Tag Archives: mmj

Public Listening Sessions Aim to Clarify Massachusetts MMJ Laws

February 16, 2013   mike

Public hearings on the future regulation of medical marijuana in Massachusetts are being held this month to bring clarity to the new law, which won by a landslide vote on the November 6th ballot.

On Wednesday evening in Worcester and Thursday in Boston, state officials from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health held a series public listening sessions before the implementation of medical marijuana regulations. The meeting, held at the Worcester Public Library, drew a large crowd and was standing room only. Another session is scheduled for February 27th at Holyoke Community College.

Under the law, which went into effect in January, the state has 120 days to hear comments and draft regulations on the use of medical marijuana. Alec Loftus, a spokesman from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, says that the Department of Public Health is looking for input on a few key areas.

Rick Gulla, a spokesman for the The Massachusetts Medical Society, a group that represents physicians across the Commonwealth, said that the Society will be meeting with the DPH to share their opinion. The Society is not opposed to medical marijuana use but would like to see a number of issues addressed. The Society is also asking the Department to reclassify marijuana, to allow it’s oversight by the state’s prescription monitoring program.

Some state lawmakers have also introduced pieces of legislation that would make changes to the medical marijuana law. State Representative John Sciback of South Hadley supports the legalization of medical marijuana, but also filed a bill that would make clarifications to the language included in the original ballot measure that was approved last November. Sciback said that he hopes the Department of Public Health will be able craft their regulations by their May 1st goal.

Those who are unable to attend the listening sessions but are interested in learning about the business side of the medical marijuana industry also have options thanks to DispensaryPermits.com. The Boston-based company is scheduled to host their inaugural “Green Rush” Conference on March 2nd where several successful medical marijuana entrepreneurs are set to speak. The event was originally scheduled for February 9th at the Westin Copley in Boston but was rescheduled due to the blizzard that hammered the Northeast last week.

Interested parties looking to attend the March 2nd conference at the Sheraton Boston Hotel from 9AM-6PM can register here.

 

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CA Supreme Court Rules Storefront MMJ Dispensaries Legal

January 26, 2013   mike

For years, medical marijuana dispensaries in California were deemed illegal even in the eyes of the law. Over 700 medical marijuana dispensaries have been shut down in the Los Angeles area in the past year alone due to an overwhelming voter ban in 2012. Thanks to final court ruling on Jan. 16, after years of struggling over the hot-button issue, the CA Court of Appeals held that storefront dispensaries are legal under California law, so long as they operate on a not for profit basis and adhere to certain corporate forms.

As a result, the California Supreme Court denied requests from the League of California Cities, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office, the Sonoma District Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles City Attorney to depublish or review the published decision in People v. Jackson.

This decision establishes that storefront medical marijuana dispensaries are unquestionably legal under California law and that local citizens cannot continue to rely on their now-discredited view that all sales of medical marijuana are illegal in order to support their ongoing attacks on state compliant medical marijuana dispensaries.

Another important impact of the recent court ruling is providing medical marijuana providers with a clear defense to state criminal charges. Specifically, the ruling held that in mounting a defense at trial.

With this ruling finally put in place, medical marijuana dispensaries and their owners now have a legal precedent to fall back on. This pro-marijuana dispensary movement only benefits the entrepreneurs who are now thinking of opening up their own treatment centers in places like Massachusetts, where voters recently approved a measure that makes marijuana legal for medicinal use.

As a result of this new MMJ-friendly landscape, conferences designed to answer the many questions that are tied with this controversial industry have begun to pop up. One such example is the upcoming Green Rush Conference on February 9 hosted by MMJ consulting start up DispensaryPermits.com.

With the goal of teaching potential dispensary owners how to get their piece of a billion dollar industry, they have recruited a team of successful marijuana entrepreneurs to educate the public. With the marijuana industry growing at an unprecedented pace, it will be interesting to see who will be next to cash in.

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New Study Indicates Medical Marijuana Could Be A Cure for Cancer

December 30, 2012   mike
A recent medical marijuana study conducted by two Bay Area scientists has caught the attention of many suffering patients all over the country. For once, medical marijuana isn’t being hailed as a cure for glaucoma or back pain, but as an integral weapon against the most feared disease of all: cancer. 

Dr.Sean McCallister and Dr.Pierre Desperez of the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco have found that a compound derived from medical marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, offering the first legitimate hope for curing cancer in decades.

Despite years of government claims that marijuana has no medicinal properties, multiple studies have shown that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, is the mortal enemy of the cancer cell. That being said, not everyone that might like to utilize medical marijuana and its potential benefits are interested in smoking or ingesting the plant.

In 2007, Dr. McAllister, a scientist at the Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco who has been studying cannabinoid compounds for 10 years, found that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of the marijuana plant, is a potent inhibitor of breast cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and tumor growth.

Apparently, cannabidiol kills breast cancer cells and malignant tumors by switching off expression of the ID-1 gene, a protein that appears to play a major role as a cancer cell conductor. The scientists say CBD offers hope of a non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy.

The announcement has been hailed by medical marijuana legalization advocates as further proof that the government should stop restricting access to this medically-beneficial plant. Still, the scientists are quick to point out that just smoking a joint won’t cure cancer. ”We used injections in the animal testing and are also testing pills,” said Dr.Desperez.

“But you could never get enough Cannabidiol for it to be effective just from smoking.” In addition, the team has just begun the process of synthesizing the compound in the lab instead of using the  medical marijuana in plant  form in an effort to make it more potent.

The team is hopeful that this development will allow clinical trials to advance as soon as possible.  It is very likely that positive results with human, clinical trials could present the first ray of hope for those suffering from this debilitating disease that has affected many people all over the world. Although development of a synthesized cannabidiol medication would still ultimately benefit pharmaceutical companies,  it may also remove some of the unnecessary controversy that surrounds the use of medical marijuana by young cancer patients.


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Massachustts Medical Marijuana Entrepreneurs Prepare for January 1st DPH Regulations

December 09, 2012   mike

The medical marijuana ballot initiative Question 3 passed statewide in this November’s Presidential Election, with 63 percent of Massachusetts voters supporting it.

Only two communities statewide – Mendon and Lawrence – voted against Question 3. Stoughton voters favored it 60% to 40%, showing that the negative stigma associated with medical marijuana is changing.

The law would eliminate state criminal and civil penalties for the medical use of marijuana by qualifying patients. It allows patients meeting certain conditions to obtain medical marijuana produced and distributed by new state-regulated centers or, in specific hardship cases, to grow medical marijuana for their own use.

The new law would allow for up to 35 non-profit medical marijuana treatment centers to grow, process and provide marijuana to patients or their caregivers.

Proponents argue medical marijuana will ease the suffering of thousands of people with cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, and other debilitating conditions.

Advocates in the Legislature have attempted to pass medical marijuana legislation in Massachusetts for many years, but encountered stiff opposition along the way. This has all been erased with the passing of the new law, which will take effect on January 1, 2013.

Within 120 days of the law’s effective date, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is required to issue regulations for the implementation of sections of the law dealing with registration of dispensaries (referred to as “nonprofit medical marijuana treatment centers”); registration of treatment center employees; hardship cultivation registrations for patients whose financial hardship, physical incapacity, or remote location is verified; and the issuance of registration cards for qualifying patients and caregivers.

The new law provides the Massachusetts DPH with extensive discretion on how to implement its provisions, including the registration and application process for patients, medical marijuana treatment centers and dispensaries. A review of the law suggests that these entities are required to provide only basic information such as names, addresses and, in some cases, “operating procedures”.

So, medical marijuana is coming to Massachusetts and that could turn out to be a very good thing for entrepreneurs in the Bay State looking to break into this lucrative industry. Luckily for those with enough drive and capital, companies such as DispenesaryPermits.com have been launched to provide potential medical marijuana dispensary owners with expert consultation services.

On the company’s website, comprehensive dispensary plan packages and business plans are offered that provide prospective dispensary owners with everything they need to obtain a Massachusetts dispensary license. DispensaryPermits.com urges anyone who is seriously interested in opening up a Massachusetts dispensary to begin preparing for the application due to the fact that the DPH will soon begin issuing its regulations within 120 days of the January 1st implementation date.

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