RIVERSIDE, CA — Shuttered medical marijuana dispensaries in Riverside. CA who have been attempting to continue to provide medicine to patients via delivery service must cease under a new city-wide ban on mobile marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana delivery services.
The city of Riverside recently won a court case in which the California Supreme Court ruled that local municipalities can ban medical marijuana dispensaries, and has since shuttered nearly every dispensary in the city.
Now, Riverside officials are taking the dispensary ban one step further by banning all medical marijuana delivery services, including mobile medical marijuana dispensaries.
Attorney James DeAguilera, who represents about 15 marijuana collectives that operate in Riverside, doesn’t believe the City Council can ban delivery services, let alone enforce the ordinance.
“Would Riverside set up checkpoints all around the city and have police confiscate marijuana?” DeAguilera asked. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
About 200 municipalities in California have banned retail medical marijuana sales, according to estimates from the national medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, while more than 40 have laws allowing dispensaries.
Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the organization, said. . . . . READ MORE
CARSON CITY, NV — Thirteen years after 65 percent of Nevada voters approved the medical use of marijuana, patients will soon have legal access to their medicine as Republican Governor Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 374 into law Wednesday evening.
The bill, introduced by Las Vegas Democrat Senator Tick Segerblom, establishes the framework for medical marijuana dispensaries to open state wide, while allowing patients to continue growing their own marijuana until 2016.
The bill was passed in the final days of the legislative session, first in the Senate and then the Assembly, following an emergency declaration by lawmakers to push the bill through in the final weekend.
The law will 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.
During debates on the bill, some lawmakers 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 . . . . . READ MORE
OAKLAND, CA — Steep Hill Laboratories, Inc. and Halent Scientific, the nation’s two leading cannabis testing and research companies, are pleased to announce they will be merging to form the leading analytical cannabinoid testing and research facility. The merger marks yet another leap forward in the nascent field of cannabis research, testing, and technological innovation, marrying Steep Hill’s innovation and technical prowess with Halent Scientific’s formidable research capabilities.
“We’ve worked hard to maintain a position of leadership for Steep Hill in the fields of cannabis testing and analytics,” said David Lampach, CEO and co-founder of Steep Hill Laboratories, Inc. “With this merger, we’ve achieved a new level of expertise and research ability that will ensure that Steep Hill-Halent will remain at the forefront of these fields and will also open up new avenues for providing clients with world class research, consulting, and testing methodology to further advance the industry.”
At a time when states like Washington, Colorado, and Massachusetts are mandating testing for their emerging cannabis markets, quality control is becoming paramount to ensuring consumer safety and establishing optimized regulatory frameworks. The newly merged Steep Hill-Halent is now an industry powerhouse in these areas.
“It is, indeed, exciting for us to now have an avenue for our research and methods to reach a much wider clientele,” said Donald. . . . . READ MORE
LOS ANGELES, CA – Until she introduced “magic cheese” to her sick and aging bulldog, Laura Bugni-Daniel watched him suffer for two years. He’d spend his days lying down or throwing up.
Today, at age 12, he plays like a puppy through the day, his fur is soft and he sleeps at night, soothed not by magic, but by the dose of marijuana in that cheese.
Bugni-Daniel is part of a growing movement to give medical marijuana to pets in pain. Many urge caution until there’s better science behind it. But stories abound about changes in sick and dying pets after they’ve been given cannabis – even though it remains illegal under federal law despite being legal for people in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Leading the charge is Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer, 36, known as the “Vet Guru,” who felt it was his duty to speak out.
“I grew tired of euthanizing pets when I wasn’t doing everything I could to make their lives better,” he said. “I felt like I was letting them down.”
Pot eased his Siberian husky’s pain during her final weeks, after she had surgery to remove tumors. Not only did Nikita stop whimpering while using cannabis, but she started eating, gaining weight and meeting him at the door again.
It gave him six extra weeks with his dog before he had to euthanize her, he says. It wasn’t a cure, but he thinks it freed her of pain and improved h. . . . . READ MORE
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. . . . . READ MORE
SALEM, OR — A bill to expand Oregon’s medical marijuana program by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying ailments was approved by the Oregon House on Thursday, sending the bill to Governor Kitzhaber’s desk for final approval. The bill passed the Senate in April.
The House voted 36-21 on Thursday to approve the bill, which received a favorable recommendation by the House Health Committee earlier this month.
Use of medical marijuana is currently allowed in the state for patients with certain debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV and AIDS. In an earlier hearing on the bill, veterans told lawmakers that marijuana helped them cope with the physical and emotional trauma of war.
The bill, Senate Bill 281, wou. . . . . READ MORE
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 appro. . . . . READ MORE
SACRAMENTO, CA — A proposal to impose state control over California’s medical marijuana industry, which has been largely unregulated since Proposition 215 passed in 1996, has advanced to a third reading and possible vote in the California Assembly.
Assembly Bill 473, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would create a new agency within the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate the growth, supply and sale of medical cannabis, replacing standards that now vary wildly from one city and county to another.
The bill has received favorable reports from the Committees on Public Safety, Health, and Appropriations, and a third reading has been ordered for the full Assembly to consider the bill.
Although a majority of the hundreds of thousands of legal medical marijuana patients in California rely on dispensaries, the state has so far left regulation up to its localities.
The result is a situation where what is tolerated on one side of a suburban highway may be prosecuted on the other side.
There are currently more than 50 local ordinances, urban and rural, regulating m. . . . . READ MORE
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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 has passed a final committee hearing and has advanced to a third reading and vote by the full Senate.
The bill, Senate Bill 374, 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 Finance Committee added a key amendment to the bill that will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to receive temporary funding from the State General Fund to pay for the initial costs of implementing the dispensary program until revenue from registration fees are collected and the program becomes self sufficient.
Some state 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 int. . . . . READ MORE
DETROIT, MI — Several Michigan medical marijuana patients and caregivers are expected to surrender to federal authorities this week to serve out lengthy prison terms, after being convicted in federal court without any opportunity to defend themselves on medical necessity or state law grounds.
Some defendants went to trial while others pleaded guilty when they saw no opportunity to defend their actions under state law.
Among those expected to surrender this week is 53-year-old Michigan medical marijuana patient Jerry Duval, a kidney-pancreas transplant patient with coronary artery disease and a strict medication regimen.
Duval was sentenced earlier this year to 10 years in prison and will be surrendering to FMC Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts on June 11th. Duval will file a Compassionate Release Request this week, urging the the Bureau of Prisons to consider his extraordinary and compelling circumstances.
Three other Michigan cultivators, Dennis Fo. . . . . READ MORE