Next Submission Deadline August 11, 2010

Cali measure for legal adult cannabis faces November vote

By Chris Conrad

The Secretary of State confirmed March 24 that the Control and Tax Cannabis initiative will be on the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot, the first non-medical use initiative to qualify in the state since the 1972 California Marijuana Initiative. The mere fact of cannabis being up for a vote with a slim majority of support among CA voters has stoked national and international media discussion of how legal adult cannabis use is to be regulated in the future.

The campaign is garnering a growing string of endorsements, which already includes the CA NAACP, political and union leaders, Oakland City Council, economists, and most cannabis reform groups. It is forming coalitions of physicians, attorneys, faith leaders and organizations, who are generating support for the initiative amongst their constituents.

Vocal opposition is led by lobbyist and spokesperson for the California Peace Officers Assn, John Lovell. The typical lineup of law enforcement, MADD, drug rehab companies, career politicians and fringe religious groups are coalescing under the banner, ‘Public Safety First,’ headed by the ‘No On Prop 5’ strategist Wayne Johnson.They have vowed to block the initiative, as have some dealers and illicit growers, so it is expected to be a close vote.

Campaign spokesperson Dale Clare said that Oaksterdam University founder and initiative sponsor Richard Lee made sure the measure protects existing medical use laws, winning the strong support of advocates and co-proponent Jeff Jones of the Patient ID Center, who opened an Oakland dispensary in 1996 then fought and lost a case at the US Supreme Court in 2001 based on medical necessity.

The initiative is a conservative proposal that allows adults 21 years or older to possess or share up to an ounce and have a very small personal garden. It tightens penalties on sales to minors and creates a framework for localities to regulate and tax commercial sales to adults, with the potential of raising billions of dollars in revenue to offset the state budget cuts.

As in all campaigns, fundraising will play a major role in determining the outcome of the election. The TaxCannabis 2010 team estimates that they will need to raise $10 to $20 million for the statewide effort to win in November.

Being a mid-term election, getting out the vote among the cannabis constituency will be essential to passage of the measure.

Info: facebook.com/taxcannnabis; twitter.com/taxcannabis; taxcannabis.org.

Renowned speaker, activist, best-selling author:
Jack Herer, 1939-2010

By Chris Conrad

Jack Herer, a living legend of the cannabis reform movement who spoke at thousands of events across the US and Europe, died in the company of his family April 15, 2010 in Oregon and was laid to rest in Los Angeles.

Hundreds of people came from afar for his eulogy and funeral at Eden Memorial Park in Mission Hills CA on April 25 to honor a larger-than-life man who changed so many people’s lives. Joints and handsful of marijuana were tossed into the grave with the urn containing his remains.

Born June 18, 1939, Herer’s early years as a Goldwater Republican and a Korean War veteran gave no indication that he would one day become a world-famous champion of legalizing all things cannabis and write a book that changed the world, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

The gravel-voiced, strong-willed activist, who in the 1960s threatened to leave his first wife when he found out she had smoked marijuana, became known in later years for making statements such as, “you’d have to be crazy to not smoke pot.”

He was a teacher and a salesman. He asserted there was a conspiracy to ban hemp primarily to financially benefit the polluting industries of timber and fossil fuels, especially the Hearst and DuPont corporations. He educated and recruited scores of dedicated hempsters to help spread the word about the virtues of the cannabis plant with the mantra, “hemp for food, fuel and fiber,” also paper and medicine, and collect sig- natures for a CA comprehensive legalization initiative year after year that never made the ballot.

After making a pact with his companion Ed Adaire in the 1970s to legalize cannabis or die trying, Herer spent decades collecting thousands of facts that went into the Emperor. Few took his information seriously until he partnered with Chris Conrad, who designed, edited and produced the 1990 edition which made Herer into a global celebrity.

Herer helped get a legalization initiative on the 2000 and 2004 ballots in Alaska.

He repeatedly crossed the country with his book in hand, on his HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) Tours with the Cannabis Action Network. The German translation of his book, Hanf, swept Europe by storm and his opus was translated into many languages, sometimes in bootleg editions. His first book, G.R.A.S.S. (1973) is still in print.

He was the subject of the documentary, The Emperor of Hemp (2000). A mainstay at the Amsterdam High Times Cannabis Cup, Ben Dronkers of the Dutch company Sensi Seed Bank named a popular strain of cannabis `Jack Herer.’

Herer received a lifetime achievement award from NORML in 2002, after he suffered a major stroke after a speech he gave at a hemp festival in Oregon in 2000.

Even in his depleted condition with halting speech, the charismatic Herer was a big draw at events like the Seattle HempFest. He extolled Rick Simpson’s oil and credited it for aiding his recovery. He was working on a book about the amanita muscaria mushroom, but was not able to finish.

As Herer stepped off stage after delivering his empassioned, final speech at the 2009 Portland Hempstalk, he clutched his chest and sank to the ground. He clung to life but never recovered from the severe heart attack. Herer was married four times. He is survived by his wife, Jeanie, six children, a brother, a sister, and a large extended family of friends and fans the world over. His son, Mark, still runs the family-owned headshop, The Third Eye, in Portland, OR.

To help cover his growing medical and funeral expenses, please make a donation at jackherermedicalandmemorialfund.org.

By Paul Armentano NORML

Subjects exhibit virtually identical psychomotor skills on a battery of driving simulator tests prior to and shortly after smoking marijuana, according to clinical trial data published in the March issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

Investigators from Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine assessed the simulated driving performance of 85 subjects in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Volunteers responded to various simulated events associated with automobile crash risk — such as avoiding a driver who was entering an intersection illegally, deciding to stop or go through changing traffic lights, responding to the presence of emergency vehicles, avoiding colliding with a dog who entered into traffic, and maintaining safe driving during a secondary (in-the-car) auditory distraction.

Subjects performed the tests sober and then again 30 minutes after smoking a single marijuana cigarette containing either 2.9 percent THC or zero THC (placebo).

Investigators reported that volunteers performed virtually the same after smoking cannabis as they did sober. “No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios,” authors concluded.

Investigators noted that “participants receiving active marijuana decreased their speed more so than those receiving placebo cigarette during (the) distracted section of the drive.” Authors hypothesized that subjects’ reduction in speed on this task suggested that they may have been compensating for perceived impairment.

“[N]o other changes in driving performance were found,” they reported. A 2008 driving simulator study published in the scientific journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention also reported that drivers administered cannabis are likely to decrease their driving speed. “Average speed was the most sensitive driving performance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect,” investigators reported. “Smoking THC cigarettes caused drivers to drive slower in a dose-dependent manner, while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in ‘control’ conditions.’”

Previous reviews assessing the crash culpability risk of drivers under the influence of cannabis have reported a positive association between recent cannabis exposure (as typically measured by the presence of THC in the driver’s blood) and a gradually increased, dose-dependent risk of vehicle accident. However, these studies have consistently found that this elevated risk is below risk presented by drivers who have consumed even small (i.e., ‘legal’) quantities of alcohol.

By contrast, studies have also found that drivers engaged in the simultaneous use of both cannabis and alcohol can significantly increase their risk of accident compared to the consumption of either substance alone.

A 2008 driving simulator study pub- lished in the scientific journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention also reported that drivers administered cannabis are likely to decrease their driving speed. “Average speed was the most sensitive driving per- formance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect,” investigators reported. “Smoking THC cig- arettes caused drivers to drive slower in a dose-dependent manner, while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in `control’ conditions.’”

Previous reviews assessing the crash culpability risk of drivers under the influ- ence of cannabis have reported a positive association between recent cannabis expo- sure (as typically measured by the presence of THC in the driver’s blood) and a gradu- ally increased, dose-dependent risk of vehicle accident. However, these studies have consistently found that this elevated risk is below risk presented by drivers who have consumed even small (i.e., `legal’) quantities of alcohol.

By contrast, studies have also found that drivers engaged in the simultaneous use of both cannabis and alcohol can signif- icantly increase their risk of accident com- pared to the consumption of either sub- stance alone. NORML’s white paper, “Cannabis and Driving: A Scientific and Rational Review,” is at: norml.org/index.cfm?Group _ID=7459

Tax receipts around $100m

By Dale Gieringer  California NORML

The California Board of Equalization reported that the state is collecting $50 – $100 million annually in sales taxes from medical marijuana. The report confirms an estimate previously published by California NORML* and independently confirmed by Americans for Safe Access.

California NORML currently estimates the state’s domestic retail market for medical cannabis at over $1 billion per year in a total adult use market of $6 billion. Even more is shipped out of state.

Prohibitionists, led by Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, have sought to choke off the state’s lucrative medical market by claiming that sales are illegal. Advocates argue that medical sales are legal under SB 420, and the state stands to lose millions in sales tax revenues if LA’s dispensaries are closed.

Regulated adult use could net the state $1.4 billion in revenues according to the state Legislative Analyst’s office, or over $1.2 billion by Cal NORML’s estimate.*

* canorml.org/background/OakFinancialReportRelse.htm; also canorml.org/background/CA_legalization2.html.

‘Branding,’ cannatourism and sustainability all on agenda

By Liz Davidson, HUMMAP

The Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel (HUMMAP) was formed on April 20 to promote the virtues of Humboldt-grown cannabis, to educate county communities and government, to help draft regulations, and to ease local growers’ transition to possible legalization.

HUMMAP is a coalition of cannabis patients, cultivators and associated community members united to develop a comprehensive countywide medical cannabis regulatory policy. Its goals are to integrate all related health and safety issues under state law with sustainable organic cultivation practices, and to promote the Humboldt brand name identity.

“Medical cannabis is legal under state law, but a patchwork of regulations and the relative isolation of patients and medical growers in Humboldt has left both them and the county government confused and frequently in conflict,” said HUMMAP chair Syreeta Lux, asking growers to “share their knowledge proudly, form strong relationships with county government, and assert leadership in the industry.”

The panel will work with county patients, indoor and sun home-growers, collectives, dispensaries, legal and medical advisors, the business community, retailers and local government to define healthy and environmentally sensitive cultivation practices, solidify and refine the Humboldt reputation, identify opportunities for economic development, and cultivate general awareness of Humboldt County’s unique genetic qualities.

HUMMAP aims to form the core of a countywide trade association to network with similar groups in the Emerald Triangle and across the state.

“The medical cannabis growers of Humboldt County welcome the daylighting of this industry,” said Lux. “It’s an opportunity to promote the healthy, natural lifestyles that make the best medicine, ensure a healthy future for the planet, and create a healthy economy for Humboldt and California.”

HUMMAP’s first job is to clearly define sustainable standards and to certify those standards among its member growers. From this platform, the county can easily step into taxing and regulating legal adult use as soon as state law allows.

For further information contact: charley@asis.com.

By Mike Meno, MPP

Washington DC will soon be added to the list of jurisdictions that give seriously ill patients legal access to medical marijuana, after a unanimous May 4 vote by the District council approving amendments to a medical use law passed in 1998 by 69 percent of voters in the nation’s capital.

For more than a decade, Congress blocked its implementation via the socalled “Barr Amendment” — a clause in the annual federal budget bill that appropriates money to the District of Columbia.

After years of lobbying by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and others — including former Rep. Bob Barr (DGeorgia), the notorious restriction’s namesake, who later reversed his position — the ban was at last lifted last year, opening the way for the Council to enact what would have been the country’s second medical use law. Once Mayor Adrian Fenty signs the law, it goes to Congress for a 30-day review period, but there are no indications the Democratically controlled Congress will try to intercede.

“A well-working medical marijuana program in the nation’s capital will provide a unique opportunity for members of Congress who have never seen such programs up close to do just that,” said Karen O’Keefe, MPP’s director of state policies.

“Once they see for themselves that these laws do nothing but provide compassionate care for seriously ill patients, hopefully they will understand the need to create a federal policy that no longer criminalizes patients in any state who could benefit from this legitimate treatment option.”

Unfortunately, amendments approved by the District Council make the law more restrictive than that passed by voters in 1998. To prevent the abuses that many politicians on the East Coast are led to believe run rampant in the West, the council has placed strict and often cumbersome limitations on everything from personal quantities and who can qualify as a patient, to how patients can obtain medicine and where to use it.

For example, the law will not include severe, chronic pain as a qualifying condition, which 13 of 14 current medical marijuana states allow.

Also, it will join New Jersey as the only other medical use jurisdiction to forbid patients to grow their personal medicine, though they will be able to purchase from five to eight dispensaries located throughout the city. A commission is expected to study how to add home cultivation to the law and give its recommendation in 2012.

Regardless of these shortcomings, which MPP and others expressed hope to improve through Health Dept. regulations, final passage of a medical use law in the nation’s capitol is a tremendous and long overdue victory for patients and voters.

By Warren Edson, Esq.

The 2010 Colorado legislative session brought dramatic changes to the medical marijuana community, due to the passage of House Bill 1284. Provided that Governor Ritter signs the bill, as he said he will, Colorado will begin regulating — and legitimizing — the industry on July 1, 2010. In order to create a clean legal slate, the bill creates three new statutory defenses, the language and general framework of which will be adopted by local municipalities over the next year.

Dispensaries will now be known as Medical Marijuana Centers. An MMC is allowed to be a for-profit business, and it is specifically not the patient’s ‘caregiver.’ The MMCs will be able to retail to patients, and they will be able to wholesale up to 30 percent of what’s in their storefront to other MMCs, Infused Product Manufacturers (IPM, a new category, described below), and caregivers. By Sept. 1, they will need to have at least 70 percent of the cannabis in their storefront produced by their own growers. A $5,000 bond will be required to license an MMC.

Medical marijuana grow facilities will now be known as Option Premises Cultivation Operations (OPCO). The OPCO has to be connected to an IPM or MMC, and all their cannabis has to be sent to that one IPM or MMC.

The final new cannabis business license is the Infused Product Manufacturer (IPM). These license holders will be able to produce cannabis products that are intended to be ingested through means other than smoking (e.g., edibles, tinctures). If edible products, the items must be made in a commercial kitchen that is only used to make cannabis products. IPM license holders will also be able to apply for their own license, however all the cannabis must be used by their own IPM business; they will not be able to wholesale like Medical Marijuana Centers will be able to do.

The location of MMCs, OPCOs, and IPMs will be controlled by local zoning. Municipalities will be able to ban them. While the location of MMCs and OPCOs will be public knowledge, the locations of the IPMs will remain private.

Labs are now clearly allowed, and MMCs and IPM license holders are allowed to dispense small amounts of cannabis to the labs for testing. Deliveries will only be allowed to patients whom the state approves for delivery. There are major restrictions on those who want to join the industry. Drug felons, people who have not lived in the state for two years, and people under 21 cannot own an MMC, OPCO, or IPM. All employees will have to submit to background checks, and will have to be of “good moral standard.” Once they are determined to be okay, employees will receive state-authorized ID cards, which will protect them from state prosecution.

Caregivers will be restricted to helping up to five patients, and can charge only for their caregiving services. Caregivers can petition the state to allow more than five patients if there aren’t enough MMCs in their area. Caregivers will be able to purchase cannabis from an MMC and deliver it to their patients.

HB 1284 has clear benefits and flaws. When it takes effect, it will begin an unprecedented one-year period of change and litigation. The legislation will more than likely serve as a model — for good or bad — for the medical use community, as the industry becomes required to comply with the rules and regulations of the business world.