ATF is Latest in Long Line of Federal Agencies to Bully Medical Marijuana Patients Paul Marini | October 05, 2011 Two weeks ago, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), under the Obama Justice Department, issued a memorandum instructing firearms dealers not to sell to lawful medical marijuana patients. The ATF memo -- an affront to patients’... Read more
Rhode Island Governor Chafee Buckles to Federal Intimidation as He Puts the State’s Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Limbo Paul Marini | October 05, 2011 Rather than acting as the champion of Rhode Island’s Medical Cannabis Program, Governor Lincoln Chafee has failed the medical cannabis community by halting the legislated licensing of dispensaries. Governor Chafee’s failure to effectively implement H5359, the state’s dispensary licensing law,... Read more
MT Patient Advocates Put Repeal of Medical Marijuana Restrictions on Ballot for 2012 Paul Marini | October 05, 2011 Patient advocates in Montana, including members of Americans for Safe Access, were successful this week in gathering enough signatures to overturn SB423, an extremely restrictive medical cannabis bill that took away many of the patients’ rights enshrined in Initiative 148,... Read more
California Gov. Brown Vetoes SB 847! Paul Marini | September 21, 2011 [caption id="attachment_1903" align="alignnone" width="283" caption="CA Gov. Jerry Brown"][/caption]I am happy to report that California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed SB 847, a bill by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) that would have required medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives be located... Read more
RAND Corporation says dispensaries don't cause crime Paul Marini | September 20, 2011 UPDATE October 11 - The RAND Corporation bowed to politcal pressure for the LA City Attorney's Office and removed this study "until the review is complete." Ironically, the RAND Corporation's wen site says that "RAND is widely respected for operating... Read more
Long-banned Alar (Daminozide) Shows Up on Hydroponic Store Shelves Before Being Removed Again Paul Marini | September 20, 2011 In 1988, DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled that, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” And, although the DEA ignored Judge Young’s recommendation to reclassify the plant from its... Read more
Setting Precedent for Patients and Providers in San Luis Obispo County Paul Marini | September 19, 2011 Earlier this month, two medical marijuana patients were acquitted of all charges in a case that is likely to affect numerous other similar pending cases. Deip Paul and Steven Brown were found “not guilty” of several felonies after only two... Read more
Indictments Thrown Out by Nevada Judge, Who Said the State’s Medical Marijuana Law “Makes No Sense” Paul Marini | September 15, 2011 A Nevada trial court judge threw out an indictment Monday against Leonard Schwingdorf and Nathan Hamilton, two medical marijuana dispensary operators arrested in federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local law enforcement raids on several Las Vegas facilities last year.... Read more
Research Approved to Study Effects of Medical Marijuana on PTSD Paul Marini | September 15, 2011 After a lengthy approval process, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted research to study the effects of medical marijuana on people living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This summer, the research group MAPS was given the go-ahead... Read more
Tennessee Congressman Calls Federal Medical Marijuana Policy “Misguided” Paul Marini | September 14, 2011 Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) wrote a letter to Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske on Monday, urging a change to the country’s drug policy with regard to marijuana. In addition to calling the federal policy on medical marijuana “misguided,” Cohen said, “Marijuana... Read more