Showing posts with label Medical Marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medical Marijuana. Show all posts
Monday, April 23, 2012
Walmart of Weed in DC
Full Article:
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/health/story/2012-03-29/Walmart-of-weed-opening-store-in-Washington-DC/53861352/1
A company dubbed the "Walmart of Weed" is putting down roots in America's capital city, sprouting further debate on marijuana — medical or otherwise.
Just a few miles from the White House and federal buildings, a company that candidly caters to medical marijuana growers is opening up its first outlet on the East Coast. The opening of the weGrow store on Friday in Washington coincides with the first concrete step in implementing a city law allowing residents with certain medical conditions to purchase pot.
Like suppliers of picks and axes during the gold rush, weGrow sees itself providing the necessary tools to pioneers of a "green rush," which some project could reach nearly $9 billion within the next five years. Admittedly smaller than a big box store, weGrow is not unlike a typical retailer in mainstream America, with towering shelves of plant food and vitamins, ventilation and lighting systems. Along with garden products, it offers how-to classes, books and magazines on growing medical marijuana...
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Weed Wars
The cannabis battle: coming soon to your living room
Caitlin Donohue
10-19-11
http://www.sfbg.com/2011/10/19/weed-wars
"I always knew that doing this show would be a risk," says Harborside Health Center founder Steve DeAngelo in a phone interview with the Guardian. A medical marijuana dispensary could probably always be considered controversial fodder for a nighttime reality TV program, but DeAngelo's enterprise rose above standard controversy when it became the target of the IRS, the federal agency ruling that it could no longer write off common business expenses. It now owes $2 million — an amount that left the rest of the industry quaking with concerns over its future.
The perfect time for an on-air debut, right? DeAngelo thinks so.
"If the American people see how we use this medicine, how we distribute it, they're going to support it," he says. "They've only gotten a chance to see the government's side, the propaganda side."
Especially nowadays. In the past few weeks, the feds have launched a multi-lateral attack on medical cannabis dispensaries. The Treasury Department convinced banks to close dispensaries' accounts. The Department of Justice has sent out numerous cease-and-desist letters to dispensaries. The notifications insist that the trafficking illegal substances is occurring, and that it must be stopped — a turnaround from the Obama administration's earlier pledge that it would not stand in the way of a patient's access to medicine.
DeAngelo claims that Harborside is among the top 10 highest tax payers to the city of Oakland. The dispensary has gone through disputes over taxes paid before, but this latest persecution has meant a diminished sense of security for the dispensary's 120-person staff at its San Jose and Oakland locations — not to mention among patients.
"They're terrorized," says DeAngelo. "I have 60, 70, 80-year old patients who are terrified."
It's high drama stuff. Ironically, filming for Weed Wars — save a few remaining pickup shots — had already concluded by the time of the ruling. Surely Discovery Channel executives are smacking their foreheads, having shot the relatively boring chunk of 2011 at Harborside.
"It does seem like the cameras got turned off at just the wrong time," says DeAngelo.
The dispensary founder says that his people thoroughly vetted Braverman Productions prior to signing any deals — it wasn't the only offer they got to be the subject of such a show. He's confident the company will shy from the "unreal setups" so prevalent on other reality TV series. And he hopes that despite the current drama (which might make its way into the final episode of the program's season), producers will portray the dispensary in a way that's respectful and shows an accurate image of what day-to-day operations look like.
But whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen. An article written by a staff member in the September 2011 edition of the Harborside newsletter questioned the use of "weed" in the show's title (a faux pas in the medical marijuana industry). In such a volatile political environment, the temptation to sensationalize cannabis dispensaries might run pretty hot. Or on the contrary, maybe Weed Wars will make the sale of state-legal marijuana seem as normal as being a Coloradan bounty hunter or a Kardashian.
Regardless of what happens, DeAngelo's not ruing the day he decided to go into medical marijuana.
"We decided when we opened our doors that it was worth the risk. I still think it was worth that risk."
Weed Wars premieres November 27 at 10 p.m. PST on the Discovery Channel
Caitlin Donohue
10-19-11
http://www.sfbg.com/2011/10/19/weed-wars
"I always knew that doing this show would be a risk," says Harborside Health Center founder Steve DeAngelo in a phone interview with the Guardian. A medical marijuana dispensary could probably always be considered controversial fodder for a nighttime reality TV program, but DeAngelo's enterprise rose above standard controversy when it became the target of the IRS, the federal agency ruling that it could no longer write off common business expenses. It now owes $2 million — an amount that left the rest of the industry quaking with concerns over its future.
The perfect time for an on-air debut, right? DeAngelo thinks so.
"If the American people see how we use this medicine, how we distribute it, they're going to support it," he says. "They've only gotten a chance to see the government's side, the propaganda side."
Especially nowadays. In the past few weeks, the feds have launched a multi-lateral attack on medical cannabis dispensaries. The Treasury Department convinced banks to close dispensaries' accounts. The Department of Justice has sent out numerous cease-and-desist letters to dispensaries. The notifications insist that the trafficking illegal substances is occurring, and that it must be stopped — a turnaround from the Obama administration's earlier pledge that it would not stand in the way of a patient's access to medicine.
DeAngelo claims that Harborside is among the top 10 highest tax payers to the city of Oakland. The dispensary has gone through disputes over taxes paid before, but this latest persecution has meant a diminished sense of security for the dispensary's 120-person staff at its San Jose and Oakland locations — not to mention among patients.
"They're terrorized," says DeAngelo. "I have 60, 70, 80-year old patients who are terrified."
It's high drama stuff. Ironically, filming for Weed Wars — save a few remaining pickup shots — had already concluded by the time of the ruling. Surely Discovery Channel executives are smacking their foreheads, having shot the relatively boring chunk of 2011 at Harborside.
"It does seem like the cameras got turned off at just the wrong time," says DeAngelo.
The dispensary founder says that his people thoroughly vetted Braverman Productions prior to signing any deals — it wasn't the only offer they got to be the subject of such a show. He's confident the company will shy from the "unreal setups" so prevalent on other reality TV series. And he hopes that despite the current drama (which might make its way into the final episode of the program's season), producers will portray the dispensary in a way that's respectful and shows an accurate image of what day-to-day operations look like.
But whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen. An article written by a staff member in the September 2011 edition of the Harborside newsletter questioned the use of "weed" in the show's title (a faux pas in the medical marijuana industry). In such a volatile political environment, the temptation to sensationalize cannabis dispensaries might run pretty hot. Or on the contrary, maybe Weed Wars will make the sale of state-legal marijuana seem as normal as being a Coloradan bounty hunter or a Kardashian.
Regardless of what happens, DeAngelo's not ruing the day he decided to go into medical marijuana.
"We decided when we opened our doors that it was worth the risk. I still think it was worth that risk."
Weed Wars premieres November 27 at 10 p.m. PST on the Discovery Channel
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The Drug War Vs. Free Press
From SFGate.com:
A U.S. attorney in Southern California says she is preparing to go after newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets that advertise medical marijuana dispensaries, an escalation in the Obama administration's newly invigorated war against the state's pot industry.
This month, U.S. attorneys representing four districts in California announced that the government would single out landlords and property owners who rent buildings or land where dispensaries sell or cultivators grow marijuana. Media outlets could be next.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, whose district includes Imperial and San Diego counties, said marijuana advertising is the next area she's "going to be moving onto as part of the enforcement efforts in Southern California."
Duffy said she could not speak for the three other U.S. attorneys in the state, but noted their efforts have been coordinated so far..
Duffy said she believes the law gives her the right to prosecute newspaper publishers or TV station owners.
"If I own a newspaper ... or I own a TV station, and I'm going to take in your money to place these ads, I'm the person who is placing these ads," Duffy said. "I am willing to read (the law) expansively, and if a court wants to more narrowly define it, that would be up to the court."
Seven states, including California, allow medical marijuana to be distributed in dispensaries, though more than 200 California cities and nearly two dozen counties have bans or moratoriums in place on storefront pot businesses.
Ngaio Bealum, publisher of West Coast Cannabis, said he receives a significant portion of his revenue from dispensary ads, though he has tough competition for ad revenue from alternative newspapers and even the Sacramento Bee, which began running print advertisements for dispensaries this year.
Bealum said it is "misguided for the Department of Justice to come after people who are following state law and doing well for the economy in a recession.
"We're just in doctors' offices and cannabis collectives, where you have to be 18 years old or where you have to be a patient," he said.
Alternative newspapers throughout the state have benefited from the increased business, even as other advertising sources have dwindled.
In April, the Sacramento News & Review published a supplement devoted exclusively to marijuana dispensaries.
The ads in the supplement, which have cost $2,000 for a full page, allowed the News & Review to hire additional reporters...
Dispensary ads next targets in federal war on pot
Michael Montgomery
Thursday, October 13, 2011
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/12/MN5N1LH0LN.DTL
A U.S. attorney in Southern California says she is preparing to go after newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets that advertise medical marijuana dispensaries, an escalation in the Obama administration's newly invigorated war against the state's pot industry.
This month, U.S. attorneys representing four districts in California announced that the government would single out landlords and property owners who rent buildings or land where dispensaries sell or cultivators grow marijuana. Media outlets could be next.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, whose district includes Imperial and San Diego counties, said marijuana advertising is the next area she's "going to be moving onto as part of the enforcement efforts in Southern California."
Duffy said she could not speak for the three other U.S. attorneys in the state, but noted their efforts have been coordinated so far..
Duffy said she believes the law gives her the right to prosecute newspaper publishers or TV station owners.
"If I own a newspaper ... or I own a TV station, and I'm going to take in your money to place these ads, I'm the person who is placing these ads," Duffy said. "I am willing to read (the law) expansively, and if a court wants to more narrowly define it, that would be up to the court."
Seven states, including California, allow medical marijuana to be distributed in dispensaries, though more than 200 California cities and nearly two dozen counties have bans or moratoriums in place on storefront pot businesses.
Ngaio Bealum, publisher of West Coast Cannabis, said he receives a significant portion of his revenue from dispensary ads, though he has tough competition for ad revenue from alternative newspapers and even the Sacramento Bee, which began running print advertisements for dispensaries this year.
Bealum said it is "misguided for the Department of Justice to come after people who are following state law and doing well for the economy in a recession.
"We're just in doctors' offices and cannabis collectives, where you have to be 18 years old or where you have to be a patient," he said.
Alternative newspapers throughout the state have benefited from the increased business, even as other advertising sources have dwindled.
In April, the Sacramento News & Review published a supplement devoted exclusively to marijuana dispensaries.
The ads in the supplement, which have cost $2,000 for a full page, allowed the News & Review to hire additional reporters...
Dispensary ads next targets in federal war on pot
Michael Montgomery
Thursday, October 13, 2011
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/12/MN5N1LH0LN.DTL
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Obama's Pot War
From HuffPo:
Three years on, not a single Wall Street banker has been prosecuted after a financial crisis rooted in rampant fraud brought the global economy to its knees. President Obama's Department of Justice has more dangerous miscreants to worry about: medical marijuana shop owners.
The DOJ has launched an assault on medical pot dispensaries, vowing to shut down establishments licensed and regulated by state and local governments, in a reversal of an earlier policy, based on an Obama campaign promise to leave the shops alone as long as they followed state law.
And while major corporations have managed to get their federal tax bills down to zero, the IRS has determined that pot clinics can't deduct salaries, rent, the cost of bud or other operating expenses on their tax returns. If a business can't deduct those expenses, its tax bill almost always winds up exceeding even its profits.
Despite a previous DOJ memo that targeting medical marijuana is an inefficient use of time and resources, this past Friday morning, four California-based U.S. Attorneys and their staffs gathered in front of Sacramento's capitol building to announce an aggressive new crackdown on medical marijuana operations throughout the state -- this one aimed at the landlords who manage buildings in which dispensaries operate.
Detailing an industry that has "swelled to include numerous drug-trafficking enterprises," the federal officials warned they would be taking action against dozens of dispensaries they accused of abusing California's medical marijuana laws.
"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," said U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law."
Meanwhile, medical marijuana in California is experiencing a renaissance. While the U.S. attorneys held their press conference, the West Coast Cannabis Expo had just opened its doors in San Francisco, drawing pot enthusiasts from across the state for the ultimate celebration of all things weed.
The contrast between the ominous warning in Sacramento and the joyous mood at the festival couldn't have been more stark. Glass artists showcased rows of handcrafted pipes. The Oaksterdam Bakery handed out samples of medicinal banana walnut bread. Managers at companies like Weed Maps and California Earth Supply collected resumes from job-seekers. A small line of patients waited to meet with the on-site doctor to see if they qualified for a state-sanctioned medical recommendation.
As news of the government's latest anti-marijuana efforts reached the expo, attendees remained unfazed. "I've been doing this for a long time," Dennis Rogers, the CEO of CannaKing, a roving dispensary he operates out of his van, told The Huffington Post. "We're in a state where it's legal, and you can't have federal agents everywhere. That's the bottom line."
"Everybody in this industry understands the playing field," added Alec Dixon, the director of client relations for SC Laboratories, a company that tests different strains of cannabis for potency and contamination. "All this really does is give us something to rally behind."
Medical marijuana has been legal for approved patients in California since voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then, it's grown into a flourishing above-ground industry, creating a host of "green" jobs that run the gamut from farmers and dispensary owners to public relations executives and insurance agents who specialize in pot cultivation.
But the plant remains illegal at the federal level. In the early years of the Obama administration, targeting medical marijuana operations did not appear to be high on the list of government priorities. A month after Obama's inauguration, Attorney General Eric Holder said that federal prosecutors would not enforce action against patients or providers that adhered to state law. Six months later, the new policy was officially articulated in the landmark Ogden memo: "[P]rosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources."
The DOJ reversed course earlier this year, issuing a memo in June that redefined "caregiver," and the department threatened to take action against pot dispensaries even in states that had legalized medicinal pot. Since that announcement, federal officials have engaged in a slew of intimidation tactics specifically aimed at California's industry.
Last Tuesday, the IRS sent a $2.4-million tax bill to Oakland's Harborside Health Center, the nation's largest medical marijuana dispensary, citing a portion of the tax code that prohibits drug-trafficking organizations from cost deductions. "We will be taxed out of existence," said Steve De Angelo, the center's executive director.
Two days later, a handful of San Francisco-based landlords who rent space to pot clubs received letters from federal officials warning them that the government could seize their property at any time for operating too close to local schools. Similar notes were sent to other dispensaries throughout the state.
The DOJ insists the latest crackdown is somehow in accordance with Obama's policy of leaving the issue to the states. "The actions taken today in California by our U.S. Attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the Department's commitment to enforcing existing federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, in all states," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in a statement...
Ryan Grim is the author of "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America," available on Amazon.
Obama's War On Weed: White House Launches Crackdown On Medical Marijuana
10/11/11
Carly Schwartz & Ryan Grim
carly@huffingtonpost.com
ryan@huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/war-on-weed-obama-marijuana_n_1005483.html
Three years on, not a single Wall Street banker has been prosecuted after a financial crisis rooted in rampant fraud brought the global economy to its knees. President Obama's Department of Justice has more dangerous miscreants to worry about: medical marijuana shop owners.
The DOJ has launched an assault on medical pot dispensaries, vowing to shut down establishments licensed and regulated by state and local governments, in a reversal of an earlier policy, based on an Obama campaign promise to leave the shops alone as long as they followed state law.
And while major corporations have managed to get their federal tax bills down to zero, the IRS has determined that pot clinics can't deduct salaries, rent, the cost of bud or other operating expenses on their tax returns. If a business can't deduct those expenses, its tax bill almost always winds up exceeding even its profits.
Despite a previous DOJ memo that targeting medical marijuana is an inefficient use of time and resources, this past Friday morning, four California-based U.S. Attorneys and their staffs gathered in front of Sacramento's capitol building to announce an aggressive new crackdown on medical marijuana operations throughout the state -- this one aimed at the landlords who manage buildings in which dispensaries operate.
Detailing an industry that has "swelled to include numerous drug-trafficking enterprises," the federal officials warned they would be taking action against dozens of dispensaries they accused of abusing California's medical marijuana laws.
"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," said U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law."
Meanwhile, medical marijuana in California is experiencing a renaissance. While the U.S. attorneys held their press conference, the West Coast Cannabis Expo had just opened its doors in San Francisco, drawing pot enthusiasts from across the state for the ultimate celebration of all things weed.
The contrast between the ominous warning in Sacramento and the joyous mood at the festival couldn't have been more stark. Glass artists showcased rows of handcrafted pipes. The Oaksterdam Bakery handed out samples of medicinal banana walnut bread. Managers at companies like Weed Maps and California Earth Supply collected resumes from job-seekers. A small line of patients waited to meet with the on-site doctor to see if they qualified for a state-sanctioned medical recommendation.
As news of the government's latest anti-marijuana efforts reached the expo, attendees remained unfazed. "I've been doing this for a long time," Dennis Rogers, the CEO of CannaKing, a roving dispensary he operates out of his van, told The Huffington Post. "We're in a state where it's legal, and you can't have federal agents everywhere. That's the bottom line."
"Everybody in this industry understands the playing field," added Alec Dixon, the director of client relations for SC Laboratories, a company that tests different strains of cannabis for potency and contamination. "All this really does is give us something to rally behind."
Medical marijuana has been legal for approved patients in California since voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then, it's grown into a flourishing above-ground industry, creating a host of "green" jobs that run the gamut from farmers and dispensary owners to public relations executives and insurance agents who specialize in pot cultivation.
But the plant remains illegal at the federal level. In the early years of the Obama administration, targeting medical marijuana operations did not appear to be high on the list of government priorities. A month after Obama's inauguration, Attorney General Eric Holder said that federal prosecutors would not enforce action against patients or providers that adhered to state law. Six months later, the new policy was officially articulated in the landmark Ogden memo: "[P]rosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources."
The DOJ reversed course earlier this year, issuing a memo in June that redefined "caregiver," and the department threatened to take action against pot dispensaries even in states that had legalized medicinal pot. Since that announcement, federal officials have engaged in a slew of intimidation tactics specifically aimed at California's industry.
Last Tuesday, the IRS sent a $2.4-million tax bill to Oakland's Harborside Health Center, the nation's largest medical marijuana dispensary, citing a portion of the tax code that prohibits drug-trafficking organizations from cost deductions. "We will be taxed out of existence," said Steve De Angelo, the center's executive director.
Two days later, a handful of San Francisco-based landlords who rent space to pot clubs received letters from federal officials warning them that the government could seize their property at any time for operating too close to local schools. Similar notes were sent to other dispensaries throughout the state.
The DOJ insists the latest crackdown is somehow in accordance with Obama's policy of leaving the issue to the states. "The actions taken today in California by our U.S. Attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the Department's commitment to enforcing existing federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, in all states," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in a statement...
Ryan Grim is the author of "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America," available on Amazon.
Obama's War On Weed: White House Launches Crackdown On Medical Marijuana
10/11/11
Carly Schwartz & Ryan Grim
carly@huffingtonpost.com
ryan@huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/11/war-on-weed-obama-marijuana_n_1005483.html
Thursday, October 6, 2011
ATF: No firearms for those who use marijuana legally
Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/28/atf-no-firearms-for-those-who-use-marijuana-legally/
Those who use marijuana legally in accordance with their state's laws cannot be sold or possess firearms, according to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) memo issued on September 21.
The memo to gun dealers in the United States, obtained by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), stated that it was illegal under federal law to sell firearms to anyone reasonably suspected of using a controlled substance.
The use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 16 states and the District of Columbia, but marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug under the federal Control Substances Act. Schedule I is the most restrictive classification, reserved drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medicinal value.
"Therefore, any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use of medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition," the memo said.
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/28/atf-no-firearms-for-those-who-use-marijuana-legally/
Those who use marijuana legally in accordance with their state's laws cannot be sold or possess firearms, according to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) memo issued on September 21.
The memo to gun dealers in the United States, obtained by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), stated that it was illegal under federal law to sell firearms to anyone reasonably suspected of using a controlled substance.
The use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 16 states and the District of Columbia, but marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug under the federal Control Substances Act. Schedule I is the most restrictive classification, reserved drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medicinal value.
"Therefore, any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use of medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition," the memo said.
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