"Weed Wars" clinic (Harborside) under RICO filing by CA. USDA

[Althea]

I appreciate your response sister, but again, I disagree.

Pills are dangerous .. marijuana is not. That's the point. As long as the patient is an adult .. what difference does it make?

Do you need a prescription for alcohol? Alcohol is more dangerous than weed.

I don't want to buy weed from Wal-Mart.

Taxes? Must everything be corporate-owned in America?

I, as many others do, see this is nothing but a betrayal by the Obama Adminstration.

You and I agree about the nonsensical, outdated marijuana laws. What I'm trying to show, is that pills actually are a huge problem now. There are probably more illegal prescription opiates being consumed, than there are actual patients who use them as prescribed.

When usage reaches epidemic proportion, the govt. steps in. Oxycontin is perfectly legal, on a state/fed level. However, abuse of same isn't. It isn't hard to draw the line connecting the two issues.

The feds are pretty clear re. medical marijuana.....they address cancer/serious illnesses that benefit from pot.

These dispensaries are selling pot to kids who go to a bogus doctor, and get pot for headaches/backaches, etc..

It's a back door attempt to legalize weed.

I'm rooting for the weed industry. I just understand why the feds are pushing back.


I'm amused by the moronic line in the memo "Congress has determined that marijuana is dangerous".

Fucking genetically altered vegetables are more dangerous than weed. What does Congress say about Monsanto?

Thanks for the donation?

Maybe we need a weed lobby?

 

[anatta]

You and I agree about the nonsensical, outdated marijuana laws. What I'm trying to show, is that pills actually are a huge problem now. There are probably more illegal prescription opiates being consumed, than there are actual patients who use them as prescribed.

When usage reaches epidemic proportion, the govt. steps in. Oxycontin is perfectly legal, on a state/fed level. However, abuse of same isn't. It isn't hard to draw the line connecting the two issues.

The feds are pretty clear re. medical marijuana.....they address cancer/serious illnesses that benefit from pot.

These dispensaries are selling pot to kids who go to a bogus doctor, and get pot for headaches/backaches, etc..

It's a back door attempt to legalize weed.

I'm rooting for the weed industry. I just understand why the feds are pushing back.


I'm amused by the moronic line in the memo "Congress has determined that marijuana is dangerous".

Fucking genetically altered vegetables are more dangerous than weed. What does Congress say about Monsanto?

Thanks for the donation?

Maybe we need a weed lobby?

we have had a weed lobby -both NORMAL, and the Marijuana Policy Project actually have K St. PACS

The NORML political action committee (NORML PAC) was established in 2001 as a separate segregated fund of NORML, to provide a mechanism whereby NORML can raise money for the purpose of contributing it to cannabis-friendly candidates for public office, at all levels of government.
The NORML PAC is independent of and not affiliated with any political party or candidate, and is managed by the offices of NORML. 2002 was the first year The NORML PAC distrubuted donations.

The NORML PAC is believed to be the first pro pot PAC in the nation.

Those candidates or office holders wishing to solicit support from the NORML PAC should contact the PAC in writing: NORML PAC, 1600 K Street, NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC 20006-2832.

Obama(Holder) doesn't need Congress to re-Schedule Marijuana

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, the most restrictive schedule in the US Controlled Substances Act. According to US law, there are four ways by which marijuana could be reclassified as a drug generally available by prescription (Schedule II or III):

1.The US Attorney General can initiate rescheduling on his or her own, at the request of the Health and Human Services Secretary, on petition of interested party, or if obligated by international treaties.
2.The US Secretary of Health and Human Services can issue a binding recommendation to the Attorney General to reschedule marijuana.
3.US Congress can amend the Controlled Substances Act it passed in 1970 to reschedule marijuana.
4.The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) together can reschedule marijuana if clinical trials show that it is "safe" and "effective."http://www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005086

The Feds do not make the criteria for medical marijuana -state law does that.
http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/library/17LawsSummary.pdf

 

[anatta]

First Do No Harm: The DEA targets Physicians who treat their patients pain.
948 Letters and Emails Sent So Far
http://www.petition2congress.com/52...-targets-physicians-who-treat-their-patients/
There are many Doctors who label their patients unfairly, demean these patients and degrade them because they are victims of chronic life long pain.
This is archaic medicine and does more harm than one can imagine. Physicans are afraid to treat patients who are victims of pain. The DEA targets them and instills fear in how they choose to treat their patients and what they prescribe. More and more, Doctors are refusing to treat their patients who have chronic pain. Patients are far too often considered "Malingering" or "Doctor Shopping".

Doctors far too often refuse to even communicate with these sufferers and label them as a LTDU ( Long Term Drug User) This is unfair, harmful medicine, and and causes llife long damage, both physically and mentally. It has effects on family, friends, co-workers and often causes the sufferer to withdraw from society. Through no fault of the patient, they withdraw from daily activities with their spouses, family and friends.

Much like the Abortion issue, you force these victims of pain into back door alleyways, store front pain clinics and worse. They receive no counseling on how to take their medication and often don't know what they are taking. Like in the past, by treating victims of pain this way, you force them into seeking help and relief outside of the Law. It is one issue to target illegal clinics but another issue entirely to target Physicians who should be allowed and should be treating their patients who have pain. Instead, Physicians are forced, out of fear of prescribing pain medication, to send their patients off to some "Unknown" pain clinic where they suffer yet more humiliating labels and discrimination. Pharmacists often feel the need to "interfere" and embarass the patient when they pick up their medications. They are treated like second or third class human beings.

Why is it that Doctors are no longer treating the 'Whole Patient?" Not addressing the underlying causes of chronic pain? There are many instances when there is NO clear cause for pain but that is not to say it doesn't exist. Pain receptors malfunction. Injuries can cause pain years later.
Elderly patients who suffer every remaining day of their lives are told by their Doctors' that "They are concerned about a possible addiction". What happened to the quality of their life? Their right to live their life to live without debilitating pain? Their only option may be to consider suicide?
The damage caused is a horror. Elderly commit suicide rather than live with this pain.
Physicians are taught (since the very beginning of medical school) that any patient requesting pain medication is to be Scrutinized" and to be "Wary" of them especially if they tell you they can't take anti-inflammatory drugs, that is a sure "SIGN" of addiction.
I was told this by my own Doctor. "What to watch out for when a patient requests help with their pain." They actually have a class for new Doctors on how NOT to treat patients

 

[anatta]

2 more succumb to the feds. landlords reluctent for operations "chilling effect"

A pair of San Francisco prominent medical marijuana businesses closed their doors Tuesday, a sign of the federal government’s recent crackdown on medical cannabis dispensaries.


HopeNet and the Vapor Room announced they would cease operations in response to threatening letters sent to the business’ landlords by the federal government.

“The Justice Department sent our landlord one of those nasty letters,” said HopeNet co-founder Catherine Smith. “So this is our D-Day, we have to leave.”


Smith and her husband founded HopeNet in 1998 on Ninth Street in the city’s South of Market. The business was held out by medical marijuana advocates as an example of a legitimate pot club working within the city laws.
Smith worked alongside city legislators, served on San Francisco’s Medical Marijuana Task Force and helped craft the city’s landmark marijuana ordinance.
Hard to believe we did all these things and accomplished all these things in the City and they’re shutting us down,” Smith said.

Since November, the Justice Department has sent out 600 letters across California threatening landlords who rent space to medical marijuana operations
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...arijuana-clubs-fold-in-federal-crackdown?lite

 

[anatta]

Dispensary threatened with closure plans to challenge feds BREAKING By: Chris Roberts | 04/01/12 4:44 PM (pacific time)
Special to The SF Examiner

Catherine and Steve Smith are fighting a federal order to shut down San Francisco's oldest continuously operating medical marijuana dispensary, HopeNet Cooperative. A San Francisco medical marijuana collective plans to fight the law after receiving a shutdown notice from the U.S. Department of Justice.

HopeNet Cooperative, The City’s oldest continuously operating storefront dispensary, has occupied ground-floor commercial space at 223 Ninth St. in South of Market since 2004, city records show. On Feb. 21, Northern California U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag sent HopeNet’s landlords a warning that the dispensary must close within 45 days or the property could be seized and the owners sentenced to prison time.

Similar letters from Haag have led five other San Francisco dispensaries to shut down since Oct. 7. The letters warn of 40-year prison terms and asset forfeitures if the “marijuana distribution” is not stopped.

But Hopenet plans to remain open past the Friday deadline, operator Catherine Smith said.
“We’re staying,” said Smith, whose dispensary received a similar letter from Joe Russoniello, Haag’s predecessor, in 2007. HopeNet also was raided by the Drug yoEnforcement Administration in 2005.

Link shows them packing http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...arijuana-clubs-fold-in-federal-crackdown?lite (play video)

Property records indicate Clay Investments LLC is the owner of HopeNet’s property, which is a tenancy-in-common building. Clay Investments is connected to a realty firm operated by Ben Hom. Neither Hom nor his partners responded to requests for comment.

HopeNet appears to be the first San Francisco dispensary to challenge the federal government.

Smith, along with husband Steve, faxed a stack of 1,200-odd petitions, along with protest letters, from cooperative members and neighborhood supporters to Haag’s office, Catherine Smith said.

The dispensary asked city leaders to sign the petition. They declined, but plan to speak in support of dispensaries at a City Hall news conference Tuesday, Catherine Smith said.

Jack Gillund, a spokesman for Haag, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office had no comment on HopeNet.

Haag’s office began forfeiture proceedings against a Marin County dispensary that had not left its property by the 45-day deadline. That dispensary ended up leaving willfully after its landlord began eviction proceedings. Eviction proceedings, however, are performed in state court, where medical marijuana law is valid. A to-be-evicted tenant also can request a jury trial, real estate attorney Dave Crow said.

This theory -- that a federally threatened dispensary could win during the eviction proceedings, prompting federal prosecutors to take further action -- has yet to be tested.

Also, there’s another legal wrinkle.

“We’re a cooperative,” said Catherine Smith. “Even if I wanted to shut down, there are 1,200 votes saying we should stay open.”
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/201...ed-closure-plans-challenge-feds#ixzz22LW6RWuu

 

[anatta]

Obama's war on Medical Marijuan shifting to public employees.

By Alex Kreit Voice of San Diego | 8 comments

A letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego to U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy last Thursday called attention to one of the stranger new tactics in the Obama administration's war on medical marijuana.

The ACLU's letter called on Duffy to retract a recent statement in which she seemed to indicate that local government employees who issue land use licenses to medical marijuana collectives might be next in line for federal criminal prosecution.

Weighing in on a proposed ballot measure to regulate medical marijuana collectives in Del Mar, Duffy cautioned that "State and City employees who conduct activities mandated by the Ordinance are not immune from liability under the [Controlled Substances Act]." Federal prosecutors in other parts of the country occasionally have made similar statements during Obama's Presidency.

Are Del Mar employees in real danger of going to jail if residents vote for the ballot measure in November? In a word, no.

First, notice Duffy's clever wording: Employees "are not immune" from prosecution, she writes. In order to face federal prosecution, however, a person has to do something that violates federal law. The Voice of San Diego is not immune from prosecution for heroin trafficking. But unless the Voice of San Diego is trafficking heroin, it has nothing to worry about.

What's missing from Duffy's memo is an allegation that the Del Mar ordinance would require city or state employees to do anything that is illegal. Issuing an operating permit does not satisfy the elements of the crimes of marijuana "possession" or "distribution," nor does it make one a conspirator or aider and abettor to crimes committed by the licensee.

As a California court decision cited in the ACLU's letter held, "governmental entities do not incur aider and abettor or direct liability by complying with their obligations under the state medical marijuana laws."

Since city and state employees do not violate federal law by issuing permits to medical marijuana dispensaries, there is no basis for prosecuting them. Immunity — the focus of Duffy's memo — is beside the point.

Second, dozens of cities across California have already adopted laws like Del Mar's proposed ordinance and government workers have been issuing licenses under those laws for years. Yet none of these government employees have been hauled into federal court.

If federal prosecutors actually believed that city workers were committing drug crimes by issuing zoning permits and business licenses, why haven't they taken action against them?

U.S. attorneys have issued warning letters to medical marijuana dispensary landlords, threatening to take legal action unless they evict their tenants. They could easily send letters threatening legal action to cities that have established medical marijuana permitting schemes. But they haven't.

The problem is that sending a letter to a city that has already implemented a licensing law would require prosecutors to actually threaten prosecution. And that would require them to point to some federal law these city workers are violating.

A letter like this could also give interested parties legal standing to test the federal government's theory in court (where the federal government would lose). Instead, statements like Duffy's have been reserved for proposed laws and used wording that is ambiguous enough to be construed as a threat even though it isn't one.

Third, contrary to Duffy's statement, "State and City employees who conduct activities mandated" by local and state medical marijuana laws are statutorily "immune from liability under" the Controlled Substances Act.

A federal law — 21 U.S.C. § 885(d) — provides that "no civil or criminal liability shall be imposed ... upon any duly authorized officer of any State, territory, political subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, of any possession of the United States, who shall be lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance relating to controlled substances."
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/article_1b2706dc-dfc2-11e1-bfab-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[Althea]

By Alex Kreit Voice of San Diego | 8 comments

A letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego to U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy last Thursday called attention to one of the stranger new tactics in the Obama administration's war on medical marijuana.

The ACLU's letter called on Duffy to retract a recent statement in which she seemed to indicate that local government employees who issue land use licenses to medical marijuana collectives might be next in line for federal criminal prosecution.

Weighing in on a proposed ballot measure to regulate medical marijuana collectives in Del Mar, Duffy cautioned that "State and City employees who conduct activities mandated by the Ordinance are not immune from liability under the [Controlled Substances Act]." Federal prosecutors in other parts of the country occasionally have made similar statements during Obama's Presidency.

Are Del Mar employees in real danger of going to jail if residents vote for the ballot measure in November? In a word, no.

First, notice Duffy's clever wording: Employees "are not immune" from prosecution, she writes. In order to face federal prosecution, however, a person has to do something that violates federal law. The Voice of San Diego is not immune from prosecution for heroin trafficking. But unless the Voice of San Diego is trafficking heroin, it has nothing to worry about.

What's missing from Duffy's memo is an allegation that the Del Mar ordinance would require city or state employees to do anything that is illegal. Issuing an operating permit does not satisfy the elements of the crimes of marijuana "possession" or "distribution," nor does it make one a conspirator or aider and abettor to crimes committed by the licensee.

As a California court decision cited in the ACLU's letter held, "governmental entities do not incur aider and abettor or direct liability by complying with their obligations under the state medical marijuana laws."

Since city and state employees do not violate federal law by issuing permits to medical marijuana dispensaries, there is no basis for prosecuting them. Immunity — the focus of Duffy's memo — is beside the point.

Second, dozens of cities across California have already adopted laws like Del Mar's proposed ordinance and government workers have been issuing licenses under those laws for years. Yet none of these government employees have been hauled into federal court.

If federal prosecutors actually believed that city workers were committing drug crimes by issuing zoning permits and business licenses, why haven't they taken action against them?

U.S. attorneys have issued warning letters to medical marijuana dispensary landlords, threatening to take legal action unless they evict their tenants. They could easily send letters threatening legal action to cities that have established medical marijuana permitting schemes. But they haven't.

The problem is that sending a letter to a city that has already implemented a licensing law would require prosecutors to actually threaten prosecution. And that would require them to point to some federal law these city workers are violating.

A letter like this could also give interested parties legal standing to test the federal government's theory in court (where the federal government would lose). Instead, statements like Duffy's have been reserved for proposed laws and used wording that is ambiguous enough to be construed as a threat even though it isn't one.

Third, contrary to Duffy's statement, "State and City employees who conduct activities mandated" by local and state medical marijuana laws are statutorily "immune from liability under" the Controlled Substances Act.

A federal law — 21 U.S.C. § 885(d) — provides that "no civil or criminal liability shall be imposed ... upon any duly authorized officer of any State, territory, political subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, of any possession of the United States, who shall be lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance relating to controlled substances."
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/article_1b2706dc-dfc2-11e1-bfab-0019bb2963f4.html

Interesting occurrence this weekend.

I attended a 50th bday party, where a group of great people gathered from all corners of the country. I see these people about once a year...some of them more often. My one buddy had some really nice indoor weed.

He got it from his buddy, whose brother in law lives in California...Evidently, the dispensary runs 'sales' every 2 months. When the fresh herb come in, they reduce the price from $600/ounce, to $400/ounce to move out the older weed.

The guy in Cal. bought up as much as he could, and Fed Exed 4 ounces to my friend's friend.


Now tell me why we don't need to crack down on those who feel medical marijuana is for casual use?


This is EXACTLY what Obama has been saying.....it isn't a back door to legalization.

 

[anatta]

Interesting occurrence this weekend.

I attended a 50th bday party, where a group of great people gathered from all corners of the country. I see these people about once a year...some of them more often. My one buddy had some really nice indoor weed.

He got it from his buddy, whose brother in law lives in California...Evidently, the dispensary runs 'sales' every 2 months. When the fresh herb come in, they reduce the price from $600/ounce, to $400/ounce to move out the older weed.

The guy in Cal. bought up as much as he could, and Fed Exed 4 ounces to my friend's friend.


Now tell me why we don't need to crack down on those who feel medical marijuana is for casual use?


This is EXACTLY what Obama has been saying.....it isn't a back door to legalization.

No one is saying don't crack down on dispensarys, if you had responded to some earlier posts, such as Hopenet, or Harborside -which by all appearences was well run,; it's only "sin is "being big" -i'd take your anecdotal response more seriously.

I've given tons of info - 600 plus letters sent out by USDA's for even SMALL CLINICS- any you tell me about some guy? Well that's interesting....about all it is.

There is no rhyme or reason here, it's open season on dispensarys, without criminal charges being filed, but subject to RICO.
Does that strike you as careful due dilligence, and picking clinics by determinate behavior? Or is it more of fishing expedition?

Third, contrary to Duffy's statement, "State and City employees who conduct activities mandated" by local and state medical marijuana laws are statutorily "immune from liability under" the Controlled Substances Act.

Looking pretty 'fishy' to me-cast a wide net, toss out a bunch of UNSUBSTANTIATED claims with threating language, that isn't even the law-
what's the point?
To close down as many dispensarys as possible, so Sativex has the biggest market share (by default) when it comes out next year.

I hope you friend enjoys his birthday weed; chance are good he wont' be next year -at least not from CA dispensarys. Obama/Holder will have free reign
to mirror the DEA idea that "smoked marijuana isn't medicine". He might even give a big speech about the "hope" for smokless medicine!! The DEA will be pleased.
Big Pharma appeciates your support.

 

[Althea]

I hope you friend enjoys his birthday weed; chance are good he wont' be next year -at least not from CA dispensarys. Obama/Holder will have free reign
to mirror the DEA idea that "smoked marijuana isn't medicine". He might even give a big speech about the "hope" for smokless medicine!! The DEA will be pleased.
Big Pharma appeciates your support.

My buddy, his buddy, and his buddy's brother in law will always have all the weed they need. With or without dispensaries. None of them are medical marijuana patients....except for the fact that the Cal. guy has his 'script', but has no ailments.

So they reduced the price down to street level prices, when they want to move the shit out.

I'd start at the doctors, if I were the feds.. Raiding the dispensaries is a kneejerk reaction.

However....I don't care how sore you get, there simply aren't that many people who need weed for medication, when compared to the number of people who are scoring at these dispensaries.

The answer, is to get enough money to create a real marijuana lobby.

 

[anatta]

a partial list of cannibinoid uses

Medical Marijuana Uses & Treatments
Medical marijuana is being prescribed by many different physicians for the treatment of a variety of different diseases, illnesses and chronic symptoms. While each state that has approved medical marijuana has its own definition of what medical marijuana can be used for legally in that state - you might be surprised at how many practical medicinal usages that marijuana offers.

http://www.cannabisdoctorsnetwork.com/medical-marijuana-uses.php

Here is a list of diseases, illnesses or chronic symptoms that marijuana is currently being prescribed to patients to treat:

•Alzheimer's Disease is a severe neurological disorder that is still being studied, as the reasons for contracting this disease are widely unknown and still being researched. More than 4 million people have been diagnosed with this disease in the US, and there are few FDA approved medications. Numerous medical studies have suggested that cannabis therapy provides symptomatic relief and works to moderate the progression of this disease.
•Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that occurs from the depletion of the motor neurons. More than 30,000 Americans suffer from ALS. Recent clinical findings suggest that cannabis therapy aids in symptomatic relief as well is in moderating the progression of ALS.
•Chronic Pain is something that millions of Americans suffer from (about 1 in 5), yet over-the-counter pain killers are only semi-effective and prescribed painkillers are side effect ridden, addictive and expensive. Ongoing clinical trials that have been designed by the FDA have shown that inhaled cannabis can significantly reduce and alleviate neurological symptoms associated with chronic pain.
•Cancer/Gliomas have some of the highest mortality rates of any diseases in the US. Recent studies have concluded that THC induces apoptosis in glioma cells. Medical marijuana is also commonly prescribed to aid patients in dealing with the reactions and side effects associated with chemotherapy.
•Depression: Ongoing studies suggest that marijuana is beneficial in treating the symptoms of depression.
•Dystonia is a neurological disease similar to Parkinson's disease that affects more than 300,000 people in the US annually. Recent case studies have noted drastic improvements in subjective pain scores on patients immediately following cannabis therapy.
•Fibromyalgia is a neurological disorder that sends pain signals to all of the nerves in the body. Currently, between 3-6 millions Americans suffer from this chronic pain syndrome. Recent clinical trials have shown that patients who used cannabis therapy in place of painkillers noted significant and immediate improvements in reduction of pain and quality of life.
•Gastrointestinal (GI) Disorders affect 1 in 5 Americans. Non-clinical trials have suggested that cannabis therapy can effectively relieve many of the associated symptoms of GI.
•Hepatitis C affects nearly 4 million Americans annually and is characterized by pain and nausea. Recent studies demonstrated that patients using cannabis therapy had reduced pain and relieved nausea.
•Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) currently affects half a million Americans. Cannabis therapy has been shown to aid patients in treating associated symptoms of this disease, such as lack of appetite, anxiety and nausea.
•Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects 1 in 4 adults in the US. Ongoing clinical studies suggest that cannabis therapy effectively treats hypertension by suppressing cardiac contractility and normalizing blood pressure.
•Incontinence (loss of bladder control) affects 1 in 10 Americans. Recent clinical trials indicate that cannabis therapy improves bladder control when compared to placebo.
•Methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) is the resistance to antibiotics and or prescription drugs. Around 20,000 hospital deaths occur annually in the US as a result of MRSA. A 2008 clinical study concluded that all patients suffering from MRSA showed "potent antibacterial activity" and that cannabinoids were extremely effective at stopping the spread of MRSA.
•Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system. Around 200 persons contract MS weekly in the US. Numerous clinical studies have concluded that cannabis therapy treats symptoms related to MS such as pain, spasticity, depression, fatigue, and incontinence.
•Muscle Relaxer: Marijuana has been shown to be a very effective muscle relaxer and can relieve spasms and pain.
•Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease where the bones rapidly deteriorate. Around 35 million Americans are considered high risk for contracting this disease, and more than 10 million are living with it currently. Recent studies have suggested that cannabis therapy aids in slowing the development of osteoporosis.
•Pruritus is a very common symptom that is associated with various different skin diseases. Ongoing clinical studies have concluded that cannabis therapy effectively treats pruritus.
•Rheumatoid Arthritis & Osteoarthritis is a severe inflammatory disease that can result in the loss of limb functions and includes symptoms such as stiffness, pain, swelling and numbness. Ongoing clinical studies have suggested that cannabis therapy effectively treats the pain, swelling and stiffness in patients.
•Sleep Apnea affects an estimated 4% of all Americans, a syndrome that is many times undiagnosed. Cannabinoids have been shown in recent studies to be an effective suppressant, respiratory stabilizer and serotonin-blocker for instances of serotonin-induced exacerbation.
•Tourette's Syndrome affects an estimated 100,000 people in the US annually and is characterized by vocal and physical tics that cannot be controlled. Uncontrolled and open clinical trials suggest that cannabis therapy is an effective treatment method for this syndrome

 

[anatta]

My buddy, his buddy, and his buddy's brother in law will always have all the weed they need. With or without dispensaries. None of them are medical marijuana patients....except for the fact that the Cal. guy has his 'script', but has no ailments.

So they reduced the price down to street level prices, when they want to move the shit out.

I'd start at the doctors, if I were the feds.. Raiding the dispensaries is a kneejerk reaction.

However....I don't care how sore you get, there simply aren't that many people who need weed for medication, when compared to the number of people who are scoring at these dispensaries.

The answer, is to get enough money to create a real marijuana lobby.

the problem doesn't lie with the real doctors, i got this short list -there are l,onger one's, but i can't verify them all.

Me thinks you might be forgetting this is a whole new branch of medicine, and this is just the surface,
NOTE: Sativez will not alleviate all these.

we've had this discussion before - the Dr.s are already cutting back on Rx's for pain, due to DEA pressures (opiods, and such).

Dr.s are crooked sometimes, you're gonna have bogus Rx's - but "do no harm" -the hippocratic oath will not be harmed by weed.
Other meds have side effects, Yes. If a Dr. is pumping out Rx's like fake clinics here in Florida that used to write Oxy. for everyone -DEA has a resonsibility to investigate.

Other then that, i'd prefer not to have the DEA between myself and my Dr. -so we kinna agree- go after the bad Dr.s ' but that still doesnt answer the problems of going after hundreds ( over 600 I can find) dispensarys.
That's USDA over-reach -or "fishing"

 

[Althea]

the problem doesn't lie with the real doctors, i got this short list -there are l,onger one's, but i can't verify them all.

Me thinks you might be forgetting this is a whole new branch of medicine, and this is just the surface,
NOTE: Sativez will not alleviate all these.

we've had this discussion before - the Dr.s are already cutting back on Rx's for pain, due to DEA pressures (opiods, and such).

Dr.s are crooked sometimes, you're gonna have bogus Rx's - but "do no harm" -the hippocratic oath will not be harmed by weed.
Other meds have side effects, Yes. If a Dr. is pumping out Rx's like fake clinics here in Florida that used to write Oxy. for everyone -DEA has a resonsibility to investigate.

Other then that, i'd prefer not to have the DEA between myself and my Dr. -so we kinna agree- go after the bad Dr.s ' but that still doesnt answer the problems of going after hundreds ( over 600 I can find) dispensarys.
That's USDA over-reach -or "fishing"

In all honesty, how many dispensaries do you really think it takes to fulfill the needs of all of Cal's real MM patients?

The profit margin is astronomical, so everyone wants to get in on the action. I'd blame those who increased demand geometrically on the day Obama took office.

As usual, the govt. is using the wrong approach to correct a flawed policy.

 

[anatta]

In all honesty, how many dispensaries do you really think it takes to fulfill the needs of all of Cal's real MM patients?

The profit margin is astronomical, so everyone wants to get in on the action. I'd blame those who increased demand geometrically on the day Obama took office.

As usual, the govt. is using the wrong approach to correct a flawed policy.

honestly? whatever isenough to allow easy patient access.
If the markt is there, the dispensarys have a valid business reason to be there. The market is there, notice no charges have been filed for Harborside or Hopenet - yet they are being threatend with closure of a busines, it took start up capital, but RICO for the landowners, whom don't wanna get involved in the middle of a legal battle with the USDA', and possibly forfieture their buildings, is closing their businesses.

Going back to the previous post about shutting down "pill mill" Dr's here in Fla. Not only has the DEA arrested a legitimate Dr. whom helped me, when i was overweight and had sciatica - he's still in court. He never gave me a refill, and and always gave a phyical exam.
If I had to go to a pain clinic now -i need an MRI from my insurance ( I have none -just a free clinic).
I bring up my personal situaltion, because it the 'new norm' for pain patients down here - Dr's are TERRIFIED to write ANYTHING
It now goes into a state database, and the DEA can pull ANY RX. and put the Dr. on trail.

The effect is beyond "chilling", It's a cold day in hell when someone other then a Dr. whom has your medical history can write an opioid.
not even Ultram(tramadol) - which technically is an opioid, but will not give a psychic high.( Sports medicine pain reliever)Chronic/Severe Pain patients are fucked.
New Dr.'s are being schooled in how to DENY pain meds -all as a result of the DEA's juggernaught power of LE,and politicians.
They are the big dog in every phase of prescriptions, and while we talk about the Dr's in CA that abuse the system, you're going to be seeing the same thing for marijuana.

Marijuana is not an addictive drug like opioids. Yet the onus for prescribeing it wuld shift to the same as opiods, if the DEA started to go after Dr.s
I just told you what happens, that's how it works -find some abuse, and try to shut down even legitimate prescribers.
Medicine is best left up to the Dr./patient tie. supervision is fine, but the DEA in everydamn way is getting between the Dr's and the patients.

Or they just pressure DoJ to do their bidding, and the James Cole Memo http://www.freedomisgreen.com/full-text-department-of-justice-memo-on-medical-marijuana/ is the result. Obama/Holder doesn't need the hassle of of a hostile DEA or upset corporate donors, so he just goes along.
His ambition is re-election. nothing else can expalin the complete 180 degree turn on zealous proceedural "clarification"

 

[anatta]

On to Arizona

Montgomery Declares War on Medical-Marijuana Law; Craves Arrests of Patients, Caregivers and Dispensary Operators By Ray Stern Thu., Aug. 9 2012
Bill Montgomery can't wait to prosecute medical-marijuana patients and caregivers.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery understands that voters passed a law legalizing medical marijuana in Arizona, but he still wants to bust patients, caregivers and dispensary operators.

Montgomery said this week that his interpretation of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is that anyone growing marijuana, whether or not they are registered with the state, can be prosecuted.
Likewise with people selling marijuana, such as the operators of a dispensary. The Republican county attorney also believes the Arizona Legislature can legally ban all abortions, despite Roe. V. Wade.

In an interview on KFYI (550 AM) this morning, Montgomery said "federal law" so often, it sounded like a mantra. He can't simply squash the rights of state voters like he wants, though -- a state court has to agree with his interpretation.

Bill Montgomery was taught as a cadet at West Point that the "rule of law matters." He used that point this morning to explain why he wants to ignore state law.

As we mentioned on Monday, after state Attorney General Tom Horne issued an opinion that much of the voter-approved law conflicts with federal law, Montgomery is hoping the case of a would-be Sun City dispensary will be the "dam" that blocks up the pot program.

"I'm drawing a line," Montgomery said. "If people don't want me to draw that line, they need to choose somebody else."

But choices are limited. The Democratic Party didn't put up an opponent this year against Montgomery, a staunch, yet hypocritical, supporter of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Tea Party. He'll be facing only Libertarian Michael Kielsky in the general election.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2012/08/bill_montgomery_declares_war_o.php

 

[Althea]

Update:

The guy in Cal, and his wife both have MM 'scripts'. He supposedly gets paranoid in crowds, so he gets weed. Ironic...I get paranoid in crowds when I'm stoned!

Who knows what her excuse is?

They can each buy 2 ounces per month. That's more than 2 fat joints/day.

They got 1/4 lb of the reduced price stuff, and Fed Exed it to Long Island.


THAT'S what this is about.

 

[anatta]

Update:

The guy in Cal, and his wife both have MM 'scripts'. He supposedly gets paranoid in crowds, so he gets weed. Ironic...I get paranoid in crowds when I'm stoned!

Who knows what her excuse is?

They can each buy 2 ounces per month. That's more than 2 fat joints/day.

They got 1/4 lb of the reduced price stuff, and Fed Exed it to Long Island.


THAT'S what this is about.

High CBD /low THC calms me down, it is the THC that induces my anxiety, when I smoke Indica It does calm my mind and body.
Severe anxiety, would require about that much.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cannabinoids -check it out. list of cannibinoids.

There is a whole new field of medicine -i keep tellling you this, you keep feeding me back anecdotals. That's fine -anecdotals are evidenciary, but only for a specific situation.

There are also "cannibionoid antagonistic receptor sites."
The discovery of the endogenous cannabinoid system led to the development of CB1 receptor antagonists. The first cannabinoid receptor "antagonist," rimonabant, was described in 1994. Rimonabant blocks the CB1 receptor selectively and it has been shown to decrease food intake and regulate body-weight gain. The prevalence of obesity worldwide is increasing dramatically and has a great impact on public health. The lack of efficient and well-tolerated drugs to cure obesity has led to an increased interest in research and development of cannabinoid antagonists. Cannabidiol, a naturally occurring cannabinoid, is a non-competitive CB1/2 antagonist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor_antagonist

Google "main cannibinoids", and read thru some of Wikis subdivisions, it's absoltely amazing the potential out there for this medicine.

A lot is in the research stage - the PLANT is here now. Cut it out -stop trying to shut down all the dispensarys

Pleae take a little time to read thru this if you want to talk about medical marijuana, which is my focus. Any drug can be abused, all you are showing me.

Whay are you so against the Dr. / patient relationship? No RX. is perfect, it's a guess work with cannibinoids. You have to find out a strain that works for you
the dispensarys enable a wide variety of strains to be easily available .
That's the point, mi amigo.
No worries, soon they won't be able to get their MM scripts, then Big Pharma will sell them high cost sprays pills.

 

[Althea]

Whay are you so against the Dr. / patient relationship? No RX. is perfect, it's a guess work with cannibinoids. You have to find out a strain that works for you
the dispensarys enable a wide variety of strains to be easily available .
That's the point, mi amigo.
No worries, soon they won't be able to get their MM scripts, then Big Pharma will sell them high cost sprays pills.

I'm not against the concept of medical marijuana.

I don't need to see studies re the varied benefits. I believe you.

And no...your focus isn't about the MM discussion.

It's about motherfucking Obama for what you call his lies.

That's what I will continue to dispute. I've already given you first hand proof of the abuse by those who see this as an end run around marijuana laws.

When the burnouts stop abusing the privilege, those who truly need weed for medicinal purposes will have less trouble getting it.



Do you still have the same mailing address? I can send you some dispensary weed. There's plenty of it on the streets. Then you can be part of the problem.

 

[anatta]

I'm not against the concept of medical marijuana.

I don't need to see studies re the varied benefits. I believe you.

And no...your focus isn't about the MM discussion.

It's about motherfucking Obama for what you call his lies.

That's what I will continue to dispute. I've already given you first hand proof of the abuse by those who see this as an end run around marijuana laws.

It's about motherfucking Obama for what you call his lies

In March 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder emphasized that the Justice Department would only target medical-marijuana providers
"who violate both federal and state law." .

The Ogden memo's intent.

A month after the DEA issued its hard-line position, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag warned the city that the feds were weighing "criminal prosecution" against the proposed pot operations. Abandoning the Ogden memo's protections for state-sanctioned "caregivers," Haag effectively re-declared war on medical pot. "We will enforce the Controlled Substances Act vigorously against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana," she wrote, "even if such activities are permitted under state law

The change to the Cole memo, now you can call this a reponse to the "burnouts"(sic) -or you can say Obama changed his position, or you can call it a "clarification, or you can call it a lie like i do. Pick any definition, Obama's inital position was suborned (induced) by the DEA.

The DEA put pressure on Obama -he caved -his normal response -thru the DoJ. If you think Holder doesn't clear major policy decions without Obama's OK, then you also must think the DoJ is autonomous,and not part of the Executive branch, which it clearly is.

When the burnouts stop abusing the privilege, those who truly need weed for medicinal purposes will have less trouble getting it.

How do you figure that part out when the dispensarys are becoming more and more under attack? More dispensarys= more patient access.
Less - less patient access.

Do you still have the same mailing address? I can send you some dispensary weed. There's plenty of it on the streets. Then you can be part of the problem.

The White House, for its part, insists that its position on medical pot has been "clear and consistent." Asked for comment, a senior administration official points out that the Ogden memo was never meant to protect "such things as large-scale, privately owned industrial marijuana cultivation centers" like the one in Oakland.
But the official makes no attempt to explain why the administration has permitted a host of federal agencies to revive the Bush-era policy of targeting state-approved dispensaries. "Somewhere in the administration, a decision was made that it would be better to close down legal, regulated systems of access for patients and send them back to the street, back to criminals," says DeAngelo. "That's what's really at stake."

Thanks for the offer -i sincerely appreciate it,( really) the Obama adm is the problem, weed has never been drug problem in the US,only the insane laws that lock up ppl, allow RICO prosecutions, when no criminal activity is taking place, and the expansion or the DEA to the point Mexico is now a narco-state is the problem.

I would "hope" you admit the "change" legitiamate well run clinics like Harborside/Hopenet are caused to shutter, and drive patients back to the streets, for no apparent reason other then the USDA's can do so, is the root cause of the problem.

Same as it ever was since Nixon established the DEA. Now we have medical marijuana, a useful tool for many ailments, but the Fed'l gov't won't allow dispensarys to operate, under various kinds of fishing expeditions, RICO threats. chilling effects on other states, etc.

But hey! we don't want those 'burnouts to get high' - gotta prioritize harm reduction


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-20120216#ixzz23jgCmzaH ( my redacts -you might want to read the article)

 

[anatta]

Harborside Health Center Patients Discuss Buying Medical Marijuana On The Street

Harborside Health Center Patients Discuss Buying Medical Marijuana On The Street (VIDEO)
| There isn't much agreement over who uses medical marijuana, and why. There's dispute over even the nomenclature: cannabis users refer to themselves as "patients," as do some state and local laws; some in law enforcement and in the August halls of government, officials dole out far less-accommodating terms.

We remember well the captain of a certain Bay Area police force tell us, on record, that he had no issue with old and dying folks using marijuana "if it's the law." However, the only people he saw outside the town's lone dispensary, long since shut-down, fit a very different demographic.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO)

"They're all young and healthy," he complained, going further to say that they fit the appearance more of the crime-prone urban male than a "seriously ill Californian, for whom Proposition 215 allows the legal use of marijuana. Indeed, most medical marijuana users are youngish, employed, and white, according to a study conducted by a University of California Santa Cruz professor last year.

Harborside Health Center CEO Stephen DeAngelo disagrees. The people who will be forced to try and find pot on the street if the federal government is forced to shut down are folks you'd see on an evening BART ride home from work -- if the BART ride is mostly older men and women, half of whom are of color.

"I'm 64," one says. "I'm 61," says another. Not quite young healthy blunt-rollers.

A study in Colorado, where medical marijuana users must register with the state and must also declare their condition, revealed that most cannabis use relieves people of chronic pain. Here, the patients' illnesses run the gamut: arthritis, lung cancer, pain.

This is typical of the patient crowd in Harborside Health Center at any given day, DeAngelo told SF Weekly on Wednesday. About 20 percent of Harborside's 108,000 patients are seniors, he said, and racially, it's about one would expect at any kind of East Bay establishment. "Some have evident medical conditions, some have not so evident medical conditions," said DeAngelo, who noted that younger Harborside customers volunteered to be in the video, too, but failed to show up for the taping (the jokes, they write themselves).

Harborside, recall, is the latest and biggest target of U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's war on state-legal medical marijuana; the feds have shut down over a dozen dispensaries in the Bay Area since Oct. 7, 2011. The nation's biggest dispensary, which has locations in Oakland as well as San Jose, is under federal pressure to close because of its size, Haag said last month.

The oft-repeated warning is that if state-legal, city-licensed, taxpaying dispensaries shut down, those in need of the drug will go to the streets, lining the pockets of gang and cartel members rather than the city general fund (HHC is Oakland's second-biggest taxpayer).

But if Harborside closes, the situation is even worse, DeAngelo said: Folks like the grandparents in the video will simply go without. People as young as five years old and as old as 90 visit these dispensaries because of the wide variety of medicine available. Not simply different tasting or smelling strains, but a topical rub that's non psychoactive, or a cannabis-based sleep aid. Even if these people did try to buy pot on the street -- which is itself unlikely, DeAngelo said --- there's no way a street dealer or even five or so patients growing pot together can provide that kind of care.

"The crazy allegation is that because of our size, we're doing something wrong," DeAngelo said. "It's crazy because by virtue of our size, we're able to do things like develop special formulations. Nobody on the street can replicate that -- most other dispensaries can't replicate that."

(Them" burnouts" -throw their asses out on the street, a 61 year old is perfectly capable of buying weed -even if it's not the correct type for her illness)

 

[anatta]

LA bans ALL MM dispensarys

ARTICLE 5.1
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
SEC. 45.19.6. PURPOSES AND INTENT. http://media.nbclosangeles.com/documents/mmo.pdf (fulltext
The purpose of this Article is to permanently repeal the City's existing medical
marijuana legislation in response to the conflicting decisions of the appellate courts by
prohibiting medical marijuana businesses, while preserving the limited state law medical
marijuana criminal immunities, until such time as the California Supreme Court rules
regarding what cities can and cannot regulate and the City enacts new medical
marijuana legislation consistent with that judicial guidance. It is also the purpose of this
Article to stem the negative impacts and secondary effects associated with the ongoing
medical marijuana businesses in the City, including but not limited to the extraordinary
and unsustainable demands that have been placed upon scarce City policing, legal,
policy, and administrative resources; neighborhood disruption, increased transient
visitors, and intimidation; the unavoidable exposure of school-age children and other
sensitive residents to medical marijuana; drug sales to both minors and adults; fraud in
issuing, obtaining or using medical marijuana recommendations; and murders,
robberies, burglaries, assaults, and other violent crimes. This Article is not intended to
conflict with federal or state law, nor is this Article intended to answer or invite litigation
over the unresolved legal questions posed by the California Attorney General or by case
law regarding the scope and application of state law. It is the intention of the City
Council that this Article be interpreted to be compatible with federal and state
enactments and in furtherance of the public purposes that those enactments

LOS ANGELES -- A medical marijuana trade group sued the city of Los Angeles Friday, seeking to stop officials from enforcing a new ban designed to shut down more than 1,000 pot dispensaries.

The Patient Care Alliance, Los Angeles, or PCA-LA, announced that it filed a lawsuit Friday seeking an injunction against a controversial ordinance approved by the city council last month that supporters said was needed to grapple with the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.

"The city council's actions are not only reckless, heartless and pointless, they're just plain stupid," said Marc O'Hara of PCA-LA. "The city knows that it will never be able to successfully defend this lawsuit."


It comes the same week that the city sent out letters to 1,046 locations where medical marijuana dispensaries are thought to be operating, according to the office of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. The letter -- sent to 1,774 business and property owners, according to the city -- is cited in the lawsuit.


The letter, mailed Tuesday, instructs business owners that a new ordinance making their operations illegal becomes effective Sept. 6.The new city ordinance affects any "medical marijuana business," which is defined as "Any location where marijuana is cultivated, processed, distributed, delivered or given away to a qualified patient, a person with an identification card, or a primary caregiver," the letter states.

"Continuance of a medical marijuana business at this location may subject you to legal action resulting in a court ordered closure and imposition of monetary penalties of $2,500 a day, as well as prosecution for a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000.00 fine," the letter states. "Each day that the property is used in violation of city law is a separate violation."

The city attorney's office said in a statement that the letter "is not part of any enforcement scheme," noting it advises business owners to consult with their attorneys.

The city's ordinance, approved unanimously after many hours of debate before a packed council chamber on July 24, generated lawsuit threats immediately.

Medical marijuana advocates also vowed to put a referendum on the ballot asking voters to halt enforcement of the ban until a forthcoming California Supreme Court decision is issued clarifying pot-shop regulation. Many dispensaries in the city have in recent weeks been gathering signatures for the ballot measure.

When the ordinance passed, city officials said Los Angeles had 762 registered dispensaries. The list of 1,046 locations that received letters this week were compiled from several sources, the city attorney's office said, adding that the locations had not been verified.

At the same time it approved its ban, the council also passed a measure asking city attorneys to study and draw up plans to allow 182 pot shops -- ones that registered with the city under a 2007 ordinance attempting to regulate the dispensaries -- to continue to operate. That seeminlgy contradictory move could take months to realize.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...ters-sue-city-of-los-angeles-to-stop-ban?lite