[asa] Medical Marijuana in the News: 5/19

[Guest guest]

ASA’s Summary of Medical Marijuana Media for the Week Ending 5/19

 

 

* *ASA ACTION*: Going to Court for Patients’ Rights

* *OP/EDS*: FDA Backlash Continues

* *NEW JERSEY*: Support for New Bill

* *COLORADO*: Patient Going to Trial

* *CALIFORNIA*: Law Enforcement Priorities Questioned

* *CALIFORNIA*: Local Actions on Implementation

 

_

 

*ASA ACTION: Going to Court for Patients’ Rights*

 

/The latest action by ASA on behalf of patients takes the form of a

lawsuit filed against a California county for blocking patient

collectives and destroying patients' property. ASA’s commitment to

defend patients’ rights has yielded precedent-setting results, and the

same is expected here./

 

//

 

/

 

ASA Sues Butte County for Its Ban on Collective Cultivation

<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3440>

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3440

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3440>

 

/

 

*Marijuana collective sues Butte County officials *

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3455>

*by Ryan Olson*, *Chico Enterprise Record*

<http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_3840660>

A group of seven people qualified for medicinal marijuana are suing

Butte County officials after a sheriff's deputy ordered the destruction

of nearly all their plants. The Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access

is filing a lawsuit in Butte County Superior Court on behalf of David

Williams and six other plaintiffs.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3455

 

_

 

*OP/EDS: FDA Backlash Continues*

 

/Few actions the federal government has taken in trying to stem the tide

of science and public opinion have backfired quite so spectacularly as

their 4/20^ denial of medical marijuana’s effectiveness. Their intent

was clearly to mollify a benighted Indiana Congressman who had demanded

such a statement, but the effect was to release a torrent of

condemnation that continues a month later. /

 

*Medical Marijuana: Politics Trumps Science at the FDA *

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3443>

*by Gregory T. Carter, MD; Bruce Mirken*, *Medscape*

<http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/531038>

For a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increasingly mired in

controversies over the politicization of scientific and regulatory

decisions, the agency's April 20, 2006 statement regarding medical use

of marijuana may represent an all-time low point. Politics, it appears,

has now completely trumped science at this once proudly independent

agency. The FDA has announced that " no sound scientific studies " support

the medical use of marijuana, contradicting an increasingly large body

of scientific literature. To those of us who do research in this area,

this is a personal affront.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3443

 

*Science: The Drug War’s Latest Victim*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3448>

*by Salim Muwakkil*, *In These Times*

<http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2656/>

The war on drugs is an attack on rationality. Reason lost yet another

skirmish recently when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced

on April 20 that “no sound scientific studies” supported the medical use

of marijuana.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3448

 

_

 

*NEW JERSEY: Support for New Bill*

 

/Opinion makers are weighing in support of the new bill up for

consideration before the state legislature. With the governor already on

record favoring protection for patients and public opinion polls showing

the same across the political spectrum, it should be an easy decision

for lawmakers. /

 

*Medical pot will get a hearing *

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3451>

*EDITORIAL*, *The Times (NJ)*

<http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1147680829840\

00.xml & coll=5>

For the first time, the New Jersey Legislature will hear testimony on a

proposal to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Those whose minds

are closed to any drug policy other than absolute prohibition are

enormously influential at the State House, but this is a step forward.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3451

 

_

 

*COLORADO: Patient Going to Trial *

 

/While taxpayers in Colorado should be outraged that their money is

being spent prosecuting an AIDS patient for using medical cannabis to

ease his suffering – in just the way the Institute of Medicine report

recommends – at least he will get a chance to present his case to a

jury, who should have little difficulty setting the matter right./

 

*Man to defend marijuana use* <http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3446>

*by Felix Doligosa Jr.*, *Rocky Mountain News*

<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4701615,00.h\

tml>

An HIV-positive man who smokes marijuana to fight nausea triggered by

antiviral drugs can defend his pot use to a jury, a judge ruled Monday.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3446

 

*Man Says Marijuana Helps Treat Side Effects Of HIV*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3447>

*by Associated Press*, *CBS-4 Denver*

<http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_135235941.html>

A man who claims he smokes marijuana to treat the side effects of

medication he takes for HIV will stand trial for possessing the drug, a

judge ruled Monday.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3447

 

_

 

*CALIFORNIA: Law Enforcement Priorities Questioned*

 

/The most compelling case for ensuring safe, legal access to medical

cannabis is based on simple compassion. But morality and ethics aside,

it also makes sense from the viewpoint of effective use of limited

resources. In an era of limited public finances, asking law enforcement

to expend time and money on prosecuting the sick and suffering who harm

neither themselves nor others is impossible to justify./

 

*A California Tax Dollar and Medical Marijuana *

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3444>

*by Kenneth Michael White*, *opinioneditorials.com*

<http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/kwhite_20060517.html>

Hello, I am a California Tax Dollar and I have a problem with the way I

am being spent by some California law enforcement officials. Because

there is currently a difference between California law and Federal law

regarding medical marijuana, there is some confusion about what a

California law enforcement officer should do when encountering marijuana

during the normal course of duties.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3444

 

_

 

*CALIFORNIA: Local Actions on Implementation*

 

Tulare, Placerville, Richmond, El Cerrito, Seaside, Marina, Templeton,

Pomona

 

/Implementation of state law having been made a largely local matter by

legislative action a year ago, local officials around the state continue

to invest time and energy into sorting out how to approach the issues,

from ID cards to dispensary regulations./

 

*Medical marijuana users protected*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3442>

*by Sarah Jimenez*, *Fresno Bee*

<http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/12194082p-12937297c.html>

Tulare County became the second Central Valley county Tuesday to start a

medical marijuana identification program to protect patients and

caregivers from arrest.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3442

 

*Board approves medical marijuana I.D. cards *

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3441>

*by Joann Groff*, *Porterville Recorder*

<http://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2006/05/17/news/local_state/news05.\

txt>

The issuance of medical marijuana identification cards - with $100 price

tags - was approved at Tuesday's Tulare Board of Supervisors meeting.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3441

 

*Placerville moves to keep its medicinal pot ordinance*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3452>

*by Cathy Locke*, *Sacramento Bee*

<http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14254991p-15070419c.html>

Placerville City Council members, faced with a conflict between state

and federal laws governing the medical use of marijuana, say they'll

cast their lot with the state.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3452

 

*Marijuana clubs question ethics of city's order to close*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3454>

*by Tom Lochner*, *ANG Newspapers*

<http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/146178\

12.htm>

With the crafting of a medical marijuana regulating ordinance stalled,

the Richmond City Attorney's office has ordered the immediate closure of

two cannabis clubs, the only ones known to operate in the city.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3454

 

*El Cerrito leans toward cannabis club approval*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3449>

*by Alan Lopez*, *Contra Costa Times*

<http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/14598951.htm>

The El Cerrito Planning Commission will consider recommending changes

next month to the city's zoning ordinance that would allow a medical

marijuana dispensary to operate in a three-block area on the city's

north side.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3449

 

*Seaside, Marina Postpone Decision on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3450>

*by Raul Vasquez*, *Monterey County Weekly*

<http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/issues/Issue.05-18-2006/news/Article.news_1\

>

Seaside and Marina officials are in no hurry to grant zoning permits

that would allow medical marijuana dispensary sites to spring up in

their cities. This fact has Jhonrico Carrnshimba rethinking his whole

“front-door” strategy.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3450

 

*Templeton proposal dies for marijuana dispensary*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3453>

*by Stephen Curran*, *San Luis Obispo Tribune (CA)*

<http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/14566821.htm>

A potential showdown between Templeton residents and the owner of a

proposed medical marijuana dispensary was averted Thursday, when the

applicant withdrew his application.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3453

 

*Medical marijuana issues on agenda*

<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3445>

*by Monica Rodriguez*, *Daily Bulletin (CA)*

<http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3823101>

City staff members tonight are expected to ask that the Pomona City

Council extend a moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana

dispensaries.

http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3445

 

_________

*FOR MORE MEDICAL MARIJUANA NEWS*

/Previous News Summaries are archived. The complete text of all these

articles and more is available by clicking the links on the article

headline. You can also see the latest news for the week by selecting

" News Articles " under the Press Room menu at www.SafeAccessNow.org

<http://www.SafeAccessNow.org>./

/A national coalition of 25,000 patients, doctors and advocates,

Americans for Safe Access is the largest organization working to secure

the rights of patients and doctors to use marijuana medicinally. To

learn more, see www.SafeAccessNow.org/