Whereas last year marked the beginning of the great Green Rush in the United States -- thanks largely to President Obama's promise not to interfere with businesses complying with state medical marijuana laws -- the summer of 2010 is shaping up to be one of consolidation and entrenchment for the medical pot industry as numerous states tweak, fine-tune and argue over their various laws.
* In Colorado, dispensaries have another week to apply for local licenses, which are required when applying for a state license by Aug. 1. How to apply for the state license, or what it will cost, has yet to be worked out. So too does complying with another new law that requires dispensaries to grow 70 percent of their products. Generally, that rule appeals to one Boulder dispensary owner, who told his local newspaper that he always liked the idea of being "the store where you could come in and shake the hand of the farmer who grew your medicine," but being able to comply by the Sept. 1 deadline may be "humanly impossible," he added.
* In New Jersey, the state to most recently implement a medical marijuana law, one that many observers consider to be the most restrictive in the country because of its controls on distribution and its prohibition against patients growing their own medicine, legislators are considering a big change to its structure prior to the Oct. 1 implementation. Originally, the state allowed for six private entities to grow and distribute marijuana throughout the state; it's now considering giving the job to Rutgers University and/or the New Jersey Hospital Association. Lawmakers seem split on whether to make the change or not.
* Montana is the site of an all-out effort by marijuana opponents to overturn its 2004 law, which state Sen. Jim Shockley said is being abused by teenagers with headaches and others whose "medical need" for marijuana is dubious at best. Shockley proposes scrapping Montana's current law and adopting something new and, presumably, more finicky about who qualifies. In a recent letter to the editor of the Billings Gazette, Shockley wrote, "hard working prosecutors and policeman are simply frustrated. Anyone can obtain a medical marijuana card and anyone can grow the plant."
* California's push to fix its medical marijuana laws by simply legalizing marijuana across the board is attracting the support of unions, which have successfully organized some dispensary workers across the state. Oakland-based Communications Worker's of America Local 9415 endorsed the November ballot measure as a job-creator. Citing figures from NORML, the group estimated that a legal cannabis industry could created between 60,000-100,000 new jobs and $2.5 billion-$3.5 billion in new wages. CWA Local 9415 represents 1,700 members in California and Hawaii.
* And in an odd twist, Iowa might well be the 15th state to allow medical marijuana without anyone having known it until last week. In the wake of a survey there that showed 62 percent of Iowans are supportive of medical marijuana, lawmakers have found a dusty old law that already allows the state pharmacy board to add cannabis to the substances it regulates. Rather than expedite the discussion, the discovery brought it to a grinding halt -- the state legislature says the pharmacy board has the power to approve marijuana for sale and use within the state, but the board says it lacks the authority to set up a distribution system, create rules and guidelines and set criminal penalties for noncompliance. Those things can only come from politicians. Neither side seems willing to take responsibility for implementing the law. "What we have is a law that everybody claims they don't understand," said one medical marijuana advocate. "Then they expect people to be arrested and go to prison for using medicine while they argue about what it means."
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dscriber
Author: Greg Campbell
Contact: dscriber
Copyright: 2010 dscriber
Website: The medical marijuana industry's summer of change
* In Colorado, dispensaries have another week to apply for local licenses, which are required when applying for a state license by Aug. 1. How to apply for the state license, or what it will cost, has yet to be worked out. So too does complying with another new law that requires dispensaries to grow 70 percent of their products. Generally, that rule appeals to one Boulder dispensary owner, who told his local newspaper that he always liked the idea of being "the store where you could come in and shake the hand of the farmer who grew your medicine," but being able to comply by the Sept. 1 deadline may be "humanly impossible," he added.
* In New Jersey, the state to most recently implement a medical marijuana law, one that many observers consider to be the most restrictive in the country because of its controls on distribution and its prohibition against patients growing their own medicine, legislators are considering a big change to its structure prior to the Oct. 1 implementation. Originally, the state allowed for six private entities to grow and distribute marijuana throughout the state; it's now considering giving the job to Rutgers University and/or the New Jersey Hospital Association. Lawmakers seem split on whether to make the change or not.
* Montana is the site of an all-out effort by marijuana opponents to overturn its 2004 law, which state Sen. Jim Shockley said is being abused by teenagers with headaches and others whose "medical need" for marijuana is dubious at best. Shockley proposes scrapping Montana's current law and adopting something new and, presumably, more finicky about who qualifies. In a recent letter to the editor of the Billings Gazette, Shockley wrote, "hard working prosecutors and policeman are simply frustrated. Anyone can obtain a medical marijuana card and anyone can grow the plant."
* California's push to fix its medical marijuana laws by simply legalizing marijuana across the board is attracting the support of unions, which have successfully organized some dispensary workers across the state. Oakland-based Communications Worker's of America Local 9415 endorsed the November ballot measure as a job-creator. Citing figures from NORML, the group estimated that a legal cannabis industry could created between 60,000-100,000 new jobs and $2.5 billion-$3.5 billion in new wages. CWA Local 9415 represents 1,700 members in California and Hawaii.
* And in an odd twist, Iowa might well be the 15th state to allow medical marijuana without anyone having known it until last week. In the wake of a survey there that showed 62 percent of Iowans are supportive of medical marijuana, lawmakers have found a dusty old law that already allows the state pharmacy board to add cannabis to the substances it regulates. Rather than expedite the discussion, the discovery brought it to a grinding halt -- the state legislature says the pharmacy board has the power to approve marijuana for sale and use within the state, but the board says it lacks the authority to set up a distribution system, create rules and guidelines and set criminal penalties for noncompliance. Those things can only come from politicians. Neither side seems willing to take responsibility for implementing the law. "What we have is a law that everybody claims they don't understand," said one medical marijuana advocate. "Then they expect people to be arrested and go to prison for using medicine while they argue about what it means."
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: dscriber
Author: Greg Campbell
Contact: dscriber
Copyright: 2010 dscriber
Website: The medical marijuana industry's summer of change
