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Friday, 23 July 2010 00:00 |
 Some medical marijuana patients are feeling anxious after recent incidents in which other patients have been targeted by thieves.
“I think some are cautious, because they’re aware of potential problems. I wouldn’t call it an environment of fear, but there’s some degree of risk involved for them,” said Lt. Mike Cook of the Petaluma Police Department.
One medical marijuana victim, a resident in the area of Olive and I streets, had marijuana stolen from him by a man armed with a handgun on May 10. The incident prompted a lock-down of nearly McNear Elementary School as about a dozen police cars raced to the scene, and officers pointed rifles at the home.
The suspect — described as a white man in his 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and with a thin build — already had fled, though.
“And we never were able to find him,” Cook said.
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Thursday, 22 July 2010 00:00 |
 Pot in a pill? Not quite. But cancer patients desperate for relief from the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy are increasingly turning toward synthetic cannabinoids.
And that's good news for the Montreal facility that manufactures Cesamet, a drug that replicates the active ingredient in marijuana.
In a decision last week by the Food and Drug Administration, Cesamet was approved for sale in the U.S., about 25 years after it was first authorized in Canada.
The drug is made almost exclusively in Ville St. Laurent by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa, Calif. (although it's also produced by a different company in Britain).
Thomas Schlader, Valeant's general manager in Montreal, says FDA approval means the plant can gear up to serve the large potential market in the United States.
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 00:00 |
 Maine's new network of medical marijuana dispensaries is expected to make the drug more accessible to disabled and ill patients.
Making it affordable may be another matter, however.
While the dispensaries are state-licensed nonprofits, most plan to charge virtually the same prices as illegal dealers charge on the street -- from $300 to $400 an ounce. At those prices, a typical patient with cancer or multiple sclerosis might spend $500 to $600 or more each month to relieve their symptoms with medication that is not covered by insurance.
"I think $300 and $350 is way too much for a weed that can grow outside," said Andrea DiAnni, a southern Maine resident who uses medical marijuana to treat nausea and pain from a chronic illness. "I know what it's like to have to go without medication (because) there were times I couldn't afford it."
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 00:00 |
 Redding could join a host of California cities considering a tax on marijuana.
Vice Mayor Missy McArthur has asked her fellow City Council members to discuss the idea Tuesday of taxing medical cannabis sales at the city’s 19 permitted collectives.
McArthur said she wants Redding to be ready with a local tax in case voters approve Proposition 19 on Nov. 19. The measure would legalize marijuana cultivation and possession, and allow local government to tax commercial marijuana production and sales.
“I’m not pro-tax, but whenever you are doing something for your health, society has to pay for those things,” McArthur said. “Taxes on medical marijuana are like having taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.”
The city already charges cannabis clubs permit fees to cover the cost of police inspections, background checks and other compliance measures mandated by the city’s decision late last year to regulate these nonprofit enterprises.
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Monday, 19 July 2010 00:00 |
 No matter what argument you use, the fact remains that the federal Controlled Substances Act makes it a felony to grow or sell cannabis.
Now that California's billion-dollar " medical marijuana" industry and its affiliated "recommendationists" have made marijuana legally available to any Californian with $75 and the willingness to tell a doctor that he sometimes has trouble sleeping, why not go all the way and just legalize the stuff for recreational use as proposed in Proposition 19 on the November ballot? Then we could tax it and regulate it, eliminating the illicit market and the need for law enforcement against pot growers. California would make a ton of money to help dig out of its fiscal hole, right?
Well, actually, no...
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