Marijuana 420 News from Marijuana420.net

The Oregonian Editorial Board denigrated not only the supporters of Measure 74 but also all medical marijuana patients with its recent editorial on medical marijuana.

The editorial board purports to know the intentions of the supporters of the measure as well as the medical condition of all 36,000 medical marijuana patients. The board contends that all those who support the initiative, which would establish a nonprofit dispensary program, are really only interested in legalization of marijuana for adults and that the 32,614 medical marijuana patients who list "severe pain" as one of their qualifying conditions aren't really patients. No, they must be considered less worthy than patients who use pharmaceutical narcotics like OxyContin and Percocet. They must be stigmatized within quotations, as "patients." And so, the board reasons, Measure 74 should be dismissed on its face.

A coalition of prosecutors, judges, cops, students, bloggers, and political operatives has launched a campaign to end marijuana prohibition, focusing on ballot initiatives in 2010 and 2012, reports th Huffington Post. The campaign, “Just Say Now,” gets its name from Nancy Reagan’s iconic anti-drug slogan from the 1980s that has become synonymous with the fedeal government’s approach to drug policy. The campaign will be backing marijuana initiatives in 2010 in Arizona, Oregon, California, Colorado, and South Dakota. The group will back initiatives in Nevada and elsewhere in 2012.

It may be legal to purchase medical marijuana with a prescription in 14 states, but is that pot tax-deductible as a medical expense?

Generally, it has not been considered tax-deductible due to its illegality under federal law, which guides the Internal Revenue Service's policies.

But a recent letter from an IRS agent to one of Senator Chuck Schumer's constituents raised questions and sparked hope among medical marijuana advocates that the federal policy had changed.

If you live in Washington D.C., you'll never be too broke to buy pot.

That is, of course, if you need marijuana for medical purposes, according to a law passed earlier in the year.

The law provides medical marijuana at a discount for the city's poor residents.

But who exactly is qualified to receive the cheaper pot, along with the price of the drugs, remains up in the air.

A poll released today by the Cornell University Survey Research Institute found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of New Yorkers are in favor of legalizing marijuana for medical use. The poll results are similar to a Quinnipiac poll in February that measured support at 71%.

Despite broad public support, medical marijuana legislation failed to pass either chamber of the New York legislature this year. For a dozen years, proponents have pushed medical marijuana bills, and twice the Assembly has approved them, only to see them die in the Senate.

Richmond city leaders will not wait until November after all to decide how to regulate marijuana dispensaries.

City attorneys are drafting an ordinance that would determine the number and locations of permitted pot clubs, among other provisions. It is scheduled to reach the City Council on Tuesday night.

That is earlier than planned. Officials initially wanted to hold off until after the November election to see if California voters will approve an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use for people 21 and older. But the council has now decided not to wait, in part because Richmond is dealing with uses other than for recreation.

Governor Christie and the legislature recently delayed the state’s medical marijuana law into 2011. Now it seems that the extra time was needed for New Jersey to orchestrate the first state and corporate takeover of a local medical cannabis industry.

Governor Christie’s amendment concept seems simple on the surface: Grow all the marijuana at one location and then distribute it at hospitals. But the proposal is fraught with a mountain of additional concerns that the current language of the law avoids.

Province metro affairs columnist Jon Ferry

Province metro affairs columnist Jon Ferry
Photograph by: File photo, The Province

If you're at all interested in the ongoing debate over pot legalization, look south right now to cash-starved California.

It's smoking hot there, with arguments being marshalled for and against Proposition 19, which would allow people 21 and over to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal use -- and let local governments regulate and tax commercial production of it.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Len Goodman can't grow enough marijuana to keep up with demand.

He is one of just 11 growers approved by New Mexico to produce pot for all of the state's 2,000 registered medical marijuana patients, and his customers routinely wipe out his supply. Once a strain of marijuana is harvested, dried and cured, he sends an announcement that patients can place orders, and the pot is usually gone in 24 hours.

New Mexico has been so cautious in licensing and regulating growers under its 3-year-old medical marijuana law that the small number of providers can't grow enough, creating a shortage that has forced some patients to the street to buy illegal drugs.

In a dramatic shift in public opinion, the latest poll on California's Proposition 19, which would legalize personal growth and possession of Marijuana, shows the initiative taking a slim lead with 50% of likely voters in support, 40% in opposition and 11% undecided.

This is the first poll to show a clear lead for the ballot issue and continues a remarkable trend where in the course of 3 months the poll ratings for the proposition have reversed from an early 89% opposition to this latest result showing broadening support.