Tag: medical marijuana (page 4)

The Wall St. Journal reports on new regulations Colorado lawmakers are putting the final touches on, for medical marijuana:

The regulatory system — more rigorous and comprehensive than in any other state — will likely require pot growers to place tags on every plant and train security cameras on their cultivation rooms around the clock.

...Cannabis dispensaries, meanwhile, will likely be required to record high-resolution video of every customer's face and photo identification and then link that footage to a computer record of each purchase. Even the moment when the dried weed is weighed for sale will have to be captured on video, according to draft regulations now being finalized.

Cops can demand to see the tapes at any time, without a warrant.

"We don't ask. We just go look," said Matt Cook, senior director of the state's medical-marijuana enforcement division...."You give up a lot of your Fourth Amendment rights when you're dealing with a controlled substance," Mr. Cook said.

[More...]

Thanks to Marijuana Policy Project for publishing this list of marijuana initiatives on local Colorado ballots this year.

The following jurisdictions will ask their citizens if medical marijuana dispensaries should be ALLOWED – Vote“Yes” on dispensary measures in the following jurisdictions.

• Antonito
• DeBeque
• Dinosaur
• Hot Sulphur Springs
• Lake City
• Loveland
• Ouray
• Paonia (two questions)
• Ramah
• Conejos County
• Eagle County

The following jurisdictions (some municipal, some county)will ask their citizens if medical marijuana dispensaries should be PROHIBITED – Vote “No” on dispensary measures in the following jurisdictions. [More...]

At 4:30 pm MT (6:30 pm ET), there will be a debate on medical marijuana in Denver, hosted by actor Richard Belzer. It's part of the the Plant Medicine Expo and Healthcare Provider Conference being held at the downtown Denver Sheraton.

Belzer was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1984, and has since made a full recovery. The debate features Colorado elected officials and advocates on both sides of the medical marijuana issue.

Just Say Now and Firedoglake are live-streaming the debate. You can watch here. Among the participants is Stan Garnett, Boulder District Attorney, who is running for Colorado Attorney General against John Suthers. Full list below: [More...]

Via Web MD: A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal finds that marijuana relieves chronic nerve pain and aids sleep. Three puffs a day is all it took for patients to find relief.

The study involved patients with chronic nerve pain due to injury or accident. Some received placebos and others received three different doses of cannabis.

How it worked: [More...]

Bump and Update: I have been advised by the AUSA on the Bartkowicz case that Washington is not involved and did not direct, dictate or write the Government's motion or brief. She wrote the brief, and the case is proceeding with the approval of our new U.S. Attorney who took office this week. So if you are in a federal district other than Colorado, you don't have to worry the motion described below is the product of a coordinated effort by DOJ in Washington to prevent defendants from raising compliance with state law or the Holder/Ogden memos as a defense to federal prosecution. It appears that it's being decided by the individual districts and on a case by case basis.

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Original Post

Some of you may remember the case of Chris Bartkowicz, a Colorado marijuana grower who allowed the media to film and air a news segment on the marijuana grow in his house. When the DEA saw it on TV, they promptly arrested and charged him. The Government said he had 224 plants, and based on the three charges in the Indictment, if convicted, due to his prior convictions, he now faces mandatory minimum sentences of ten years, twenty years, and sixty years. The Government maintains he could receive a life sentence. (The Government's initial complaint is here.)

The Government filed a 50 page motion this week seeking to prevent Bartkowicz from arguing the Holder or Ogden memorandum or Colorado's medical marijuana law as a defense to the charges. The money quote from the motion, which is available on PACER:[More...]

Greenway University is getting its own Denver campus. The medical marijuana school has been approved by Colorado's Board of Higher Education. It will be the first state licensed marijuana school in the country. It teaches students "how to grow, sell and distribute medical marijuana."

Approximately 1,000 students have attended Greenway University in since it started satellite classes in downtown Denver last year. It is expanding so fast it needs a permanent campus and eight full-time instructors.

"We've got an extra botanist, geneticist, we really have some skilled and talented master growers, and all of our growers have a minimum of five years experience and grow for thousands of patients," Escamilla said.

Marijuana is not allowed in the classrooms....for now.

The Wall St. Journal may seem like an unlikely place to read about culture clash that has arisen among Colorado's medical marijuana community between the "stoners" and the "wellness" folks, but there it is. One point of contention: the names for the strains of pot. The wellness folks don't like names like "trainwreck" or "ak-47s." Another: slogans. The wellness crowd objects to those like "If you've got the pain, we've got the strain." [More...]

In Grand Junction, Colorado, a strange odor in the Government census office resulted in a search warrant being executed next door and the discovery and seizure of 1,000 marijuana plants. Sid Squirrel, who owns the building and is a realtor, says the plants are his, and he's growing them in compliance with state law. Also found: 300 file folders containing cards of medical marijuana patients.

Colorado law allows patients to possess up to two ounces of marijuana or six plants. Patients can also designate a caregiver. So for each patient who designated Mr. Squirrel as his or her caregiver, Squirrel can grow 6 plants. If 300 patients designated him as a caregiver, he could grow 1,800 plants and be in compliance with state law.

Squirrel was not arrested yesterday. [More...]

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis wrote a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the recent federal raids on medical marijuana in Colorado.

Tuesday, Polis sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to instruct agents to abide by the Justice Department's Oct. 19 directive to allow deference to state laws on legalized medical marijuana use, or to clarify the new position.

Polis sent a copy of the letter to President Obama. He posted his letter today on Square State. (Why don't they promote it to the front page from the diaries?) I'm reprinting it below: [More...]

A condition of probation is that the offender not commit any violations of state or federal law. So what happens when a person is put on probation and they are a state licensed medical marijuana user?

Boulder, Colorado has created new guidelines for probationers, allowing them to continue using the drug. The guidelines treat medical marijuana like any other prescribed drug.

Medical-marijuana cardholders who are sentenced to probation will be allowed to continue using the drug medicinally while serving their sentence as long as they meet several conditions and allow a probation officer to view their medical records, according to the new guidelines.

More....

A U.S. Magistrate Judge this afternoon granted bond to Chris Bartkowicz, arrested last weekend after DEA raided his residence, having seen a news story about him on TV in which he claimed to be growing legally under Colorado law.

The Government had requested Bartkowicz be detained without bond pending trial. A hearing will be held tomorrow morning on his lawyers' motion to require the DEA to preserve the plants.

The judge set bond in the amount of $10,000.00 cash. He will also be on electronic monitoring. [More...]

Update: Here's the text of Obama's remarks.

President Obama will be in Denver this afternoon to appear at fundraisers for Sen. Michael Bennet. According to his schedule (times changed to Mountain Time):

• 2:50PM: President Obama arrives in Aurora, Colorado
• 3:30PM: President Obama delivers remarks at a grassroots fundraiser for Senator Bennet
• 4:40PM: President Obama delivers remarks at a fundraising reception for Senator Bennet
• 5:35PM: President Obama departs Aurora, Colorado en route Las Vegas, Nevada

Locations:

He will deliver remarks at a fundraiser for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. He will also deliver remarks at a fundraising reception for Bennet at the Sheraton Hotel.

Medical marijuana activists are holding protests, "Patients Picket Obama: "Get the DEA Out of Colorado" across from the Fillmore. One of the reasons for the protest is the Feb. 12 raid on Chris Bartkowicz. Bartokowicz has a detention/bail hearing this afternoon.