New Federal Mmj Law Passed!!!!

Good mornin fellow GKr's!

I awoke this am to hear the federal gov't has passed a new medicinal marijuana law. Now i don't know too much about it yet, but i wanted to let everyone know- it's reason to celebrate!

So far, what i understand is that federal agents can no longer prosecute medicinal marijuana users OR their suppliers...

Gonna read more up on it, and i'm sure i'll be updating this thread!

Peace

-LM

 

Hell yeah thats awesome news! You have a link for this? Thanks for letting us know. Peace


Heres a link to the article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-Newsbreak-New-medical-apf-4109207182.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

 

Thanks for posting this link, Virago!


They're also trying to change the legislation in British Columbia, Canada today as well...


I'll keep you all posted!


-LM

 

It's a start but it's just a memo to the prosecutors & who knows when Obama will flip flop like he does on everything else. Plus I'm not worried about the fed I'm worried about state & county Laws-Bud

 

Exactly!


AP:


http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20091019/US.Medical.Marijuana/

 

This is great news.. Not trying to be a downer, but how long til they change their mind, and lock up these same ppl that this morning, were justified.


GFamassit:

 

It's not OBAMA (Bud) you have to worry about:


http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20091019/US.Medical.Marijuana.California/


(hey bud-notice Obama in all caps? )

 

You are right Bud, but it is a step in the right direction...


Peace


-LM


PS- thanks for the other links guys!

 

Wow!


This is fantastic. I feel much safer growing now :bong2: . I also hope it goes a lot further than this and LEGALIZE IT (it could happen, ya never know)..

 

They need to reschedule it..

 

Don't clap to loudly...


It would seem the L.A. Prosecutor has decided he ain't gonna be following state MMJ laws...





LA's top prosecutor vows to target pot shops


By GREG RISLING, AP


Mon Oct 19, 4:40 PM EDT


Clay Tepel knew there were risks to setting up a medical marijuana shop: it could lose money, be robbed or be raided by authorities.


Still, he wasn't expecting the phone call one August day when a voice said the police were outside and he needed to open up or they would bust down the door. His first thought, that it was a joke, turned to terror when he opened the door.


Heavily armed officers in helmets, bulletproof vests and, oddly enough, Bermuda shorts stormed his store, handcuffed him, disabled security cameras and seized his drugs before taking him to jail. When he asked why his shop was invaded, an officer responded, "We're closing them all down."


Those words could prove prescient after Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said last week he wants to shutter clinics that sell pot for profit. Cooley's plan is the latest salvo in a prolonged conflict in California over whether medical marijuana is truly having its intended effect or is being abused by the larger population.


Until recently, raids on clinics typically led to federal prosecutions, but Cooley's remarks and similar ones from Attorney General Jerry Brown signal a new approach to clear the haze left by Proposition 215, the 1996 state ballot measure that allowed sick people with referrals from doctors and an identification card to smoke pot.


"Everybody is scared," said Tepel, who has spoken with other pot store operators. "Why are voters' rights being stepped all over? This kind of blind justice has to stop."


The crackdown is a crushing blow for dispensary owners who were relieved in March when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents would only go after marijuana distributors who violate both federal and state laws.


A new policy memo issued Monday by the Justice Department told prosecutors that pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for federal prosecution in states that allow medical marijuana. The guidelines do, however, make it clear that federal agents will go after people whose distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes.


The comments Holder made earlier this year appear to have emboldened entrepreneurs as marijuana shops cropped up across California. In Los Angeles alone, there are an estimated 800 dispensaries, more than any other city in the nation. In 2005, there were only four, authorities said.


Cooley contends a vast majority of several hundred outlets his office investigated aren't following state law. Initially, the law allowed authorized marijuana users to grow their own plants, but lawmakers revised the law in 2003 to allow collectives to provide pot grown by members.


Cooley said he would target stores who are profiting and selling to people who don't qualify for medicinal marijuana.


"All those who are operating illegally, our advice to them is to shut down voluntarily and they won't be subject to prosecution," Cooley told The Associated Press on Wednesday.


At the same time, advocates are gathering signatures to get as many as three pot-legalization measures on next year's ballot in California. One poll shows voters would support legalizing marijuana outright. Thirteen states, including California, allow medical marijuana.


Cooley said his office has been assessing the rush of marijuana dispensaries for the past two years and has provided training for his staff over the past several months in anticipation of filing cases.


"Holder's statement probably created the impression that there wasn't going to be any federal investigation or prosecution of these entities," Cooley said. "There has to be some clarification."


Some legal observers believe the first case Cooley files since his announcement will show how egregious the illegal behavior has become among medical marijuana outlets.


"He's going to find a dispensary that is way over the line," said Rory Little, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law.


Among the candidates are Jeffrey Joseph, who runs Organica and was arrested in August but has yet to be charged. Authorities recovered 452 marijuana plants, more than 100 pounds of hashish and more than $100,000 in cash from his home and dispensaries in Marina del Rey and Culver City.


Defense attorney William Kroger said authorities fail to account for expenses and other costs dispensary owners incur and the proliferation of new rivals has hurt business.


"Most of my clients aren't making a lot of money," said Kroger, who represents about a dozen other owners. "I'd like to see Cooley sit down with us and keep shops open for those who need it and thin out the herd so there aren't so many of them."


James Shaw of the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, an advocacy group for users, said his group plans to file a lawsuit against the city and county of Los Angeles to prohibit prosecution of legal organizations.


While the definition of a compliant dispensary is open to interpretation, Shaw said it's up to local municipalities to determine what matches up best with state law.


"Wherever there are regulations, there is less need for law enforcement intervention," Shaw said.


Nowhere is the topic more muddled than in Los Angeles, where city officials say plenty of people are getting high for the wrong reasons.


While the city has had a moratorium prohibiting new medical marijuana facilities for two years, officials have been unable to pass an ordinance governing the dispensaries. More than 180 dispensaries qualified to remain open under the moratorium, but many others took advantage of a loophole known as a "hardship exemption" that allowed them to open while awaiting city approval.


On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant temporarily barred city officials from enforcing the moratorium, saying the City Council failed to follow state law when it extended an initial ban.


Chaflant's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Green Oasis, a medical marijuana collective that sued the city last month. The injunction only applies to Green Oasis but it could inspire other dispensaries to follow suit.


Tepel, a married father of four, agrees some pot clinics abuse the system but he maintains he had all the proper paperwork and followed the rules. If police had thoroughly investigated, they would have found most of his customers were either older or female, as opposed to younger men, and many grew their own marijuana and sold the drug to Tepel as allowed by the state.


After investing tens of thousands of dollars, Tepel argued it will take years to recoup his investment.


Tepel believes his shop in a strip mall with tinted black windows was targeted because it was on a busy street and not "in the hood or in a back alley."


"We're not tatted-up drug dealers. This is a family run operation," said Tepel, who pleaded not guilty Monday to one count of felony possession of marijuana with the intent to sell. "I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my future, my family's future. We didn't deserve this."

 

I think people thought i was special when I went and ran around in the street yelling, "YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! YAAAAAAAAAY!!"

 

Its not new Federal LAW. It's just a federal "guideline".


The info I got from ASA -

[/QUOTE]

 

Thanks for the contribution, Useless! You can only read 500 news blurbs in one day online, so this one is new to me... If anyone has any other media coverage on this, please feel free to share, too!


Peace


-LM

 

Thus far, this report is unconfirmed... Is there anyone in the LA area that can verify this?

 

I have not yet heard anything about it.


Plus look at the date/time stamp on your quote. It says the bust is happening in 11 hours from now. LOL


NNCC is one of the best co-ops around. They are very patient friendly, with great medication at reasonable prices. Would be a shame if thats the case.


I will find out more today I am sure.


Cheers

 

Man thats bullshit. Do we as american citizens have ANY rights left? Doesnt seem as though we do... THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!

 

22 Oct 09 Mt Medical Marijuana news letter


[because we continually update our e-mailing list, this may be your first edition of our periodic news/update about medical marijuana and pain-treatment issues in Montana.]


Feds Put More Tolerant Medical Marijuana Policy in Writing


Newsweek Profiles Ethan Nadelmann


Recent Montana News


News/Web Items of Interest


New Federal Acceptance of Medical Marijuana Now in Writing


Yesterday, the US Attorney General’s office issued a “Memorandum for Selected United States Attorneys on Investigations and Prosecutions in States Authorizing the Medical Use of Marijuana.” The memo put in writing the AG’s previous verbal statements to the effect that the federal government would no longer seek to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers who comply with their state medical marijuana laws.


You can read the new federal guidance here: http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192


Obviously, this memo constitutes a dramatic step in a positive direction – not to mention at least partial fulfillment of one of President Obama's campaign promises. But this is only a step on the road toward full patient freedoms -- and considerable uncertainty continues nonetheless. For example:


The memo doesn’t make clear what criteria the feds will use to decide whether a person appears in violation of state and local laws. Will the feds defer to the judgment of state and local law enforcement on this – or will the feds raid facilities that even local law enforcement officials regard as completely legal, as has occurred recently in California?


Will federal courts continue to deny the use of any medical defense in those cases (if any) – that the government does choose to prosecute?


Will the federal government drop its ongoing cases against providers and patients?


Patients & Families United applauds the new written federal policy. In fact, the need to put the AG’s prior statements in writing was among the recommendations and requests we made when we met with Obama’s deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, when he was in Helena last Spring.


But the new policy also makes it all the more important for Montana patients and caregivers to understand – accurately – the nuances of Montana law. And, in numerous ways, continued federal prohibition still confounds true fulfillment of the intent of our state’s medical marijuana law.


Newsweek Profiles Ethan Nadelmann


Less than a month after his rousing speeches in Bozeman as a special guest of Patients & Families United, Ethan Nadelmann last week became the focus of a feature article in Newsweek magazine. Those of you who were able to attend our “Cannabis at the Capitol Comes to Bozeman” event last month will notice how many of the quotes in this article mirror the content of his talk that evening:


Prohibition Fighter: Ethan Nadelmann’s fight to legalize marijuana – Newsweek, 10/15/09 http://www.newsweek.com/id/217570


In the next few weeks we will have DVDs of Nadelmann’s speech at the 3rd annual Montana Pain Initiative conference, and we will be able to make copies available at cost to those who are interested. In the meantime, you can watch his speech at “Cannabis at the Capitol Comes to Bozeman” in a seven-part series of You Tube presentations, here:


Ethan Nadelmann in Bozeman, Montana – Part 1 of 7 You Tubes, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyFpbALbhPA


Recent Montana News


Medical marijuana users welcome change in federal policy – Great Falls Tribune, 10/20/09 http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20091020/NEWS01/910200302/1002


Feds won’t arrest medical marijuana patients, suppliers, in Montana, 13 other states – Missoulian, 10/20/09 http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_4c97c728-bcad-11de-abc3-001cc4c002e0.html


News/Web Items of Interest


New medical marijuana policy is outlined – New York Times, 10/19/09 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/19/us/AP-US-Medical-Marijuana.html?_r=1&hp


Obama’s commendable change in federal drug enforcement policy – Salon.com, 10/19/09 http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/10/19/drugs/index.html


President Obama issues new medical marijuana guidelines – NORML Blog, 10/19/09 http://blog.norml.org/2009/10/19/obama-administration-new-medical-marijuana-guidelines-are-issued/


Gateway drug policy: Will Obama’s new medical marijuana directive actually change anything? – Slate.com, 10/19/09 http://www.slate.com/id/2232915/


US support for legalizing marijuana reaches new high – Gallup, 10/19/09 http://www.gallup.com/poll/123728/U.S.-Support-Legalizing-Marijuana-Reaches-New-High.aspx


Got pot? It’s legal to take it on the plane in Oakland – AlterNet, 10/19/09 http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/143345/got_pot_it%27s_legal_to_take_it_on_the_plane_in_oakland/


Marijuana mecca – Newsweek, 10/16/09 http://www.newsweek.com/id/40211#?l=1785302026&t=44992105001


Unprecedented civil disobedience for hemp legalization – AlterNet.com, 10/16/09 http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/143335/unprecedented_white_house_civil_disobedience_for_hemp_legalization_


Where to go to sow protest? DEA grass – Washington Post, 10/14/09 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101301965.html


In act of civil disobedience, hemp farmers plant hemp seeds at DEA headquarters – Stop the Drug War, 10/14/09 http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/special/civil_disobedience_farmers_plant_hemp_seeds_DEA


Why is LA’s district attorney helping Mexican drug cartels? – LA Daily News, 10/13/09 http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n932/a11.html


Why I give my 9 year-old pot, part 2 – Double X, 10/5/09 http://www.doublex.com/section/health-science/why-i-give-my-9-year-old-pot-part-ii


[Founded in early 2007, Patients & Families United works to support Montana’s medical marijuana patients, regardless of their medical condition, and pain patients, whether they use medical marijuana or not. If you don’t want to be on the mailing list for these periodic updates, please email to tell us at info@mtpfu.org. Visit our website for background and information of use: www.mtpfu.org. We welcome feedback of any kind, including stiff, honest criticism, but we reserve the right to remove from our mailing lists anyone who makes a habitual practice of sending threatening or irrational “flames.”]


Patients & Families United


PO Box 1471


Helena, MT 59624


www.mtpfu.org


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