Medical Marijuana in the News: Week of 2/2

ASA's Summary of Medical Marijuana Media: Week ending 2/2/07
a.. MINNESOTA: State Considers Cannabis Measure
b.. MONTANA: Lawmakers Asked to Expand Patient Protections
c.. WASHINGTON: Technicality Convicts Patient
d.. HAWAII: Fed’s Pressure Gives Lie to Government Denials
e.. COLORADO: Prosecutor Spies on Medical Cannabis Legal Training
f.. CALIFORNIA: Police Refuse Order to Return Patient’s Cannabis
g.. CALIFORNIA: Dispensary Regulation Issues
h.. CALIFORNIA: ID Card Cost Increase Rippling Across State
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MINNESOTA: State Considers Cannabis Measure
Every legislative session finds more state legislatures considering or
revisiting medical cannabis measures. Minnesotans may soon be able to
legally use the cannabis their doctors are recommending, if a group of
lawmakers there have their way.



Healthy weed: Lawmakers aim to pass medical marijuana bill
by Brian Voerding, Winona Daily News
State Sen. Steve Murphy and other Minnesota lawmakers are making another run
at passing a medical marijuana bill.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4090

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MONTANA: Lawmakers Asked to Expand Patient Protections
As is the case in every state that has enacted a medical cannabis law, once
the initial measure is passed, the state must figure out how to implement
access for patients. Limitations of the law can become apparent quickly.
Montana lawmakers were being asked to expand the law there to allow more
patients the right to follow their doctors advice, but tabled the issue.



Supporters of medical marijuana want changes to the law
by Matt Gouras, Associated Press, Great Falls Tribune (MT)
The state’s 2004 medical marijuana law needs to be changed to let patients
grow more plants and posses more marijuana, a key supporter says.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4098



Medical marijuana supporters seek program changes
by Mike Dennison, The Missoulan (MT)
It's been two years since Montana voters approved “medical marijuana” use by
people with debilitating diseases, and some 280 people are signed up to use
the drug.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4102



Medical marijuana bill tabled by panel
by Associated Press, Billings Gazette
A plan to expand the state's 2004 medical marijuana law was shelved in
committee Tuesday.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4093

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WASHINGTON: Technicality Convicts Patient

A California doctor’s recommendation was not enough to keep a Hayward,
California woman from being convicted in a Washington state court. But
support organized by ASA’s campaign coordinator, Damon Agnos, at least
helped make sure she will do no jail time.



Medical Marijuana Users Need Protection
by Damon Agnos, OpEd, The Spokesman-Review
If we want to make sure that Washington's medical marijuana law does what it
was intended to do - that is, to protect patients and caregivers from
unnecessary and cruel prosecution - we need to make some changes. The law
needs to be clarified so that those who follow the rules can avoid arrest,
not just conviction. As it stands, the law provides only a defense at trial.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4119



Woman sentenced to 60-day house arrest in pot case
by Gene Johnson, Associated Press
A Hayward woman and medical marijuana patient who lost her case before the
Washington state Supreme Court last fall was sentenced Thursday to 60 days
of home confinement after her lawyers argued that she was too sick to spend
any time in jail.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4100

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HAWAII: Fed’s Pressure Gives Lie to Government Denials
The federal government’s continued insistence that there is no such thing as
medical marijuana makes bizarre the concerns of a federal prosecutor in
Hawaii, who is asking sate officials to institute new regulations for how
that state is implementing its medical marijuana law. In the past year,
federal officials have been trying to have it both ways: insisting that
there are no medical uses yet also questioning compliance with state laws.



Medical Marijuana Laws Under Fire
KITV - Honolulu
The Hawaii law that allows marijuana for medical use has come under attack
again from Hawaii's top federal prosecutor.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4103



Federal officials ask state to tighten medical marijuana law
Associated Press
Federal officials want Hawaii to conduct background checks on those
certified to supply medical marijuana to patients, saying the state must
close loopholes being exploited by drug dealers.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4101

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COLORADO: Prosecutor Spies on Medical Cannabis Legal Training
The defense attorney who heads the Colorado campaign for safe access had a
prosecutor try to get an inside look at defense strategies. Winning shouldn’
t be everything when the health and welfare of community members is at
stake.



A cannabis defense attorney claims the Larimer D.A. has stolen the state
medical marijuana movement’s legal playbook
by Joshua Zaffos, Rocky Mountain Chronicle
Brian Vicente was about halfway through schooling a roomful of defense
lawyers on how to represent medical marijuana patients, when "there was a
ruckus of some sort,'" says Vicente. "After the talk, [one of the attorneys]
said, ‘There was a prosecutor in here spying and we had to kick him out.'
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4105

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CALIFORNIA: Police Refuse Order to Return Patient’s Cannabis
ASA’s return of property campaign has helped patients around the state
reclaim medical cannabis lost to law enforcement seizure. Currently, ASA is
representing patients in appellate cases that promise to clarify to
officials that right of qualified patients to use and possess cannabis also
means the right to get it back when law enforcement takes it.



No new hearing on judge's pot-returning ruling
by Jeremy Hay, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
A judge Wednesday said he wouldn't hold an early hearing to reconsider his
Jan. 17 order that the Santa Rosa Police Department return marijuana to a
man whom prosecutors agreed was a medical marijuana patient and caregiver.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4108



Santa Rosa police refuse to release medical marijuana
by Associated Press, Mercury News (CA)
Police officers who refused to return 18 pounds of marijuana to a man who
used it as medicine could be held in contempt of court for disobeying a
Sonoma County judge.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4097

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CALIFORNIA: Dispensary Regulation Issues

Medical cannabis is a local story across the state as communities consider
how best to implement safe access. ASA’s study of dispensary ordinances
found that officials report success with regulating dispensaries and say
they have balanced community concerns and patient needs. You can find out
more about the report and download a copy at
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3676.



Riding high: The number of medical marijuana outlets spikes,
by Deborah Crowe, Los Angeles Business Journal
With little fanfare until this month, Los Angeles County has quietly become
the country’s capital of medical marijuana. “Los Angeles has had a
significant growth in the number dispensaries recently, but remember that
this is the second largest (metropolitan area) in the U.S.,” said William
Dolphin, of the Oakland-based pro-medical marijuana group Americans for Safe
Access.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4106



Pot Clubs in Peril
by Greg Beato, Reason Online
“I take medical marijuana for severe chronic pain from a neck injury,” says
Sherer. Before founding Americans for Safe Access, the 30-year-old Sherer
worked as an activist and organizer on campaigns involving globalization,
social justice, and various other progressive causes. Then she suffered a
neck injury that left her in chronic pain and her career path shifted.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4107



Pot clubs OK'd in urban areas
by Bleys W. Rose, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Sonoma County supervisors will allow medical marijuana clubs to locate in
urban areas of the unincorporated county, overriding the objections of its
top law enforcement officer.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4110



Business booms at Santa Cruz's pot shops
by Shanna McCord, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Business is brisk at Greenway Compassion Inc. The pot shop has a steady
stream of customers and few of the problems some neighbors anticipated
before the store opened a year and a half ago.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4091



Sebastopol to study rules for pot clubs
by Katy Hillenmeyer, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
With Sebastopol's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries expiring in
April, the City Council will take up next month a proposed ordinance to
regulate the facilities. ``We appreciate ... that localities like Sebastopol
are grappling with these issues and choose to regulate, as opposed to either
ignoring the challenge or banning dispensaries,'' said Kris Hermes, legal
campaign director for Americans for Safe Access, a national advocacy group
based in Oakland.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4109



Tracy pot club facing closure
by Mike Martinez, The Daily Review (CA)
An arbitrator has ordered a medical marijuana dispensary that opened more
than two months ago to close by Feb. 9.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4092



Tentative approval of medical pot dispensary ordinance in Sonoma
by Bay City News, CBS 5 - TV
Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors approved by a 5-0 straw vote this
afternoon a proposed ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries in
unincorporated areas of the county. A final vote is scheduled for March 20.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4095



Legal move by Inland town targets medical pot facility
by Laura Rico, Press-Enterprise (CA)
The city has asked a judge to immediately close a medical marijuana
dispensary in Old Town.
http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4094

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CALIFORNIA: ID Card Cost Increase Rippling Across State

Counties are one by one giving the bad news to patients wanting to
participate in the state’s voluntary medical cannabis ID card system. The
hefty fee hike is like to further discourage patients. Subsidizing it would
likely save money, since the cards help law enforcement avoid unnecessary
arrests, citations and seizures.



Riverside to up fee for medical marijuana ID to $220
by K. Kaufmann, The Desert Sun (CA)
The cost for medical marijuana identification cards in Riverside County will
jump from $100 to $220, but not until July 1.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4099





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MORE NEWS: See ASA's Website

News stories and archives of the weekly news summaries are available on
ASA's website, http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org. For previous summaries, see
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=122.