DENVER â€" Last year, Dorian Beth Wenzel, a Manitou Springs, Colo.,
writer and arthritis sufferer, penned a letter to a local newspaper that
disclosed her status as a medical-marijuana patient.
The paper printed the letter, and soon afterward Wenzel found herself
face-to-face with the human-resources director of the nonprofit
organization she works for. Wenzel’s office, her HR director told
her, is a drug-free workplace.
“It is kind of scary when your HR department is telling you that
you could be fired,†Wenzel said. “And it’s like,
‘Why?’ â€
To Colorado’s already-vexing cannabis conundrum, add yet another
riddle: Are medical-marijuana patients protected from discipline under
their employers’ anti-drug policies?
In the past week, two other stories that pose such a question have
emerged:
-- In the first, an Idaho Springs high school teacher and football coach
resigned from the school after being charged with smoking marijuana on
school grounds, even though he said he was a legal patient.
-- The second involves a Denver city employee who failed a routine drug
test taken after an on-duty car accident. The employee said
medical-marijuana use accounted for the positive test.
Can an employer punish someone for doing something that is
constitutionally protected?
“This issue is up in the air right now,†said Vance Knapp,
a Denver lawyer with Sherman & Howard who deals in employment law.
“It hasn’t been litigated through the courts.â€
In other words, nobody really knows yet.
The constitutional amendment that authorizes medical marijuana in
Colorado has this to say on the matter: “Nothing in this section
shall require any employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana
in any work place.â€
That provision makes on-the-job use or impairment a clear violation at a
drug-free workplace, but the outer boundaries of the provision are
subject to greater debate.
Advocacy organizations contend that employers have interpreted the
language broadly, using it to punish even patients who use medical
marijuana in off-the-clock hours and never show up to work impaired, as
Wenzel said she doesn’t.
“It’s been deciphered to mean that employers can fire a
medical-marijuana patient for just about anything,†said Brian
Vicente, the executive director of the medical-marijuana patient-rights
group Sensible Colorado. “Basically, it’s a form of
legalized discrimination against sick people who choose to use medical
marijuana.â€
Courts ruling on similar questions in two other states â€"
California and Montana â€" have sided with employers in giving them
authority to fire medical-marijuana patients who fail company drug
tests. But there are two key ways in which Colorado’s laws differ
from those states:
- Colorado’s medical-marijuana law is embedded in the
state’s constitution rather than just statutes.
- Colorado has something called the Lawful Off-Duty Activities Statute,
which prevents employers from punishing employees for doing something
off-duty that is legal.
Boulder lawyer Jeff Gard, who represents medical-marijuana patients and
said he gets several calls per week from patients worried about keeping
their jobs, said state and federal anti-disability-discrimination laws
also would protect patients.
“You’re not going to tell a diabetic, ‘We’re
going to fire you for using insulin,’ †Gard said.
Knapp, the Denver lawyer, said marijuana’s status under federal
law as an illegal drug â€" no matter how it’s used â€"
could nullify all those laws’ protections. But he quickly noted
that an Arapahoe County judge’s recent ruling â€" in which
the judge said a city couldn’t cite federal law to shut down a
medical-marijuana dispensary â€" might counter that argument.
For now, Knapp said he is advising the employers who ask him about the
issue to update their anti-drug policies to specify that they include
drugs that are illegal according to federal law as well as locally.
“Employers need to be very cautious in addressing this situation
because there are a lot of land mines out there,†Knapp said.
Showing posts with label medical marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical marijuana. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Are there any medical facts for marijuana?
Charlene DeGidio never smoked marijuana in the 1960s, or afterward. But
a year ago, after medications failed to relieve the pain in her legs and
feet, a doctor suggested that the Adna, Wash., retiree try the drug.
Ms. DeGidio, 69 years old, bought candy with marijuana mixed in. It
worked in easing her neuropathic pain, for which doctors haven't been
able to pinpoint a cause, she says. Now, Ms. DeGidio, who had previously
tried without success other drugs including Neurontin and lidocaine
patches, nibbles marijuana-laced peppermint bars before sleep, and keeps
a bag in her refrigerator that she's warned her grandchildren to avoid.
"It's not like you're out smoking pot for enjoyment or to get high,"
says the former social worker, who won't take the drug during the day
because she doesn't want to feel disoriented. "It's a medicine."
For many patients like Ms. DeGidio, it's getting easier to access
marijuana for medical use. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it
will not generally prosecute ill people under doctors' care whose use of
the drug complies with state rules. New Jersey will become the 14th
state to allow therapeutic use of marijuana, and the number is likely to
grow. Illinois and New York, among others, are considering new laws.
As the legal landscape for patients clears somewhat, the medical one
remains confusing, largely because of limited scientific studies. A
recent American Medical Association review found fewer than 20
randomized, controlled clinical trials of smoked marijuana for all
possible uses. These involved around 300 people in all—well short of
the evidence typically required for a pharmaceutical to be marketed in
the U.S.
Doctors say the studies that have been done suggest marijuana can
benefit patients in the areas of managing neuropathic pain, which is
caused by certain types of nerve injury, and in bolstering appetite and
treating nausea, for instance in cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy. "The evidence is mounting" for those uses, says Igor
Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the
University of California, San Diego.
But in a range of other conditions for which marijuana has been
considered, such as epilepsy and immune diseases like lupus, there's
scant and inconclusive research to show the drug's effectiveness.
Marijuana also has been tied to side effects including a racing heart
and short-term memory loss and, in at least a few cases, anxiety and
psychotic experiences such as hallucinations. The Food and Drug
Administration doesn't regulate marijuana, so the quality and potency of
the product available in medical-marijuana dispensaries can vary.
Though states have been legalizing medical use of marijuana since 1996,
when California passed a ballot initiative, the idea remains
controversial. Opponents say such laws can open a door to wider
cultivation and use of the drug by people without serious medical
conditions. That concern is heightened, they say, when broadly written
statutes, such as California's, allow wide leeway for doctors to decide
when to write marijuana recommendations.
But advocates of medical-marijuana laws say certain seriously ill
patients can benefit from the drug and should be able to access it with
a doctor's permission. They argue that some patients may get better
results from marijuana than from available prescription drugs.
Glenn Osaki, 51, a technology consultant from Pleasanton, Calif., says
he smokes marijuana to counter nausea and pain. Diagnosed in 2005 with
advanced colon cancer, he has had his entire colon removed, creating
digestive problems, and suffers neuropathic pain in his hands and feet
from a chemotherapy drug. He says smoking marijuana was more effective
and faster than prescription drugs he tried, including one that is a
synthetic version of marijuana's most active ingredient, known as THC.
The relatively limited research supporting medical marijuana poses
practical challenges for doctors and patients who want to consider it as
a therapeutic option. It's often unclear when, or whether, it might work
better than traditional drugs for particular people. Unlike prescription
drugs it comes with no established dosing regimen.
"I don't know what to recommend to patients about what to use, how much
to use, where to get it," says Scott Fishman, chief of pain medicine at
the University of California, Davis medical school, who says he rarely
writes marijuana recommendations, typically only at a patient's request.
Researchers say it's difficult to get funding and federal approval for
marijuana research. In November, the AMA urged the federal government to
review marijuana's position in the most-restricted category of drugs, so
it could be studied more easily.
Gregory T. Carter, a University of Washington professor of
rehabilitation medicine, says he's developed his own procedures for
recommending marijuana, which he does for some patients with serious
neuromuscular conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou
Gehrig's disease, to treat pain and other symptoms. He typically urges
those who haven't tried it before to start with a few puffs using a
vaporizer, which heats the marijuana to release its active chemicals,
then wait 10 minutes. He warns them to have family nearby and to avoid
driving, and he checks back with them after a few days. Many are
"surprised at how mild" the drug's psychotropic effects are, he says.
States' rules on growing and dispensing medical marijuana vary. Some
states license specialized dispensaries. These can range from small
storefronts to bigger operations that feel more like pharmacies.
Typically, they have security procedures to limit walk-in visitors.
At least a few dispensaries say they inspect their suppliers and use
labs to check the potency of their product, though states don't
generally require such measures. "It's difficult to understand how we
can call it medicine if we don't know what's in it," says Stephen
DeAngelo, executive director of the Harborside Health Center, a
medical-marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif.
Some of the strongest research results support the idea of using
marijuana to relieve neuropathic pain. For example, a trial of 50 AIDS
patients published in the journal Neurology in 2007 found that 52% of
those who smoked marijuana reported a 30% or greater reduction in pain.
Just 24% of those who got placebo cigarettes reported the same lessening
of pain.
Marijuana has also been shown to affect nausea and appetite. The AMA
review said three controlled studies with 43 total participants showed a
"modest" anti-nausea effect of smoked marijuana in cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy. Studies of HIV-positive patients have suggested
that smoked marijuana can improve appetite and trigger weight gain.
Donald Abrams, a doctor and professor at the University of California,
San Francisco who has studied marijuana, says he recommends it to some
cancer patients, including those who haven't found standard anti-nausea
drugs effective and some with loss of appetite.
Side effects can be a problem for some people. Thea Sagen, 62, an
advanced neuroendocrine cancer patient in Seaside, Calif., says she
expected something like a pharmacy when she went to a marijuana
dispensary mentioned by her oncologist. She says she was disappointed to
find that the staffers couldn't say which of the products, with names
like Pot 'o Gold and Blockbuster, might boost her flagging appetite or
soothe her anxiety. "They said, 'it's trial and error,' "she says. "I
was in there flying blind, looking at all this stuff."
Ms. Sagen says she bought several items and tried one-eighth teaspoon of
marijuana-infused honey. After a few hours, she was hallucinating , too
dizzy and confused to dress herself for a doctor's appointment. Then
came vomiting far worse than her stomach upset before she took the drug.
When she reported the side effects to her oncologist's nurse and her
primary-care physician, she got no guidance. She doesn't take the drug
now. But with advice from a nutritionist, her appetite and food intake
have improved, she says.
Other marijuana users may experience the well-known reduction in ability
to concentrate. At least a few users suffer troubling short-term
psychiatric side effects, which can include anxiety and panic. More
controversially, an analysis published in the journal Lancet in 2007
tied marijuana use to a higher rate of psychotic conditions such as
schizophrenia. But the analysis noted that such a link doesn't
necessarily show marijuana is a cause of the conditions.
Long-term marijuana use can lead to physical dependence, though it is
not as addictive as nicotine or alcohol, says Margaret Haney, a
professor at Columbia University's medical school. Smoked marijuana may
also risk lung irritation, but a large 2006 study, published in Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found no tie to lung cancer.
a year ago, after medications failed to relieve the pain in her legs and
feet, a doctor suggested that the Adna, Wash., retiree try the drug.
Ms. DeGidio, 69 years old, bought candy with marijuana mixed in. It
worked in easing her neuropathic pain, for which doctors haven't been
able to pinpoint a cause, she says. Now, Ms. DeGidio, who had previously
tried without success other drugs including Neurontin and lidocaine
patches, nibbles marijuana-laced peppermint bars before sleep, and keeps
a bag in her refrigerator that she's warned her grandchildren to avoid.
"It's not like you're out smoking pot for enjoyment or to get high,"
says the former social worker, who won't take the drug during the day
because she doesn't want to feel disoriented. "It's a medicine."
For many patients like Ms. DeGidio, it's getting easier to access
marijuana for medical use. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it
will not generally prosecute ill people under doctors' care whose use of
the drug complies with state rules. New Jersey will become the 14th
state to allow therapeutic use of marijuana, and the number is likely to
grow. Illinois and New York, among others, are considering new laws.
As the legal landscape for patients clears somewhat, the medical one
remains confusing, largely because of limited scientific studies. A
recent American Medical Association review found fewer than 20
randomized, controlled clinical trials of smoked marijuana for all
possible uses. These involved around 300 people in all—well short of
the evidence typically required for a pharmaceutical to be marketed in
the U.S.
Doctors say the studies that have been done suggest marijuana can
benefit patients in the areas of managing neuropathic pain, which is
caused by certain types of nerve injury, and in bolstering appetite and
treating nausea, for instance in cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy. "The evidence is mounting" for those uses, says Igor
Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the
University of California, San Diego.
But in a range of other conditions for which marijuana has been
considered, such as epilepsy and immune diseases like lupus, there's
scant and inconclusive research to show the drug's effectiveness.
Marijuana also has been tied to side effects including a racing heart
and short-term memory loss and, in at least a few cases, anxiety and
psychotic experiences such as hallucinations. The Food and Drug
Administration doesn't regulate marijuana, so the quality and potency of
the product available in medical-marijuana dispensaries can vary.
Though states have been legalizing medical use of marijuana since 1996,
when California passed a ballot initiative, the idea remains
controversial. Opponents say such laws can open a door to wider
cultivation and use of the drug by people without serious medical
conditions. That concern is heightened, they say, when broadly written
statutes, such as California's, allow wide leeway for doctors to decide
when to write marijuana recommendations.
But advocates of medical-marijuana laws say certain seriously ill
patients can benefit from the drug and should be able to access it with
a doctor's permission. They argue that some patients may get better
results from marijuana than from available prescription drugs.
Glenn Osaki, 51, a technology consultant from Pleasanton, Calif., says
he smokes marijuana to counter nausea and pain. Diagnosed in 2005 with
advanced colon cancer, he has had his entire colon removed, creating
digestive problems, and suffers neuropathic pain in his hands and feet
from a chemotherapy drug. He says smoking marijuana was more effective
and faster than prescription drugs he tried, including one that is a
synthetic version of marijuana's most active ingredient, known as THC.
The relatively limited research supporting medical marijuana poses
practical challenges for doctors and patients who want to consider it as
a therapeutic option. It's often unclear when, or whether, it might work
better than traditional drugs for particular people. Unlike prescription
drugs it comes with no established dosing regimen.
"I don't know what to recommend to patients about what to use, how much
to use, where to get it," says Scott Fishman, chief of pain medicine at
the University of California, Davis medical school, who says he rarely
writes marijuana recommendations, typically only at a patient's request.
Researchers say it's difficult to get funding and federal approval for
marijuana research. In November, the AMA urged the federal government to
review marijuana's position in the most-restricted category of drugs, so
it could be studied more easily.
Gregory T. Carter, a University of Washington professor of
rehabilitation medicine, says he's developed his own procedures for
recommending marijuana, which he does for some patients with serious
neuromuscular conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou
Gehrig's disease, to treat pain and other symptoms. He typically urges
those who haven't tried it before to start with a few puffs using a
vaporizer, which heats the marijuana to release its active chemicals,
then wait 10 minutes. He warns them to have family nearby and to avoid
driving, and he checks back with them after a few days. Many are
"surprised at how mild" the drug's psychotropic effects are, he says.
States' rules on growing and dispensing medical marijuana vary. Some
states license specialized dispensaries. These can range from small
storefronts to bigger operations that feel more like pharmacies.
Typically, they have security procedures to limit walk-in visitors.
At least a few dispensaries say they inspect their suppliers and use
labs to check the potency of their product, though states don't
generally require such measures. "It's difficult to understand how we
can call it medicine if we don't know what's in it," says Stephen
DeAngelo, executive director of the Harborside Health Center, a
medical-marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif.
Some of the strongest research results support the idea of using
marijuana to relieve neuropathic pain. For example, a trial of 50 AIDS
patients published in the journal Neurology in 2007 found that 52% of
those who smoked marijuana reported a 30% or greater reduction in pain.
Just 24% of those who got placebo cigarettes reported the same lessening
of pain.
Marijuana has also been shown to affect nausea and appetite. The AMA
review said three controlled studies with 43 total participants showed a
"modest" anti-nausea effect of smoked marijuana in cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy. Studies of HIV-positive patients have suggested
that smoked marijuana can improve appetite and trigger weight gain.
Donald Abrams, a doctor and professor at the University of California,
San Francisco who has studied marijuana, says he recommends it to some
cancer patients, including those who haven't found standard anti-nausea
drugs effective and some with loss of appetite.
Side effects can be a problem for some people. Thea Sagen, 62, an
advanced neuroendocrine cancer patient in Seaside, Calif., says she
expected something like a pharmacy when she went to a marijuana
dispensary mentioned by her oncologist. She says she was disappointed to
find that the staffers couldn't say which of the products, with names
like Pot 'o Gold and Blockbuster, might boost her flagging appetite or
soothe her anxiety. "They said, 'it's trial and error,' "she says. "I
was in there flying blind, looking at all this stuff."
Ms. Sagen says she bought several items and tried one-eighth teaspoon of
marijuana-infused honey. After a few hours, she was hallucinating , too
dizzy and confused to dress herself for a doctor's appointment. Then
came vomiting far worse than her stomach upset before she took the drug.
When she reported the side effects to her oncologist's nurse and her
primary-care physician, she got no guidance. She doesn't take the drug
now. But with advice from a nutritionist, her appetite and food intake
have improved, she says.
Other marijuana users may experience the well-known reduction in ability
to concentrate. At least a few users suffer troubling short-term
psychiatric side effects, which can include anxiety and panic. More
controversially, an analysis published in the journal Lancet in 2007
tied marijuana use to a higher rate of psychotic conditions such as
schizophrenia. But the analysis noted that such a link doesn't
necessarily show marijuana is a cause of the conditions.
Long-term marijuana use can lead to physical dependence, though it is
not as addictive as nicotine or alcohol, says Margaret Haney, a
professor at Columbia University's medical school. Smoked marijuana may
also risk lung irritation, but a large 2006 study, published in Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found no tie to lung cancer.
school district to weigh in on dispensaries in Grass Valley
High school leaders will consider opposing a medical marijuana
dispensary in Grass Valley during their meeting Wednesday.
Staff for the Nevada Joint Union High School District cited the negative
impact on local youth from the sanctioned sale of medical marijuana in
the resolution that goes before the board of trustees when they meet at
6 p.m. Wednesday at Nevada Union High School, on Ridge Road in Grass
Valley.
The Grass Valley City Council could consider allowing a medical
marijuana dispensary sometime this year, after placing a moratorium on
any such businesses coming into town while an ordinance regulating them
is crafted.
Nevada County similarly put off the issue, and Nevada City banned
dispensaries late last year in a controversial vote. A dispensary
operates in Colfax, in Placer County.
High school district staff is recommending the board oppose the move due
to "the potential impact on the youth of the city of Grass Valley
from the ancillary consequences of the sale of medical marijuana,"
according to the staff report.
Board members requested the resolution because of the effect marijuana
already has on local high school students, said district Superintendent
Ralf Swenson.
"Discipline issues related to marijuana already represent the
majority of the disciplinary actions our district takes," Swenson
said.
"We're concerned the presence of dispensaries in our community sends
the wrong message to students."
The district's concerns will be weighed when council members address the
issue of medical marijuana dispensaries, said Grass Valley Mayor Lisa
Swarthout.
"No one has made up their mind yet," Swarthout said.
The city's ordinance is still in the works, and a date for it to come
before the council isn't set, she added.
dispensary in Grass Valley during their meeting Wednesday.
Staff for the Nevada Joint Union High School District cited the negative
impact on local youth from the sanctioned sale of medical marijuana in
the resolution that goes before the board of trustees when they meet at
6 p.m. Wednesday at Nevada Union High School, on Ridge Road in Grass
Valley.
The Grass Valley City Council could consider allowing a medical
marijuana dispensary sometime this year, after placing a moratorium on
any such businesses coming into town while an ordinance regulating them
is crafted.
Nevada County similarly put off the issue, and Nevada City banned
dispensaries late last year in a controversial vote. A dispensary
operates in Colfax, in Placer County.
High school district staff is recommending the board oppose the move due
to "the potential impact on the youth of the city of Grass Valley
from the ancillary consequences of the sale of medical marijuana,"
according to the staff report.
Board members requested the resolution because of the effect marijuana
already has on local high school students, said district Superintendent
Ralf Swenson.
"Discipline issues related to marijuana already represent the
majority of the disciplinary actions our district takes," Swenson
said.
"We're concerned the presence of dispensaries in our community sends
the wrong message to students."
The district's concerns will be weighed when council members address the
issue of medical marijuana dispensaries, said Grass Valley Mayor Lisa
Swarthout.
"No one has made up their mind yet," Swarthout said.
The city's ordinance is still in the works, and a date for it to come
before the council isn't set, she added.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Washington pushing to legalize Marijuana
SEATTLE (AP) - Five activists filed a ballot initiative Monday that
would legalize all adult marijuana possession, manufacturing and sales
under Washington state law - one of the most sweeping efforts at
marijuana reform playing out around the country this year.
Its sponsors include two Seattle lawyers and the director of Seattle's
annual Hempfest. They call themselves Sensible Washington, and say that
in a time of dire budget woes, the state's government should stop
spending money on police, court and jail costs for people who use or
produce marijuana.
Douglas Hiatt, a lawyer who represents medical marijuana patients, told
The Associated Press the proposal would remove all state criminal
penalties for adults who possess, grow and distribute pot - no matter
how much. Criminal penalties for juveniles who possess marijuana and for
those who provide the drug to juveniles would remain in place.
Driving under the influence of the drug also would still be against the
law. And marijuana would remain illegal under federal law.
"It basically tells the federal government, 'Hey it's your prohibition -
if you want it, you pay for it,"' Hiatt said. "We're tired of screwing
around and wasting all this dough."
Volunteers are lining up to collect the more than 241,000 signatures
required to place the initiative on the November ballot, Hiatt said.
The campaign has competition in Washington. One bill introduced here
would legalize and regulate marijuana, while another would decriminalize
possession of small amounts of pot, making it punishable by a fine
rather than jail time.
Legalization bills have also been introduced in California,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Nevada, and a group campaigning to
place a marijuana legalization measure before California voters said
last month that it has enough signatures to qualify for this year's
ballot.
Alison Holcomb, drug policy director at the American Civil Liberties
Union of Washington, which is lobbying for the decriminalization bill,
said she supports any effort to engage the public in discussing
marijuana law reform, but she couldn't comment specifically on the
initiative without reading it.
"If there were decriminalization of transfers of small amounts of
marijuana not for profit, that might be one way to undermine the
cartels' bottom line," she said. "But I think the push-back would be,
are you just giving the gangsters a get-out-of-jail-free card in
Washington state? Are you setting up incentives for criminal elements to
come here and set up shop?"
Hiatt disputed that notion, saying the drug flourishes on the black
market only because it is illegal. Furthermore, federal agents wouldn't
stand for large-scale marijuana trafficking, he said.
He cited one recent study suggesting Washington could save tens of
millions of dollars a year on law enforcement costs if marijuana was
legal.
Hiatt said he was inspired to file the initiative in part by a recent
conversation with Mason County prosecutor Gary Burleson, who told him to
"put your money where your mouth is" and get an initiative before
voters.
In an interview Monday, Burleson said he doesn't necessarily support
legalizing marijuana - and certainly not in the unlimited, unregulated
way the initiative proposes. But he said he's frustrated with
Washington's complicated medical marijuana law, which authorizes
patients to possess marijuana but is vague about how they can obtain it.
"Wouldn't legalizing this answer a whole lot of questions?" he said.
"Aren't we just beating around the edges with all of these legal
nuances?
"I don't have a problem with marijuana being legal, and I don't have a
problem with it being illegal," Burleson said. "But right now, I have a
big problem understanding what's legal and what's not."
would legalize all adult marijuana possession, manufacturing and sales
under Washington state law - one of the most sweeping efforts at
marijuana reform playing out around the country this year.
Its sponsors include two Seattle lawyers and the director of Seattle's
annual Hempfest. They call themselves Sensible Washington, and say that
in a time of dire budget woes, the state's government should stop
spending money on police, court and jail costs for people who use or
produce marijuana.
Douglas Hiatt, a lawyer who represents medical marijuana patients, told
The Associated Press the proposal would remove all state criminal
penalties for adults who possess, grow and distribute pot - no matter
how much. Criminal penalties for juveniles who possess marijuana and for
those who provide the drug to juveniles would remain in place.
Driving under the influence of the drug also would still be against the
law. And marijuana would remain illegal under federal law.
"It basically tells the federal government, 'Hey it's your prohibition -
if you want it, you pay for it,"' Hiatt said. "We're tired of screwing
around and wasting all this dough."
Volunteers are lining up to collect the more than 241,000 signatures
required to place the initiative on the November ballot, Hiatt said.
The campaign has competition in Washington. One bill introduced here
would legalize and regulate marijuana, while another would decriminalize
possession of small amounts of pot, making it punishable by a fine
rather than jail time.
Legalization bills have also been introduced in California,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Nevada, and a group campaigning to
place a marijuana legalization measure before California voters said
last month that it has enough signatures to qualify for this year's
ballot.
Alison Holcomb, drug policy director at the American Civil Liberties
Union of Washington, which is lobbying for the decriminalization bill,
said she supports any effort to engage the public in discussing
marijuana law reform, but she couldn't comment specifically on the
initiative without reading it.
"If there were decriminalization of transfers of small amounts of
marijuana not for profit, that might be one way to undermine the
cartels' bottom line," she said. "But I think the push-back would be,
are you just giving the gangsters a get-out-of-jail-free card in
Washington state? Are you setting up incentives for criminal elements to
come here and set up shop?"
Hiatt disputed that notion, saying the drug flourishes on the black
market only because it is illegal. Furthermore, federal agents wouldn't
stand for large-scale marijuana trafficking, he said.
He cited one recent study suggesting Washington could save tens of
millions of dollars a year on law enforcement costs if marijuana was
legal.
Hiatt said he was inspired to file the initiative in part by a recent
conversation with Mason County prosecutor Gary Burleson, who told him to
"put your money where your mouth is" and get an initiative before
voters.
In an interview Monday, Burleson said he doesn't necessarily support
legalizing marijuana - and certainly not in the unlimited, unregulated
way the initiative proposes. But he said he's frustrated with
Washington's complicated medical marijuana law, which authorizes
patients to possess marijuana but is vague about how they can obtain it.
"Wouldn't legalizing this answer a whole lot of questions?" he said.
"Aren't we just beating around the edges with all of these legal
nuances?
"I don't have a problem with marijuana being legal, and I don't have a
problem with it being illegal," Burleson said. "But right now, I have a
big problem understanding what's legal and what's not."
Monday, December 28, 2009
Rhode Island to consider changing it marijuana stance
PROVIDENCE - A Senate commission will soon explore whether Rhode Island
should decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and
tax the drug, a path recently taken by Massachusetts.
Commission members are exploring several questions that suggest an
underlying skepticism with criminalizing marijuana, including whether
existing prohibitions have decreased drug use, caused corruption among
law enforcement officials, and resulted in violence. The panel will
present its findings early next year.
Commission member Nick Horton, a policy researcher for OpenDoors, which
works to reintegrate criminal offenders into society, said presidential
candidates have admitted using marijuana but people in his Providence
neighborhood still get jailed for it. "That double standard does
more harm than good to our justice system,'' he said.
State Senator Joshua Miller, a Democrat from Cranston, created the
commission and serves as its chairman. He has not yet backed any
specific changes to Rhode Island's drug laws, but members will hear
testimony about recent changes in Massachusetts.
In November 2008, Bay State voters decided to make possession of an
ounce or less of marijuana punishable by a $100 fine and confiscation of
the drug rather than a crime carrying a maximum six-month prison
sentence and a $500 fine.
The measure was approved over the objections of police and prosecutors,
who feared it would encourage use of what they consider more harmful
drugs and interfere with their ability to prosecute traffickers who
sometimes become suspects because of marijuana possession.
Some cities and towns in Massachusetts have since created additional
penalties to discourage marijuana use.
Rhode Island lawmakers already have taken steps to legalize some
marijuana use. In 2006, they started allowing patients who registered
with the state to possess small amounts of marijuana if it's used to
relieve pain or chronic ailments.
In June, the General Assembly expanded the medical marijuana program by
authorizing up to three nonprofit stores to sell marijuana legally.
State health officials still are determining how those stores will be
licensed and regulated.
Governor Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, and the State Police have
opposed expansions of the medical marijuana system.
Miller's panel is required to examine the cost of prosecuting and
jailing offenders, as well as consider the possibility of legalizing
marijuana sales and imposing a tax of $35 per ounce or more.
Financial arguments could be tempting because Rhode Island faces a $220
million budget deficit for the fiscal year ending in June, about 7
percent of what state authorities originally expected to collect.
should decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and
tax the drug, a path recently taken by Massachusetts.
Commission members are exploring several questions that suggest an
underlying skepticism with criminalizing marijuana, including whether
existing prohibitions have decreased drug use, caused corruption among
law enforcement officials, and resulted in violence. The panel will
present its findings early next year.
Commission member Nick Horton, a policy researcher for OpenDoors, which
works to reintegrate criminal offenders into society, said presidential
candidates have admitted using marijuana but people in his Providence
neighborhood still get jailed for it. "That double standard does
more harm than good to our justice system,'' he said.
State Senator Joshua Miller, a Democrat from Cranston, created the
commission and serves as its chairman. He has not yet backed any
specific changes to Rhode Island's drug laws, but members will hear
testimony about recent changes in Massachusetts.
In November 2008, Bay State voters decided to make possession of an
ounce or less of marijuana punishable by a $100 fine and confiscation of
the drug rather than a crime carrying a maximum six-month prison
sentence and a $500 fine.
The measure was approved over the objections of police and prosecutors,
who feared it would encourage use of what they consider more harmful
drugs and interfere with their ability to prosecute traffickers who
sometimes become suspects because of marijuana possession.
Some cities and towns in Massachusetts have since created additional
penalties to discourage marijuana use.
Rhode Island lawmakers already have taken steps to legalize some
marijuana use. In 2006, they started allowing patients who registered
with the state to possess small amounts of marijuana if it's used to
relieve pain or chronic ailments.
In June, the General Assembly expanded the medical marijuana program by
authorizing up to three nonprofit stores to sell marijuana legally.
State health officials still are determining how those stores will be
licensed and regulated.
Governor Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, and the State Police have
opposed expansions of the medical marijuana system.
Miller's panel is required to examine the cost of prosecuting and
jailing offenders, as well as consider the possibility of legalizing
marijuana sales and imposing a tax of $35 per ounce or more.
Financial arguments could be tempting because Rhode Island faces a $220
million budget deficit for the fiscal year ending in June, about 7
percent of what state authorities originally expected to collect.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
medical marijuana helps many in pain!
SIDNEY — Richard Julien says medical marijuana gave him his life
back. Now he wants to be legal.
Julien, 41, of Rockford, who said he has hepatitis C and other
illnesses, said smoking marijuana daily has allowed him to give up four
high-powered prescription painkillers.
"When I'm medicated (with marijuana), I feel good. When I'm
not, I'm nauseated and I can't sleep," said Julien, one of
50 persons attending a meeting of the Mid Michigan Compassion Club on
Thursday.
Since he began smoking marijuana in 2004, Julien said it has helped him
cope with the side effects of the interferon he takes. It has also
helped him control his temper and lose about 100 pounds.
Since the state rules for medical marijuana were released last spring,
Julien said he has been ripped off by two persons who signed up to
become his legal caregiver.
As the father of two children with a third on the way, Julien said he is
hoping to find a reliable source who can legally supply his need for 28
grams every 10 days. Otherwise, he will grow it at home, he said.
Abraham Scharaswak said he also hopes to find a legal supply to ease his
chronic pain and muscle spasms.
In 2003, the 27-year-old Stanton resident said, he broke his neck in
four places when he was thrown out of a minivan that rolled over. He is
partially paralyzed and uses a motorized wheelchair.
Marijuana has allowed him to go from 14 prescriptions to five or six,
said Schwaraswak, who said he smokes from a pipe four or five times a
day.
"I feel great. I'm not drugged down," the father of two
said. "I'm living a life and that's something I wasn't
able to do for five years."
Toney Smith, of Six Lakes, said marijuana has allowed him to reduce his
intake of Vicodin and Neurontin for pain brought on by arthritis and
three "blown" discs in his back.
Smith, who said he smokes two joints every evening, recently obtained
his medical marijuana registration card.
While he may grow his own supply one day, Smith said he currently is
supplied "through people I know."
Smith, who is employed as a maintenance man at a Remus manufacturing
company, said his employer is aware of his alternative treatment. He
does not smoke before work or during the work day.
"I want to do everything legal," he said. "That's the
whole purpose."
back. Now he wants to be legal.
Julien, 41, of Rockford, who said he has hepatitis C and other
illnesses, said smoking marijuana daily has allowed him to give up four
high-powered prescription painkillers.
"When I'm medicated (with marijuana), I feel good. When I'm
not, I'm nauseated and I can't sleep," said Julien, one of
50 persons attending a meeting of the Mid Michigan Compassion Club on
Thursday.
Since he began smoking marijuana in 2004, Julien said it has helped him
cope with the side effects of the interferon he takes. It has also
helped him control his temper and lose about 100 pounds.
Since the state rules for medical marijuana were released last spring,
Julien said he has been ripped off by two persons who signed up to
become his legal caregiver.
As the father of two children with a third on the way, Julien said he is
hoping to find a reliable source who can legally supply his need for 28
grams every 10 days. Otherwise, he will grow it at home, he said.
Abraham Scharaswak said he also hopes to find a legal supply to ease his
chronic pain and muscle spasms.
In 2003, the 27-year-old Stanton resident said, he broke his neck in
four places when he was thrown out of a minivan that rolled over. He is
partially paralyzed and uses a motorized wheelchair.
Marijuana has allowed him to go from 14 prescriptions to five or six,
said Schwaraswak, who said he smokes from a pipe four or five times a
day.
"I feel great. I'm not drugged down," the father of two
said. "I'm living a life and that's something I wasn't
able to do for five years."
Toney Smith, of Six Lakes, said marijuana has allowed him to reduce his
intake of Vicodin and Neurontin for pain brought on by arthritis and
three "blown" discs in his back.
Smith, who said he smokes two joints every evening, recently obtained
his medical marijuana registration card.
While he may grow his own supply one day, Smith said he currently is
supplied "through people I know."
Smith, who is employed as a maintenance man at a Remus manufacturing
company, said his employer is aware of his alternative treatment. He
does not smoke before work or during the work day.
"I want to do everything legal," he said. "That's the
whole purpose."
Sheriff is ordered to release marijuana, for patients in collective!
Court of appeals won't rule on legality of pot order to DCSO
John Sowell
The News-Review
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Oregon Court of Appeals has dismissed the Douglas County Sheriff's
Office challenge of an order forcing the agency to provide marijuana
seized in a drug raid to three patients prescribed medical marijuana.
Three years ago, police raided the Dixonville home of Dwight Ehrensing,
a designated caregiver and grower for several people who are cardholders
under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.
They seized more than 120 pounds of processed marijuana, some of which
was processed for sale. They also seized 80 pounds of marijuana butter,
produced by slow cooking marijuana leaves with butter or margarine and
then straining out the leafy material. The butter, which contains high
levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is then used as a
food spread.
The raid also yielded 45 large marijuana plants, 10 grams of hashish,
psilocybin mushrooms and more than $7,000 in cash.
Ehrensing, 64, a medical marijuana cardholder himself, was charged with
manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance. He was
accused of selling pot to others who weren't medical marijuana
cardholders.
Under the law, a caregiver can have six mature plants per person and 18
immature plants and can grow for four people. The seized amount far
exceeded that, authorities alleged.
Upon motion by the defendant, Douglas County Circuit Judge William
Lasswell ordered then-Sheriff Chris Brown to return 8 ounces each of the
marijuana to the three other patients for whom Ehrensing was growing
marijuana. Brown asked for reconsideration of the order after arguing
the county could be in violation of federal laws prohibiting delivery of
a controlled substance.
Lasswell rejected that argument, saying he had empathy for the patients
and the pain they were enduring. None of the three patients was accused
of a crime.
On appeal, the county and the Oregon Department of Justice argued
Lasswell erred when he ordered the sheriff to release some of the seized
marijuana. Although that marijuana was presumably used up, the state
argued its appeal was not moot because the county still has the rest of
the seized pot that Ehrensing contended should be released.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeals disagreed.
"Here, in light of the state's concession at oral argument that it
cannot retrieve the released marijuana, any determination about the
lawfulness of the trial court's order would have no practical effect on
the parties," Judge Robert Wollheim wrote in the 17-page decision
issued Wednesday.
The court noted that although Ehrensing could have asked that more of
the seized marijuana be distributed, no request had been made. As a
result, there weren't any grounds for a ruling, the panel concluded.
"Any dispute over the marijuana still being held by the sheriff
would therefore be based on future events of a hypothetical nature. As
such, the issue that the state raises as to the marijuana that is still
in the sheriff's possession simply is not ripe at this time,"
Wollheim wrote.
In a dissent, Judge Walter Edmonds said that by concluding the question
was moot, the Court of Appeals effectively prevented the state from
appealing.
"The majority's reasoning effectively denies the state a statutory
right to appeal because it obeyed the trial court's order," Edmonds
wrote.
Ehrensing is set to go to trial on the drug charges Jan. 27. A 12-member
jury will hear the case in Judge Joan Seitz's courtroom. She was
assigned the case after Lasswell retired earlier this year and went on
senior status.
Ehrensing has filed a motion to have the charges dismissed for lack of a
speedy trial. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Dec. 29.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at
jsowell@nrtoday.com.
John Sowell
The News-Review
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Oregon Court of Appeals has dismissed the Douglas County Sheriff's
Office challenge of an order forcing the agency to provide marijuana
seized in a drug raid to three patients prescribed medical marijuana.
Three years ago, police raided the Dixonville home of Dwight Ehrensing,
a designated caregiver and grower for several people who are cardholders
under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act.
They seized more than 120 pounds of processed marijuana, some of which
was processed for sale. They also seized 80 pounds of marijuana butter,
produced by slow cooking marijuana leaves with butter or margarine and
then straining out the leafy material. The butter, which contains high
levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is then used as a
food spread.
The raid also yielded 45 large marijuana plants, 10 grams of hashish,
psilocybin mushrooms and more than $7,000 in cash.
Ehrensing, 64, a medical marijuana cardholder himself, was charged with
manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance. He was
accused of selling pot to others who weren't medical marijuana
cardholders.
Under the law, a caregiver can have six mature plants per person and 18
immature plants and can grow for four people. The seized amount far
exceeded that, authorities alleged.
Upon motion by the defendant, Douglas County Circuit Judge William
Lasswell ordered then-Sheriff Chris Brown to return 8 ounces each of the
marijuana to the three other patients for whom Ehrensing was growing
marijuana. Brown asked for reconsideration of the order after arguing
the county could be in violation of federal laws prohibiting delivery of
a controlled substance.
Lasswell rejected that argument, saying he had empathy for the patients
and the pain they were enduring. None of the three patients was accused
of a crime.
On appeal, the county and the Oregon Department of Justice argued
Lasswell erred when he ordered the sheriff to release some of the seized
marijuana. Although that marijuana was presumably used up, the state
argued its appeal was not moot because the county still has the rest of
the seized pot that Ehrensing contended should be released.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeals disagreed.
"Here, in light of the state's concession at oral argument that it
cannot retrieve the released marijuana, any determination about the
lawfulness of the trial court's order would have no practical effect on
the parties," Judge Robert Wollheim wrote in the 17-page decision
issued Wednesday.
The court noted that although Ehrensing could have asked that more of
the seized marijuana be distributed, no request had been made. As a
result, there weren't any grounds for a ruling, the panel concluded.
"Any dispute over the marijuana still being held by the sheriff
would therefore be based on future events of a hypothetical nature. As
such, the issue that the state raises as to the marijuana that is still
in the sheriff's possession simply is not ripe at this time,"
Wollheim wrote.
In a dissent, Judge Walter Edmonds said that by concluding the question
was moot, the Court of Appeals effectively prevented the state from
appealing.
"The majority's reasoning effectively denies the state a statutory
right to appeal because it obeyed the trial court's order," Edmonds
wrote.
Ehrensing is set to go to trial on the drug charges Jan. 27. A 12-member
jury will hear the case in Judge Joan Seitz's courtroom. She was
assigned the case after Lasswell retired earlier this year and went on
senior status.
Ehrensing has filed a motion to have the charges dismissed for lack of a
speedy trial. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Dec. 29.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at
jsowell@nrtoday.com.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Los Angeles still has not decided on new regulations and ordinances
City of Angles
Medical Pot Issue Stretches Into 2010
By Brian Doherty
December 16, 2009 8:57 PM
KCET
The L.A. City Council failed again Wednesday to vote on new regulations
for medical pot dispensaries, after many weeks of lengthy debate largely
over questions of how many will be allowed and where.
New ideas to amend and adjust the buffer zones between residential
buildings, "sensitive uses" (including schools, parks, youth centers,
libraries and churches), and dispensaries were still being bandied about
at Wednesday's City Council meeting.
Councilwoman Jan Perry suggested that each council district get to have
its councilperson choose its own buffer zone, and councilman Richard
Alarcon, openly annoyed with the whole process, called for a prompt vote
rather than letting the council members contemplate a new set of maps
from the city planning department that define the (quite limited)
acreage of the city in which medical pot dispensaries could actually
exist under varied definitions of the buffer zone.
The L.A. Weekly reported on today's meeting, stressing the map issue:
This was the first time, five years after the council decided it
needed to adopt local regulations for selling medical weed, that the
City Council has ever seen a zoning map showing where pot shops would be
located or be banned under a typical "buffer zone" approach used in many
California cities....
The Planning Department found that if pot shops were limited to a
500-foot buffer zone around sensitive uses, they could open in 31
percent of the city's commercial and industrial areas -- but only five
percent of those areas would be commercial spots such as business
districts. The rest would be industrially zoned.
If the city decides on a 1,000-foot buffer from sensitive uses, no
pot shops would be able to open, said [planner Alan] Bell.
The Weekly's extensive, and generally negative, coverage of medical pot
in L.A. created its own controversy, with Vince Beiser over at
Huffington Post attacking their recent cover story on the topic. Beiser
notes that:
We are told that there is "rising crime in and around them," that
"20 unregulated pot dispensaries (are) attracting crime in ... Eagle
Rock", and that LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says, "They are the hub of crime
... A lot of nighttime break-ins and robberies."
Not one of these scary-sounding claims is backed up with a single
statistic. Crime stats are easy to gather -- you can find them mapped
block-by-block on the LAPD's website. But Pelisek and MacDonald seem not
to have bothered to see whether there's any basis for the complaints of
cops and neighborhood gadflies. If they had, their story might have lost
a lot of its urgency. In Hollywood, for instance, an area which the
reporters rightly note is chock-a-block with marijuana dispensaries,
crime hasn't risen -- it's dropped by 12 percent in the last two years.
Robberies and burglaries, the crimes you'd most expect to see associated
with pot shops, have both fallen by double digits.
Tim Rutten in the L.A. Times (after first blithely repeating an
exaggerated figure of nearly 1,000 medical pot dispensaries in L.A. that
has been thoroughly debunked by the L.A. Weekly's diligent reporting on
that aspect of the story) notes that the City Council's fearful attitude
about medical pot isn't matched by voters:
A recent Field Poll found that 60% of Los Angeles County voters and
56% statewide favor legalizing and taxing marijuana....the council would
be well advised to ignore [D.A.] Cooley and [city attorney] Trutanich
and adopt sensible regulations that treat the dispensaries pretty much
like bars -- allowing them to operate in appropriate areas but not to
become public nuisances.
City of Angles has done much previous blogging on L.A.'s medical pot
wars, including here
(http://kcet.org/local/blogs/city_of_angles/2009/11/how-many-medical-pot\
-dispensaries-does-la-need.html) and here
(http://kcet.org/local/blogs/city_of_angles/2009/06/la-city-council-slam\
s-medical-pot-dispensaries.html).
Medical Pot Issue Stretches Into 2010
By Brian Doherty
December 16, 2009 8:57 PM
KCET
The L.A. City Council failed again Wednesday to vote on new regulations
for medical pot dispensaries, after many weeks of lengthy debate largely
over questions of how many will be allowed and where.
New ideas to amend and adjust the buffer zones between residential
buildings, "sensitive uses" (including schools, parks, youth centers,
libraries and churches), and dispensaries were still being bandied about
at Wednesday's City Council meeting.
Councilwoman Jan Perry suggested that each council district get to have
its councilperson choose its own buffer zone, and councilman Richard
Alarcon, openly annoyed with the whole process, called for a prompt vote
rather than letting the council members contemplate a new set of maps
from the city planning department that define the (quite limited)
acreage of the city in which medical pot dispensaries could actually
exist under varied definitions of the buffer zone.
The L.A. Weekly reported on today's meeting, stressing the map issue:
This was the first time, five years after the council decided it
needed to adopt local regulations for selling medical weed, that the
City Council has ever seen a zoning map showing where pot shops would be
located or be banned under a typical "buffer zone" approach used in many
California cities....
The Planning Department found that if pot shops were limited to a
500-foot buffer zone around sensitive uses, they could open in 31
percent of the city's commercial and industrial areas -- but only five
percent of those areas would be commercial spots such as business
districts. The rest would be industrially zoned.
If the city decides on a 1,000-foot buffer from sensitive uses, no
pot shops would be able to open, said [planner Alan] Bell.
The Weekly's extensive, and generally negative, coverage of medical pot
in L.A. created its own controversy, with Vince Beiser over at
Huffington Post attacking their recent cover story on the topic. Beiser
notes that:
We are told that there is "rising crime in and around them," that
"20 unregulated pot dispensaries (are) attracting crime in ... Eagle
Rock", and that LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says, "They are the hub of crime
... A lot of nighttime break-ins and robberies."
Not one of these scary-sounding claims is backed up with a single
statistic. Crime stats are easy to gather -- you can find them mapped
block-by-block on the LAPD's website. But Pelisek and MacDonald seem not
to have bothered to see whether there's any basis for the complaints of
cops and neighborhood gadflies. If they had, their story might have lost
a lot of its urgency. In Hollywood, for instance, an area which the
reporters rightly note is chock-a-block with marijuana dispensaries,
crime hasn't risen -- it's dropped by 12 percent in the last two years.
Robberies and burglaries, the crimes you'd most expect to see associated
with pot shops, have both fallen by double digits.
Tim Rutten in the L.A. Times (after first blithely repeating an
exaggerated figure of nearly 1,000 medical pot dispensaries in L.A. that
has been thoroughly debunked by the L.A. Weekly's diligent reporting on
that aspect of the story) notes that the City Council's fearful attitude
about medical pot isn't matched by voters:
A recent Field Poll found that 60% of Los Angeles County voters and
56% statewide favor legalizing and taxing marijuana....the council would
be well advised to ignore [D.A.] Cooley and [city attorney] Trutanich
and adopt sensible regulations that treat the dispensaries pretty much
like bars -- allowing them to operate in appropriate areas but not to
become public nuisances.
City of Angles has done much previous blogging on L.A.'s medical pot
wars, including here
(http://kcet.org/local/blogs/city_of_angles/2009/11/how-many-medical-pot\
-dispensaries-does-la-need.html) and here
(http://kcet.org/local/blogs/city_of_angles/2009/06/la-city-council-slam\
s-medical-pot-dispensaries.html).
Friday, December 11, 2009
OC judge weighs in!
Judge denies preliminary injunction against dispensaries
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and ERIKA I. RITCHIE
2009-12-11 11:59:22
LAKE FOREST – A preliminary injunction that would have shut down
several medical marijuana dispensaries was denied by a judge today, a
small victory for at least one of the dispensaries that's fighting the
city in court, its attorney said.
"Our plan is to stay open," said Christopher Glew, an attorney who is
representing dispensary owners in court.
City officials say the judge's order is simply addressing a procedural
issue and say he has provided a "roadmap" with exact steps to
permanently close the four dispensaries still involved in the lawsuit.
Four others – once named in the suit –closed on their own.
In September, the city of Lake Forest sued 35 people in the city,
including medical marijuana dispensary owners and retail landowners who
rented space to them. Since then, some of the collectives have shut
down, including one that was raided by the Orange County Sheriff's
Department. The city is involved in several lawsuits, targeting clusters
of marijuana collectives based on their locations and ownership.
In one of the suits, the city of Lake Forest requested a preliminary
injunction to shut down a cluster of dispensaries that were settled
along Raymond Way and El Toro Road. Today, a judge denied that request,
saying that there were no declarations stating that several of the
dispensaries had been served.
Judge David R. Chaffee also singled out 215 Agenda in his decision, the
one dispensary that filed arguments against the injunction in court,
stating that the city needs to provide additional information on the way
businesses were permitted and how this dispensary set up shop in the
first place.
"The judge agreed," said Glew, who is representing Robert Moen, the
owner of 215 Agenda. "We think this is invalid."
Meanwhile, Glew said he and his client were still hopeful the city would
be willing to create regulations that would allow the dispensaries to
exist under state law, though city officials said they plan to move
forward to shut down the dispensaries.
"We'd like to sit down at the table with the City Council and draw
regulations," he said. "We're still trying to peacefully co-exist."
Jeffrey Dunn, representing Lake Forest, said the city plans to re-file
and re-serve its request for an injunction with evidence that
establishes that the defendants are operating without permits. The city
will re-file and re-serve the remaining four marijuana stores: Vale Tudo
Café, 215 Agenda, Lake Forest Community Collective, and Lake Forest
Patients Collective Association. The city will also re-file on the
properties that have recently changed ownership. The city expects this
hearing to take place in January. A fifth dispensary, Evergreen Holistic
Collective – recently opening in a space where another collective
closed – is included in this cluster and are expected to respond
within the next few weeks.
"The city is concerned that these facilities pose a risk to the
community because they attract crime, vandalism and degrade the
commercial value of the property for surrounding businesses," said City
Attorney Scott Smith.� "The city will continue to vigorously
enforce its municipal code to ensure the safety of its citizens and to
maintain the high quality standards found in the business and
residential areas of the community."
City officials have said medical marijuana dispensaries are not
permitted in Lake Forest under the municipal code, which prohibits
businesses that violate state or federal law, and prohibits uses not
explicitly allowed in commercial areas.
Since these facilities are not explicitly allowed in Lake Forest, they
are not permitted within the city, Smith said.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-223714-dispensaries-forest.html
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and ERIKA I. RITCHIE
2009-12-11 11:59:22
LAKE FOREST – A preliminary injunction that would have shut down
several medical marijuana dispensaries was denied by a judge today, a
small victory for at least one of the dispensaries that's fighting the
city in court, its attorney said.
"Our plan is to stay open," said Christopher Glew, an attorney who is
representing dispensary owners in court.
City officials say the judge's order is simply addressing a procedural
issue and say he has provided a "roadmap" with exact steps to
permanently close the four dispensaries still involved in the lawsuit.
Four others – once named in the suit –closed on their own.
In September, the city of Lake Forest sued 35 people in the city,
including medical marijuana dispensary owners and retail landowners who
rented space to them. Since then, some of the collectives have shut
down, including one that was raided by the Orange County Sheriff's
Department. The city is involved in several lawsuits, targeting clusters
of marijuana collectives based on their locations and ownership.
In one of the suits, the city of Lake Forest requested a preliminary
injunction to shut down a cluster of dispensaries that were settled
along Raymond Way and El Toro Road. Today, a judge denied that request,
saying that there were no declarations stating that several of the
dispensaries had been served.
Judge David R. Chaffee also singled out 215 Agenda in his decision, the
one dispensary that filed arguments against the injunction in court,
stating that the city needs to provide additional information on the way
businesses were permitted and how this dispensary set up shop in the
first place.
"The judge agreed," said Glew, who is representing Robert Moen, the
owner of 215 Agenda. "We think this is invalid."
Meanwhile, Glew said he and his client were still hopeful the city would
be willing to create regulations that would allow the dispensaries to
exist under state law, though city officials said they plan to move
forward to shut down the dispensaries.
"We'd like to sit down at the table with the City Council and draw
regulations," he said. "We're still trying to peacefully co-exist."
Jeffrey Dunn, representing Lake Forest, said the city plans to re-file
and re-serve its request for an injunction with evidence that
establishes that the defendants are operating without permits. The city
will re-file and re-serve the remaining four marijuana stores: Vale Tudo
Café, 215 Agenda, Lake Forest Community Collective, and Lake Forest
Patients Collective Association. The city will also re-file on the
properties that have recently changed ownership. The city expects this
hearing to take place in January. A fifth dispensary, Evergreen Holistic
Collective – recently opening in a space where another collective
closed – is included in this cluster and are expected to respond
within the next few weeks.
"The city is concerned that these facilities pose a risk to the
community because they attract crime, vandalism and degrade the
commercial value of the property for surrounding businesses," said City
Attorney Scott Smith.� "The city will continue to vigorously
enforce its municipal code to ensure the safety of its citizens and to
maintain the high quality standards found in the business and
residential areas of the community."
City officials have said medical marijuana dispensaries are not
permitted in Lake Forest under the municipal code, which prohibits
businesses that violate state or federal law, and prohibits uses not
explicitly allowed in commercial areas.
Since these facilities are not explicitly allowed in Lake Forest, they
are not permitted within the city, Smith said.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-223714-dispensaries-forest.html
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