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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.”
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
