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Posts Tagged ‘Nevada’
Nevada Assembly Approves Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
CARSON CITY, NV – The Nevada Assembly voted 28-14 Monday to pass a bill establishing marijuana dispensaries.
The bill was passed last week by the Senate by a 17-4 vote and needed swift action by the Assembly as the legislature adjourns for the 2013 session at midnight.
An amendment to the bill by the Assembly needs final approval from the Senate before the bill is sent to the desk of Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who has said he will consider the proposal.
Under Senate Bill 374, which was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, and received a favorable “do pass” recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the state Board of Pharmacy would be charged with regulating and overseeing medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.
The bill would allow up to 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in the Las Vegas area, 20 in Reno, two in Carson City and one in each of Nevada’s remaining rural counties.
Some senators have expressed that while they do not endorse the use of medical marijuana, which was approved by Nevada voters in 2000, they are supporting the bill because it is their responsibility as lawmakers to ensure that the will of the voters and the intentions of the law are upheld.
“It doesn’t matter what I think about the wisdom of using marijuana,” said Sen. Mark Hutchison (R-Las Vegas), an anti-marijuana conservative who supports the dispensary bill. “If you believe in the rule of law, we cannot pick which constitutional rights we should support.”
People with medical marijuana authorization in Nevada are stuck in a legal grey area, lawmakers say, and many are confused as to whether they have purchased marijuana illegally.
When sixty-five percent of voters approved Question 9 , legalizing medical marijuana in the state, there was no provision in the bill authorizing medical marijuana dispensaries. Patients or their caregivers are allowed to grow up to seven plants and possess up to an ounce of marijuana.
But because obtaining marijuana seeds is illegal, as well as difficult growing conditions in the Nevada desert, patients and lawmakers alike agree that access to medical marijuana is limited for the states 3,645 registered cardholders.
Senate Bill 374, introduced in March by Senator Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would authorize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries to serve about 3,600 Nevadans with medical marijuana cards. The majority of patients registered with the Nevada state medical medical marijuana program are between the ages of 55 and 64.
“Let’s go back and do what we should have done 10 years ago,” Segerblom said earlier this year. “It’s something that it’s time has come. Colorado has it. Arizona has it. California has it. Oregon has it. Washington State has it. We’re surrounded by it.”
“We’re going to hear lots of reasons why we can’t do it, we shouldn’t do it, but to me, if Arizona, which is the most conservative state in the country, can do it, then Nevada can do it,” Segerblom added.
Under Sen. Segerblom’s proposal, the dispensaries would be strictly regulated with oversight by the Department of Health and Human Services. Marijuana would be required to be grown in an enclosed, locked facility.
Also among the requirements would be 24-hour video surveillance at farms and dispensaries.
The bill also establishes the maximum fees which may be charged by the Health Division for registration certificates, and creates basic requirements for operating a dispensary, while allowing the Health Division to adopt any necessary regulations for the program.
The bill also increases the amounts of usable marijuana and live marijuana plants that a holder of a registry identification card and his or her designated primary caregiver are allowed to possess at any one time, matching the amounts allowed under the laws of the State of Arizona.
The bill also adds in safeguards against defrauding the medical marijuana program in Nevada, adding a stipulation to the law that makes forging a medical marijuana registration card a criminal offense, punishable by up to four years in prison.
Last year, a Las Vegas district court judge declared Nevada’s medical marijuana law unconstitutional, while criticizing the state’s lack of a defined distribution system for the medicine.
In his decision, which is currently awaiting an appeal hearing by the state’s Supreme Court, Judge Donald Mosley was highly critical of the state’s medical marijuana law, saying it falls short in providing a “realistic manner” in which qualified patients can obtain their medicine.
Nevada Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bill
CARSON CITY, NV – Hoping to clear up some of the legal ambiguity surrounding Nevada’s medical marijuana law, a bill that would expand the state’s existing medical marijuana program to allow for the licensing of non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries was approved by the full Senate by a 17-4 vote Wednesday.
The bill, which now advances to the Assembly for consideration, would need swift committee action and a vote by the full Assembly to become law. The Legislature adjourns for the year at midnight Monday.
Under Senate Bill 374, which was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, and received a favorable “do pass” recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, the state Board of Pharmacy would be charged with regulating and overseeing medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.
The bill would allow up to 40 medical marijuana dispensaries in the Las Vegas area, 20 in Reno, two in Carson City and one in each of Nevada’s remaining rural counties.
Some senators have expressed that while they do not endorse the use of medical marijuana, which was approved by Nevada voters in 2000, they are supporting the bill because it is their responsibility as lawmakers to ensure that the will of the voters and the intentions of the law are upheld.
“It doesn’t matter what I think about the wisdom of using marijuana,” said Sen. Mark Hutchison (R-Las Vegas), an anti-marijuana conservative who supports the dispensary bill. “If you believe in the rule of law, we cannot pick which constitutional rights we should support.”
People with medical marijuana authorization in Nevada are stuck in a legal grey area, lawmakers say, and many are confused as to whether they have purchased marijuana illegally.
When sixty-five percent of voters approved Question 9 , legalizing medical marijuana in the state, there was no provision in the bill authorizing medical marijuana dispensaries. Patients or their caregivers are allowed to grow up to seven plants and possess up to an ounce of marijuana.
But because obtaining marijuana seeds is illegal, as well as difficult growing conditions in the Nevada desert, patients and lawmakers alike agree that access to medical marijuana is limited for the states 3,645 registered cardholders.
Senate Bill 374, introduced in March by Senator Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would authorize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries to serve about 3,600 Nevadans with medical marijuana cards. The majority of patients registered with the Nevada state medical medical marijuana program are between the ages of 55 and 64.
“Let’s go back and do what we should have done 10 years ago,” Segerblom said earlier this year. “It’s something that it’s time has come. Colorado has it. Arizona has it. California has it. Oregon has it. Washington State has it. We’re surrounded by it.”
“We’re going to hear lots of reasons why we can’t do it, we shouldn’t do it, but to me, if Arizona, which is the most conservative state in the country, can do it, then Nevada can do it,” Segerblom added.
Under Sen. Segerblom’s proposal, the dispensaries would be strictly regulated with oversight by the Department of Health and Human Services. Marijuana would be required to be grown in an enclosed, locked facility.
Also among the requirements would be 24-hour video surveillance at farms and dispensaries.
The bill also establishes the maximum fees which may be charged by the Health Division for registration certificates, and creates basic requirements for operating a dispensary, while allowing the Health Division to adopt any necessary regulations for the program.
The bill also increases the amounts of usable marijuana and live marijuana plants that a holder of a registry identification card and his or her designated primary caregiver are allowed to possess at any one time, matching the amounts allowed under the laws of the State of Arizona.
The bill also adds in safeguards against defrauding the medical marijuana program in Nevada, adding a stipulation to the law that makes forging a medical marijuana registration card a criminal offense, punishable by up to four years in prison.
Last year, a Las Vegas district court judge declared Nevada’s medical marijuana law unconstitutional, while criticizing the state’s lack of a defined distribution system for the medicine.
In his decision, which is currently awaiting an appeal hearing by the state’s Supreme Court, Judge Donald Mosley was highly critical of the state’s medical marijuana law, saying it falls short in providing a “realistic manner” in which qualified patients can obtain their medicine.
What Are the Next States to Legalize Marijuana?
After the marijuana-policy-reform movement’s huge victories in Colorado and Washington on November 6, many people are asking, “What states will be next to enact measures to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol?” (We refer to these as “T&R” bills or initiatives.)
It is important to note that this pair of 55 percent victories would have been less resounding had they appeared on the ballot during a midterm election. Presidential elections traditionally attract far more voters, many of whom are younger and more supportive of T&R than older voters. And when there are more voters, there tends to be more support shown for ending marijuana prohibition.
With that in mind, here is what the Marijuana Policy Project will be pursuing from 2013 to 2016.
1. Alaska: Unfortunately, Alaska law currently only allows voter initiatives to be placed on the primary election ballot, so we will attempt to pass a T&R initiative in August 2014. Fortunately, Alaska voters have traditionally been more supportive of T&R than voters in any other state. Only 100,000 Alaskans are expected to vote in August 2014, so the universe of voters we need to persuade is quite small.
2. Rhode Island: MPP separately legalized medical marijuana and decriminalized marijuana possession in Rhode Island in 2009 and 2012, respectively. We’re now lobbying the state legislature to pass a T&R bill, which could very well happen in 2014 or 2015. Regardless of which year this happens, Rhode Island will almost certainly be the first state to pass a T&R measure through the state legislature.
3. Maine: I just returned to D.C. from Maine, where I met with leading activists, political consultants, and state Rep. Diane Russell (D), who’s the lead sponsor of the T&R bill in Augusta. If we fail to pass her bill during the 2013, 2014, or 2015 legislative sessions, we’ll place a T&R initiative on the November 2016 ballot. As a way of demonstrating public support before 2016, we intend to pass local ballot initiatives in Portland and two or three other cities in November 2014.
4. Oregon: Oregon is similar to Maine, in that we’re working with leading activists to pass a T&R bill through the state legislature during the 2013 or 2015 legislative sessions. If the measure falls short, we will place a T&R initiative on the November 2016 ballot. MPP already hired a consultant in Portland to coordinate this four-year plan.
5. California: There is already a consensus that our movement should work over the next four years toward the goal of passing a T&R initiative in California in November 2016. The ACLU is coordinating the public-education effort over the next three years, and then MPP and the Drug Policy Alliance will probably end up leading the ballot-initiative campaign.
6. Massachusetts: The voters of Massachusetts passed MPP’s decriminalization initiative in November 2008 with 65 percent of the vote, and then they followed up by legalizing medical marijuana on November 6 with 63 percent of the vote. Many Massachusetts citizens and legislators assume that marijuana will eventually be legalized in Massachusetts; it’s just a question of when. The answer is “November 2016.”
7. Nevada: MPP failed to pass a pair of ballot initiatives in Nevada in November 2002 and November 2006 with 39 percent and 44 percent of the vote, respectively. Support nationwide has been increasing by about 1.5 percent per year, so we could probably pass a T&R initiative tomorrow if we were permitted to place it on the ballot today. Because that’s not possible, we’re planning to pass an initiative in November 2016.
The themes here are pretty clear.
First, the next states to end marijuana prohibition will be in New England and the West. Second, everything is trending in our direction, and most people now agree that marijuana will eventually be legalized nationwide.
Third, the biggest day in the history of the marijuana-policy-reform movement will be November 8, 2016. After that day, just 46 months from now, it will be almost inevitable that Congress will change federal law to allow states to determine their own marijuana policies without federal interference. When that happens, we win.
- Rob Kampia
It’s time for Nevada to legalize marijuana
Let’s talk pot.
Perhaps the most consequential decision faced by voters in three Western states, other than control of the White House, are voter initiatives that would legalize marijuana.
Polls suggest voters in Colorado and Washington may approve initiatives to do so while Oregonians are more reluctant.
This would be a welcome retreat in the most foolish front of the Drug War, and one that would likely mark the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition.
“If any of them pass, it will be the first time since the widespread prohibition of marijuana that any state pulled back,” says Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates reform. “It will be a really big deal.”
If these states legalize marijuana, Nevada, which has tried and failed to legalize in the past, should consider doing the same. I’ll return to that later.
Marijuana prohibition is becoming less popular by the day. A Gallup poll last year found that 50 percent of Americans favor legalization, a first. Just as astounding is the trend, as support has doubled in about 15 years.
Demographics help explain this, as there were 45 million Americans between 18 and 29 as of 2009, with more coming. These people are more socially liberal than their parents. What they realize is that it’s just not a big deal.
Marijuana filled a room at 2440 Turtle Street in Pahrump in August 2011. The alleged operator of the grow house was 28-year-old Amos Cavallo.
There’s also growing skepticism about the effectiveness of marijuana prohibition, and it’s coming from conservatives. William F. Buckley, the late godfather of conservatism, was long a voice against prohibition, but lately it’s become a chorus of conservatives. This shouldn’t be surprising. Although marijuana is often associated with the lefty counterculture of the much reviled 1960s, the drug war requires big government resources to achieve its dubious ends. It is expensive and inevitably leads to the abuse of government power.
Conservative columnist George Will recently gave a full airing to the idea of legalizing not just marijuana but “hard drugs,” as well: “(I)t is not unreasonable to consider modifying a policy that gives hundreds of billions of dollars a year to violent organized crime.”
Rich Lowry, the editor of the conservative National Review and longtime critic of marijuana prohibition, wrote recently, “Exhaustion is finally setting in with the enormous human and fiscal costs of attempting to eradicate the ineradicable.”
What costs? According to the Drug Policy Alliance, more than 850,000 Americans are arrested every year for marijuana-related crime, including 750,000 for possession only. This contributes to our having the highest incarceration rate in the world. We spend $51 billion per year on the drug war.
Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron concludes that legalizing marijuana would save federal, state and local law enforcement about $8.7 billion.
(Am I the only one baffled by story after story about Metro police making another pot bust while Sheriff Doug Gillespie complains about budget constraints?)
Miron also estimates that if taxes on marijuana were commensurate with current alcohol taxes, the levies would raise another $8.7 billion.
Metro Police released this picture from a raid on a marijuana grow house discovered in the 8300 block of Fox Brook Street.
Obviously, legalization would come with public health risks. But consider alcohol, which kills 40,000, not even counting alcohol-related homicides and accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco, meanwhile, is responsible for 1 in 5 American deaths, or nearly 500,000 people per year when you factor in victims of second-hand smoke.
How many people die from smoking pot, eating munchies and watching Colbert? Basically zero.
Despite all this evidence, the politicians remain way behind the public. Enforcement is such a failure that most people who want to smoke pot do so without thinking twice, but they aren’t about to come out of the shadows and join a movement to pressure the politicians. (Plus, ha ha, they might be too lazy.)
Meanwhile, Democratic elected officials, who should be pushing this issue, are cowards, feebly whimpering in the face of anticipated attacks that they are the pot party. They all fear the inevitable TV ads about “Congressman So-and-So has gone to pot.”
So that leaves state initiatives.
The problem with this route is that it will create a messy conflict with the federal government, as we’ve already seen with medical marijuana. For the sake of argument, however, let’s assume the feds don’t put up a major fight. In that case, it will be a huge deal if Washington andColorado approve state-licensed marijuana stores. It will be a source of unending fascination by the national press. Although Washington and Colorado would still prohibit marijuana use in public places, marijuana tourism can’t be far behind. Catch that? Tourism.
Think of the possibilities.
Some Colorado business leaders are opposing the measure because they don’t want Colorado to become known as the pot state. (To which I might reply: Too late.)
This is certainly a risk for Nevada. Our “What happens here” image has created its own branding challenge as we also try to be known as something other than a pleasure capital.
The train, however, is leaving the station. In a decade, I’m guessing marijuana will be legal in a dozen states or more. It would be a strange break with our libertarian tradition if we weren’t one of those states.
If our quickie-divorced, prostitute-procuring, degenerate gamblers want to chill their frazzled nerves with a marijuana cigarette, who are we to tell them they can’t?
Another year passes with a lack of clarity for medical marijuana access
Because the Nevada Legislature only meets every other year, patients will have to wait until 2013 for more clarity in Nevada’s medical marijuana law. While the 2011 Nevada legislative session started out with excitement and optimism about possibly expanding Nevada’s law, ultimately, most of the substantive medical marijuana-related bills were left in committee when the legislature adjourned last June.
One of those positive bills was Asm. Paul Aizley’s A.B. 235, which would have amended Nevada’s medical marijuana law to make the registry identification card optional and allow for collective cultivation and possession between patients and caregivers. A.B. 438, which would have created a regulated dispensary system in Nevada, and S.B. 336, which would have created a pilot program for regulated medical marijuana distribution using compound pharmacies, cultivation sites, and safety compliance testing laboratories, both died in committee.
As it currently stands, Nevada’s law provides no means by which patients can legally obtain their medicine other than home cultivation or from caregivers who cannot receive compensation. In early March, District Court Judge Donald Mosley declared Nevada’s marijuana distribution law unconstitutional and dismissed a drug trafficking case against two men charged for supplying marijuana to patients. Judge Mosley’s decision contradicted an earlier decision by District Judge Douglas Smith, who denied a motion to dismiss the case. Because of the ambiguity in the current law, the state Supreme Court is expected to resolve the conflict of legal opinions. More than a dozen defendants in Nevada are facing criminal charges for supplying medical marijuana to patients unable to grow it themselves.
Nevada voters passed the state’s medical marijuana law, Ballot Question 9, into law on Nov. 7, 2000, with an impressive 65% of the vote. The legislature implemented the initiative, passing A.B. 453 on June 14, 2001 and A.B. 519, on July 1, 2005. Nevada’s current medical marijuana law can be found inNevada Revised Statutes 453A. Summaries of it and other state laws are available at MPP’s library.
Nevada medical marijuana group grows
BY ED VOGEL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY – The number of Nevadans with permission to use medical marijuana has skyrocketed to 3,430.
The state Health Division reported Monday that the number of people with medical marijuana cards who have the right to grow their own has climbed by 1,143 in the past year.
That number probably would increase dramatically again if Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, is successful in his attempt to change how marijuana is distributed in the state. Last week he announced he will introduce a bill next year to create marijuana dispensaries and farms to provide pot to patients and that he wants the state to tax the drug.
Now medical marijuana card holders have to grow their own, although there is no legal way even to acquire the seeds and some of them aren’t good gardeners. Card holders may possess 1 ounce of marijuana and have three mature and four immature plants.
Patients need permission from a doctor to use the drug. Most have said they suffer from pain. In all, 394 doctors have given people permission to use the drug, countering an argument that just a few zealot physicians are letting people smoke marijuana legally.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and busts have occurred around the country. But President Barack Obama in the spring advised federal drug authorities to concentrate on big marijuana producers, not people with medical marijuana cards.
Las Vegas police also indicated that they do not arrest Nevadans with marijuana cards who follow the state law.
Legislators approved the state medical marijuana law after two elections where residents overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment. Voters have twice rejected ballot questions that would legalize use of the drug by any adults, not just for medical reasons.
For information on the medical marijuana program and obtaining a card, visit the state Health Division’s website:http://health.nv.gov/MedicalMarijuana.htm.
For information on obtaining a doctor’s permission to use the drug for medical purposes, call the Wellness Center in Henderson at 428-0000, or visit the website: wellnesscenterlv.com.
Applicants must have valid Nevada identification.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
Medical marijuana bill proposed for 2013 Legislature
CARSON CITY – A bill allowing registered medical marijuana users in Nevada to acquire the outlawed drug is one of the 144 bills being drawn up for consideration at the 2013 Legislature.
Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, said Monday he requested the bill, which would be introduced in the state Senate if he is elected to the upper house, because there is no legal way to obtain the drug, which is used to help people with glaucoma and cancer patients who suffer loss of appetite because of chemotherapy.
The medical marijuana law, implemented in 2001 after overwhelming voter support, allows each person with a state card to grow as many as three mature and four immature marijuana plants and have on hand no more than 1 ounce of usable marijuana.
Unlike Colorado, upon which Segerblom patterned his bill, Nevada does not allow dispensaries where marijuana is sold.
He said his bill is a response to a decision by then-Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley in March throwing out charges against two men who supplied marijuana to patients. He said the Legislature has failed in its duty to create an appropriate way for legal users to acquire marijuana.
In 2011, there were more than 3,000 registered medical marijuana users in Nevada.
The challenge will be to pass a law that does not run afoul of federal law that makes it illegal to possess the drug. President Barack Obama in April asked federal agencies not to prosecute individual medical marijuana users and instead to concentrate their resources on large suppliers of the drug.
Metropolitan Police Department officers do not arrest medical marijuana patients unless they violate the limits of the state marijuana law, a department spokesman said.
Segerblom wants to establish certified marijuana dispensaries and licensed farms where marijuana may be grown and to allow patients to buy from California dispensaries.
His bill also calls for this medical marijuana to be taxed, although a rate has not been established.
Another medical marijuana bill is being introduced by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Details were not available.
FIRST BATCH OF BILL REQUESTS
Monday was the first day in which the Legislative Counsel Bureau began releasing a weekly list of the bills being sought by legislators. The names of the sponsors and brief descriptions are included, but the text of the proposals are not.
Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, requested a bill to adopt all legal ways to reduce the illegal immigration population in Nevada and another to let election workers request photo identification before voters cast ballots.
And Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, is seeking a bill that would allow concealed-weapons permit holders who pass one firearms course to carry multiple revolvers or semiautomatic weapons. Now they have to pass a separate course for each type of weapon they want to carry.
But the medical marijuana bill is sure to generate the most debate, particularly because it is sought from a veteran legislator and former state Democrat Party chairman who has a lot of influence.
Since the 2001 medical marijuana measure was approved, legislators have proposed other bills calling for dispensaries, farms and marijuana taxes, but none of them has been approved. Petition drives to legalize marijuana for public consumption also twice failed to win voter approval.
Segerblom, a candidate for the state Senate, said it is even illegal to buy marijuana seeds over the Internet, although many out-of-country companies sell them. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia now have medical marijuana laws. He said that because the users cannot find seeds, or are unable to grow marijuana on their own, the Legislature needs to change the law so they can use the drug.
During hearings on the law, supporters said marijuana is helpful for people with glaucoma, who suffer loss of appetite because of chemotherapy and who have migraine headaches and other medical problems.
RELAXED ENFORCEMENT
In recent months, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Las Vegas police have busted several stores they suspected to be marijuana dispensaries and head shops where both synthetic and real marijuana were sold.
The DEA contends marijuana has no medical or other useful value. It has focused its prosecution on dispensaries and large suppliers, not on individual users. In an April interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Obama said the government is not going to “prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana” and instead “will focus on large-scale operations.”
He added they were not busting users of medical marijuana. The president said he could not ignore the federal law against marijuana but added he wants federal authorities to “go after things that are really doing folks damage.”
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
Estimate: Worldwide Population Of Lawful Medical Marijuana Patients
by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive DirectorApril 11, 2012
From the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines
IACM-Bulletin of 8 April 2012
World: Increasing numbers of patients use cannabis for medicinal purposes
An increasing number of patients in the world are using cannabis for therapeutic reasons, with available data from countries, which have installed programs for their citizens. Good data are available for Israel, Canada, the Netherlands and many states of the US with medicinal cannabis laws and registries. In several more countries only a few patients are allowed to use cannabis for medicinal purposes, including Germany, Norway, Finland and Italy. In many other countries such as Spain and some states of the US without a registry such as California the number of medicinal users is estimated to be high, but no detailed data are available.
The numbers in California with hundreds of cannabis dispensaries and clinics that issue medical cannabis recommendations are unclear, since the state does not require residents to register as patients (see below**)
Most of the 16 states that allow the medicinal use of cannabis require a registration. Recently the press agency Associated Press published data on registered patients in different states of the USA based on state agencies responsible for maintaining patient registries:
State: Number of registered patients (per 1,000 of the whole population) –
Colorado: 82,089 (16.3)
Oregon: 57,386 (15.0)
Montana: 14,364 (14.5)
Michigan: 131,483 (13.3)
Hawaii: 11,695 (8.6)
Rhode Island: 4,466 (4.2)
Arizona: 22,037 (3.5)
New Mexico: 4,310 (2.1)
Maine: 2,708 (2.0)
Nevada: 3,388 (1.3)
Vermont: 505 (0.8)
Alaska: 538 (0.8)
Patient registration is mandatory in Delaware, New Jersey and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.), but their registries are not yet up and running. Washington State has neither voluntary nor mandatory registration.
Data from Israel show that in August 2011 6,000 patients got medicinal cannabis (0.8 patients in 1,000). It is estimated that the number increases to 40,000 in 2016 (5.2 patients in 1,000 citizens).
In Canada 12,116 patients were allowed to use cannabis on 30 September 2011 (0.35 patients in 1,000 citizens).
Numbers of patients using cannabis from the pharmacies in the Netherlands were estimated to be 1,300 in 2010 (0.08 patients in 1,000 citizens). However, many patients in the Netherlands use cannabis from the coffee shops or grow their own.
In Germany about 60 patients are currently allowed to use cannabis for medicinal purposes.
(Sources: Associated Press of 24 March 2012, website of the Israeli Prime Minister of 7 August 2011, UPI of 31 October 2011, Pharmaceutisch Weekblad No. 20, 2011)
**[Editor's note: CA NORML published a white paper last May estimating that California has 750,000 - 1,125,000 citizens who possess a physician's recommendation to use cannabis medicinally.]
Judge Challenges Nevada Medical Marijuana Law
by Phillip Smith, March 05, 2012
In a ruling Friday, a Nevada district court judge ruled that the state’s laws for the distribution of medical marijuana were unconstitutional because they seemed designed to thwart their ostensible purpose. The ruling came in the case of two dispensary operators, Nathan Hamilton and Leonard Schwingdorf, who had been charged with drug trafficking for taking money to grow marijuana for patients.
Clark County District Court Judge Donald Mosley dismissed the charges against them, calling the law “ridiculous” and “absurd.” Mosley said he was “not a proponent of medical marijuana,” but that his job was to uphold the state constitution.
“It is apparent to the Court that the statutory scheme set out for the lawful distribution of medical marijuana is either poorly contemplated or purposely constructed to frustrate the implementation of constitutionally mandated access to the substance,” Mosley wrote in his decision.
Voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing patients to use medical marijuana in 2000. That amendment charged the legislature with crafting “appropriate methods for supply of the plant to patients authorized to use it.”
But the legislature didn’t do that. While the law allows patient cardholders to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana, other state laws make it illegal to buy or sell it.
Although a number of dispensaries opened up in Las Vegas, they have vanished now, after police and prosecutors made several dozen arrests of dispensary operators who charged set prices and thus received “consideration.” Such a legal situation was “mind-boggling,” Judge Mosley wrote.
“The law falls short however in providing a realistic manner in which a qualified purchaser and a qualified distributor of marijuana may function, thus frustrating the clear intent of the Nevada Constitutional Amendment,” the judge’s decision read.
Mosley found that disallowing any payment for the marijuana, as well as limiting anyone from possessing more than one what patient can possess, was simply unworkable.
“It is absurd to suppose that from an unspecified source ‘free’ marijuana will be provided to those who are lawfully empowered to receive it,” Mosley wrote. As to the limited amounts, “This arrangement is of course ridiculous and in effect would make impossible any commercial distribution of medical marijuana,” Mosley said.
Another Clark County judge has ruled differently, setting up a showdown over the law at the state Supreme Court. District Judge Douglas Smith denied a motion to dismiss another Las Vegas case even as he acknowledged that the legislature had not adequately addressed “methods of supply of medicinal marijuana to patients authorized to use it.”
Enacting The ‘States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act’ (HR 1983) Makes Sense For Everyone
House Resolution 1983 has been stalled in committee since Last June
HR 1983, the State’s Medical Marijuana Protection Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), explicitly states it will exempt people complying with state medical marijuana laws from federal arrest and prosecution.
Officially titled “To provide for the rescheduling of marijuana and for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various states”, the measure also calls for an immediate rescheduling review by the federal government that would reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act, officially recognizing the plant’s accepted medical use and streamlining the federal approval process for medical marijuana research. It is cosponsored by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Fortney Stark (D-CA). and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).
“The time has come for the federal government to stop preempting states’ medical marijuana laws,” Frank said. “For the federal government to come in and supersede state law is a real mistake for those in pain for whom nothing else seems to work. This bill would block the federal prosecution of those patients who reside in those states that allow medical marijuana.”
Sixteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington — and the District of Columbia have enacted laws protecting medical cannabis patients and often their providers from state prosecution. However, in all of these states, patients and providers still face the risk of federal sanction — even when their actions are fully compliant with state law.
Medical cannabis patients should feel safe from federal threats whether they are cultivating their own medicine, picking it up at a dispensary etc. When dispensaries are shut down, or gardens get plowed by the DEA, the real losers are the ill people using medical cannabis in order to treat their conditions. Often times these patients have already paid hundreds of dollars to be registered with the state, only to have the feds squash their efforts. Imagine having your local pharmacy getting shut down, terrorist style, leaving you without safe access to quality medicine. HR 1983 would provide the protection these patients need and deserve.
The time, money, and manpower spent by local, state, and federal authorities, to harass and prosecute medical cannabis patients is staggering, especially considering budget concerns in all parts of the U.S. In many states where medical cannabis laws have been passed, local municipalities have been collecting millions of dollars in taxes. So let’s see, less money out, more money in… HR 1983 absolutely makes sense for community budgets.
In states where dispensaries are allowed to operate, the cost of opening one can be staggering. Regulations in states, such as Colorado, can push the cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is nothing new, there is always a cost to do business, but the difference between dispensary owners and most business owners is the constant threat of DEA raids and asset forfeiture. These operators are most often good people who really want to be an accepted part of the community, yet the federal government considers them drug dealers using it’s influence to manipulate local governments to go against the will of the voters. Add the legal costs to fight for your right to operate and I wonder how these people are able to stay open? Passing HR 1983 would allow them to fully integrate into communities without constant federal harassment.
The known benefits of medical cannabis are a proven reality and how many more unknown benefits could be discovered if legitimate research could be done openly. Just look to Israel as an example. Since their government loosened the restrictions on cannabis research, a couple real quality studies are in the works. It’s no secret research and development is expensive. Passing this resolution would help entrepreneurs feel far more comfortable about investing capital in cannabis research once they don’t have to worry about the Feds kicking down the door. Imagine if we could isolate each of the hundreds of psychoactive components contained in the cannabis plant and test each one for potential ways to treat incurable diseases and conditions. Do we really want all this work to be done overseas? What about all the potential high paying research jobs this could create? H. R. 1983 would help make cannabis safer and create jobs here in the United States.
As a cannabis law reform and legalization advocate, I can appreciate what enacting this resolution has to offer. I personally see the biggest hurdle for marijuana law reform as breaking the decades old negative stereotypes created by the government propaganda machine. If people where allowed to use medical cannabis and the public saw crime rates fall and heard miracle cancer stories, maybe it could change their perceptions. Additionally, many people who use medical cannabis recreationally might actually be using it for medical reasons and just don’t know they are. Depression, anxiety, and other conditions often go undiagnosed, often leaving people to “self-medicate” on their own.
Bottom line, this bill doesn’t have many glaring problems and if your state doesn’t have a medical cannabis law, then it doesn’t really effect you anyway. The bill is currently in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, chaired by Rep. Frederick Upton; it was assigned to the Subcommittee on Health and hasn’t budged since. Contact your congressman and tell them to co-sponsor the States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act now!
Here’s a great video from friend of the blog, Jay Selthofner talking about HR 1983
And here’s a link to the full text of the bill: