The Louisiana State Bar goes where the state legislature wouldn't, the Florida medical marijuana initiative gets a big cash donation, the CDC issues an eye-opening report on opioid prescribing, some Vancouverites celebrate Canada Day with an illegal open marijuana market, and more. Let's get to it:
Iowa State NORML Sues School Over Ban on Use of Marijuana Image [22]. ISU NORML yesterday filed a lawsuit against the university charging that administrators violated its First Amendment rights by blocking the group from using the university's mascot on their t-shirts because the t-shirts also included a marijuana leaf. The "overbroad" trademark decision effectively censors the group's goal of "challenging the orthodoxy that marijuana use should be prohibited." The university initially approved the design, but withdrew approval after getting negative feedback from the public.
Louisiana State Bar Backs Marijuana Reform [23]. The Louisiana State Bar Association has approved a resolution backing efforts to classify simple possession of marijuana as a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. An effort to pass a similar bill failed this year in the state legislature.
Medical Marijuana
John Morgan Kicks in Another $4 Million for Florida Initiative [24]. Prominent Florida attorney and Amendment 2 [25] initiative backer John Morgan has contributed another $4 million of his own money to ensure the medical marijuana initiative wins in November. Because the initiative is a constitutional amendment, it needs 60% of the vote to pass.
New Jersey Legislator Files Medical Marijuana Fix Bill [26]. Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) has filed a bill to fix the state's medical marijuana program, which she describes as "broken." The bill would allow patients to grow their own supplies, remove caps on the number of dispensaries, expand the list of qualifying diseases, and remove some of the law's most rigid provisions. The bill is not yet available on the legislature's web site.
High Support for Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania Poll [27]. The latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll [28] has support for medical marijuana at 84% in the Keystone State. That's up three points over the same poll six months ago, and up eight points from eight years ago. A medical marijuana bill is currently pending in the state Senate.
In Massachusetts, No Tax on Medical Marijuana -- Yet [29]. Legislators in Boston Tuesday voted not to approve taxes on medical marijuana, but instead to send the proposal to study, which generally means it's dead. The vote came in the Revenue Committee.
Prescription Drugs
New CDC Report on Opioid Prescribing [30]. A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, Opioid Painkiller Prescribing: Where You Live Makes a Difference [30], finds that Americans were prescribed 259 million bottles of opioid pain relievers in 2012, but that there is great regional variety in levels of pain reliever prescribing. Doctors in Alabama, for example, wrote opioid prescriptions at a rate three times higher than those in Hawaii. The highest prescribing rates are generally in the Deep South and the Appalachian Midwest. Forty-six people die every day from prescription opioid overdoses, but efforts to restrict access to opioids in some states have managed to lower deaths. The report did not address the the possible impact of such restrictions on undertreatment of pain.
International
Australian Octogenarian Drug Reformer Named Victorian of the Year [31]. Professor David Penington, 84, who has called for marijuana and ecstasy to be legalized and who heads a committee advising the Victoria state government on drug policies, has been named Victorian of the Year at a national ceremony in Melbourne. "At the age of 84 I was really looking forward to genteel disappearance from the scene," he said, adding that he would use his new honor to continue to push for drug refom. "The reality is that prohibition just hasn't worked for 100 years and the problems are getting worse," Professor Penington said. "We've got to find better ways to handle illicit drugs."
Canada Day Marijuana Street Market in Vancouver Goes Unimpeded [32]. As our northern neighbor celebrated its national holiday yesterday, a street market outside the Vancouver Art Gallery offered up hash brownies and fudge, as well as dime bags and joints of BC bud, despite such acts being illegal. Vendors said the market was a protest "to legalize marijuana." A Vancouver police officer watching the scene from his bicycle said he was there in case anyone needed help, but that police would not stop anyone from selling marijuana.