Video streaming by Ustream

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2011-10-05.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Harborside Health Center hit with huge tax bill; IRS rules dispensaries can’t deduct expenses
2. Seized marijuana grow equipment in Maryland used to grow vegetables
3. Montana Attorney General lashes out at BATFE MedMJ Gun Memo
4. Michigan busts caregiver tending multiple patient gardens

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by NorCalPurps in the California Bay Area

• Irie Wednesday: Slightly Stoopid – “2am”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

Cannabis Conversations

Cannabis Community

• Russ Belville on ReThink Reviews on the Young Turks Network

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2011-05-10.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Colorado’s per se DUID bill is dead again
2. Maryland governor signs improved affirmative defense bill
3. Dallas/Ft. Worth NORML’s 420 Truth Car attracts police attention

Daily Toker Tunes

• Special from Austin: Clyde and Clem’s Whiskey Business – “People Suit” and “Hits from the Bong”

NORML Newsmakers

• Imiel Visser from NORML South Africa

Radical Rant

• LifeforPot.com examines life sentences for nothing but non-violent marijuana offenses

Maryland is one of the states we’ve always had an asterisk for when we discuss the “medical marijuana states”.  Maryland doesn’t protect patients from arrest for their use of cannabis; instead, it provides an “affirmative defense”.

This process of “affirmative defense” works as follows:

1. Maryland police arrest everyone they find using cannabis, regardless of reason.
2. Those people are cuffed, booked, fingerprinted, held, and (if they can afford it) bailed out.
3. The patients among those people can then seek and hire an attorney (if they can afford it) to present their defense in court… only if caught with an ounce or less.
4. The patients take time off work (if they work) to go to trial where the defense is presented and if the judge agrees the use was medical…
5. A fine of $100 is levied against the patient, who retains the record of being arrested and convicted for pot.

Today, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed SB 308, which improves the medical marijuana affirmative defense in Maryland.  From MPP:

The bill allows seriously ill patients to avoid prosecution when charged with marijuana possession and creates a commission to study medical marijuana laws and make recommendations on how Maryland can institute such a program.

Under the new law, individuals diagnosed with debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, can avoid conviction if charged with the non-public use or possession of one ounce or less of marijuana.

An existing sentencing mitigation will remain part of the law, meaning patients who don’t qualify for the full affirmative defense would still have the opportunity to present evidence of medical necessity and have their sentence reduced to a $100 fine.

So now the affirmative defense process in Maryland is:

1. Maryland police arrest everyone they find using cannabis, regardless of reason.
2. Those people are cuffed, booked, fingerprinted, held, and (if they can afford it) bailed out.
3. The patients among those people can then seek and hire an attorney (if they can afford it) to present their defense in court… only if caught with an ounce or less.
4. The patients take time off work (if they work) to go to trial where the defense is presented and if the judge agrees the use was medical…
5. …if the use was for cachexia, wasting, pain, nausea, seizures, or spasms…
6. …and you’ve got a regular doctor you’ve been seeing awhile who says so…
7. …and your condition above doesn’t respond to any other medications…
8. …then you are set free with no fine and no conviction.  But if you don’t meet all those conditions (say your doctor recommended it for epilepsy, even though there are other anti-seizure meds you respond to, but don’t take because they have nasty side effects and cost too much) then…
9. A fine of $100 is levied against the patient, who retains the record of being arrested for pot.

And remember, all this is for patients caught with less than an ounce of medicine.  If you’re caught with over an ounce, it’s 1 year and $1,000 misdemeanor.  If you have even one small marijuana seedling, it’s 5 years and a $15,000 felony.

Of course any progress in protecting patients is a good thing but it gets very frustrating reporting on the glacial rate of change in politics when patients are suffering in real time.  Affirmative defenses, study committees, pilot programs, these are all 20th Century responses to medical marijuana.  There are sixteen medical marijuana programs in the 21st Century and the West Coast has over a dozen years experience running them.  What remains to be studied?

What a shame, this bill wold allow qualified patients to be limited to an ounce of medical marijuana and could still sustain $100 fine.  How can you concede that marijuana has medicinal benefits and still punish people for using it?

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 Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2011-04-11.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Nevada introduces bill to create medical marijuana dispensaries
2. Maine introduces marijuana legalization bill
3. Indiana discovers over 200 mistakes in drug testing cases from 2007-2009
4. Maryland set to pass bill for true affirmative defense for medical marijuana

Daily Toker Tunes

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

• Roots Monday: Kevin O’Grady – “Marijuana Australiana (live in an Irish pub)”

Cannabis Conversations

• Alison Holcomb from ACLU of Washington and Kevin Oliver from Washington NORML on Washington’s SB 5073 to create legal dispensaries and voluntary registry cards

NORML Activism Alerts

• Connecticut judiciary committee set to vote on decriminalization measure tomorrow

Maryland Senate lawmakers this week amended legislation, SB 308, to provide for an ‘affirmative defense’ from criminal prosecution for qualified medical marijuana patients. Senators passed the amended language on Thursday, March 24. It now goes to the House.

As introduced, SB 308 and its House companion bill, HB 291, sought to establish a program to provide qualified patients with legal access to state-licensed producers and distributors of medical cannabis. However, that effort suffered a serious setback earlier this month when the state’s Department of Health Secretary testified against it.

The Senate substitute measure would amend the state’s existing ‘affirmative defense’ law. Under present law, patients who successfully raise an ‘affirmative defense’ of medical necessity at trial still face a misdemeanor conviction (but no jail time) and a $100 fine. Under the Senate-approved measure, patients who successfully raise the defense will face no conviction or fine.

The measure also creates a workgroup within the state health department to study the issue of regulating the medical use and production of marijuana.

While NORML is disappointed with this scaled-back language, it does present a minor improvement over the status quo. Those of you who wish to contact your House member regarding this measure may do so via the state’s General Assembly ‘contact and find a legislator’ service here. NORML will update this information when/if the House is prepared to take action.

Read the original:
Maryland Lawmakers Amend Medical Marijuana Measure To An Affirmative Defense — Substitute Language Passes Senate

from Diane Fornbacher at  www.freedomisgreen.com

Maryland: Medical Marijuana and Decrim Bills Update

3/8/11 - Maryland is moving on bills that would legalize medical marijuana for ill residents and decriminalize possession for all adults. Both had committee hearings scheduled on March 3.

Phillip Strause, a marijuana activist local to Maryland and Virginia had this to say about HB291, the compassionate use bill,

“The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene requested to work with Delegate Morhaim to ‘craft a better bill.’ The bill is currently not scheduled to be voted on for this reason. I believe political fear drives the system in MD, as few are willing to condone such a shift in policy.”

Ken Wolski, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey (CMMNJ) submitted supporting testimony for MD through Americans for Safe Access saying, “Maryland needs to propose a bill that has at least some chance of actually getting marijuana to qualified patients. A provision for home cultivation is really the only way to guarantee this, as New Jersey’s experience proves.”

Read full article

NORML Special Birthday Treat – a 1977 PSA for NORML from Peter Tosh!

Download audio file (Peter-Tosh-PSA.mp3)

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2011-03-02.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Colorado HB1250 bill to eliminate edibles to be amended to merely regulate them more strictly in packaging and advertisement
2. Maryland legislator opposes medical marijuana, saying it needs more study and it is controversial
3. Oakland appears ready to abandon plans for warehouse mega grows

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Grateful Dread Public Radio at http://gdreadradio.net, a 24-hour community service Internet radio station proud to carry NORML SHOW LIVE

• Irie Wednesday: Weed-i – “Moonlight”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

• Addressing the latest Australian study on adolescent marijuana use and schizophrenia

NORML Newsmakers

• NORML Founder Keith Stroup reminisces on four decades of NORML

New Jersey - The (No Medical Marijuana) Garden State - coming soon to a state near you!

In 2010, New Jersey passed the first medical marijuana law that did not allow the patient to grow their own low-cost medicine, instead requiring them to pay street prices for cannabis sold through dispensaries.

The District of Columbia followed suit when setting up their rules, despite the fact that the initiative that passed by 69% back in 1998 allowed an “exemption for cultivation [which] shall apply only to marijuana specifically grown to provide a medical supply for a patient.”

Marijuana Policy Project then wrote Arizona’s new law which forbids home cultivation if the patient lives within 25 miles of a dispensary.  The reasoning given was that the dispensaries would need to be guaranteed a clientele in order to remain viable.

Download audio file (Halo-makes-dispensaries-viable-MPP-Andrew-Mey.mp3)

So imagine you’re a 70-year-old glaucoma patient in Phoenix living on SSI.  A friend donates to you a small closet grow and you’re producing a few ounces for yourself at about $12.50/ounce.  Next month, an entrepreneur applies for and is approved to open a dispensary 18 miles away from your rent-subsidized apartment.  Your choices are to move seven miles farther away on your fixed SSI income and keep growing or to sell your grow equipment and start buying those $300 ounces at the dispensary that you can only get to after a lengthy bus ride.  Don’t worry, nobody on the bus or at the stop in your bad neighborhood will smell the ounces of weed on you as you bring them home every couple of weeks (you’re not allowed to stock up – two ounces per fortnight only).  Because we want to be sure a place that sells marijuana in a storefront doesn’t go out of business, since marijuana is such hard commodity to market.

We at NORML had warned that continued focus on medical without an eye toward full legalization would eventually lead to a “box canyon” where opponents say, “Oh, you want medical marijuana?  All right, we’ll make it medical. You don’t grow your own Vicodin, do you?” and begin to eliminate home growing provisions, the only protection cannabis consumers have against government and/or corporate overpricing, strain degradation, and pharmaceuticalization of cannabis into pills, sprays, and inhalers that will make possession of raw plant material by patients just as criminal as it is now for non-patients.

Two current medical marijuana states, New Mexico and Montana, face efforts to outright repeal medical marijuana.  Two current medical marijuana states, Arizona and New Jersey, don’t allow for home cultivation.  Now, New Hampshire, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, and New York have medical marijuana proposals that forbid home grows and require street-price dispensary shopping.  Proposals in Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia would be similar to the current thirteen medical marijuana states that allow registered home cultivation.

NORML supports all these proposals, because what kind of pro-marijuana organization could oppose protecting patients from arrest for marijuana possession, even if they had to buy it at a dispensary?  At least the dispensary is clean and safe and reliable and tested and secure compared to the streets.  But we remind all supporters of medical marijuana that only through legalization for the healthy will you ever get reasonable prices, peace of mind, and avoid the eventual box canyon the DEA and FDA want to steer you into.

Montel Williams is a friend of marijuana reform and his home state of Maryland is considering both a medical marijuana bill and a decriminalization bill.  Every couple of months another state jumps on board with this type of legislation.   At this rate, we’ll be legal in no time!  And the Legalization Train Rolls On!

(CBS Baltimore) Last month, Baltimore native and talk show host Montel Williams urged lawmakers to pass it.  Williams uses it to ease pain from multiple sclerosis.

“The only thing that has kept me a contributing member of this society for the last 10 years [is medical marijuana],” Williams said.  “So many people…are going to watch this press conference and say, `But there are so many things out there.’  Unfortunately, opiates don’t work for me anymore.”

But the opposition to medical marijuana here is strong.

“I think it’s confusing.  It sends a mixed message not only to adults but certainly to our children,” said one opponent.