phone
303.388.HOPP
Posts
via Westword Latest Word
By Michael Roberts, Thu., Aug. 26 2010 @ 8:55AM
Yesterday, Cannabis Therapy Institute’s Laura Kriho criticized Governor Bill Ritter’s proposal to use $9 million in medical marijuana fees to help make up for a budget shortfall. But Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation‘s Matt Brown, sees the move as evidence medical pot is becoming increasingly entrenched in the system. “It spoke to me about how much we’ve normalized the idea of medical marijuana here,” he says.
Granted, Brown isn’t entirely comfortable with putting the MMJ money into the general fund, since HB 1284, the main medical-marijuana-regulatory measure, “is very clear in establishing that these are locked cash funds that are not to be used indiscriminately.”
Nonetheless, “other cash funds were effected, too, and my hunch is that most of those are also locked cash funds” — and he’s right. The legislature will have to approve unlocking them.
“This definitely looks like an emergency action outside of regular procedures, and maybe lawyers will have a view about it,” he goes on. “But I think it’s telling that medical marijuana is one of the few cash funds that are not only covering expenses but running a surplus. And the reality of medical marijuana here in Colorado meant that, in this time of crisis, it was on the list along with other well-established funds that were running a surplus, too.”
Northern Lights 10 x Skunk #1. The smell and taste is satisfyingly sweet, with a warm skunky undertone. ORGANIC
via WSJ Market Watch
PHOENIX, AZ and HONG KONG, Aug 09, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — The Amergence Group (PINKSHEETS: AMNG), a company that focuses on the development, nurturing, and rapid expansion of selected emerging or disruptive companies across a wide range of industries and disciplines, announced today that it has signed a binding Letter of Intent with the Altitude Organic Licensing Corporation (AO) headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
According to AO Licensing president, Brian Cook, “I am absolutely elated to be working with the Amergence people in building the AO Licensing Corporation. This transaction will enable our company to expand the Altitude Organic(TM) brand into each state that allows legal medical marijuana commerce. AO acts as a parent trademark licensing and consulting company for our independently owned and operated dispensaries. Until AO Licensing came along, independent dispensary owners had to invent their own ‘roadmap’ in guiding them toward success in a brand new industry that is growing and changing very rapidly. Our corporate structure keeps us focused entirely on building a successful medical marijuana business template for Altitude Organic(TM) dispensaries. We focus on branding, consulting, marketing, public awareness, and dispensary operation strategies so that our Altitude Organic Medicine operators can focus on what they do best — sales, growth, and running their day-to-day business. We anticipate the medical marijuana market segment — already a multi-billion dollar industry in the US — will grow at a faster pace than even casino gaming did here during the 1990s.”
Peter Jacobs, Amergence’s managing director had this to say: “Following on the heels of our first successfully-formed spin-out subsidiary, PanPacific International (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Amergence-Group-Creates-iw-3411544565.html?x=0&.v=1), we are extremely excited to be working with Brian Cook and AO Licensing. I believe that the combination of our resources will produce a huge winner for both Amergence, their shareholders, and Altitude Organic.”
Read the rest here
via NBC News-Washington
By KRISTON CAPPS
When the District’s medical marijuana regulations go into effect next year, legislators from states mulling similar bills around the nation will be looking to D.C. as an example. Will they find a solution that will serve conservative constituencies as in Alabama and Tennessee — two states considering passing their own medical marijuana legislation — or will they find a system prone to abuse?
At a superficial glance, the draft regulations that make the District’s liquor board responsible for producing and distributing medical cannabis suggest a lenient or recreational atmosphere for D.C. In fact, the city’s severe marijuana laws don’t leave a lot of room for abuse — and may exclude patients in need.
The Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis takes a first stab at the draft regulations with a Saturday report on how the medical marijuana dispensaries will be licensed. DeBonis notes that the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will oversee the growth and distribution of medical marijuana and the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration will enforce it, according to draft rules released by the Fenty administration on Friday.
DeBonis talks to Wayne Turner, the co-author of Initiative 59, which was the medical marijuana initiative overwhelmingly approved by District voters in 1998 that was hamstrung by Congress after it passed. Turner takes a negative view on the role of the liquor board in regulating medical marijuana in D.C. So does At-Large D.C. Council member David Catania, who would prefer the D.C. Department of Health to run the program. (The health department is responsible for registering the D.C. patients who are eligible for medical cannabis.)
Read the rest here
via Salem News
Edited by Fred Garner, Review by Dr Phil Leveque Salem-News.com
(MOLALLA, Ore.) – This must be about the tenth year that this amazing publication has come out. I am lucky enough to have a copy of every edition. The writers are first in their classes starting with Dr. William O’Shaughnessy himself in 1838 and the California Medical Marijuana doctors have been like Battalion Scouts and Pointmen and I cannot state a better accolade. They were the first starting with Dr. Tod Mikuriya, the real guru to whom we all are greatly beholden.
New information in the present edition states that new strains of cannabis with high CBD, (cannabinodiol) are more effective for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, Nausea and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I already have patients using “regular cannabis” for these diseases.
Dr. Stacey Kerr in this edition writes an excellent list of classes of drugs from which cannabis is better. “Cannabis and cannabinoids represent an alternative to analgesics of all kinds, anti-anxiety, anti-depressants, anti-panic, anti-obsessive-compulsive; gastrointestinal agents including anti-spasmodics and anti-inflamatory medications; migraine preparations; anti-convulsants; appetite stimulants; immuno-modulators; muscle relaxants; multiple sclerosis management medications; glaucoma treatments; sedative and hypnotic agents; Tourette’s syndrome agents, and anti-cancer agents.
There is a wonderful compendium of published clinical research at: http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php”
Read the rest here
via Westword Latest Word
By Joel Warner, Tue., Aug. 10 2010 @ 6:40AM
On April 1, the U.S. patent office announced a new trademark: “Processed plant matter for medicinal purposes, namely medical marijuana.” The category was killed three months later when the Wall Street Journal asked about it, but in the meantime ganjapreneurs nationwide filed some very interesting pot trademarks — with some of the most colorful coming from Colorado.
At least 20 of the 151 or so applications filed for the new trademark came from Colorado — and there are likely more, filed by trademark lawyers and experts in other states working on behalf of Colorado entities. Some were from local dispensaries trying to protect their name, like the ReLeaf Center and Total Health Concepts. Others were for pot services such as Nug Source, an ad company. And then there were pot products, like “MountainMedibles,” a line of pot-infused edibles purportedly ranging from bagel chips and egg rolls to instant noodles and matzo, as well as “Dr. Canna Cola,” a name we assume speaks for itself.
Read the rest here
via Huffington Post | Gideon Pine First Posted: 08- 6-10 03:33 PM | Updated: 08- 6-10 03:33 PM
It may be legal to purchase medical marijuana with a prescription in 14 states, but is that pot tax-deductible as a medical expense?
Generally, it has not been considered tax-deductible due to its illegality under federal law, which guides the Internal Revenue Service’s policies.
But a recent letter from an IRS agent to one of Senator Chuck Schumer’s constituents raised questions and sparked hope among medical marijuana advocates that the federal policy had changed.
In response to a question about whether an unspecified herb used to treat migraines can be considered a medical expense, the IRS agent issued three prerequisites that qualify the purchase of an herb as a medical expense, according to a blog post by Paul Caron, a law professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, published with help from Roger McEowen, an agricultural law professor at Iowa State University, on TaxProf.com.
Read the rest here
via CBS News
Posted by Aina Hunter
Marijuana brownie (Mindmatrix/Flickr)
(CBS) Medical marijuana users may not have the option of taking a spoonful of sugar with their medicine if a new Senate bill makes it through the House.
Last Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that would double the penalties for people who sell drug-infused sweets.
The bill has garnered support from unexpected quarters. Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), says that “those who say marijuana is medicine had better be prepared to market it as such – and not as candy.”
Further, says St. Pierre, those who sell pot-infused brownies, cookies and other “medical edibles,” or “medibles,” have reason to be worried, because, in his opinion, the bill is written broadly enough to include them.
Read the rest here
via NY Daily News
BY Sean Alfano
If you live in Washington D.C., you’ll never be too broke to buy pot.
That is, of course, if you need marijuana for medical purposes, according to a law passed earlier in the year.
The law provides medical marijuana at a discount for the city’s poor residents.
But who exactly is qualified to receive the cheaper pot, along with the price of the drugs, remains up in the air.
The city is expected give some answers about the law in a report Friday, but patients won’t be able to buy medical marijuana until 2011, the Associated Press reports.
Fourteen states have laws legalizing medical marijuana, but D.C.’s is the first to offer the drug at a discount.
City officials tell AP an ounce of pot from a sanctioned dispensary could run $350. Police data suggest buying illegal marijuana costs between $100 and $140.
Read the rest here
via Wall Street Journal
By Ashby Jones
Here’s an interesting dilemma. You’re a human-resources manager at a company in a state that has a law allowing the use of medical marijuana in certain situations. You find out that one of your employees is using marijuana to treat a chronic medical problem, in violation of your company’s drug policy.
What should you do?
A story out on Tuesday by WSJ reporter Stephanie Simon suggests the following: consult your lawyer (but don’t be surprised if it takes a while for that lawyer to figure out the answer).
On the one hand, reports Simon, employers can fire, or refuse to hire, employees for using marijuana without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act or any other federal anti-discrimination statute.
But state law is a bit less settled. The state Supreme Courts in Oregon, California and Montana and the Washington Court of Appeals have all ruled that employers have a right to fire medical-marijuana patients for using the drug. The medical-marijuana laws in Rhode Island and Maine state that most employers may not penalize individuals solely because of their status as marijuana patients.
Simon reports that many employers are closely watching a suit against Wal-Mart in Michigan in which an employee who used medical marijuana was fired by the retailer after a positive drug test on the job.
Read the rest here
Via NBC Montana
By Heidi Meili
MISSOULA, Mont. — Medical marijuana is now allowed in airport terminals.Medical marijuana patients report no problems as they boarded with carry-on luggage and cannabis plants.Under the new regulations, patients can fly with their cannabis.They can even change planes in states where it’s illegal.The TSA told us state laws supersede what it would do in the aviation secor and it would be up to the local law enforcement officials to determine the action they would take based on whatever the person was trying to bring on board an aircraft.There are restrictions. The final destination must be medical marijuana friendly, and passengers in possession can’t leave the terminal in states that haven’t legalized it.
via Westword Latest Word
By Michael Roberts, Thu., Aug. 5 2010 @ 11:55AM
This week’s marijuana-cultivation arrest of Broomfield’s Johnny Jones wasn’t an isolated incident. According to Commander Jerry Peters of the North Metro Task Force, which assisted on the Jones bust, illegal marijuana seizures are up 380 percent from 2009 — and he believes surplus medical marijuana is helping to fuel a growing pot black market.
These revelations were prompted by a conversation about an I-News Network investigation arguing that “thousands of pounds of surplus marijuana” grown as MMJ is finding its way into the illegal marketplace due to a loophole in state law.
Does the measure need to be tightened? Peters, who’s long maintained that drug dealers are taking advantage of the medical marijuana industry, isn’t sure that’d help.
“I don’t necessarily like the law the way it is anyway,” he concedes. “I think this effect will be there no matter what happens.”
In his view, “the production of each plant, and how to verify that when you’re trying to regulate this as a business, is problematic. You don’t necessarily have an opportunity at the point of cultivation for someone to do an inspection to find out how much a plant is yielding. It’s kind of difficult to say this plant will yield two ounces, or three ounces, or a pound. And each yield is different depending on the grow cycle as well.
Read the rest here
Who is this guy?!
via Denver Daily News
Gene Davis, DDN Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
David Kilroy of Grasshopper Alternative Medicine shows off the applications his business had to fill out for their state licenses
The medical marijuana industry is bringing green to Colorado.
The state made $7.34 million in fees from the more than 700 dispensary owners who applied for their state license by the state-set Aug. 1 deadline. The state also received approximately 1,300 license applications for growing operations or related medical marijuana businesses.
“This outpouring of applications is another sign of how willing and eager marijuana business owners are to be taxed, regulated and given equal treatment to other legitimate establishments,” said a statement from Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “By sensibly regulating its medical marijuana industry, Colorado stands to gain untold millions in new revenue while at the same time providing legal clarity and rational oversight to what may soon be the largest regulated marijuana market in the world.”
Under a bill Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law in June, medical marijuana businesses must have a city and state license to operate. Aug. 1 marked the deadline for businesses to apply for their state license before a moratorium goes into effect; the city license application deadline was July 1.
Approximately 400 of the 1,100 pre-existing dispensaries did not apply for a state license. Lawmakers had predicted that more dispensaries Ń about half Ń would not apply for the license.
Read the rest here
