(SALEM, Ore.) – Medical marijuana activists in Oregon are at the state capitol this week opposing SB 388 that would increase police scrutiny of sick people and create more obstacles for those who legally use cannabis for healthcare. Michael Bachara from The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, says advocates are talking about the Human Services and Rural Health Policy. Bachara says it is a critical time to push for the rights of sick people who use medical marijuana. “We need to let our representatives know that we oppose this bill. It would allow law enforcement to inspect our gardens at any time and create even more hoops to jump through and more paperwork that would be a burden not only to the state but also to medical marijuana patients, caregivers and growers throughout the state,” said Anna Diaz of Oregon NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws). Full article.

As explained in this article, a medical marijuana bill has been filed in the Texas House of Representatives. Here is the full text of the bill.

How to help this bill pass (courtesy of Texas NORML):

On February 12, 2009, HB 164 was officially assigned to the Public Health Committee in the Texas House of Representatives. The most exciting part of this committee assignment is that the bill’s author, Rep. Elliott Naishtat (Austin), has been assigned to be Vice Chair of the committee! Also, HB 164 has picked up a co-author, Rep. Lon Burnam (Ft. Worth). If you, or someone you know, uses marijuana for a serious medical condition, and are willing to submit testimony to the Public Health Committee, please contact us as soon as possible (josh@texasnorml.org, 512-585-3846) so that we can coordinate an effective lobbying effort for HB 164.

Who to contact:

House Committee on Public Health – Phone: (512) 463-0806

Contact your representatives and tell them to support this bill. To find out who your State Representatives and Senators are, go here. Enter your address in the “Who Represents Me?” box at the bottom right side of the page.

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The justices unanimously denied review of an appellate decision in July that concluded California was free to decide whether to punish drug users under its own laws, despite the federal ban on marijuana.

The decision is “a momentous victory for countless seriously ill patients,” said Adam Wolf, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who defended the state law in the appeals court. He said the counties should stop wasting money “in a doomed effort to undermine the will of California voters.”

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Full article.

Leave your thoughts by commenting below.

Full article at the Ashland Daily Tidings.

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In Oregon, legally smoking “green” requires a green thumb, or knowing someone who does.

Medical marijuana cardholders — even those who are terminally ill — must grow their own marijuana or find someone else to grow it for them, according to state law.

But some local activists are aiming to change that. Voter Power, a medical marijuana activist group with an office in Medford, plans to put a measure on a 2010 ballot to create dispensaries in Oregon, similar to those in California.

“Currently, we have the grower-caregiver patient system, but a lot of patients do not have access to their medicine,” said Alex Rogers, outreach coordinator for Voter Power, who works in Jackson County. “They don’t have the time or money to grow their own, nor are they connected to someone who does.”

Voter Power, which led efforts to legalize medical marijuana 1998, hopes to create a limited number of nonprofit dispensaries where cardholders can receive marijuana.
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Looks like a good plan to me. Leave your views by commenting below.

From the original article:

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SANTA CRUZ — Thousands of medicinal marijuana patients and supporters attended WAMMfest to celebrate and learn about the herbal medicine Saturday.

Though medical marijuana patients were able to smoke their medicine at the event that featured music, crafts and speeches, that portion of the festivities was in question until this week. After failing to muster the votes to lift the city smoking ban in parks in a prior meeting, the council Tuesday agreed to do so. Only those with a medical marijuana identification card were allowed to smoke in a specially-designated tent Saturday.

Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana co-founder Valerie Corral said the event is an opportunity to normalize the use of medicinal marijuana and bring its members’ stories to the public eye.

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Leave your comments below.

Full article

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…Defense attorney Douglass Hiatt argued that opiates sickened Dalton and did not relieve his pain, but Judge Laurie sided with prosecutors, effectively overruling the recommendation of the physician who okayed Dalton’s medical marijuana use.

An angry Hiatt said the judge had no business second-guessing the doctor’s recommendation. “If Judge Laurie wants to be a doctor, she should go to medical school … No patient in this state is safe if she’s right.”…

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It’s very disconcerting that someone who has the power to take away your freedom could be this uneducated on what is ultimately a very vital subject. 

Leave your comments below.

Article here.

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Associated Press

From this news site:

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BOULDER – The University of Colorado Police Department returned about two ounces of Marijuana to a student on Monday.

“This is for my brother because he has debilitating pain from injuries in the past, and a doctor prescribed it as medicine that would help him live his daily life, and I just help,” he said.

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This is a step in the right direction for the medical movement. Post your views on this happening by making a comment below.