a benefit to having
people with plenty of capital come into the industry. “Professional-looking retailers
have the ability to change public perception,” Krane said. “The stereotype
gets changed from the stoner burnout selling weed from his parent’s basement
when a beautiful, high-end retailer that the community can be proud of opens
up.” A former activist with Students
For Responsible Drug Policy and the National Organization For The Reform Of
Marijuana Laws, Krane said he sees his current position as an extension of his
previous work fighting the so-called war on drugs. <continued on next page> |
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“We move the movement forward
by making sure the industry thrives,” Krane said. But
there are drawbacks, according to Bierman, the MedMen advisor. “Some of the people that were
getting in, these real estate entrepreneurs who want to be pot tycoons, they
don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “People in Arizona got a license and
then called and were like 'What do I do?' And I told them to buy a
25,000-square-foot warehouse and fill it with marijuana. And they freaked
out. They were like ‘Oh my god, that’s illegal. I can’t do that. I can’t go
to jail.'" “People coming into the industry
now are scaring too easily,” Bierman added.
* SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/marijuana-dispensaries_n_3496588.html?utm_hp_ref=business STORY RESPONSE: Here in
Montana, we may appear to be behind the curve; but, if stories like these are
any indication, we are sadly still ahead of the curve. We had federal
raids all over the state only after medical access was provided to those not
in the "upper class". It got too popular among the masses, so
the government 'reformed' the voter-passed initiative and all of the
successful businesses were taken apart in the name of asset forfeiture (with
many upstanding entrepreneurs going to federal prison...) Now, the U.S.
Attorney here is claiming to have produced a replicable model that others
should follow; and, it appears some in CA and other states are doing just
that. We are not giving up though, we are adapting and overcoming their
brutal insanity! Here in Missoula, on July 25th, we are very proud to
help bring a screening of American Drug War 2: Cannabis Destiny to the
historic Wilma Theater, complete with a panel discussion including a member
of LEAP who's going to spend three days in the state educating our government
officials on the urgent need for drug policy reform. We'd
absolutely love to have a representative from National NORML join us for this
discussion, as it promises to bring new and much-needed perspective to this
brutal war's impending end. Some may be content to focus on
"legalizing marijuana" over the next decade; but, I am personally
focused on gaining my fundamental human rights in the far more immediate
future and will be helping to educate my fellow citizens (along with
lawmakers) on the constitutional basis of these rights... If
NORML wants to be leaders in this fight, here is a perfect chance: the
father of young Cash Hyde, who died from a brain tumor after his access to
medical |
cannabis
was interrupted repeatedly by misguided law enforcement, is looking to file a
lawsuit and has what appears to be a very strong case for doing so. His
family's struggle is a main focus of American Drug War 2: Cannabis
Destiny. The story is heart-wrenching and very pertinent to our
struggle against the interests of big pharma. Changing
laws state-by-state is unquestionably better than nothing; however, the
landscape has changed so much that continuing to make this NORML's focus is
becoming self-defeating: now, everybody seems to think we must
"legalize" before it is our right to use this herb medicinally,
spiritually or for "recreation" -- and, sadly, this organization
has become rightfully criticized for perpetuating the insanity! If
NORML wants to continue being relevant in the future, we need to at least be
educating people of the truth AND embrace the larger truths which have become
more than self-evident: drugs are not criminal, but a health concern;
and, our government has become terribly corrupt on practically every level
(this is, of course, related to the corruption our drug war encourages; but,
it has now infected practically everything else...) Maybe, someday, it
will become the National Organization for the Reform of Many Laws? Take care, Justin Michels, Montana NORML, Director Emeritus * visit - http://blog.montananorml.org/ _____________________________________________________________ <continued from NEVADA
LEGISLATORS APPROVE MEASURE TO ALLOW FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSING
OPERATIONS, page 1
> who has acknowledged that he is open to the idea of regulating
medical cannabis dispensaries. If signed into law, SB 374 would establish rules and regulations for
the establishment of up to 66 not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries.
Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, and New Mexico have operational
state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. Similar dispensary outlets are
in the process of opening in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Vermont, and Washington, DC.
Nevada
voters enacted legislation in 2000 to allow for physician authorized patients
to consume and grow cannabis. However, the law does not provide for Approximately
3,800 Nevadans are presently <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous
page> authorized
to grow and/or consume cannabis under state law. For more information, please
contact Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director, at (202) 483-5500, or
Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. _____________________________________________________________
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shares
little enthusiasm for the therapeutic use ofeither cannabis or
cannabis-derived products as a treatment option for MS patients, stating on its website: "[B]ased on the studies to
date - and the fact that long-term use of marijuana may be associated with
significant, serious side effects - it is the opinion of the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society's Medical Advisory Board that there are currently
insufficient data to recommend marijuana or its derivatives as a treatment
for MS symptoms." For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy
Director, at: paul@norml.org.
Full text of the study, "Association of expanded disability status scale
and cytokines after intervention with co-supplemented hemp seed, evening
primrose oils and Hot-natured diet in Multiple Sclerosis patients,"
appears in BioImpacts. _____________________________________________________________ New Hampshire: Lawmakers Sign Off On Revised
Medical Marijuana Measure
Concord,
NH: Members of the House and Senate on Wednesday
gave final approval to a revised version of House Bill
573, which establishes a regulated system of medical cannabis
distribution in New Hampshire.
Qualified
patients will not be provided with any legal protections to possess or use
cannabis prior to the establishment of such facilities As originally passed
by the House, the measure allowed qualified patients the option to grow their
own cannabis. The measure also allowed physicians to recommend cannabis for
the treatment of post-traumatic stress. Both provisions were stripped from
the bill by the <continued on next page> |
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<continued from previous page> Senate at the request of Democrat Gov. Maggie Hassan. Governor Hassan has publicly stated that she will sign the reconciled version
of HB 573 into law. New Hampshire will become the 19th state to allow for the
limited, legal use of medical cannabis. For more information, please
contact NORML Communications Director Erik Altieri at (202) 483-5500 or
visit: http://www.mpp.org.
_____________________________________________________________ Hawaii: Governor Signs Measures Amending
State's Medical Cannabis Program
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The Montpelier dispensary is
growing more than a half-dozen different varieties. * SOURCE = Americans for Safe Access (ASA) - Monthly Activist Newsletter - JULY 2013; Volume 8, Issue 7 * contact
ASA at: 1322 Webster Street, Ste. 402 * Oakland, CA 94612
* 510-251-1856 * or visit - AmericansForSafeAccess.org _____________________________________________________________ New Jersey Legislature
Sends
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nearly
half a billion dollars to investigate, raid, arrest, prosecute, and imprison
hundreds of medical marijuana patients and their providers. The report
reveals that President Obama, despite his repeated pledges to not use DOJ
funds to interfere with state programs, has dedicated nearly $300 million to
an extensive crackdown on medical cannabis, including at least 270 SWAT-style
raids at a cost to taxpayers of more than $8 million. In 2011 and 2012, the
DEA spent 4% of its budget on enforcement activities targeting medical cannabis
patients or providers.
The
seizure of the Duval family farm is not an isolated incident. The Obama
Administration has aggressively targeted the property of patients, their
providers, and the landlords who lease to licensed medical cannabis
businesses. Hundreds of letters from U.S. Attorneys threatening asset
forfeiture and criminal prosecution have shut more than 500 dispensaries in
California, Colorado and Washington state. At least another 100 letters were
sent to landlords in California during the preparation of the report. The
Obama Administration has brought as many as 30 asset forfeiture lawsuits
involving medical cannabis, three times as many as the two previous
administrations combined, at a cost of more than $10 million. Federal law
allows the government to seize property without charging or convicting anyone of a crime. ASA’s
report includes recommendations for Congress, such as amending an
appropriations bill |
to
prevent DOJ funds from being spent on enforcing federal marijuana laws
against anyone in compliance with state medical cannabis programs. The report
also calls for the compassionate release of medical marijuana patients
currently serving prison sentences, as well as the passage of HR 689, federal
legislation that would reclassify marijuana for medical use. California
NORML contributed to ASA's "What's the Cost?" report and produced a
related report showing the number of people prosecuted and imprisoned as a
result of the Justice Department's enforcement efforts. Their report shows
the war on medical cannabis has resulted in 332 people being charged with
federal crimes, with 158 of them receiving prison sentences totaling more
than 490 years. More
information: ASA report on the costs of federal interference * SOURCE = Americans for Safe Access (ASA) - Monthly
Activist Newsletter - JULY 2013; Volume 8, Issue 7 * contact
ASA at: 1322 Webster Street, Ste. 402 * Oakland, CA 94612
* 510-251-1856 * or visit - AmericansForSafeAccess.org _____________________________________________________________ Feds,
Anaheim Try to Seize $1.5M Building . . . With No Charges Against the Owner A controversy in California that
began with the state’s medical marijuana law has evolved into a battle over
civil forfeiture between a property owner and the state of California on one
side, and the city of Anaheim and the federal government on the other. Anaheim small business owner
Tony Jalali faces the loss of his office building, which is worth $1.5
million, even though he has committed no crime. The city of Anaheim is
colluding with federal prosecutors to do an end-run around state laws to take
away Jalali’s building because he rented space to medical marijuana
dispensaries, even though they operated legally under California law. Jalali is fighting back.
Represented by the Institute for Justice, he is challenging the
constitutionality of the taking of his land to put an end to the civil
forfeiture in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
in Santa Ana, Calif. IJ is joined in the case by Lake Forest, Calif.,
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<continued from FEDS,
ANAHEIM TRY TO SEIZE $1.5M BUILDING . . . WITH NO CHARGES AGAINST THE OWNER,
page 1 > ‘Policing for Profit’ “Allowing the police to keep the
proceeds of forfeited property gives them a direct financial incentive to use
civil forfeiture,” said Scott Bullock, lead attorney on the case for the
Institute for Justice. “No one in the United States should lose their
property without being convicted of, or even charged with, any crime. But as
this case shows, fair and impartial law enforcement cannot exist as long as
we allow this policing for profit.” Civil
forfeiture allows government to take and sell property without ever charging
the owner with a crime, let alone convicting the person of one. Such
forfeitures fund law enforcement officials’ budgets, giving them a direct
financial incentive to abuse this power. Civil forfeiture is now being
employed as the key strategy in the federal government’s battle against
states that have legalized medical marijuana, threatening the property of
small landlords who have been convicted of no crime.Jalali immigrated to the
United States from Iran in 1978. He now owns a modest, two-story office
building mortgage-free, but because two of his tenants were medical marijuana
dispensaries, the federal government demands the property be forfeited for
“facilitating” drug crimes. The federal government makes this demand even though
medical marijuana dispensaries are legal under state law, and even though
Jalali evicted the dispensary located in the building immediately upon
receiving the federal complaint. Indeed, the federal complaint threatening to
take away his life savings in the form of the building was the first notice
Jalali received from the federal government that there was a legal concern
about the relatively common practice in California of renting out retail
space to such dispensaries. The
profits from the property that law enforcement agents take by civil
forfeiture are kept by those same agencies. When local law enforcement
agencies team up with federal agencies, the federal government takes the
property and pays out up to 80 percent of the money to local or state law
enforcement agencies—something it calls “equitable sharing” of forfeiture
proceeds. End-Run on Two Fronts Anaheim is colluding with the
federal government to do an end-run around state law on two
fronts. Not |
only
did California voters legalize the sale of medical marijuana, but state law
also bars local or state officials from taking private property by civil forfeiture
unless the property owner has been convicted of a crime. Simply put, by using
equitable sharing, Anaheim and federal officials are looking to cash in on a
$1.5 million bounty by subverting state law. “The
law must be predictable if it is going to be followed and enforced, yet the
law was anything but predictable in this case,” said IJ Attorney Larry
Salzman. “It is legal to rent property to a medical marijuana dispensary
under California law. The city of Anaheim, while now hoping to cash in on
Jalali’s property in this case, has hosted the world’s largest marijuana
trade show in its city-owned convention center each year since 2010, attracting
tens of thousands of visitors. And since 2009, the federal government has
said that it would not pursue federal cases against medical marijuana users
or dispensaries in states that have made the activity legal. Anaheim and the federal
government have snared Tony Jalali in a trap that could cost him his
property.”More than $450 million was paid by the federal government to local
law enforcement agencies nationwide under the equitable sharing program in
2012. More Than 1,000 Warnings The forfeiture case against
Jalali is part of a campaign by U.S. Attorneys to enforce a federal
prohibition on marijuana—letters have been sent to more than 1,000 property
owners in California, Washington, Colorado and other states where marijuana
has been made legal under state law threatening them with civil forfeiture. “I am fighting for my rights,
because it is wrong for the federal government and city of Anaheim to bypass
state law, and try to take my property when I have done nothing wrong,” said
property owner Tony Jalali. “I left Iran to escape government brutality
which has no respect for human rights. This nation has given me a home
and has a great history of respecting human rights. I have every hope
it will ultimately respect those rights, including my property rights.” * John Kramer (jkramer@ij.org) is vice president for
communications at the Institute for Justice.
* SOURCE = http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/06/25/feds-anaheim-try-seize-15m-building-no-charges-against-owner |
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* The MERCY News
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mercycenter@hotmail.com > (503)
363-4588 <
www.MercyCenters.org * |
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