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Medical Marijuana Update

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #1036)

The Justice Department is sitting on marijuana research applications, Congress refuses again to let VA docs recommend medical marijuana to vets, a bizarre Arizona appeals court ruling gets appealed, and more.

National

Senate Bill Would Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Brian Schatz (D-HA) last Wednesday filed the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, under which Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors could issue medical cannabis recommendations to veterans in states where it is legal. The bill is not yet available on the congressional web site.

Marijuana Research Applications Go Nowhere at Justice Department. The DEA began accepting applications from researchers seeking to grow marijuana two years ago, but as of this week, none of the applications have been responded to. Some two dozen applications have been left in limbo by the Justice Department, the DEA's parent agency, during the tenure of anti-marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Marijuana Research Bill Scheduled For Congressional Vote This Week. The House Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday on HR 5634, Rep. Matt Gaetz's Medical Cannabis Research Act. Gaetz says the bill will expand the amount of research-grade marijuana available to researchers, but drug reformers are calling foul over some provisions, including one that bars people with a felony or drug-related misdemeanor conviction from any affiliation with research cultivation operations and another that requires cultivators to get a letter of good standing from a local law enforcement agency. They argued that those provisions should be removed, but Gaetz doesn't look likely to do that.

Congress Removes Military Veteran Medical Marijuana Provision from Funding Bill. A conference committee working on final details for the Veterans Affairs appropriations bill has decided not to include a provision allowing VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to veterans. The Senate bill included the provision, but the House version did not. Two years ago, both houses passed VA spending bills that included versions of the provision, but that, too, was excised in conference committee.

Arizona

Arizona Patient Appeals Ruling That Edibles Are Illegal. Rodney Jones, who was convicted of possessing 0.05 ounces of hashish and sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison, is appealing a state Court of Appeals ruling that upheld his conviction. In that ruling, the appeals court held that hashish and edibles made from marijuana extracts are not covered by the state's medical marijuana law and their possession remains a crime. Jones spent a year behind bars awaiting trial and has since been released, but he still wants the conviction overturned and the appeals court's interpretation of the law thrown out.

Connecticut

Connecticut Federal Court Holds That Refusing To Hire Medical Marijuana User Constitutes Employment Discrimination. A federal court in Hartford held last Wednesday that refusing to hire a medical marijuana user who tested positive on a pre-employment drug test violates the state's medical marijuana law. Under the state's law, "[n]o employer may refuse to hire a person or may discharge, penalize or threaten an employee solely on the basis of such person's or employee's status as a qualifying patient."

Mississippi

Mississippi 2020 Initiative Drive Gets Underway. A group called Medical Marijuana 2020 plans to start collecting signatures for a medical marijuana constitutional amendment next week, according to state Rep. Joel Bomgar, a Republican who is on the group's steering committee. The initial draft of the initiative appears very business-friendly, with no caps on the number of dispensaries or processors.

New Mexico

New Mexico Health Secretary Rejects Medical Marijuana for Opioid Addiction. Department of Public Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher has rejected the idea of treating opioid addiction with medical marijuana, saying there isn't enough research to justify using it for addiction treatment. Her decision overrides the state's Cannabis Advisory Board, which recommended 5-1 that it be approved.

Utah

New Utah Poll Shows Continuing Support for Medical Marijuana Initiative. Despite the Church of Latter Day Saints coming out against the Proposition 2medical marijuana initiative, support for the measure remains strong, a new poll finds. The poll had 64% either "somewhat" or "strongly" in support of the measure.

[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visit MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

saynotohypocrisy (not verified)

What's the matter, 'Justice' Dept., you don't have enough blood on your hands already?

What will it take for the 90% of Americans who support MMJ to have their views obeyed by their supposed servants in DC? Maybe we need to start demanding that the overwhelming majority rules, not a very small, blatantly bigoted minority!

Thu, 09/13/2018 - 5:04pm Permalink
Dain Bramage (not verified)

In reply to by saynotohypocrisy (not verified)

I think, perhaps you mean "New Mexico?"  In any case, point taken.

Here is a poignant comment from the archives, and it bears repeating, so I have cut-and-pasted it in.  I do not know the commentor personally.  Here it is:

Hugh Yonn's picture

It is all about 'Big Pharma'

by Hugh Yonn, October 18, 2012, 04:45pm

I am not a doctor. I can only speak from personal experience.

Several years ago, I had surgery on my right shoulder. Pain medication was prescribed…”take one capsule every 4 hours.”

I took one capsule.
I was down for over 20 hours. When I came to, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. The next time I felt discomfort, I smoked a small amount of marijuana …pain gone, no after effect.

I threw the pills out.

That was the only prescription medication I have taken in the past 30 years. That one pill made me feel worse, both physically and mentally than anything I think I have ever encountered.

I watched over a course of 10 years what ‘prescription medication’ did to my Mom. And there was nothing I or my family could do to dissuade her. In her eyes, ‘her doctor’ was the ‘supreme being.’ The biggest pill pusher in Boca Raton, Florida.

My Mom killed herself in 1988. And, I will always believe her suicide was directly related to her ‘medication.’

I have no use, or love, for ‘big pharma.’
Looking back, had I have had a brain…and not been so indoctrinated as to the evils of marijuana, I would have offered it to my Mom. A lot of folks may scream and holler over this…but, I truly believe, with marijuana, I could have weaned her from the ‘medication’ that led to her death.

The bitch of the whole issue, is that now, many of these ‘medications’ list ‘suicide’ as a potential ‘side effect.’

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

After spending 5 years in Federal Prison for a marijuana offense, I wrote: Shoulda Robbed a Bank
Tales of Americans living free…and using marijuana in the pursuit of happiness…harming no one nor their property. 

Sat, 09/15/2018 - 5:03am Permalink
parisgirl (not verified)

Hey love all your comments! thankyou!! wake up the sheeple!!

Fri, 09/14/2018 - 2:01pm Permalink

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