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Medical Marijuana

One Toke Over the Line: The Assertion That Prop. 19 Is Contributing to a Rise in Teenage Marijuana Use is Unfounded (Editorial)

The Los Angeles Times editorial board says that Gil Kerlikowske should have checked such sources as the Congressional Research Service before jumping to conclusions. An April report, issued to advise Congress on whether to loosen federal restrictions on medical marijuana, examined studies comparing teen pot smoking in states with and without medical marijuana laws and found no connection between such laws and drug use. "Concerns that medical cannabis laws send the wrong message to vulnerable groups such as adolescents seem to be unfounded," it stated. They also note that there's little evidence that continued criminalization has discouraged teen drug use, but better education might.

Bloomfield Township Sued Over 'Unconstitutional' Medical Marijuana Ordinances

Two Oakland County attorneys filed a lawsuit against Bloomfield Township in an attempt to overturn local medical marijuana ordinances they say conflict with state law and make it too difficult for a registered patient to use the drug. It's the latest medical marijuana challenge in Oakland County, which has become home to a number of lawsuits and criminal cases that could shape interpretation and application of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act of 2008 for years to come.
The State Senate steps up to protect the medical marijuana law. (image from wikimedia.com)
The State Senate steps up to protect the medical marijuana law. (image from wikimedia.com)

NJ Senate Demands Governor Fix Medical Marijuana Regulations

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie claims to support medical marijuana, but has acted first to delay the law there, then to subvert it through the regulatory process. Now, the state Senate has told him to get real.

High Fees Hobble California Medical Marijuana ID Card Program

California, by some estimates, has as many as 350,000 medical marijuana patients -- yet only a tiny fraction has signed on to a state ID card program meant to protect them from arrest or seizure of their medicine. That doesn't appear likely to change, say marijuana advocates, patients and some county health officials who administer the program locally, as the cost of the cards can't compete with privately issued cards or even doctors' recommendations. When the state created the program in 2003 and launched it two years later, officials figured 100,000 patients would sign on for the optional cards, but the state issued just 12,659 to patients and caregivers last fiscal year.

Arizona Medical Marijuana Act Goes Into Effect Today

Prop. 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, goes into effect today. This means the state health department has until April 16 to finish its rule-making process, two weeks more than it had expected. The Arizona Department of Health Services will publish the first draft of its rules Friday, kicking off a public-comment period.

Washington State Tries to Collect Medical Marijuana Sales Tax

The Washington Department of Revenue has launched a statewide effort to collect sales tax from medical marijuana dispensaries - even as some prosecutors and the Health Department maintain such dispensaries are illegal. Spokesman Mike Gowrylow said that the Revenue Department mailed letters to 90 dispensaries and related organizations on Friday, insisting that medical marijuana is not exempt from state sales tax and that dispensaries must collect that money and turn it over to the state. The letter said dispensaries must also pay the state business and occupation tax.

MarijuanaDoctors.com Announces Innovative New Features for the Medical Marijuana Industry (Press Release)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2010

CONTACT: 1-888-392-9772

MarijuanaDoctors.com Announces Innovative New Features for the Medical Marijuana Industry

Nation’s largest network of marijuana doctors rolls out new features and functionality to help patients get safe and legal access to medical cannabis in all legal states

MarijuanaDoctors.com -- the medical marijuana industry’s first online search and booking platform for medical marijuana evaluations—today announced the addition of innovative new features to its website. MarijuanaDoctors.com connects patients with the highest quality network of medical marijuana doctors in the industry, and now also offers new services that streamline and secure the process of gaining legal access to medical cannabis and help physicians expand their practices to serve this growing medical need.

Key New features of MarijuanaDoctors.com’s Latest Release:

    *     Patient Pre-Qualification System: MarijuanaDoctors.com prequalifies patients based on the specific guidelines of each state prior to their marijuana evaluation appointments, ensuring that the doctors in its network only see patients that are qualified to become medical marijuana patients in that state.
    *     24-Hour Patient Verification: MarijuanaDoctors.com now offers verification services round the clock to verify patients’ status as a qualified and legal medical marijuana patient. This service is essential for patients and saves time and money for physicians by eliminating the need to hire their own staff to handle verifications of their patients’ recommendations.
    *     See Your Own Doctor: MarijuanaDoctors.com now offers “do it yourself” packages that empower patients with the information and resources needed to obtain medical marijuana recommendations from their primary care physicians. These packages include the patient’s prequalification data from the site’s prequalification system, state-specific legal information for the physicians, a pre-filled stat-specific recommendation letter, and more.
    *     Recommendation Letter Generator: MarijaunaDoctors.com provides state-compliant, pre-filled recommendation letters for physicians to easily print and sign for each of their patients. This system is available in all twelve states where recommendation letter guidelines exist.

“Our goal has always been to legitimize the medical marijuana industry, and these new features and functionalities will help streamline the process for patients to get safe, legal access to the medicine they need,” said Jason Draizin, CEO of MarijuanaDoctors.com. “Each medical marijuana state has set up a system for patients to qualify for cannabis, and we have developed services to simplify that process for physicians, which ultimately helps the patients and helps add a new revenue stream for professionals in the ever-diminishing medical industry.”

MarijuanaDoctors.com offers monthly subscriptions to physicians that are looking to expand their practices into the promising medical marijuana industry. Thousands of patients in every medical marijuana state turn to MarijuanaDoctors.com every month for quality physicians who recommend medical cannabis to their patients. The company holds high standards for the doctors allowed to join the site, and individually verifies each medical marijuana clinic and physician in its network.

About MarijuanaDoctors.com

MarijuanaDoctors.com was founded to act as the trusted gateway for patients searching for medical marijuana treatment in all legal medical marijuana states. MarijuanaDoctors.com supplies patients with the latest medical marijuana information and provides detailed physician profile and schedule information—giving patients full visibility into the process of obtaining medical marijuana. Patients can browse, rate and review medical marijuana doctors, or learn how to obtain a medical marijuana card.

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New Jersey State Senate Passes Resolution Invalidating Medical Marijuana Regulations (Press Release)

DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE

www.drugpolicy.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13, 2010                                   

CONTACT: Roseanne Scotti 609-610-8243                                                                    

New Jersey State Senate Passes Resolution Invalidating Medical Marijuana Regulations

Department of Health and Senior Services Now Has Thirty Days to Rewrite Regulations

Patients and Advocates Urge Health Department to Act Quickly So Program Can Move Forward

Trenton, NJ— Today, the New Jersey State Senate passed a resolution invalidating the Christie Administration’s regulations for implementing the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.  The Department of Health and Senior Services now has thirty days to rewrite the regulations to make them comport with the original legislation.  The New Jersey State Assembly passed the resolution on November 22nd.

The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was signed into law on January 11th by outgoing Governor Jon Corzine. The Christie Administration released its draft regulations in October, but legislative sponsors, patients and advocates have criticized the regulations for conflicting with the original law and being so restrictive that they make the program unworkable.  In light of the vote, patients and advocates urge the Christie Administration to move quickly to make changes to the regulations and get the program up and running.

“We urge the Department to move swiftly to change the problematic sections of the regulations,” said Roseanne Scotti, Director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, which spearheaded the effort to pass the legislation.  “We are approaching the one year anniversary of the bill becoming law and patients are still suffering and still no closer to having safe and legal access to their medicine.”

“I’m tired of fighting for what I deserve,” said Diane Riportella, who suffers from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  “I don’t have much time left and want to see this program started before I’m no longer here.” 

The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was passed after five years of intense advocacy by patients, families and a coalition of medical and professional organization.  The Act will allow patients suffering from certain debilitating and life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis to use and possess medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.  The bill will also allow for the licensing of Alternative Treatment Centers where qualifying patients could safely access medical marijuana.  The program will be administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. The Act is the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the nation.

The Senate resolution addresses four specific provisions in the regulations:

·         The requirement all qualifying medical conditions for which a patient may get medical marijuana be resistant to conventional medical therapy.  In the original legislation only certain medical conditions were required to meet this threshold.

·         The limit of two Alternative Treatment Centers that will grow medical marijuana and four that will dispense marijuana.  The original bill called for at least two Alternative Treatment Centers in the north, central and southern parts of the state.

·         The draft regulations’ arbitrary limit on the permissible levels of THC the medical marijuana may contain.  There was no such restriction in the original bill.

·         The two year waiting period mandated by the regulations before patients can petition to have new conditions added to the list of conditions for which medical marijuana can be accessed.  No such waiting period was included in the original legislation.

The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act is supported by a coalition of organizations including the Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians, the New Jersey League for Nursing, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the New Jersey chapters of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Faith is Our Pathway, and the New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. 

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