Vets to get medical cannabis?... Why pick on Harborside?... States seek to overturn Colorado pot law… Innovations in deliveries… Health news… and more.
LEGALIZATION
Bill in Congress could clear vets to use marijuana // safeaccessnow.org “We should be allowing these wounded veterans access to the medicine that will help them survive and thrive,” says Congressman Blumenauer of Oregon, “including medical marijuana.”
COPS & COURTS
Court to US Attorney: “Why have you picked this fight?”//SFChronicle.com Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, with well over 100,000 patients, is still being prosecuted by US Attorney Melinda Haag to close and forfeit assets, despite the Obama Administration’s directive to “not target” cannabis dispensaries.
Change in federal asset seizure program termed meaningless // PressDemocrat.com Lawyer calls highly publicized changes “just window dressing.”
Neighboring states want Supreme Court to stop Colorado’s recreational marijuana// NPR.org Oklahoma and Nebraska complain there’s too much “leakage” into their states, sapping resources.
No cannabis cards for Oregon child care providers // Oregonlive.com “A state board that oversees child care voted on Thursday to deny child care licenses to anyone who holds a medical marijuana card or who grows, uses or distributes marijuana.”
BUSINESS
Cannabis delivery expands to East Bay // EastBayExpress.com Eaze uses a web app to verify a patient’s medical cannabis recommendation and California residency.
Cannabis buds now available in vending machine // NBCnews.com You probably know about bud-tenders. Now learn about bud-venders. The automated dispensary went into action this week in Colorado.
Medbox faces class action suits // mmjBusinessDaily.com Two lawsuits claim that Medbox, which also makes a dispensing machine (see previous story), manipulated stock prices early last year.
Unions see promise if cannabis is legalized in California // SfGate.com "These will be good union jobs with middle-class incomes," says the president of the union local that chiefly represents employees of grocery stores and retail clerks.
Facebook, iTunes close dispensary accounts // SFChronicle.com Facebook’s “guidelines do not allow the promotion of the sale of illegal content."
HEALTH
“No difference” found in brains of pot smokers vs. alcohol users // Reuters.com There is “continued uncertainty about how pot use alters the structure of the brain. Even so, other studies have found the drug has short-term effects on learning and memory.”
“Marijuana can be helpful” – US Surgeon General // Reuters.com VivekMurthy, US Surgeon General told CBS: "I think we have to use … data to drive policymaking, and I'm very interested to see where that data takes us."
Cannabis users at lower risk of bladder cancer // Blog.norml.org “Researchers [at Kaiser in L.A.] determined that a history of cannabis use was associated with a decreased risk of bladder cancer. By contrast, tobacco use was associated with an increased risk of cancer.”
OPINION
Repeal Prop. 215 if California legalizes cannabis // UkiahDailyJourrnal.com Newspaper calls Prop. 215, California’s original medical marijuana initiative, a disaster and says it’s removal should be part of “any legislative or ballot effort to legalize marijuana throughout the state.”
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