Legalizing Marijuana is Just a Matter of Time
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Gerald Ensley
Source: Tallahassee Democrat 
Florida — Time magazine recently published an interesting statistic: 5.1 percent of Americans aged 55 to 59 smoke marijuana regularly — a major jump from 2002, when 1.6 percent of Americans aged 55 to 59 admitted to smoking pot regularly. The magazine attributed the rise to the aging of the baby boom generation. And you can look at the stat four ways:One, it shows marijuana use is not just for the young and wild. We can only assume the age bracket — where AARP membership and senior discounts begin — was considered significant because it says old people are smoking.
Tags: marijuana, marijuana laws, marijuana legalization, Obama
California To Vote on Legalizing Marijuana
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press 
Sacramento, Calif. — When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again — this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults.The state was the first to legalize medicinal marijuana use, with voters passing it in 1996. Since then, 14 states have followed California’s lead, even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
California is not alone in the push to expand legal use of marijuana. Legislators in Rhode Island, another state hit hard by the economic downturn, are considering a plan to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less by anyone 18 or older.
Tags: marijuana bust, marijuana laws, marijuana legalization
Taking The High Road
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Jessica Bennett, Newsweek Web Exclusive
Source: Newsweek
California — In downtown Oakland, there is a nine-block area that locals call “Oaksterdam.” Nestled among what was once a rash of vacant storefronts, it’s a kind of pot utopia where everything moves just a little bit more slowly than the outside world. Here, where medical marijuana is legal, you’ll find the Blue Sky Coffeeshop, a pot dispensary where getting an actual cup of Joe takes 20 minutes but picking up a sack of Purple Kush wrapped neatly in a brown sack takes about five. There’s the Bulldog Cafe, a lounge with a not-so-secret back room where the haze-induced sounds of Dark Side of the Moon seep through thick smoke. There’s a glass-blowing shop where bongs are the art of choice, and, of course, there’s the fabled Oaksterdam University, a pot school operated by a man named Richard Lee.
Tags: marijuana, marijuana dispensaries, marijuana for medical use, Medical Marijuana
The Road To Marijuana Legalization
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Donna Tam, The Times-Standard
Source: Times-Standard
California — Humboldt County’s foray into open communication about its pot-based economy put a statewide spotlight on the county, and community organizers a little bit closer to a legitimate — and functioning — marijuana industry.”Every place I’ve gone people have wanted to talk about it, people have been aware of it,” 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said Friday.
Lovelace said he has been to meetings in Fresno and Sacramento since Tuesday’s meeting, and from the interest voiced by people he’s met he thinks there may be similar discussions happening all over the state.
New Jersey’s First Legally Grown Marijuana
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Susan K. Livio, Statehouse Bureau 
Source: Star-Ledger
Trenton, NJ — If all goes according to plan, New Jersey’s first legally grown marijuana plants will be harvested this fall from greenhouses, where they will have been growing for months under the gaze of cameras and security guards.The plants will be dried, packaged and readied for purchase at six licensed facilities by thousands of registered patients who have debilitating illnesses.Source : Cannabis News
Queasy over the idea of filling the Garden State with scores of backyard pot plants, lawmakers in January passed the most restrictive medical marijuana statute in the nation by banning patients, their families and other caregivers from growing their own. But for state officials who must implement the law, this tough stance raises questions so complicated they wonder if they’ll be able to meet this fall’s deadline.
Tags: marijuana, marijuana dispensaries, marijuana laws, marijuana legalization, medicinal marijuana
Let The Sick Decide If Marijuana Is Medicine
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
Editorial
Source: Times Union 
Albany, N.Y. — Pain can saturate one’s entire being. This hit home recently when my mother endured bouts of chemotherapy for stomach cancer. Drugs to relieve her relentless nausea offered little benefit. As with countless other patients, her medicine made matters worse.For patients in intractable pain, time is not on their side. Therefore, for supporters, New York’s pending legalization of the medical provision and use of marijuana is timely. Meanwhile, the debate continues.
Furthermore, its psychoactive component spawns fears of dependency and abuse, although authorized stimulants, antidepressants and analgesics also produce highs and lows.
Tags: marijuana, marijuana for medical use, marijuana laws, Medical Marijuana, medicinal marijuana
Many Felony Pot Cases Getting Tossed Out of Court
Mar 28, 2010 Online Issue
By Paul Elias, The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
San Francisco, CA — Police in a northern California town thought they had a couple dead to rights when they seized 
more than two pounds of marijuana from their home, even though doctors authorized the pair to use pot for medical purposes.San Francisco police believed they had a similar open-and-shut case with a father and son team they suspected of abusing the state’s medical marijuana law by allegedly operating an illegal trafficking operation.
No one can say for sure how many dismissals and acquittals have been prompted by the ruling, but the numbers are stacking up since the Supreme Court on Jan. 21 tossed out Patrick Kelly’s marijuana possession conviction.
Tags: cannabis, marijuana, marijuana for medical use, marijuana laws, Medical Marijuana, medicinal marijuana
