I’ve said it before, we need the federal government to reschedule marijuana and then leave it up to the individual states to regulate it as the people see fit.  Until this happens, we will not be free.

OPB Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says she wants all the states that allow medical marijuana to ask the federal government to reclassify the drug.

She scheduled a conference call among those states Thursday. Meanwhile, a state Senate committee heard testimony Wednesday on a last ditch effort to pass an overhaul of Washington’s medical marijuana law.

Medical marijuana advocates have been trying to pass a bill to allow marijuana dispensaries.

Last month, Governor Chris Gregoire vetoed large parts of their bill. She said it would’ve put state workers in the position of violating federal law.

The new bill would instead leave regulation of dispensaries to local cities and counties. But many of the advocates who supported the vetoed marijuana bill don’t support this new one.

AND medical marijuana doctors make house calls?

The ACLU is fast becoming a powerful friend of the marijuana legalization movement.

hawaiinewsnow The American Civil Liberties Union says Hawaii’s government has answered its demand to change “heavy-handed” medical marijuana policies.

The ACLU of Hawaii announced Tuesday that the Department of Public Safety will no longer prohibit physicians who prescribe marijuana from performing house calls.

The group also said the state is ending its practice of requiring physicians to register locations where they see patients and discuss marijuana.

ACLU senior staff attorney Daniel Gluck said in a statement that marijuana should be treated the same as other prescription drugs.

He said physicians who recommend medical marijuana may do so at any location, even if it isn’t registered with the Department of Public Safety.

We won't go after state-legal medical marijuana. No, wait, I meant, we WILL.

The Obama administration has appeared to have flip flopped on it’s position on Medical Marijuana.  Let’s see if he responds.

mlive.com The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Obama administration to clarify its policy on medical marijuana following apparent inconsistencies in recent months. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the ACLU sought assurance the government would keep its promise not to arrest and prosecute workers who are complying with the law in states where medical marijuana is legal.

Any use of marijuana is prohibited under federal law. In 2008, Michigan voted to legalize medical marijuana, joining more than a dozen other states. In 2009, the Obama administration said it would not seek to arrest and prosecute users and suppliers who were operating within state law.

However, the administration appears to have changed its position. Recent warning letters from U.S. attorneys are prompting some states to reconsider medical marijuana policies. An Associated Press report quotes one such letter (emphasis added):

We maintain the authority to enforce (federal law) vigorously against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law.

foxnews Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Alex Magee was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and driving with an expired tag, the Tampa Tribune reported Tuesday.

Magee, 24, was pulled over Monday afternoon in a 2009 black Dodge Charger for driving with an expired tag. Police said they smelled marijuana during the stop, and found a small amount during a search of the vehicle.

Magee was released with a citation for a misdemeanor and ordered to appear in court.

Magee played in eight games for the Bucs and two for the Chiefs in his second NFL season out of Purdue.

Drafted to the stupid stoner team, that is.  Expired tags, really?  How many times do we have to tell you to make sure your car is in working order (blinkers, brake lights, headlights) and legal (tags, insurance, registration)?

I can maybe understand a poor working man not able to afford the new tags, but a defensive end in the NFL making a six-figure salary?  Inexcusable.

westword The story revolves around Robert Pooler, who co-owns Doctor’s Orders, a pair of dispensaries in Denver and Colorado Springs, with his brother, Casey. Last June 28, according to McAllister, Robert was a passenger in a car pulled over in Colorado Springs on suspicion of careless driving. “They weren’t stoned, and they didn’t get arrested for DUI,” he stresses. “But Robert couldn’t find his insurance card, so the cop said he was going to search the car for the card” — a rationale McAllister considers suspect.

No marijuana was discovered during the search, but the officer did stumble upon over $14,000 in cash that Pooler was transporting to the bank. “The cop says, ‘What is this?’ And my clients say he owns a dispensary and they’re on the way to the bank. So the cop says, “That’s money laundering. I’m going to seize this, and we’re going to do an investigation.’ And very shortly afterward, they seized two separate bank accounts” containing about $5,000 “and turned the case over to the feds.”

In McAllister’s view, the bank account seizure “was completely shady. The detectives went to a judge and said, ‘I think there’s money laundering,’ and they seized the accounts. But there were never charges filed, and the court didn’t have a record of it being done — and the bank said they couldn’t talk to us, because they were under orders not to give information to the account holders. And even the DA’s office said they didn’t have any records. It shows much power the police have to seize assets and hold them for a long period of time.”

nydailynews A Rhode Island lawmaker, who recently slammed his colleagues by invoking the image of pot-smoking immigrants, has been busted for alleged marijuana possession.

Republican House Minority Leader Robert Watson was arrested in East Haven, Conn., on Friday at a police checkpoint and was also charged with driving under the influence.

“Trace evidence of marijuana was discovered and I was charged with operating under the influence, a charge I vehemently deny,” Watson told the Providence Journal.

The 50-year-old smelled like alcohol and pot, he slurred his words, and his eyes “were extremely glassy and bloodshot,” according to the police report. Authorities found a “small plastic sandwich bag containing a green leafy plantlike substance and a small wooden marijuana pipe.”

His blood-alcohol level was 0.05%, which is below the state’s 0.08 limit.

[Russ adds: Yeah, but there is a synergistic effect between alcohol and cannabis.  A 0.05% blood-alcohol level combined with a few hits of green bud can make one much more impaired than a comparable 0.08% BAC driver who didn't toke.  Nobody, not even this guy, should go to jail for smoking pot... but I'm more than willing to lock up people who drive severely impaired.]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s highest court says a couple can sue a hospital that disclosed confidential health care information to police, leading to drug charges against them.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit brought by Dwayne and Debbie Bonney against Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.

The Bonneys went to the hospital in 2007 after being assaulted at their South Paris home. A security guard overheard them telling nurses what happened and called police over the Bonneys’ objections. Police went to their home and found evidence of marijuana cultivation.

The Bonneys claimed the guard violated their rights under federal and state laws.

The supreme court ruled state law does not shield health care providers from liability for disclosing confidential information unless it involves an examination to obtain evidence for prosecutors.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Maine-court-says-hospital-not-shielded-1333735.php#ixzz1JL8kLpB9

The Marijuana Song – Kevin O’Grady from Chris Fiftal on Vimeo.

Download audio file (Kevin O’Grady – The Marijuana Song (Live in Irish Pub).mp3)

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ASA The Maryland House voted 82-51 Saturday to pass medical marijuana legislation in an attempt to improve upon current law, the Darrel Putnam Compassionate Use Act, which allows for a “medical necessity” defense but still results in a misdemeanor conviction and a $100 fine even for qualified patients. Senate Bill 308 had previously been a more robust bill, protecting qualified patients from arrest and prosecution and establishing a system of licensed cultivation and distribution, but was whittled down due to objections from the new administration’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and House committee members. The full senate must affirm changes to the bill by midnight tonight before it’s sent to the Governor.

On March 24th, the full senate voted 41-6 to pass a version of SB 308 that would keep patients with “clear and convincing evidence” of a qualified medical condition from being criminally convicted and from sustaining a punitive fine. However, last week, when SB 308 got to the House Judiciary Committee, which has obstructed multiple efforts since 2003 to pass improved legislation, the bill underwent further amendments. For instance, the bill now has a one ounce limit — SB 308 originally allowed for possession of up to 6 ounces — and imposes up to a $100 fine even if found not guilty. The amendments also deny an affirmative defense to patients consuming their medication in public.

“It’s shameful that the Maryland legislature wants to treat medical marijuana patients like criminals by condoning their arrest and using fines to punish their behavior,” said Kristen Ford with Americans for Safe Access, the country’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group, which has been working with both House and Senate legislators to pass meaningful legislation. “Nevertheless, we will continue to work with the health department and the legislature to craft a more patient-friendly bill next year.”

SB 308 requires DHMH to convene a Work Group to “develop a State-specific proposal, including draft legislation, for providing access to marijuana to patients in the State for medical purposes.” A report to the legislature will be due by year’s end, and the program must be up-and-running by January 2013. “This bare-bones bill is just a stop-gap measure,” continued Ford. “Now the difficult work begins in finding consensus among disparate interests.”

The House Judiciary and Government Operations Committees voted Thursday to pass SB 308, which was then sent to the House floor for a vote on Saturday. The full senate must now reaffirm the bill with amendments before the legislative deadline of midnight tonight. If the bill is reaffirmed by the full senate as expected, it will then go to Governor O’Malley for signature and take effect on June 1st.

Further information:
SB 308: http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/bills/sb/sb0308t.pdf
Amendments to SB 308: http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/amds/bil_0008/sb0308_76648701.pdf

Download audio file (Dan Samples – The Medical Marijuana Song.mp3)

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