Medical Marijuana Update

A petition calling on President Obama to fire the DEA head keeps getting more signatures, the Florida medical marijuana initiative is halfway home on signature gathering, a New Jersey school becomes the first in the country to allow medical marijuana on campus, and more. 

Last Friday, a petition to fire the DEA head for calling medical marijuana "a joke" had 16,000 signatures. People so inclined can add theirs here. Actually, the petition now has some 27,000 signatures, having gained 11,000 more since the linked story was published yesterday.

By Monday, the petition had more than 80,000 signatures. Uh, make that 83,044 signatures at latest count. DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg is still getting heat over his statement that medical marijuana is "a joke." It's just his latest comment suggesting the nation's top drug cop is not that well-informed in his subject area.

California

Last Tuesday, the Newport Beach city council gave first approval to a medical marijuana ban. The council voted unanimously to approve the first reading of the ordinance, which will ban the cultivation, processing, distribution, and even delivery of medical marijuana. The city is acting to avoid losing licensing and regulatory authority under the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which was signed into law last month. The law says that if localities fail to enact rules or bans by year's end, the state will have sole licensing and regulatory authority there.

Florida

Last Friday, the state Supreme Court canceled its medical marijuana initiative hearing. Backers of a 2016 medical marijuana initiative have just seen one obstacle removed from their path. After Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) announced she would ask the high court to block the initiative, the state Supreme Court has canceled a hearing on it set for December 8. The initiative from United for Care is already well-advanced in the signature gathering process. A similar initiative failed last year with 58% of the vote—60% was needed because it was a constitutional amendment.

As of Monday, the medical marijuana initiative had nearly half the necessary signatures. The initiative from United for Care has already gathered 342,582 valid voter signatures. That puts it half-way to the 683,179 valid voter signatures to place the initiative on the November 2016 ballot. Petitioners have until February to get the rest of the signatures.

Illinois

ByMonday, more than $200,000 worth of medical marijuana had been sold in the state's first week of sales. Only a handful of dispensaries are open in the state, but they took in $211,000 in sales after opening last Monday. The medi-weed was selling for around $450 an ounce, or $16 a gram.

Maryland

Large Number of Applicants Will Delay Maryland Program. Nearly 900 people have applied to grow or sell medical marijuana in the state, and that is going to delay the program's rollout, Hannah Byron, the executive director of the state's medical marijuana commission said Thursday. She said the commission will extend the application period and revise the timeline, which had originally anticipated the first stage of the application review would be done by January.

Missouri

As of last Friday, Kansas City hospitals were denying cannabis oil to epileptic patients. That's Kansas City, Missouri. The state passed a law last year allowing for such use, but no hospitals in the Kansas City area will allow their doctors to write a recommendation. The hospitals cite lack of standardized dosages for children and concerns about side-effects and interactions with other medications. Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City will start a study on cannabis oil for epileptic patients next year, but has no plans to widely recommend it. On the other side of the state, the Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center in St. Louis does allow doctors to write recommendations.

New Jersey

Last Wednesday,a Garden State school became the first in the nation to permit medical marijuana on campus. The Larc School in Bellmawr Wednesday night adopted a policy allowing a teenage girl with autism and epilepsy to consume medical marijuana edibles while at school. The move comes just two days after Gov. Chris Christie (R) signed into law a bill requiring school districts to adopt such policies.