Archive for the ‘Alaska Hemp’ Category
Smoke Signals
Marijuana legalization: How Colorado is following Alaska’s smoke trail
When the final tally rang on election night, hundreds of thousands of voters in Colorado and Washington rejoiced at the passing of their respective marijuana bills. In these states, the people had spoken: legalize it. Amid the hazy celebrations, however, one acknowledgement was conspicuously absent. Alaska had actually legalized marijuana first. Sort of.
Read more…
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/02/marijuana_legalization_colorado_alaska.php
Inside Medical Marijuana: Alaska In The Marijuana Debate
January 31, 2013
GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — Inside Mike Smith‘s marijuana grow room in Washington state, more than a dozen cannabis plants sit in rows, propped off the ground, closer to a large lamp hanging above.
“They like the air to move, they like it about 72 degrees,” says Smith. “Nothing crazy here or anything, it’s all simple.”
Smith says he is hoping to get four ounces of marijuana from each plant, which he uses for medicinal purposes. His Granite Falls grow room is legal in Washington, but not in Alaska, where card-carrying medical marijuana users are allowed to possess one ounce and grow up to six plants as long as no more than three of the plants are flowering.
Though Smith lives in Washington, he has strong ties to the medical marijuana climate in Alaska — his Anchorage business, The Healing Center Medical Clinic, has helped hundreds of Alaskans obtain a medical marijuana card since it opened in early 2012.
“There was a need. We had done some research and made calls and people really needed to see us. They were having a hard time finding a doctor up there that understood that medical marijuana does help,” Smith said.
The monthly clinic gives pre-screened patients a chance to sit down with a physician who is able to provide a recommendation for medical cannabis, if that patient has a qualifying condition like chronic pain or cancer. Smith says most of his clients are men in their fifties and sixties.
“They’re out there. There’s people from all walks of life dong everything with medical marijuana cards,” says Smith. “It’s about patients. It’s not about pushing drugs on people, it’s about the choice to use a natural plant for their pain remedy, if they so choose.”
Besides being a medical cannabis advocate, he is also in favor of decriminalizing marijuana in Alaska altogether. It is an issue one national group, is pushing for too. The Marijuana Policy Project is targeting Alaska as a 2014 ballot initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana, on the heels of successful voter-driven legalization in Washington and Colorado.
“It came sort of from the bottom up. And I guess I would expect the same thing to happen here, if at all, to come from some initiative,” said Sen. Hollis French (D-Anchorage).
Marijuana was re-criminalized under Alaska law in 2006, even though opponents argued the bill that did so was a violation of privacy rights guaranteed by Alaska’s constitution.
“We’ve always been a little different because of that privacy clause, because of Alaskans sort of jealously guarding that right to privacy. But I think we’re not a state that condones marijuana usage either. There’s a tension between those two,” says French.
Recently, there hasn’t been a real push to repeal the 2006 law from any group in the state, but Smith hopes that changes.
“If it was on the ballot six months from now and people in the State of Alaska knew that they could legalize marijuana for their own personal use, I believe they would wholeheartedly,” Smith said.
Contact Abby Hancock:
http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-01-31/marijuana-debate_36667151
Cannabis News Roundup: January 25, 2013
(ASA) // The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC this week ruled against de-classifying cannabis as a dangerous drug, saying “adequate and well-controlled studies” on cannabis as medicine do not exist. An appeal is expected.
(Seattle Post) // “Very satisfying” is the way Washington state Governor Jay Inslee described a conversation Tuesday with US Attorney General Eric Holder concerning that state’s need to implement voter approval of recreational cannabis. There was no discussion of how the federal government might react in the future.
(HuffPost) // Here in California, the question remains: can a city pass an outright ban on cannabis dispensaries? Riverside and Upland think so. So did Los Angeles, for a while. But how can that be legal when state law permits them? Those are some of the questions to be considered next month by the California Supreme Court. [Holly Kernan and I touched on this topic in our on-air discussion of cannabis news on “Crosscurrents” last week.]
(SFGate) // President Obama’s second term started this week, generating reviews of his first term. Confusion on medical marijuana is one of five “broken promises” listed in this summary from his first four years.
I think this needs a clarification, though. The President said the Justice Dept. wouldn’t go after “medical marijuana users,” but he didn’t say it wouldn’t go after dispensaries. I know, I know: they’re two sides of the same coin. Where do users safely acquire cannabis if the dispensaries are shut down? It is a puzzlement.
And it’s a question that Matt Davies of Stockton had answered the hard way; he faces seven years in prison after his dispensaries were raided. Thisstory, by the Chronicle’s conservative columnist, points out that the Justice Dept. has always said that “significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana” are a priority, even though their activities may be legal under state rules.
(MJBusinessDaily) // That said, the Medical Marijuana Business Daily seespositive news for the industry in 2013, not the least being the list of states considering some sort of cannabis regulation.
Americans Decry War on Drugs, Support Legalizing Marijuana
Less than one-in-ten respondents would legalize other drugs, such as heroin, crack or “crystal meth”.
Two-thirds of adults in the United States believe the “War on Drugs” has been futile, and a majority continue to call for the legalization of marijuana in the country, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,017 American adults, 68 per cent of respondents believe that America has a serious drug abuse problem and it affects the whole country.
One-in-five Americans (20%) think the country’s drug abuse problem is confined to specific areas and people, and five per cent say America does not have a serious drug abuse problem.
Only 10 per cent of respondents believe that the “War on Drugs”—a term that has been used to describe the efforts of the U.S. government to reduce the illegal drug trade—has been a success, while 66 per cent deem it a failure. Majorities of Democrats (63%), Republicans (63%) and Independents (69%) agree with the notion that the “War on Drugs” has not been fruitful.
Across the country, 52 per cent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, while 44 per cent oppose it. Majorities of men (60%), Independents (57%) and Democrats (54%) would like to see marijuana legalized. Women (45%), respondents over the age of 55 (48%) and Republicans (43%) are not as supportive of legalization.
In four nationwide surveys conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion on the topic of marijuana legalization since 2009, support has always surpassed the 50 per cent mark in the United States, and opposition has not reached 45 per cent.
As has been the case in previous surveys, the enthusiasm for legalizing other drugs in the United States remains low. Only 10 per cent of respondents would consent to making ecstasy readily available, and less than one-in-ten would legalize powder cocaine (9%), heroin (8%), crack cocaine (8%) and methamphetamine or “crystal meth” (7%).
It’s True: Medical Cannabis Provides Dramatic Relief for Sufferers of Chronic Ailments
In 2009, Zach Klein, a graduate of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Film and Television Studies, directed the documentary Prescribed Grass.Through the process, he developed an interest in the scientific research behind medical marijuana, and now, as a specialist in policy-making surrounding medical cannabis and an MA student at TAU’s Porter School of Environmental Studies, he is conducting his own research into the benefits of medical cannabis. Using marijuana from a farm called Tikkun Olam — a reference to the Jewish concept of healing the world — Klein and his fellow researchers tested the impact of the treatment on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel. The results, Klein says, have been outstanding. Not only did participants experience dramatic physical results, including healthy weight gain and the reduction of pain and tremors, but Hadarim staff saw an immediate improvement in the participants’ moods and communication skills. The use of chronic medications was also significantly reduced, he reports.
Full story at Scienceblog<<<<<<
The United States of Amerijuana Recent bills introduced in Texas, Hawaii, Oklahoma, others prove the entire nation is legalization-oriented by Rick Thompson
The United States of Amerijuana
2013 has already seen a flood of cannabis-friendly legislation introduced in the legislatures of numerous states. At least seventeen states have introduced pro-marijuana bills or have stated their intent to do so. Legalization, medical marijuana, decriminalization-even industrial hemp- have all been introduced despite the Obama administration’s lack of a clear response to 2012’s full legalization votes in Washington and Colorado.
Hawaii Speaker of the House Joseph Souki introduced HB 150 on January 17. The Bill allows for individual cultivation and licensing of dispensaries, commercial grows, cannabis manufacturing facilities and testing companies. The Marijuana Policy Project is devoting resources toward passage of this Bill; spokesperson Mason Tvert said HB 150 “will generate significant revenue for Hawaii.”A poll, released earlier this January, showed support for a tax and regulate legalization system at 57%. The poll also revealed incredible support for the current medical marijuana law, passed in 2000 (81% support); for dispensaries (78% support); and for decriminalization (58%). The Drug Policy Action Group sponsored the poll, which was revealed in a press conference with the ACLU of Hawaii. An economic impact study conducted by an economist at the University of Hawaii revealed more than $20 million in potential new revenues and cost savings annually; the report noted that since 2004, marijuana possession arrests are up almost 50% and distribution arrests have nearly doubled.
Marijuana Legalization Would Promote Drug Use, DEA Contends
Posted: 01/23/2013 1:25 pm EST
WASHINGTON — Recent state efforts to legalize marijuana pose a challenge for the Drug Enforcement Administration because they would increase marijuana’s availability and promote drug use, the DEA said in a filing released Wednesday.
“Recently, efforts to legalize marijuana have increased. Keeping marijuana illegal reduces its availability and lessens willingness to use it,” the DEA said in a financial statement for fiscal year 2012 made public on Wednesday. “Legalizing marijuana would increase accessibility and encourage promotion and acceptance of drug use.”
Overkill in the war on pot
January 22, 2013
As a candidate in 2008, Barack Obama emphatically stated that medical marijuana use was an issue best left to the states. One of the first promises he made as the newly elected president was that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws.” This was even reiterated formally in the so-called Ogden memo of 2009, in which the Department of Justice instructed U.S. attorneys that federal enforcement should apply only to medical marijuana operations that were not in clear compliance with state law.
Obama has since “clarified” those promises, but it still makes no sense that Matthew R. Davies, a business school graduate who set out in 2009 to create a medical marijuana dispensary that would be in full compliance with California law, is facing up to 15 years in prison — with a mandatory five-year sentence.
This is just one more puzzling incident in the history of a president who not only made these promises but has also admitted to heavy recreational use of marijuana himself in his youth. As a second-term president, with little to lose, why is he continuing his odd campaign on a state-approved industry that employs people, pays taxes and distributes a safe and clinically useful product?
D.C. CIRCUIT DENIES MEDICAL MARIJUANA RECLASSIFICATION CHALLENGE, ADVOCATES VOW TO APPEAL
Jan, 23 2013
Americans for Safe Access will seek En Banc review, continue fight to develop public health policy
Washington, DC — The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling today in the medical marijuana reclassification case, Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration. In a 2-1 decision, the Court granted standing in the case — the right to bring a claim against the federal government — but denied the legal challenge on the merits, agreeing with the government’s assertion that “adequate and well-controlled studies” on the medical efficacy of marijuana do not exist.
“To deny that sufficient evidence is lacking on the medical efficacy of marijuana is to ignore a mountain of well-documented studies that conclude otherwise,” said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy organization, which appealed the denial of the rescheduling petition in January of last year. “The Court has unfortunately agreed with the Obama Administration’s unreasonably raised bar on what qualifies as an ‘adequate and well-controlled’ study, thereby continuing their game of ‘Gotcha.'”
ASA intends to seek En Banc review by the full D.C. Circuit and,necessary, the organization will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ASA intends to argue that the Obama Administration has acted arbitrarily and capriciously by using continually changing standards of “medical efficacy” in order to maintain marijuana as a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The government now contends that Stage II and III clinical trials are necessary to show efficacy, while ASA has consistently argued that the more than 200 peer-reviewed studies cited in the legal briefs adequately meet this standard.
In 2002, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, made up of several individuals and organizations including ASA, filed a petition to reclassify marijuana for medical use. That petition was denied in July 2011, after ASA sued the Obama Administration for unreasonable delaying the answer. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit was the first time in nearly 20 years that a federal court has reviewed the issue of whether adequate scientific evidence exists to reclassify marijuana.
“The Obama Administration’s legal efforts will keep marijuana out of reach for millions of qualified patients who would benefit from its use,” continued Elford. “It’s time for President Obama to change his harmful policy with regard to medical marijuana and treat this as a public health issue, something entirely within the capability and authority of the executive office.”
Patient advocates claim that marijuana is treated unlike any other controlled substance and that politics have dominated over medical science on this issue. Advocates point to a research approval process for marijuana, controlled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is unique, overly rigorous, and hinders meaningful therapeutic research. ASA argues in its appeal brief that the DEA has no “license to apply different criteria to marijuana than to other drugs, ignore critical scientific data, misrepresent social science research, or rely upon unsubstantiated assumptions, as the DEA has done in this case.”
ASA will continue to put pressure on the Obama Administration, but will also be lobbying Members of Congress to reclassify marijuana for medical use. A new comprehensive public health bill on medical marijuana is expected to be introduced soon in Congress, and ASA is holding a national conference in February to support its passage.
Hemp Legalization Effort Gathers Steam
- The Washington Post, January 13, 2013
Straight to the Source
In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the stuff people smoke to get high.
Somehow over time, as Bowman’s pitch goes, hemp, which is used to make paper, oils and a variety of useful products, was mistaken for its twin, marijuana – a.k.a pot, chronic, blunt and weed – a medicinal drug loaded with tetrahydrocannabinol that buzzes the mind. Hemp got caught up in the legendary crusade against pot popularized by the movie “Reefer Madness.” All varieties of cannabis ended up on the most-wanted list, outlawed by Congress as well as lawmakers in other nations, inspiring people to kill it on sight.
Bowman’s message is simple: Be sensible. “Can we just stop being stupid? Can we just talk about how things need to change?”
While the United States ranks as the world’s leading consumer of hemp products – with total sales of food and body-care products exceeding $43 million in 2011 – it is the only major industrialized country that bans growing it, even though 11 states have passed measures removing barriers to hemp production and research. Ninety percent of the U.S. supply comes from Canada.
Since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana by ballot initiatives last fall, a group of farmers and activists have been pushing to revive a crop they say offers a solution to vexing environmental, health and economic challenges.