The Weekly Weed

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Veteran Hopes for Legalization of Med Marijuana

Mar 16, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

By Michael Barrett
Source: Gaston Gazette

North Carolina — When a seizure strikes, Joshua Cook typically hits the ground. His hands clench spastically into fists. His torso contorts. His body shakes uncontrollably for several minutes.

The condition first struck the 25-year-old National Guard veteran while he was serving in Iraq three years ago. After receiving a medical discharge, he was prescribed a slew of drugs that either made him sick, caused headaches or simply didn’t prevent his convulsions.

“Nothing had ever worked. At one point, I was having six or seven seizures per week,” said Cook, now a Gastonia resident. “Once I started smoking weed, I didn’t have a seizure for seven months.”

Medical Marijuana Advocates Rally in Wisconsin Rapids

Mar 16, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

The debate over medical marijuana is drawing interest throughout Wisconsin and the country.

Activists gathered in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday to raise awareness of the drug.

The McMillan Lilbrary in Wisconsin Rapids hosted the T.H.C. Tour or Talking Hemp and Cannabis Tour.

One of the main concerns activists have concerning medical marijuana centers around the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act. Read More..

Judge Orders Free Access To Cannabis-based Medicine For MS Patient

Mar 15, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

Italy – The court authorizes the administration in a case of multiple sclerosis: an emergency order of a judge of the Court of Avezzano, Elizabeth Pierazzi. It ‘the first case in Italy. The drug derived from cannabis would cost too much compared to the earning capacity of the patient.

A temporary green light to free marijuana for therapeutic use comes from the court of Avezzano. The principle is stated in an order dated 2 February, the judge Elizabeth Pierazzi. The ruling was issued in a proceeding brought by a protective and urgent patient with advanced multiple sclerosis. It affirms the right to free cannabinoid administration to the patient in question. The measure is the first of its kind in Italy.

The sick person who has obtained a preliminary court judge innovative Avezzano and in conditions of particular distress and for this he asked the local health administration can get free of the drug based on cannabis produced outside Italy, which proved the only effective to alleviate their suffering.

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Budtenders Help Medical Marijuana Patients Choose Strains That Fit Their Needs

Mar 15, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

Here’s a job title that didn’t exist around here a couple of years ago: budtender.

That would be the person helping a medical marijuana patient select the proper strain to treat his or her ailment. It’s a job that requires a mix of mundane skills such using a cash register and making change, a little science nerdism to talk about the brain’s cannabinoid receptors and the like, a familiarity with terms such as “couch lock” (since stoner descriptives can creep into a serious medical discussion), a passing knowledge of agronomy to explain hybrid strains, empathy, good communications skills, and generally — assuming the budtender has a medical marijuana card — some firsthand knowledge.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the latter continuing education aspect, it’s a job much in demand.

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Slowly, States are Lessening Limits on Marijuana

Mar 15, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

By William M. Welchand and Donna Leinwand
Source: USA Today

Los Angeles — James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.”I ask kids all the time, and they’ll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government,” he said, noting that drug dealers don’t ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements.

So Gray — who spent two decades as a superior court judge in Orange County, Calif., and once ran for Congress as a Republican— switched sides in the war on drugs, becoming an advocate for legalizing marijuana.”Let’s face reality,” he says. “Taxing and regulating marijuana will make it less available to children than it is today.”

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MMJ Dispensaries Bill Set for Public Hearing

Mar 15, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

By Rebekah Metzler, Staff Writer
Source: Lewiston Sun Journal

Augusta, Maine — A public hearing will be held Thursday on a citizen initiative, passed last fall, that authorizes the

establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries.Members of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will be presented with a modified version of the legislation developed for implementation by a task force.

Limited medical marijuana use has been legal in Maine since 1999, but there was no legal way to obtain it. Marijuana use is still illegal on the federal level, but last year the Obama administration announced it would not pursue federal charges in states that had legalized it.

The task force, which included the state commissioners of health and human services and public safety, lawmakers and people representing the public, modeled many of the provisions on laws in New Mexico, which has allowed dispensaries for about a year.

The initiative calls for all expenses to be paid for via fees assessed on dispensaries and patients, but the task force determined that until the final language is settled, the Department of Health and Human Services could not determine the overall cost of the program.

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MJ Legalization? A White House Rebuttal, Finally

Mar 15, 2010Online IssueLeave a comment

By The Monitor’s Editorial Board
Source: Christian Science Monitor

Washington, D.C. — The Obama White House has finally laid out its most thorough, reasoned rebuttal to arguments for marijuana legalization – countering a campaign that is gaining alarming momentum at the state level.
The president’s tough position was delivered in early March by his “drug czar,” Gil Kerlikowske, in a private talk before police chiefs in California – which is ground zero for this debate.

“Marijuana legalization – for any purpose – is a nonstarter in the Obama administration,” said Mr. Kerlikowske, a former police chief himself.

It’s almost certain that California voters will be asked in a November ballot initiative whether to allow local governments to regulate and tax marijuana (similar to taxes on sales of alcohol). Other states are considering similar proposals, which are really a backdoor way to legalize pot.

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