[weedtracker]

IN THE NEWS: Week of 6/24

ASA’s Summary of Medical Marijuana Articles


> FEDERAL: Emboldened DEA Launches New Round of Arrests

> RHODE ISLAND: New Law Passes Both Houses; Goes to Gov.

> HAWAII: AG Clarifies State Law; New Dispensary to Open

> OREGON: State Program Resumes

> CALIFORNIA: Interpretation of Ruling Vexing Cities

> SOUTH DAKOTA: State Initiative in the Works

> RESEARCH: Scientists Identifying Why Cannabis Eases Pain

> CANADA: Prescription Cannabis Spray On Shelves
> NATIONAL: Raich Ruling Debate Continues



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FEDERAL: Emboldened DEA Launches New Round of Arrests

With a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in their pockets, federal agents launched large-scale arrests of medical marijuana arrests last week, bringing in dispensary operators, an activist, an attorney and a doctor. Authorities allege that those arrested in San Francisco were part of a bigger drug and money laundering ring, though the “other” drugs seized were a few dozen doses of ecstasy taken from one defendant’s home and the money laundering cited in the indictment consisted of using dispensary proceeds to pay dispensary rent. The arrests of a Nevada activist and a California doctor and her attorney husband may have been coincidental, but as the editorial from the Orange County Register notes, the timing is curious.



DISPENSARIES RAIDED, 19 ARRESTS



Feds Bust California Medical Marijuana Providers
by Judy Campbell, National Public Radio
In Northern California, federal drug agents have launched a crackdown on medical marijuana providers -- the result of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that grants power to federal authorities to prosecute those using marijuana legally under state law. Judy Campbell of member station KQED reports.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2332



Federal Agents Crack Down on Medical Marijuana Providers
by Eric Bailey and John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times
Law enforcement officials today declared that their raid of a $5-million international drug ring that used medical marijuana dispensaries as a front would not undermine the city's stand as a haven for medicinal users.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2334



Arrests Follow Searches in Medical Marijuana Raids
by Dean E. Murphy, New York Times
Federal agents executed search warrants at three medical marijuana dispensaries on Wednesday as part of a broad investigation into marijuana trafficking in San Francisco, setting off fears among medical marijuana advocates that a federal crackdown on the drug's use by sick people was beginning.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2339



Officials Say Drug Raids Found Clubs Were a Front
by Dean E. Murphy, New York Times
Federal authorities said Thursday that they had cracked the biggest case ever involving the use of medical marijuana dispensaries in California as a cover for international drug dealing and money laundering, which they said extended to Canada and countries in Asia.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2337



Feds Target Pot Dispensaries in California
by Don Thompson, Associated Press
Federal drug agents launched a crackdown on medical marijuana providers in California Wednesday, raiding more than 20 dispensaries and charging two people.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2338



Crackdown targets marijuana dispensaries in Northern California
by Garance Burke, Associated Press
Federal drug agents described Wednesday's raids on San Francisco pot clubs as one of the largest drug trafficking crackdowns in the area since 1996, and said the string of arrests was the first step in uncovering a major international drug operation.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2336



Feds raid three SF pot clubs
by Jaxon Van Derbeken, SF Chronicle
Federal agents raided three San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries today as part of a broader investigation into money laundering and Asian organized crime, authorities said.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2327



19 named in medicinal pot indictment
by Stacy Finz, San Francisco Chronicle
The U.S. government unsealed an indictment Thursday accusing 19 Bay Area people of drug trafficking and of using three San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries as fronts for organized crime.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2333



DOCTOR, ATTORNEY ARRESTED



El Dorado couple seized in pot case
by Denny Walsh, Sacramento Bee
An El Dorado County physician and her attorney husband have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on charges of conspiring to distribute and manufacture marijuana and manufacturing at least 100 marijuana plants.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2347



Federal Agents Arrest Medical Marijuana Doctor
KXTV - News 10 (Sacramento)
A week and a half after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government can block doctors from prescribing marijuana for medical use, drug agents arrested a doctor from Cool.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2346



ACTIVIST ARRESTED



Nevada medical marijuana activist arrested on drug charge
by Ken Ritter, Associated Press
A medical marijuana activist was in custody Thursday after his second arrest in 17 months on felony drug charges. A lawyer for Pierre Werner, 33, said the arrest on state charges was a law enforcement effort to pressure Werner after the Supreme Court's decision this month that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from federal prosecution.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2360



COMMENT ON THE RAIDS



Curious timing of Bay area marijuana raids
EDITORIAL, Orange County Register
If Wednesday's raids were a precursor to broader raids on patients and caregivers, they will create many more problems than they solve. For starters, San Francisco would like to adopt regulations that supervise cannabis dispensaries and keep the drugs out of the black market. City officials worry, however, that records required to show a dispensary was on the up-and-up under California law could become evidence in a federal case.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2335



When Medical Marijuana Is Misused
EDITORIAL, New York Times
Those who believe, as we do, that marijuana should be legally available for medical treatments have to be concerned about reports of abuses in California's pioneering medical marijuana program. If the abuses cannot be curbed, a political backlash could undermine the ability of thousands of patients to get marijuana to treat the nausea of chemotherapy, the loss of appetite that accompanies AIDS and other medical problems.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2340



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RHODE ISLAND: New Law Passes Both Houses; Goes to Gov.

The margin of victory for Rhode Island’s new medical marijuana legislation was huge in both houses of the state legislature. The governor has expressed his opposition to the bill, but the level of support is veto-proof, and lawmakers are urging him to get onboard.



House Passes Medical Marijuana Bill
by Associated Press, NBC 10 (Providence)
House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday that would allow patients with certain serious diseases to smoke and grow marijuana. The measure passed 52-10 after debate on the House floor.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2343



R.I. House passes medical marijuana bill
by Jim Baron, Pawtucket Times
With legislation to allow seriously ill people to use marijuana as medicine having passed both chambers of the General Assembly by veto-proof margins, Rep. Thomas Slater is calling on Gov. Donald Carcieri to withdraw his threat to veto the bill.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2349

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HAWAII: AG Clarifies State Law; New Dispensary to Open

As in California, Hawaii’s attorney general issued a statement stressing that the Raich ruling has no effect on state law, despite the widely reported comments of the U.S. Attorney there. Patients there will soon have better access to cannabis, thanks to a new dispensary planned for Oahu.



Medical Use of Marijuana Will Continue in Hawaii
by Mark Bennett, Hawaii Attorney General, Hawaii Reporter
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the federal government may criminally prosecute individuals for the possession, distribution, or use of marijuana, even if a state has legalized such possession, distribution, or use for medical purposes. Gonzales v Raich, 125 S.Ct. 2195 (2005). This ruling does not overturn Hawaii’s law regarding medical use of marijuana. The State of Hawaii will continue its medical marijuana program.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2344



Medical marijuana clinic to open on Oahu
Associated Press
A mainland marijuana advocacy group plans to open a Honolulu clinic designed to help people become certified for Hawaii's medical marijuana program.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2342



Medical marijuana clinic set for O'ahu
by Timothy Hurley , Honolulu Advertiser
In a move that could add patients to the state's medical marijuana program, a Portland, Ore.-based marijuana advocacy group is planning to open a clinic in Honolulu designed to help people become certified for the program.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2341



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OREGON: State Program Resumes

Clarification from the state attorney general about the limited reach of the Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for Oregon to resume its medical marijuana program.



Oregon's top lawyer OKs medical marijuana use
by Teresa Carson, Reuters
Oregon's attorney general gave the state the go-ahead on Friday to resume issuing cards that allow sick patients to smoke marijuana despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling the federal government could prosecute medical use of the drug.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2355



Oregon resumes medical marijuana cards
Associated Press
Oregon resumed issuing medical marijuana cards today, after a review by Attorney General Hardy Myers.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2356


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CALIFORNIA: Interpretation of Ruling Vexing Cities

While California Attorney General Bill Lockyer was quick to point out that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Raich did not have any effect on state law or the obligations it imposes on local governments to protect safe access for patients, some local officials have nonetheless been citing federal law as an excuse to not fulfill their sworn duty to the people of California. Others, like those in Ukiah, have been attempting to move forward.



Amador Supervisors nullify medical pot ordinance
by Terry Grillo, Amador Ledger-Dispatch
“Sometimes we get our priorities mixed up,” said Richard Vinson (Third District) at the Amador Board of Supervisor’s meeting Tuesday. “We permit alcohol and tobacco sales … but medical cannabis that can relieve pain and suffering has to be outlawed.”

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2354



Mission Viejo extends ban on medical-marijuana outlets
by Maria Hsin, Orange County Register
The City Council agreed unanimously Monday night to extend the city's moratorium on medical-marijuana dispensaries to May 2006.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2353



Roseville repeals medical marijuana ordinance
by Jason Probst, Auburn Journal (CA)
By a 5-0 vote, the Roseville City Council on Wednesday repealed an ordinance that allowed but governed the placement of medical marijuana dispensaries. The action hopes to eliminate the curious dilemma Capitol Compassionate Care brought when it opened the city's first medical marijuana business in January 2004.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2358



A case for medical marijuana
by Tony Anthony, Ukiah Daily Journal
On the surface it may seem ironic that Sergeant Rusty Noe of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department is busy on one end of town teaching techniques for spotting illegal pot gardens from government supplied helicopters while at the other end of town members of local law enforcement are participating in an open forum about the distribution of medical cannabis in Mendocino County.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2331



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SOUTH DAKOTA: State Initiative in the Works

Voter initiative is likely to add South Dakota to the growing list of states with medical marijuana laws. Patients and activists there have begun the process for qualifying a ballot initiative for next fall.



South Dakotan completes cross-state tour for medical marijuana
by Dirk Lammers, Aberdeen News (SD)
A Hermosa, South Dakota man has completed a cross-state bicycle tour aimed at gathering signatures to put a medical marijuana measure on the 2006 ballot.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2352



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RESEARCH: Scientists Identifying Why Cannabis Eases Pain

As the CBS News timeline of 4000 years of medical use indicates, the beneficial properties of cannabis have long been known. But scientists are now beginning to identify the brain chemistry involved in pain control and other biological processes, and finding that natural cannabinoids play a critical role.



Brain's Marijuana-like Chemicals Postpone Pain
by HealthDay News, Yahoo News
Experts have long known that the brain has the ability to suspend the pain response in times of injury and great stress, even after traumatic incidents such as gunshot wounds. Now, a new study in rats suggests marijuana-like neurochemicals called endocannabinoids may be key to this process.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2361



The History Of Marijuana As Medicine
KCBS - TV (San Francisco)
Timeline on the medicinal use of cannabis, from 2737 BC to the present.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2351

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CANADA: Prescription Cannabis Spray On Shelves

The long-awaited and much heralded cannabis-spray Sativex is now available in Canadian pharmacies. While there has been some debate over the spray’s similarities and differences to the cannabis a patient might grow in their backyard, the drug is confirmation of the plant’s medical efficacy.



Spray alternative to pot on the market in Canada
by Wendy Koch, USA Today
Canadians now have access to a legal spray alternative to medical marijuana. Beginning this week, multiple sclerosis patients with constant tingling pain can get a doctor's prescription for a new drug, Sativex, derived from the marijuana plant.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2357



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NATIONAL: Raich Ruling Debate Continues

The impact and implications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on medical marijuana will be discussed and debated for some time, from the underlying questions of economics to the need for better national policy.



Half-Baked Economics
by Idan Ivri, LA City Beat
This spring, a few months before the Supreme Court ruled in Raich v. Gonzalez that the Federal government has authority over state marijuana laws, a high school economics lecture broke out in the courtroom. Justice John Paul Stevens wanted to know whether the medical marijuana marketplace would affect the price of pot on the black market.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2350



The Nation Needs a Medical Marijuana Law
EDITORIAL, Arizona Daily Star
Despite a ruling by the Supreme Court, Congress can pass a law to allow the sick and dying access to medicinal marijuana. The Supreme Court's decision does not have to be the last word on the use of medical marijuana by sick and dying patients. Congress can and should take up the cause for marijuana as a remedy for patients who cannot find relief elsewhere.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2348