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Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Protest planned over St. Charles, Missouri, citation of legalization petitioners
2. Polish parliamentarian threatens to smoke pot in Parliament
3. Americans for Safe Access files California medical marijuana regulation language
4. Michigan effort to legalize marijuana underway

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Rockin’ Friday: Brought to you by Urb Thrasher from Urb Age Designs

• Melodramus – “Fly Away”

Cannabis Conversations

• Harvard Emeritus Dr. Lester Grinspoon on his friend Carl Sagan, the pharmaceuticalization of medical marijuana, “All use is medical”, and the medical marijuana industry (full interview here)

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Hemp Headlines

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1. Activists push for government studies of marijuana for PTSD
2. Americans for Safe Access files complaint against prohibitionist group
3. Heatwave in the Midwest is killing outdoor cannabis crops
4. Neo-Nazi tween twin group, “Prussian Blue”, rejects white nationalism and embraces liberalism, diversity, and medical marijuana

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Cannabis Cure UK – the reform podcast for the United Kingdom

• Electric Tuesday: Symphony of Science – “Children of Africa (The Story of Us)”

Cultivator’s Corner with High Times’ Sr. Cultivation Editor Danny Danko

• SPECIAL: Nico Escondido growing seminar from San Francisco Medical Cannabis Cup

16 states, the Capitol, and 750,000 legal marijuana users.

We don’t know his or her name, but somewhere in one of sixteen states and the District of Columbia is America’s 750,000th legal medical marijuana patient.  The United States reached the three-quarter-million-patients mark as Arizona began issuing patient registry identification cards online in April 2011.

Fourteen of the seventeen medical marijuana jurisdictions have mandatory registries while two (California and Colorado) offer optional registries and one (Washington) has no registry system.  Delaware, New Jersey, and D.C.’s programs are not operational yet.  Most of the other state’s programs produce reports of patient registry numbers.  With Arizona signing up over 3,600 patients since mid-April, when it’s online-only registration went into effect, the fourteen operational programs have served well over 750,000 legal medical marijuana patients.

Quick Facts about Medical Marijuana States:

The 754,799 estimated and registered medical marijuana patients in America are legally entitled to cultivate 11,200,739 cannabis plants and possess 197.78 tons of harvested buds.

The seventeen jurisdictions with medical marijuana encompass over 90 million Americans and 162 votes in the 2012 Electoral College.

Patients make up over 3% of the population of Montana, almost 2.5% of Colorado, and over 1% of California, Oregon, and Washington.  After Michigan at 0.76% of population, every other medical marijuana state has less than 0.3% patients in its population.

Rhode Island and Vermont, two states where over 10% of the adult population uses marijuana monthly, have patient populations of 0.29% and 0.05%, respectively.

Most importantly, in all of these states, trains still run on time, fewer teenagers are using marijuana, economies still produce goods and services, traffic safety has increased, and hoardes of pot zombies aren’t roaming the streets in search of sttrraaiinns!

In 2002, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis submitted a petition to request that marijuana be reclassified, but they have never received an answer. Today, they filed a lawsuit in the Washington DC Circuit Court asking for President Obama’s administration to respond to the petition. The groups represented in the coalition are Americans for Safe Access, Patients out of Time and several individually named patients. What they filed today was a “writ of mandamus.” They say the government’s unreasonable delay in giving them an answer is in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. A writ of mandamus is a request to legally protect the rights of someone suffering a grievance and denied a legal right. The coalition is asking for the administration to respond within 60 days.

Note that a previous petition to reschedule cannabis filed by NORML in 1972 went unanswered for 22 years before being denied. The writ of mandamus also argues that cannabis is not a dangerous drug, and that there is evidence of its therapeutic benefits. This would create a weak point in the defense for the schedule one classification of cannabis since by definition, a schedule one substance has no medicinal value. In fact, in regard to the 1972 NORML petition, in 1988 the DEA’s own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young stated that, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” He recommended “the Administrator transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II to make it available as a legal medicine.” Nevertheless, DEA Administrator John Lawn rejected Young’s recommendation. Since then, the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians have called upon the government to review the scheduling of marijuana.

The Coalition’s lawsuit is basically forcing the government’s hand, so to speak. A formal rejection of their petition would allow the group to go to court to challenge the DEA’s assertion that marijuana has no medical value.

Read more from the original source:

Lawsuit Demands Feds Respond: Marijuana as a Schedule II Drug?

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Hemp Headlines

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1. Helena, Montana, site of latest DEA raid on Sleeping Giant Caregivers
2. President Obama pardons two marijuana convicts
3. Americans for Safe Access files lawsuit over rescheduling petition delay

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by CannaBob and The Viper Hour on The NORML Network

• Roots Monday: Human – “The Tree of Life”

NORML Newsmakers

• Garret Overstreet from Tulsa NORML discusses fundraising for Kelly Maddy, Joplin NORML’s director whose house was destroyed in the Missouri tornado

Radical Rant

• Wouldn’t it be nice if every activist group got behind one legalization effort?

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Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. DEA raids at least five dispensaries in Spokane, Washington
2. The ACLU takes up the appeal of Joseph Casias, the Wal-Mart worker fired for medical marijuana use
3. Today marks the 100-year anniversary of the nation’s first statewide pot ban in Massachusetts

Daily Toker Tunes

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• Rockin’ Friday: Double Jack – “Free”

NORML Newsmakers

• Kevin Oliver from Washington NORML recorded live yesterday at the THC Pharmacy being raided by DEA
• Steph Sherer from Americans for Safe Access

We are in hour two of NORML SHOW LIVE when one of our listeners posted a Facebook update from MHP of Spokane, a medical marijuana dispensary:

2:23 PM: NEWS FLASH Feds are at the THC Pharmacy RIGHT NOW

2:35 PM: Latest update Evergreen , The Tree House and THC Pharmacy are ALL being hit NOW

2:42 PM: Now they hit Rhonda at Club Compassion

KXLY of Spokane has the first mainstream coverage I’ve found:

SPOKANE, Wash. — Authorities are raiding several medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane in what Assistant US Attorney Tom Rice is describing as “Official Law Enforcement Action.”

Rice confirmed a raid was taking place at the THC Pharmacy in the South Perry District on the South Hill. Club Compassion, located at 1004 E. Bridgeport, is also being raided by police.

Rice would not comment on the nature of the “enforcement action” except to stay that is illegal to possess or sell marijuana in the United States.

There are other locations being raided by authorities, but Rice would not confirm how many and where those locations are.

We called out to Kevin Oliver of Washington NORML.  The timing couldn’t be better, because Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, was there in the Spokane Area with the Cannabis Defense Coalition to conduct raid training for activists.  Kevin said when they got the news, “Steph stood up in front of the audience and said, ‘This is not a drill; this is exactly what we are talking about.’”

Kevin and Steph and all the activists jumped into their cars and drove to the raids.  We spoke to Kevin as he arrived at THC Pharmacy and he said he could see no violence or arrests.  He asked a SWAT officer on scene what was happening and on the air the officer said that the US Attorney would have more information for us.

Kevin will be dialing in to us at The NORML Network with continuing updates – keep up at http://live.norml.org.

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Hemp Headlines

1. Montana bill would overturn Missoula’s lowest law enforcement priority initiative and prevent future prioritization initiatives
2. Montana looks at adding PTSD to qualifying condition for medical marijuana
3. Americans for Safe Access sponsors activists boot camps online this weekend
4. Pennsylvania Supreme Court reinstates man’s trafficking conviction, overturing appeals court that ruled he hadn’t been Mirandized

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• Rockin’ Friday: Valient Thorr – “Double Crossed”

CelebStoner.com Entertainment Report with Steve Bloom, co-author of Reefer Movie Madness: The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide

• Lady Gaga & the Grammys
• Gov Gary Johnson = Top CelebStoner
• MLB’s Elijah Dukes says baseball made him toke

Grassroots Activism

• Mike Pesce, Iowa citizen who filed ethics complaint against Rep. Clel Baudler for lying to obtain California medical marijuana recommendation

Jovan Jackson, convicted of a crime he was acquitted for a year ago, thanks to a judge denying him a fair defense at trial.

From Americans for Safe Access:

After the verdict was read, Judge Shore told the jurors that their work had been completed and that they could now be excused. Before the jurors left however, Judge Shore added that the attorneys in the case had a few questions for them and asked them to stick around and a give a post verdict interview if they wished. The interview was conducted outside of the presence of the public with just about all of the jurors staying behind to talk to the attorneys.

Following the post verdict interview, the public found out that the jurors unanimously said “we wanted to find a way to let Jackson go, but could not”.

The jurors explained that the jury instructions they were given, contained no defense for possession for sale or sales; the very portion that was redacted away by the prosecutor and Judge Shore.

Aside from looking for a way to find Jackson not guilty, the jurors all said that although they did not agree with the law as it was given to them, that they still had to respect it, as Judge Shore ordered them to only consider the law that was written in the Jury Instructions.

Wrong, jurors.  You have the power of Jury Nullification.  No matter how guilty someone is, how much compelling evidence there may be, or any instructions given by the judge, a jury can decide that the application of the law itself is unjust and acquit a defendant.

Please learn more about this crucial right of juries!  A defense attorney in court cannot argue for jury nullification without severe punishments from a judge, but juries can never be punished or sanctioned for exercising this right.  Visit the Fully Informed Jury Association at http://fija.org.

Gov. Gary Johnson at NORML National Conference (Cannabis Culture Magazine)

More of the NORML National Conference Audio can be found at Thursday Plenary Audio and Friday Plenary Audio.  The Special Events RSS Feed is here.

Opening Remarks

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 01 – Allen St. Pierre – The Moral Imperative

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 02 – Gov. Gary Johnson – Keynote Address

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 03 – Dustin Sulak – Medical Marijuana Clinical Applications, Physiology and Patient Education

It Can’t Hurt to Ask — Research on Patient Experiences With Medical Cannabis

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 04 – Amanda Reiman, Ph.D, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Patients Group – Medical cannabis as a drug substitute

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 05 – Jenny Janichek, HHC Harm Reduction Clinical Consultant – Cannabis as an ‘exit’ drug

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 06 – Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, California NORML – Patient experiences with CBD-prominent cannabis strains

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 07 – Frank Lucido, MD, Berkeley – Cannabis and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 08 – Philippe Lucas, Vancouver Island Compassion Society – Research on Patient Experiences With Medical Cannabis

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 09 – Research on Patient Experiences With Medical Cannabis panel Questions and Answers

Not Your Father’s Medical Marijuana — Latest Breakthrough in Cannabis Science

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 10 – Mitch Earlywine, Ph.D (SUNYAlbany) – Cannabinoids therapeutics in psychiatric disorders, pros and cons

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 11 – Jahan Marcu, Temple University – Anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids and implications for clinical applications

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 12 – Paul Armentano, Deputy Director, NORML – Moving beyond symptom management

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 13 – Michelle Sexton, MD, U of WA School of Medicine – Anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids and implications for clinical applications

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 14 – Greg Carter, MD, U of WA School of Medicine – Cannabinoids as neuroprotectants

The Future of Medical Cannabis Distribution

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 15 – Rielle Capler, Canadians for Safe Access – Proscons of Canadian government distribution model

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 16 – Bill Panzer, Esq., NORML Board of Directors – Latest developments in CA, esp. LA ordinance and QPA v Anaheim

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 17 – Leland Berger, Esq., NORML Legal Committee – Procons of proposed Oregon dispensary measure

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 18 – Warren Edson, Esq., NORML Legal Committee – Proscons of Colorado dispensary regulations

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 19 – Matt Abel, Esq., NORML Legal Committee – Grey market for medical dispensaries in Michigan

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 20 – Cisco McSorley, New Mexico State Senator – Improvements needed in the NM distribution system

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 21 – Jill Harris, Director of Public Policy, Drug Policy Alliance – East coast, state regulated dispensary models (RI, ME, NJ)

Which Way For Medical Marijuana?

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 22 – Stephen Gutwillig, Drug Policy Alliance, California – Medical marijuana law reform inherently moves forward broader reform efforts

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 23 – Russ Belville – Do medical marijuana laws pose a ‘boxed canyon’ for broader reform efforts

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 24 – Stephen DeAngelo, CEO, Harborside Health Center – Where Is Flip The Switch Now

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 25 – Steph Sherer, Executive Director, Americans for Safe Access – Medical marijuana is, and should remain, a separate issue from broader reform efforts

Closing Remarks

NORML CON 2010 (SAT) 26 – Paul Armentano, Deputy Director, NORML – The Future of Medical Cannabis Moving Forward and Countering Our Critics