KANSAS: Former state A.G. to support medical use of marijuana

KANSAS: Former state A.G. to support medical use of marijuana

By Scott Rothschild

August 15, 2007



Topeka — Former Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan plans to announce his support of the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, the leader of an advocacy group said Tuesday.

“He is favorable to the issue,” said Laura Green, director of the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition.

Stephan, a Republican who served as attorney general from 1979 to 1995, will hold a news conference on the matter Friday in the Capitol. He could not be reached for comment.

“The general is a highly respected statesman who continues to serve the public in many capacities. We look forward to hearing his thoughts on this issue,” said Green, who sent out a news release about the news conference. Green said she didn’t want to speak any further on behalf of Stephan.

The Compassionate Care Coalition advocates for legal protection of patients who use medical marijuana and physicians who recommend the drug for treatment of pain.

The coalition has 400 members in chapters in Lawrence and Wichita.

In Kansas, marijuana is illegal even for medical purposes for ill people.

Twelve states that make up 22 percent of the U.S. population have enacted laws that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the coalition said.

State Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, said she would probably support allowing medical marijuana.

“An important part of health care is managing pain. If, as the data says, this is a good way to manage pain, I don’t think we should outlaw that,” Francisco said.


http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/aug/15/former_state_g_support_medical_use_marijuana/


DaBronx

OHIO: Burglar steals marijuana from drug agents

OHIO: Burglar steals marijuana from drug agents

Posted by Damian G. Guevara August 14, 2007 18:49PM


Chardon -- First the drug agents took the marijuana away from an illegal home-grow operation. Then a burglar took it away from the drug agents.

A secret stash of marijuana -- supposedly safeguarded by local drug agents in a van trailer -- is missing after a burglar picked his way into the storage unit, the Geauga County sheriff said.

The thief, or thieves, likely had no clue agents were using the storage for contraband, or that marijuana was inside, Sheriff Dan McClelland said.

McClelland said he was "not pleased" with the break-in. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.

The stolen marijuana was the proceeds of a bust in June that Geauga authorities touted as the largest in the county's history. Drug agents found 580 marijuana plants valued at nearly $600,000 inside a Chardon home. A 27-year-old man was charged in that case.

Investigators sent the pot to a crime lab. When it came back, drug agents locked the dope in the trailer and temporarily parked the trailer on private property in a location McClelland would not reveal. The thief cut the lock on the trailer. Police discovered the break-in July 30.

The crook took half the bags inside the trailer: four bags of marijuana plants weighing a total of 15 pounds. The value of the plants has not been determined.

The marijuana was not cured for consumption and it's questionable whether anyone can sell it.

"Whether it's salvageable is undetermined," McClelland said.

The theft -- and whether drug agents followed policy -- is under investigation, McClelland said.

Investigators suspect the burglar is the same person who broke into several area businesses in recent weeks, McClelland said. The theft should not have an effect on the upcoming drug case, he said.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/08/burglar_steals_marijuana_from.html


DaBronx

Rhea Deputies Arrest Man Living In The Woods With His Marijuana

Rhea Deputies Arrest Man Living In The Woods With His Marijuana


Play video http://www.wrcbtv.com/videowindow.cfm?sid=10465



Rhea County sheriff's deputies arrest a man they say has been living in the woods for a year, in the middle of his pot patch.

Deputies arrested 53 year old Barry McDonald when they found his campsite about a mile into the woods in the north end of Rhea County.

Deputies say they found McDonald's camouflaged campsite nestled among 250 pot plants. They seized the marijuana and a sawed off shot gun they found in the two room tent.

McDonald turned out to be a fugitive from Ohio.

He's listed as a violent sex offender.

McDonald is now facing charges of manufacturing marijuana and weapons charges.



http://www.wrcbtv.com/news/index.cfm?sid=10465



DaBronx

Salinas City Council Considers Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Salinas City Council Considers Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Last Update: Aug 14, 2007 10:11 AM

Video Watch This Video





SALINAS, Calif. - Monday, the Salinas City Council will talk about a proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

While most council members want to keep the pot clubs out of the city, one of them says that she believes in them.

Jyl Lutes says she lost her husband to bone cancer 23 years ago and she's seen first hand what wonders medicinal marijuana can do.

Council member Sergio Sanchez was also in favor of the dispensaries in the beginning, but now he says he supports a ban because Salinas isn't ready for a pot club.

http://www.kion46.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b63a6c1b-df42-4023-8a2c-e25943b95164&rss=172


DaBronx

What is Paris Hilton smoking?

YUBA COUNTY: Medical pot issue pushed

YUBA COUNTY: Medical pot issue pushed

Group wants Yuba County to implement state law on IDs


By Andrea Koskey/Appeal-Democrat
August 13, 2007 - 1:15AM


Yuba County residents may get a chance to voice their opinions on ID cards for medical marijuana users if county officials grant an organization’s request.

Safe Access Now, a nonprofit organization promoting legal access to medical marijuana, will submit a request during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to schedule public hearings to follow state law and implement an ID program.

“The county just hasn’t directed the work to a department,” said Aaron Smith, state coordinator for Safe Access Now. “Once action is taken by the county, patients can apply for the cards, making it easier for legitimate users.”

The state’s Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996, allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes. Similarly, in 2003, state legislators approved a bill enabling the state Department of Health Services to maintain a program issuing identification cards.

Smith said that by assigning the process to a department, Yuba County officials would be helping law enforcement as well as implementing the law.

“Right now, there is no way to identify legitimate users. It’s very difficult,” Smith said. “It’s up to law enforcement to determine if it’s verifiable. It’s a mechanism to curb abuse.”

To date, 35 of California’s 58 counties, including Butte, Plumas and Sierra, have adopted an ID card program and set fees averaging $150.

Some Yuba supervisors, however, said they were opposed to such an effort because they are opposed to the law.

“When federal law conforms to the state law, then it’ll be considered,” Supervisor Don Schrader said. “But this argument has come up many times; I don’t think it’s appropriate for the board to get involved in state law.”

Supervisor John Nicoletti added that a lawsuit in San Diego County over the legality of medical marijuana has the Yuba County Board of Supervisors waiting and watching.

“We’re all just glad we’re not in the middle, but watching on the sidelines,” he said. “Right now, we’re just waiting to see how that lawsuit goes.”

Steve King, a member of the Compassionate Use Group of Yuba and Sutter, said an ID card program should have been implemented long ago.

“The law passed in 2003,” he said. “Basically, it’s a card to show officers when they’re stopped and verify they are legitimate.”

Smith will present information about the state’s medical marijuana laws to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, while urging elected officials to set public hearing dates to implement the law.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Andrea Koskey can be reached at 749-4709 or at akoskey@appealdemocrat.com

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/law_52515___article.html/state_county.html



DaBronx

Subpoenas worry users of medical marijuana

Monday, August 13, 2007 - Page updated at 02:04 AM


Subpoenas worry users of medical marijuana


By The Associated Press



PORTLAND — Federal subpoenas seeking medical records of 17 Oregon medical-marijuana patients have growers and users upset and nervous even as a federal judge considers whether to throw the subpoenas out.

"It's crazy. It's really scary. If they can get my records, they can get Gov. [Ted] Kulongoski's, they can get yours," said Donald DuPay, a former Portland police officer and 2006 candidate for Multnomah County sheriff.

DuPay says his records are among those subpoenaed.

A federal grand jury in Yakima issued the subpoenas in April as part of an investigation of some growers in Oregon and Washington.

The patients are not targets of the grand jury.

A Seattle spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration declined to comment.

The subpoenas were served on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, which issues permits to patients and their authorized growers.

A second subpoena went to The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a private Portland clinic where doctors determine whether a patient's condition would be eased by marijuana.

The DEA raided DuPay's Portland home in June and seized 135 marijuana plants DuPay said he was growing for patients. DuPay, who hosts a local cable-access program on medical marijuana, says he has not been arrested.

On Aug. 1, lawyers from the state and from the ACLU, representing the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, asked Chief U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley in Yakima to throw the subpoenas out.

James Hagerty, the assistant U.S. attorney who convened the grand jury, acknowledged that the subpoenas were written too broadly. What the grand jury wants, he said, is not "medical records" but current addresses and phone numbers for the 17 patients.

He said the grand jury is investigating four or five people for growing marijuana to sell under the medical-marijuana law.

The 17 get or got medical marijuana from the people under investigation, he said

Oregon voters enacted the state's program in 1998, and 14,868 Oregonians hold patient cards. An additional 7,115 have state permission to grow medical marijuana. They can't sell it but can accept donations to defray costs.

Eleven other states, including Washington, have medical-marijuana laws and at least two more are considering them.

But federal law forbids the use or cultivation of marijuana. Federal authorities have attacked California's program by raiding marijuana dispensaries and prosecuting growers there for years.

Last month, the DEA sent letters to landlords of dispensaries in Los Angeles warning of possible prison sentences.

But the Oregon subpoenas apparently are the first time the DEA has come after medical records, "and of course, it is very worrisome," said Bruce Mirkin, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

"People have an expectation of medical privacy, and I think they have a right to expect medical privacy," Mirkin said.

"It's one thing to talk about people selling a product that is in fact not legal under federal law. We may think that's stupid. But that's in a whole different realm than obtaining people's medical records."

The Web site for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program promises patients and caregivers that their medical records are legally protected.

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the subpoenas suggest the DEA is looking beyond prosecuting dealers.

"It sends a message to the other states and their programs that they're vulnerable to federal interference," he said.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003833815_marijuana13m.html?syndication=rss


DaBronx

GW Pharma says Sativex gets Canadian approval

GW Pharma says Sativex gets Canadian approval


Tue Aug 7, 2007 7:16 AM BST135


LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals Plc (GWP.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Tuesday that Canada's federal health department, Health Canada, had approved its cannabis-based medicine Sativex for treatment of cancer patients.

The treatment will be used by advanced cancer patients suffering from moderate to severe pain, GW said.

Last month GW announced a delay for the possible roll-out of the treatment in Europe after drug regulators requested a further clinical study.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=smallCapsNews&storyID=2007-08-07T061558Z_01_WLB0258_RTRIDST_0_GWPHARMA-CANADA-URGENT.XML


DaBronx

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROTEST AT VAN NUYS FRIDAY AUGUST 3, 2007

:::::::::PROTEST AT VAN NUYS FRIDAY AUGUST 3, 2007:::::::::


PROTEST/RALLY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND PATIENT RIGHTS!


WHEN: Friday August 3rd. 9:30 am.-1pm.

WHERE: Van Nuys Civic Center
14410 Sylvan Street
Van Nuys, Ca.

WHY: Protest the DEA actions and local police involvement in recent raids and fear letter campaign

The recent times have been difficult for everyone, especially owners and patients who have had their collectives closed or raided, so we must stand together if we are to get anything done.

There will be drinks and food provided to the protesters that come, and we are looking for all ideas that we can use, such as perfomance art as protest. and things that will be creative and different then ways before.

We will be having a large funeral for States rights, with a large coffin built with a California Flag covering it, and RIP STATE'S RIGHTS, written on the coffin.


FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP, CONTACT PATRICK at 818-386-2998 (12 PM-8 PM or leave message) or email "patrick_duff2000 [at] yahoo.com"

Sheriff comments on predicted closure of final pot shop

Sheriff comments on predicted closure of final pot shop

Last Update: Jul 30, 2007 9:07 PM

Posted By: Megan Trihey


Video: Watch This Video

BAKERSFIELD - As predicted by Sheriff Donny Youngblood, the last remaining pot shop in Bakersfield is out of business, leaving those who rely on marijuana for medicine out of luck.






“This is not about what I can tell people they can and cannot do,” said Youngblood. “This is about the law, and they have a responsibility to know that possession of marijuana with certain restrictions can be a felony with the feds. It is a felony with the feds.”

The owners of California Compassionate Services on Bernard Street in northeast Bakersfield closed late last week.

They said they were caught in a pinch between state and federal law.

A month ago, Bakersfield had six medical marijuana shops, but after a series of DEA raids and federal indictments, each shut down.

Youngblood said he doesn’t plan on issuing licenses for any more pot shops to open.

“People have to do what they think they need to do,” said Youngblood. “I just thought it was a little bit unfair to issue licenses to someone, take their money, and then help put them in federal prison.”


http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=45bb3b6c-4c36-45a0-a1f8-99df30285641&rss=91


DaBronx


GO NY YANKEES!