420 Policies and Laws

[Crow]

Welcome Nr 20

Illinois Becomes 20th State To Sanction Therapeutic Use Of Cannabis

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn this morning signed legislation (HB 01) into law making Illinois the 20th state to authorize the physician-recommended use of cannabis for qualified patients. (View numerous pictures of today’s bill signing ceremony from Illinois NORML here.)

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States with medical cannabis laws
States with decriminalisation laws
States with both
States with legalised cannabis

[Crow]

DEA settles left-in-cell case for $4M

Daniel Chong, the self-confessed pot smoker who was caught up in a drug sweep last year and nearly died after federal agents inadvertently abandoned him in a holding cell for five days without food or water, is now a millionaire.

Attorney Eugene Iredale announced Tuesday he reached a $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, without even filing a lawsuit.

The harrowing experience for Chong, 25, an engineering student, began on a Friday night in 2012, when he admittedly went to some friends’ house in University City to celebrate April 20, a special date for marijuana users.

Chong didn’t know it at the time, but the home had been under surveillance by a federal narcotics task force.

Drug agents executed a search warrant early in the morning of April 21, Among other things, they found 18,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana and several weapons in the residence, according to court papers.

The agents also found Chong sleeping on a couch in the front room and transported him and six others to the San Diego field office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for follow-up interviews.

Chong said he answered all of the agents’ questions and they agreed to send him home without criminal charges.

But instead he was returned to a temporary holding cell, where he spent the next four days without food or water. He has said he became delirious, drank his own urine, ate the broken shards of his glasses and used the glass to cut the message “sorry mom” in his own forearm.

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[Crow]

Last gasps... It's high time the DEA moves on to the bigger problems... Methamphetamine, heroin, and crack cocaine are prime examples.

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First Medical Marijuana Sale Reported in DC

Voters in the District of Columbia approved Initiative 59, to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, with 69% in favor in 1998. The effort was immediately put on hold after the US Congress passed the Barr Amendment, which prohibited Washington from using any of its funds for implementing its medical marijuana program. A decade later, in 2009, Congress finally overturned the amendment and the city could begin to implement the medical marijuana initiative in earnest. About four more years after that, the first sale of cannabis to a licensed medical patient occurred in the District of Columbia this week.

Expected Soon: More Decriminalized Marijuana In Michigan

As part of an ongoing cannabis law reform effort in Michigan, voters in three more Michigan cities will soon have the chance to do what their elected officials regularly fail to do: pass laws that decriminalize a small amount of cannabis for personal adult use.

The Detroit Free Press reports today that three Michigan cities–Ferndale, Jackson and likely Lansing–will have binding voter initiatives that effectively decriminalize cannabis possession in these three municipalities.

Tomorrow: Will Uruguay Be First Country To Legalize Marijuana?

As soon as tomorrow afternoon votes are expected in the Uruguayan House of Representatives which will cast the country into the lead to become the first country to official end cannabis prohibition.

The country’s president, José Mujica, and the ruling party in the Uruguayan Senate, Frente Ampli, are also public supporters of replacing cannabis prohibition with a state monopoly on cannabis commerce.

Since President Mujica’s public support for legalization was made public in Uruguay last year, a concerted effort to reform the country’s cannabis laws has been underway featuring national TV ad campaigns: with well produced ads featuring mothers, doctors and lawyers.

[truthwolf1]

DEA Raids Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington, 'Humiliating' Shop Owners

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3653071.html

[Burnsey]

Noyce....nothing like bit of reality......

[BadAxe]

So check this out. If you went to the Brickyard 400 this year at the Indy Speedway, this is a commercial you saw on their jumbotron.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H8Cz...layer_embedded

[Crow]

Updated. View update.

[Crow]

Welcome Nr 19

New Hampshire: Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Measure Into Law

Democrat Gov. Maggie Hassan today signed legislation (HB 573) into law making New Hampshire the 19th state to authorize the physician-recommended use of cannabis for qualified patients.

Governor Hassan issued the following public statement upon the bill’s passage:

Allowing doctors to provide relief to patients through the use of appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana is the compassionate and right policy for the State of New Hampshire, and this legislation ensures that we approach this policy in the right way with measures to prevent abuse.

By providing strong regulatory oversight and clear dispensing guidelines, this bill addresses many of the concerns that were expressed throughout the legislative process. HB 573 legalizes the use of medical marijuana in a way that makes sense for the State of New Hampshire and gives health providers another option to help New Hampshire’s seriously ill patients.

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[sirloot]

[Crow]

Oregon: Lawmakers Finalize Measure to License Medicinal Cannabis Dispensaries

Members of the Oregon House and Senate have given final approval to House Bill 3460, which licenses medicinal cannabis dispensaries statewide.

Senate members approved an amended version of the bill by an 18 to 12 vote on July 3. House members had previously passed the bill in June. Members signed off on the Senate’s amendments this past weekend.

House Bill 3460 “directs [the] Oregon Health Authority to establish a registration system for medical marijuana facilities.” The department has until March 2014 to draft rules regulating dispensaries. Such facilities exist presently in the state but are unregulated and remain subject to state and local prosecution. Officials expect to register an estimated 225 dispensaries in the first two years.

Oregonians initially authorized the physician-supervised use of cannabis in 1998. However, the law limits patients’ access to cannabis to either home-cultivation or cultivation by a designated caregiver.

House Bill 3460 was publicly supported of Oregon’s Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum. The measure now awaits approval from Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, and Rhode Island have state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries up and running. (California dispensaries are not licensed by the state.) Similar dispensary outlets are in the process of opening in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont, and Washington, DC.

Source

[Crow]

I've always found North Korea to be fascinating to observe, mainly because of its closed nature... This article from Vice caught my attention... Very amusing read.



North Korea, the most tight-lipped, conservative, and controlling country in the world is also a weed-smoker’s paradise. Despite the government’s deadly serious stance on the use and distribution of hard drugs like crystal meth (which has a notorious legacy in the country), marijuana is reportedly not considered a drug. As a result, it’s the discerning North Korean gentleman’s roll-up of choice, suggesting that, for weed smokers at least, North Korea might just be paradise after all.

NK NEWS receives regular reports from visitors returning from North Korea, who tell us of marijuana plants growing freely along the roadsides, from the northern port town of Chongjin, right down to the streets of Pyongyang, where it is smoked freely and its sweet scent often catches your nostrils unannounced. Our sources are people we know who work inside North Korea and make regular trips in and out of the country.

There is no taboo around pot smoking in the country—many residents know the drug exists and have smoked it. In North Korea, the drug goes by the name of ip tambae, or “leaf tobacco.” It is reported to be especially popular amongst young soldiers in the North Korean military. Rather than getting hooked on tar and nicotine like servicemen in the West, they are able to unwind by lighting up a king-sized bone during down time on the military beat.

The reasons for smoking weed in North Korea differ from America. In North Korea, you don’t smoke just to get high and laugh at your own hand, you do it to save money and as a break from the ubiquitous cheap local cigarettes. In the black markets of North Korea, marijuana is commonly sold at a cheap price and is easily obtainable. Therefore, the drug is especially popular among the lower classes of North Korean society. After a day of hard manual labor, it is common for North Korean workers to smoke marijuana as a way to relax and soothe tight or sore muscles.

One of the great bits of North Korean mythology we’ve all heard a million times is that citizens may not fold their newspapers, lest they accidentally fold a picture of their leaders. But luckily not every page features those powerful, attention-seeking bossmen, so all the paper’s more easily recyclable parts (sports, weather, TV listings) end up being used to roll up tobacco and marijuana.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper is a favorite rolling paper among many North Korean smokers. It is cut up into squares, then rolled into small, cone-shaped spliffs. A source confirmed to NK NEWS that they had found a half-lit joint on the ground in a rural area of the country with the Rodong Sinmun used as rolling paper. The same source noted that, tragically, the weed in North Korea isn’t very strong.

Although weed grows naturally on the Korean peninsula, it is cultivated more formally in some areas. The herb is often grown in the private gardens of North Koreans. An American who travels to North Korea every year commented on Reddit, “We came to a garden one day and took one look and said, ‘that is weed!’ We went over and sure enough they were growing marijuana. I had heard it is used for medicine but finding it was interesting.”

Reports of marijuana use date back to the formation of the nation as it exists today. After the Korean War, US soldiers commonly plucked the herb from the DMZ areas near the North Korean border and smoked it. Stories of tents being hot boxed by tired fighters is a common recollection in the folklore of the difficult era.

Meanwhile back in the West, with the recent legalization of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado, some Americans are clamoring for legalization of the herb across the whole country. While this remains a controversial issue, the fact that marijuana appears to be commonly used in North Korea as a casual, cheap escape from an otherwise tightly controlled society suggests that for all the other worries they have to put up with, they do enjoy at least one perk denied to people like me living here in the land of the free.

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Full article at http://www.vice.com/read/north-korea...explains-a-lot

[Crow]

For Immediate Release

Board Approves Proposed Rules to Implement Initiative 502

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Liquor Control Board (Board) today approved the proposed rules that, if ultimately enacted, will help govern Washington State’s system of producing, processing and retailing recreational marijuana. The 42-page, single-spaced rules detail the requirements for participating in Washington’s system.

“Public safety is our top priority,” said Board Chair Sharon Foster. “These rules fulfill the public expectation of creating a tightly-regulated and controlled system while providing reasonable access to participation in the market.”

The foundation for the rule-making began soon after the November 2012 passage of Initiative 502.The Board held eight public forums statewide that drew over 3,000 attendees, 11 internal teams performed staff work ranging from research to policy recommendations, and individual board members and staff presented at dozens of public and trade events to listen and communicate status. Most recently, on May 16, the Board publicly issued its initial draft seeking comment by June 10, 2013.

“While the overall response to our initial draft was quite positive,” continued Foster, “We received quality input from local governments, law enforcement, industry members, the prevention community and many others that we incorporated and further improved the rules.”

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Key Public Safety Elements

Public safety is the top priority of the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

All grows must meet strictly controlled on-site security requirements;

· Strict surveillance and transportation requirements;

· Robust traceability software system that will track inventory from start to sale;

· Criminal background checks on all license applicants;

· Tough penalty guidelines for public safety violations including loss of license;

· Restricting certain advertising that may be targeted at children.

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Key Consumer Safety Elements

The proposed rules provide a heightened level of consumer safety that has not existed previously.

· Packaging and label requirements including dosage and warnings;

· Child-resistant packaging for marijuana in solid and liquid forms;

· Only lab tested and approved products will be available;

· Defined serving sizes and package limits on marijuana in solid form;

· Store signage requirements to educate customers.

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Timeline

August 6-8, 2013 Public hearings on proposed rules

August 14, 2013 Rules adopted

September 16, 2013 Rules become effective

September 16, 2013 Begin accepting applications for all three licenses (30-day window)

December 1, 2013 Rules are complete (as mandated by law)

Dec. 2013 / Jan. 2014 Begin issuing producer, processor and retailer licenses

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Public Hearings

Public hearings on the proposed rules are being scheduled in four locations across Washington August 6 – 8, 2013. The locations are tentatively scheduled for Olympia, Seattle-area, Ellensburg and Spokane. The WSLCB will soon post the dates and locations on its website at www.liq.wa.gov

[Crow]

It's definitely orange, and a little funky... Not sure I would say 'rotten', but the orange aroma was very 'heady'.

[OregonNative]

Very relaxing...

Yep, I got some Black Domina yesterday.. Finished it that day, not a single migraine!

That's what I like to hear bro!

About that Black Domina, did you get that rotten orange/fruit smell from it? I grew it a while back (medically), and got a certain pheno (from a cut) that always smelled like rotten oranges, but my God it was potent! I've grown it from seed as well, and got a variety of phenos, but that rotten orange smell was always apparent with what I grew.

[Crow]

How are those indy's hitting brudduh? Were you able to find some of that Black Domina I mentioned a while back? If you get your hands on it, don't make any plans! I only puff on that when extreme migraines come on.

Also, YES!!! It's good to see things moving in the right direction. I've played with the idea of moving back to Cascadia eventually, and currently Washington is looking better than Oregon. Maybe that'll change! My heart is in Portland, and I'd love to go back someday.

Very relaxing...

Yep, I got some Black Domina yesterday.. Finished it that day, not a single migraine!