Colorado: Boulder weeds out its medical marijuana industry
Boulder officials have rejected more than one-third of the applications from people seeking to run medical marijuana dispensaries or growing operations in the city, slowing the pace of what once was seen as a Wild West-style rush for riches.
Ten months after the initial 119 business-license applications were turned in by Boulder's November deadline -- set when the City Council last year approved sweeping new regulations for the budding industry -- 40 medical marijuana companies have licenses to operate.
So far, 41 of those 119 applications, from existing businesses that had opened prior to adoption of the new rules, have been rejected for reasons that include zoning problems, incomplete paperwork and -- in about half of the cases -- the sometimes extensive criminal records of owners, operators and investors.
City officials say the vast majority of the 38 applications that remain in their queue have passed their initial background checks and are well on their way to being awarded business licenses.
Israeli government approves guidelines for medical marijuana
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's media adviser said "the Health Ministry will – in coordination with the Israel Police and the Israel Anti-Drug Authority – oversee the foregoing and will also be responsible for supplies from imports and local cultivation."
Of approximately 6,000 Israelis currently being treated with medical cannabis (aka medical marijuana), most suffer from chronic pain and terminal illnesses. The therapeutic potential of cannabis has been known for many years and is recognized by the Health Ministry.
Canada: Ontario closer than ever to legalization of marijuana
Ontario is one step closer to the legalization of marijuana after the Ontario Superior Court struck down two key parts of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that prohibit the possession and production of pot.
The court declared the rules that govern medical marijuana access and the prohibitions laid out in sections 4 and 7 of the Act “constitutionally invalid and of no force and effect” on Monday, effectively paving the way for legalization.
If the government does not respond within 90 days with a successful delay or re-regulation of marijuana, the drug will be legal to possess and produce in Ontario, where the decision is binding.
The ruling stemmed from the constitutional challenge of Matthew Mernagh, a man who relies on medical marijuana to ease pain brought on by fibromyalgia, scoliosis, seizures and depression.
Most polled in Montana prefer to repeal marijuana regulation
A slim majority of Montanans favor repealing the law legalizing medical marijuana, but in response to another question, a much larger percentage support tightening regulations on the industry rather than terminating the law, a new Lee Newspapers poll shows.
When asked whether they would support or oppose repealing the 2004 state law legalizing medical marijuana, 52 percent said they’d support repeal and 38 percent opposed it. Ten percent were undecided.
In response to another question, however, 83 percent of voters said they favor enacting stricter regulation and licensing requirements for medical marijuana in the state. Thirteen percent opposed tightening the law, while 4 percent were undecided.
Medical marijuana issue heats up in Montana Legislature
The Montana Medical Marijuana Act is once again coming under fire in the state legislature. More than 150 people crowded into the Capitol in Helena on Friday as the Senate Judiciary committee addressed a bill which would repeal the Medical Marijuana Act.
The bill is sponsored by MT State Representative Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), who says there is no way to rein in the medical marijuana industry. Milburn says the rapid increase in the number of medical marijuana cards is out of control. He says it is a strain on law enforcement and it is getting into the hands of children.
Milburn's bill has already passed the House in a 63-37 vote. Now the bill is before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Oregon medical marijuana activists protest new restrictions
Medical-marijuana activists demonstrated at the Capitol on Wednesday, protesting proposed legislation that would put new restrictions on legally permitted medicinal cannabis.
A rally on the Capitol steps drew about 60 participants. Some held signs reading "Cannabis is my friend" and "Don't tread on medicine."
Demonstrators decried a flurry of bills introduced in the 2011 legislative session that seek to narrow participation in the state's 13-year-old medical-marijuana program or enact other changes.
Colorado may impose a legal THC level for driving
The surge of medical marijuana use in Colorado has started another debate in the state Legislature: What constitutes driving while high?
Lawmakers are considering setting a DUI blood-content threshold for marijuana that would make Colorado one of three states with such a provision in statute - and one of the most liberal, according to Rep. Claire Levy, one of the bill's sponsors.
Under the proposal, drivers who test positive for 5 nanograms or more of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, would be considered too impaired to drive if the substance is present in their blood at the time they're pulled over or within two hours.
Levy, a Democrat from Boulder, said she's gotten resistance from medical marijuana advocates who fear it will restrict patients from using the drug.
"What I've tried to assure the patient advocates is that we're not talking about sobriety checkpoints, we're not talking about dragnets and massive stops," she said. "They're not going to be stopped if they're driving appropriately."
While it's already illegal to drive while impaired by drugs, states have taken different approaches to the issue. Twelve states, including Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Rhode Island, have a zero-tolerance policy for driving with any presence of an illegal substance, said Anne Teigen, policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Minnesota has the same policy but exempts marijuana.
Medical Marijuana Clinics Quietly Take Root in Oregon
Since 1998, when medical marijuana use became legal in Oregon, the number of cardholders in the state has swelled.
As of last month, there are over 38,000 legal patients, and the number grows every day.
It's always been and will continue to be a controversial medicine.
But it may be gaining ground, especially in our historically conservative part of the state.
Case in point: Within the past three months, Central Oregon has seen at least five medical marijuana clinics or clubs set up shop here.
And as we found, there was at first, outcry, then indifference -- and now, it seems, acceptance.
Montana House votes to repeal medical marijuana
State lawmakers are halfway to repealing Montana's medical marijuana law. By a vote of 62-to-37, legislators voted to advance the bill out of the House to the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Milburn says law enforcement can't control the sudden growth of the multi-million dollar industry and its rampant proliferation.
"It's going well beyond what people in Montana thought they were voting for," said Milburn, (R-Cascade). "Lots of support from the community, from the schools, from the law enforcement agencies, even from out of state law enforcement, that you can't control it. You can't put sideboards on it. You can't regulate it when it's gone this far."
Poll: Michigan voters would back medical marijuana law again
A recent poll showed that Michigan voters would again approve the state's medical marijuana law.
The poll, conducted by Marketing Resource Group, Inc., showed that 59 percent of voters would approve the law, while 35 percent would not. Two percent leaned toward approving, while 2-percent leaned against.
The poll results were announced by Marijuana Policy Project, which helped draft the law. In November 2008, 63-percent of voters approved medical use of marijuana.
