-
Justice Dept. memo writer is mum on pot crackdown
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 26, 2011A high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official who wrote a memo saying state medical marijuana laws do not provide immunity from federal prosecution refused to say whether a recent crackdown in California signals a shift in federal policy that may result in a crackdown in other states. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the memo sent to U.S. attorneys in June speaks for itself, and he said U.S. attorneys have discretion in how federal law is enforced in their districts.
-
Injection room operator: Political indecision will cost lives
During election, coalition parties promised a permanent injection room by end of year
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
READ MORE...
The government’s indecision over plans to set up a permanent injection room for drug addicts may cost the lives of over 100 users, according to Michael Lodberg Olsen, the organiser of a mobile injection room. Astrid Krag, the health minister, last week scaled back the government’s election promise to have a permanent room set up by the end of the year. -
Czech firms likely to be cleared to grow medical marijuana
Czech firms could be cleared to grow and process medical marijuana, says a working group preparing to allow the drug on prescription
Czech Position (Czec Republic)
Monday, October 24, 2011Czech health experts are in favor of allowing medical marijuana to be prescribed for a wide range of conditions with home grown marijuana in the Czech Republic used to compliment imports, according to a working group paving the way for medical marijuana to be offered for the first time in the country. The head of the working group, Tomáš Zima, who is rector of the medical faculty at Prague’s Charles University, initially indicated that the Czech Republic would favor imports alone when expected legal changes allowing marijuana to be prescribed for patients are completed.
-
Ecuador to Debate Decriminalization
InSight
Monday, October 24, 2011Proposed changes to Ecuador's penal code would decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use, including up to 10 grams of marijuana and hashish, four grams of opium, five grams of cocaine, and 100 milligrams of heroin. Ecuador's National Assembly is scheduled to begin debate on the reforms within 90 days. The proposed legislation distinguishes between types of drug trafficking offenses and defines penalties accordingly.
-
Federal judge blocks Florida’s new law requiring that welfare applicants pass drug test
The Associated Press
Monday, October 24, 2011A federal judge temporarily blocked Florida’s new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits on Monday, saying it may violate the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. Judge Mary Scriven ruled in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father who sought the benefits while finishing his college degree, but refused to take the test. The judge said there was a good chance plaintiff Luis Lebron would succeed in his challenge to the law based on the Fourth Amendment, which protects individuals from being unfairly searched.
-
Obama's misguided crackdown on medical marijuana
Maia SzalavitzTime Magazine (US)
Monday, October 24, 2011
Why is the U.S. government cracking down on medical marijuana, a $1.7 billion business — and one of the few that seems to be thriving in a moribund economy? In early October, the Justice Department announced that it would be targeting medical-marijuana dispensaries in California. Calling large dispensaries "profiteers" that "hijacked" the state's medical-marijuana law, "motivated not by compassion but by money," California's four U.S. Attorneys announced the arrests of two major dispensary owners and a lawyer they accused of making millions from growing the drug. -
Medical marijuana - lost in the haze of state law
San Francisco Chronicle (US)
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Californians need to be honest with themselves: The marijuana industry that is flourishing in plain sight is not really about medicine. No question, some patients with HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and other serious conditions are getting much-needed relief from medical marijuana. But the law is so loosely structured that almost anyone who wants to smoke marijuana or grow it for sale to dispensaries can do so with near impunity - at least from the state - under the voter-passed Proposition 215 of 1996. -
Editorial: Feds' pot crackdown bad medicine
Orange County Register (US)
Friday, October, 21, 2011In the design of America's founders, the states are supposed to be centers of democratic experiment. They're not supposed to be uniform. For example, even though alcohol Prohibition ended in 1933, local laws restricting sales exist in 33 states. In Arkansas, more than half of 75 counties prohibit alcohol sales. This design is why it is disturbing to us that the Obama administration has launched a crackdown on medical marijuana, which is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia, the home of the federal government.
-
In a Strange About-Face, the President Tries to Hack Medical Marijuana Off at the Knees
Ray SternPhoenix New Times (US)
Thursday, October 20, 2011The new federal crackdown on medical marijuana announced on October 7 by California's four U.S. Attorneys sent chills through the industry. It was a stunning reversal by the Obama administration. While legal weed grew to an estimated $10 billion to $100 billion industry — no one's quite sure of the exact figure — activists noticed an alarming undercurrent to the rhetoric: Raids on growers and dispensaries actually increased under President Barack Obama.
-
Budding research may remove stigma around cannabis cultivation
The Province (Canada)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Two Canadian researchers hope their work — mapping the cannabis sativa genome — will get rid of the stigma which they say surrounds the cultivation of hemp and marijuana in Canada. University of Saskatchewan's Jon Page and University of Toronto's Tim Hughes hope other scientists will use their work to develop marijuana as a legitimate medical ingredient, and hemp as a high-quality, fast-growing crop.
Page 437 of 471
