Medical marijuana advocates say they’ll take their “humanitarian” cause to the ballot if the Legislature won’t pass it, but top Bay State cops and prosecutors caution that using pot is not a victimless crime, and legalizing it could put Massachusetts at odds with the feds, who are still battling murderous drug cartels and growers.

The issue is expected to heat up the Gardner Auditorium tomorrow, when the Joint Committee on Public Health holds a hearing on the initiative spearheaded by Richard Elliott Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. “There’s no doubt about it: Either through the Legislature or a ballot initiative, there will be medical marijuana in Massachusetts,” vowed Doblin, 58, of Belmont, whose supporters gathered 80,710 certified voter signatures to make marijuana available as a painkiller to people with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other unspecified maladies.

“It raised a lot of questions about possible abuse,” Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr., president of the District Attorneys Association, said. “It suggests you could prescribe marijuana for a headache or an ankle sprain.”

“We’ve had several murders involving marijuana dealers being ripped off,” Early said, questioning how well the cultivation, transport and marketing of medical marijuana can be separated from criminal endeavors. Still, he said, “You have to have compassion. You can’t be labeled conservative, you can’t be labeled liberal on this when you’re talking about a cancer patient who can’t hold down food.”

A. Wayne Sampson of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association said his group also has concerns about the proposed legalization: “We don’t want to be put in the middle of a situation where the citizens vote to allow a law that the federal government says it will prosecute.”

Doblin counters that crime and cartels can be cut out by legalizing domestic suppliers. By forcing patients to turn to the black market to ease their pain, “we’re endorsing murder,” he said. “The more that you can create a domestic production market, the more you take away from the cartels.”

The Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana bill would protect registered patients, doctors, caregivers and prescription pot dispensers from local and state penalties, but not from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Patients could possess a 60-day supply of marijuana. Storage and cultivation would be restricted to designated nonprofit treatment centers.

Linda Brantley of the New England Coalition for Cancer Survivorship said, “For a lot of people who use (marijuana), it alleviates nausea, it alleviates pain symptoms. Why should people, when they’re in terrible pain and unable to eat and unable to sleep, be thrust into the position of doing something illegal?”

Sixteen states, including Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island, have legalized medical marijuana. If the Legislature rejects or fails to act on the measure by May 2, certified signatures of 11,485 voters are needed to place a binding question on the November ballot.

Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Author: Laurel J. Sweet
Published: Monday, April 9, 2012
Copyright: 2012 The Boston Herald, Inc.
Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/
Contact: letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com

Elected lawmakers in five states have a message for the federal government: Don’t interfere with state medical marijuana laws.

In an open letter to the federal government, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle called on the government to stop using scarce law enforcement resources on taking pot away from medical marijuana patients.

“States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states,” the lawmakers explained in their letter.

“Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law.”

The letter — signed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-Calif.), Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Wash.), Rep. Antonio Maestas (D-N.M.), Sen. Cisco McSorley (D-N.M.), Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Calif.), Rep. Deborah Sanderson (R-Maine) and Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Colo.) — comes directly on the heels of a federal raid in the heart of California’s pot legalization movement: medical marijuana training school Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland, where U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials on Monday blocked off doors with yellow tape and carried off trash bags full of unknown substances to a nearby van. An IRS spokeswoman could not comment on the raid except to say the agents had a federal search warrant.

The lawmakers called on President Obama to live up to his campaign promise to leave the regulation of medical marijuana to the states, adding raids would only “force patients underground” into the illegal drug market.

The president as a candidate promised to maintain a hands-off approach toward pot clinics that adhere to state law. At a 2007 town hall meeting in Manchester, N.H., Obama said raiding patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes “makes no sense.” At another town hall in Nashua, N.H., he said the Justice Department’s prosecution of medical marijuana users was “not a good use of our resources.” Yet the number of Justice Department raids on marijuana dispensaries has continued to rise.

Read the full letter here:

Over the last two decades, 16 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to depart from federal policy and chart their own course on the issue of medical marijuana, as states are entitled to do under our federalist system of government. These states have rejected the fallacy long promoted by the federal government — that marijuana has absolutely no accepted medical use and that seriously ill people must choose between ignoring their doctors’ medical advice or risking arrest and prosecution. They have stopped using their scarce law enforcement resources to punish patients and those who care for them and have instead spent considerable resources and time crafting programs that will provide patients with safe and regulated access to medical marijuana.
States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states.

Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law; to provide a safe and reliable source of medical marijuana; and to balance and protect the needs of local communities and other residents in the state. The laws were drafted with considered thoughtfulness and care, and are thoroughly consistent with the American tradition of using the states as laboratories for public policy innovation and experimentation.

Unfortunately, these laws face a mounting level of federal hostility and confusing mixed messages from the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice, and the various United States Attorneys. In 2008, then candidate Obama stated that as President, he would not use the federal government to circumvent state laws on the issue of medical marijuana. This promise was followed up in 2009 by President Obama with a Department of Justice memo from former Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden stating that federal resources should not generally be focused “on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” This provided welcome guidance for state legislators and administrators and encouraged us to move forward with drafting and passing responsible regulatory legislation.

Nonetheless, the United States Attorneys in several states with medical marijuana laws have chosen a different course. They have explicitly threatened that federal investigative and prosecutorial resources “will continue to be directed” towards the manufacture and distribution of medical marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law. These threats have generally been timed to influence pending legislation or encourage the abandonment of state and local regulatory programs. They contradict President Obama’s campaign promise and policy his first year in office and serve to push medical marijuana activity back into the illicit market.

Most disturbing is that a few United States Attorneys warn that state employees who implement the laws and regulations of our states are not immune from criminal prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act. They do so notwithstanding the fact that no provision exists within the Controlled Substances Act that makes it a crime for a state employee to enforce regulations that help a state define conduct that is legal under its own state laws.

Hundreds of state and municipal employees are currently involved in the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana producers and providers in New Mexico, Colorado, Maine, and California, and have been for years. The federal government has never threatened, much less prosecuted, any of these employees. Indeed, the federal government has not, to our knowledge, prosecuted state employees for performing their ministerial duties under state law in modern history. It defies logic and precedent that the federal government would start prosecuting state employees now.

Recognizing the lack of any real harm to state employees, a number of states have moved forward. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie drew on his own experience as a former United States Attorney in deciding that New Jersey state workers were not realistically at risk of federal prosecution in his decision to move forward implementing New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. Rhode Island, Vermont, Arizona, and the District of Columbia are also in the process of implementing their state laws.

Nonetheless, the suggestion that state employees are at risk is have a destructive and chilling impact. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire vetoed legislation to regulate medical marijuana in her state and Delaware Governor Jack Markell suspended implementation of his state’s regulatory program after receiving warnings from the United States Attorneys in their states about state employees. Additionally, a number of localities in California ended or suspended regulatory programs after receiving similar threats to their workers.

We, the undersigned state legislators, call on state and local officials to not be intimidated by these empty federal threats. Our state medical marijuana programs should be implemented and move forward. Our work, and the will of our voters, should see the light of day.

We call on the federal government not to interfere with our ability to control and regulate how medical marijuana is grown and distributed. Let us seek clarity rather than chaos. Don’t force patients underground, to fuel the illegal drug market.

And finally, we call on President Obama to recommit to the principles and policy on which he campaigned and asserted his first year in office. Please respect our state laws. And don’t use our employees as pawns in your zealous and misguided war on medical marijuana.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-CA)

Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-WA)

Representative Antonio Maestas (D-NM)

Senator Cisco McSorley (D-NM)

Assemblymember Chris Norby (R-CA)

Representative Deborah Sanderson (R-ME)

Senator Pat Steadman (D-CO)

Source: Huffington Post (NY)
Author: Lucia Graves
Published: April 2, 2012
Copyright: 2012 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC
Contact: scoop@huffingtonpost.com
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

The District has selected six companies to grow marijuana and supply medical cannabis to users — clearing the way for growers to start producing hundreds of plants in as little as a month.

The Health Department is expected to announce Friday that it has selected the winning bidders for cultivating plants that will feed the dispensaries city officials hope to approve by the summer. All the growers will be in Northeast, including a company partly owned by celebrity talk show host Montel Williams.

Combined, they will be tasked with producing thousands of plants annually, in possible violation of federal law.

Two years ago, the D.C. Council voted to establish as many as 10 cultivation centers, where up to 95 marijuana plants could be grown at a time at each location. Once harvested, the marijuana will be sent to five distribution centers for patients to buy.

Mohammad N. Akhter, director of the Health Department, said he and a task force evaluated dozens of bidders before selecting the six applicants. Akhter said they were chosen based on their ability to grow “quality” marijuana “in a safe environment” that includes heavy security.

Akhter said he also tried to ensure that the cultivation centers were not too tightly clustered in the same blocks.

“I have taken every single step that I could to make sure this is done in a safe environment in which we can have a quality product that can meet the needs of the patient in a way that the community is also satisfied,” he said in an interview. “These are the best people who can do the best job.”

Williams’s cultivation center, Abatin Wellness Center, has been approved for the 2100 block of Queens Chapel Road in Langdon, according to a city list obtained by The Washington Post.

The department also selected Montana Apothecary dba Alternative Solutions in the 2100 block of 24th Place NE in Langdon; District Growers in the 2400 block of Evarts Street NE in Langdon; Holistic Remedies in 1800 block of Fenwick Street NE in Ivy City; Phyto Management in the 3700 block of Benning Road NE in Benning; and Venture Forth dba Center City in the 2200 block of Channing Street NE in Langdon.

Before the applicants can open, however, Akhter said they must apply for their business license and building permits from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. He added that the permitting process may take less than two weeks, meaning the marijuana growers may be able to start production in less than a month.

But Helder Gil, a spokesman for DCRA, said it could take some providers longer to open if they plan to make major renovations, including additional electric or water supplies.

“If they are just doing minor stuff . . . they can get a building permit quickly and then come in and get the sign-off,” Gil said.

The Health Department does not expect to complete the approval process for dispensaries until June.

“It takes about 90 days to grow the plants and have them ready,” Akhter said. “By the time growers are ready with the plants, the dispensaries should be in operation.”

But the District could still face big challenges in the implementation of its medical marijuana program.

In recent weeks, some residents and community activists fought attempts to open the cultivation centers in their neighborhood.

In January, D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At large) successfully pushed to limit the number of cultivation centers that could operate in Northeast. Last week, council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) won approval of a bill barring cultivation centers from high-profile retail corridors — including the location Phyto Management wants to open on Benning Road.

It was not clear Thursday night how the bill would affect the company’s plans, but Alexander pledged to work with the group to find a new location.

The fight over the cultivation centers could pale in comparison with the community opposition that could surface as the Department of Health reviews the applicants to run the distribution centers. But under the law, they are not allowed 300 feet from a school, recreation center or a city park.

Another challenge could come from law enforcement officials because, under federal law, the sale or possession of medical marijuana is illegal. Federal authorities have declined to publicly sanction the program, which restricts patients to no more than 2 ounces of marijuana per month.

But Akhter said he remains optimistic that the city’s program will withstand legal scrutiny, citing his view on the medical benefits of marijuana.

Under the city regulations, patients suffering from cancer, HIV-AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma qualify for the program.

“I know one thing for sure, there are a lot more dangerous drugs that we prescribe,” said Akhter, a former senior associate dean for public and international health at Howard University College of Medicine. “We made this program exactly like for other drugs we prescribe for other purposes.”

Although medical marijuana patients will not be able to grow their own marijuana, the District’s first purveyor of medical pot supplies plans to open on Rhode Island Avenue NE on Friday.

WeGrow, a company billing itself as the “Wal-Mart of Weed,” will sell materials needed to cultivate and care for the plants, but not the plants or seeds themselves.

Staff writers Mike DeBonis and Katie Rodgers contributed to this report.

Source: Washington Post (DC)
Author: Tim Craig
Published: March 30, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

A bill that would allow people in New Hampshire with chronic health problems to use marijuana received the backing of the Republican Senate this week, but with the proposal gaining momentum in Concord, local police chiefs worry it would strengthen efforts to legalize the drug in the Granite State.

Gov. John Lynch has indicated he will veto the Senate bill, which passed on a 13-11 vote late Wednesday night.

It would allow patients with “debilitating medical conditions” or their designated caretakers to possess up to 6 ounces of marijuana, four mature plants and 12 seedlings at a single, registered “cultivation location.” They could also avoid penalties for possessing up to two ounces of marijuana elsewhere.

In an email, Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso said he worries the bill is a “proverbial ‘foot in the door’” for efforts to legalize marijuana. He also fears marijuana grown for medicinal purposes will be diverted into the illegal drug trade, something that occurs now with prescription drugs.

Allowing medical marijuana use would also send youths the wrong message, and give “one more justification for a young person to try marijuana,” Colarusso wrote.

“When something is legalized, it is also legitimized,” he wrote.

The N.H. Association of Police Chiefs doesn’t support the bill, and Durham Police Chief Dave Kurz added his voice to the opposition Wednesday, saying the legislation will erode marijuana prohibitions down the road.

“If you want to legalize, let’s have the discussion, but I believe this is sort of a back-door entry into legalization,” he said.

Kurz said the legislation stands to make policing more difficult, since officers will need to be trained about the medical marijuana cultivation regulations, and then exercise discretion in the field. He also pointed out that marijuana cultivation is still illegal under federal law.

Supporters say the bill’s home cultivation approach would reduce the risk of abuse or federal prosecution. Caretakers would be volunteers — most likely family members, they say. The law permits compensation for actual costs like electricity, but not labor, which supporters say eliminates the business aspect.

Patients would need a registry identification card, which would require written certification from their doctor that medical use of marijuana would help treat a “debilitating medical condition.”

Qualifying conditions include cancer, HIV, AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some symptoms or treatment results such as severe pain or severe nausea would also qualify.

Patients with a qualifying condition visiting from out of state could also possess marijuana without a card, but not cultivate it. Caretakers would need a card as well and would be subject to a background check.

The bill passed on a narrow 13-11 vote Wednesday, after Senators adopted one last amendment by Sen. Jim Forsythe, the Strafford Republican sponsoring the bill, which reduced the number of plants patients are allowed to grow from six to four, with a maximum canopy of 100 square feet.

The bill would not legalize marijuana possession for anyone beyond registry identification card holders or visiting qualifying patients. Card holders who provide marijuana to anyone not allowed to have it would have their cards revoked and face a Class B felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Additional penalties for illegal marijuana sale would also apply.

The proposed law also would expire after three years unless lawmakers acted to renew it.

Colarusso said a recent youth survey found marijuana is now more widely used by Dover teens than tobacco. He said the drop in youth tobacco use suggests antismoking campaigns have been successful, and the Senate bill could have the opposite effect for marijuana use.

“I have been in law enforcement for 27 years, and I cannot remember a time when drug use and crime related to drug use is as prevalent as it is now,” he wrote. “The illegal use of legal drugs is currently the biggest problem. We need fewer options for those who abuse drugs, not more of them.”

Staff Writer Jim Haddadin contributed to this report.

Source: Foster’s Daily Democrat (NH)
Published: Thursday, March 29, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Geo. J. Foster Co.
Contact: letters@fosters.com
Website: http://www.fosters.com/