# MJ News for 03/14/2014



## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-03-13/news/**-md-marijuana-bills-20140313_1_medical-marijuana-bill-mizeur-traffic-ticket




*Marijuana hearings reflect public opinion shift​*

An NAACP leader, a former Maryland State Police major, a candidate for governor and a mother seeking to help her son with epilepsy converged Thursday on Annapolis to support more liberal marijuana laws.

A number of bills, backed by lawmakers from a range of philosophical backgrounds, are moving through the General Assembly this year as a broader swath of the electorate has embraced legalizing or decriminalizing the drug.

Roughly 100 people rallied Thursday outside the State House to show support for a Colorado-style system to legalize marijuana, an idea that got a hearing later in the day. Also Thursday, a key committee approved a bill to loosen restrictions that some say have hampered the state's nascent medical marijuana program.

Meanwhile, a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana got a hearing in the House and is expected to pass the Senate Friday. And Maryland's state's attorneys backed an alternative proposal Thursday to divert first-time marijuana offenders into education or treatment programs rather than prosecuting them.

"People's minds change, and we're seeing this in public opinion polls throughout this state," said Del. Heather R. Mizeur of Montgomery County, who has made legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana a central issue in her race for the Democratic nomination for governor.

But many of the proposals still face uncertain futures at best. Supporters of traditional drug enforcement also turned out in force in Annapolis  many of them police chiefs and sheriffs in uniform.

Legislation to legalize and decriminalize marijuana are not likely to pass both chambers.

Del. Kevin Kelly, an Allegany County Democrat, said he had heard that one out of six people who try marijuana before 15 develops a substance-abuse problem. "You're ruining their life, he said. "They're going to be selling this all over the place."

A recent Baltimore Sun Poll showed that 58 percent favor a shift away from criminal penalties for marijuana possession, but they are split on how to do it. While 28 percent think possession should be decriminalized  that is, treated like a traffic ticket  30 percent think it should be legalized and taxed.

The group at the rally on Lawyer's Mall included young and old, regular marijuana users and abstainers. Among them was Elizabeth Yun of Greenbelt, who carried a sign with pictures of her 9-year-old son Julius. She said her research has led her to believe that a non-psychoactive but still illegal form of cannabis could help ease her son's epileptic seizures.

Lawmakers say they are intent on improving upon a medical marijuana bill approved last year. That law allowed medical marijuana for patients suffering from certain painful, chronic conditions but restricted the program to academic medical centers  none of which agreed to participate.

A House committee approved a bill Thursday allowing more physicians to prescribe marijuana, while a Senate panel deferred action on a similar proposal.

Mizeur told those at the rally that this could be a year for meaningful progress. Not many years ago, Mizeur's proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana would have been seen as an idea from the political left fringe. Yet her bill has more than 40 co-sponsors, including two of the House's most conservative Republicans.

She also acknowledged, however, that the legal distribution of marijuana in Maryland could be at least a year away.

"It's likely to take an election and a mandate from voters to change old ways of thinking in Annapolis," she said. "This year medical marijuana seems like the easy thing to do. Decriminalization seems like the middle path."

While the Senate passed a decriminalization bill last year, the House  led by Speaker Michael E. Busch  has remained resistant.

Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat and leading Busch ally, has sponsored the bill that would require each county to set up diversion programs for first-time offenders. While she said she believed marijuana would eventually be legal, Jones presented the bill as a prudent alternative.

"I feel we need to be cautious, take a breath and not rush to judgment," she said at a hearing.

Proponents of legalizing marijuana, including Baltimore Democratic Del. Curt Anderson, said Maryland wastes law enforcement resources on a drug that is less dangerous than alcohol. The current policy leaves many young people with arrest records that hold them back in life, they argued.

The Rev. S. Todd Yeary, political action director of the state NAACP, said that "the longer we wait, the more pernicious this becomes." Yeary, pastor of Baltimore's Douglas Memorial Community Church, urged delegates to "dismantle the failed 40-year-plus war on drugs in this state."


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/marijuana-industry-delegations-pitch-on-legalized-pot-its-just-good-business/2014/03/13/e0c59220-aad0-11e3-adbc-888c8010c799_story.html




*Marijuana industry delegation&#8217;s pitch on legalized pot: It&#8217;s just good business*​

The delegation from the National Cannabis Industry Association made a point of dressing well for its day on Capitol Hill, sporting mostly dark suits, lots of ties and plenty of the group&#8217;s signature lapel pins, which feature a sun rising over vibrant fields of marijuana.

Marijuana advocates have come to lobby Washington before, often to argue for more lenient treatment under federal law. But on Thursday, buoyed by a flurry of state decisions that have expanded the legal use of marijuana, the cannabis crowd came less as social activists than as entrepreneurs, asking Congress to remove some of the obstacles that stand in the way of their fledgling businesses.

They met with staff members to ask for changes to the tax code, which prohibits the businesses from taking standard deductions for expenses. And they huddled in congressional offices to make the case for other changes that would encourage banks to work with legal cannabis businesses.

If their aims seemed mundane, even technical, it was a measure of how far the marijuana movement has come in just a few years. Medical marijuana is now legal in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Last year, Colorado and Washington state made marijuana fully legal for adults, and similar efforts are gathering steam elsewhere in the country. Colorado collected about $2 million in marijuana taxes in January, the first month that sales for recreational use were permitted &#8212; a detail that was mentioned often Thursday.

*A &#8216;tipping point&#8217;*

&#8220;This is an issue that is absolutely at its tipping point,&#8221; Celinda Lake, a longtime Democratic pollster, said at a Hill briefing organized by the group in a formal room that is usually home to the House Budget Committee. She cited recent polling that shows that younger voters are the strongest supporters of legalizing marijuana, but that backing for legalization is increasing among people of all ages.

The group also heard from Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), each of whom spoke out in support of some of an array of proposed marijuana-related legislation. They also lamented that Congress has not kept up with the pace of change in the states. &#8220;We&#8217;re in this never-never land on Capitol Hill,&#8221; Blumenauer said. &#8220;But we&#8217;re watching the rest of America march forward.&#8221;

The cannabis association, founded in 2010, counts about 550 member businesses across the country and recently hired its first full-time Washington lobbyist. Fewer than 10 people participated in its first Washington event, in 2011, and last year, about 45 members flew in for Hill meetings.

*Countering perceptions*

The industry, now more than ever, operates in an unusual space, legally permitted in some states while largely outlawed at the federal level. This week, with some 55 &#8220;cannabis industry professionals&#8221; meeting with congressional officials, the group hoped to underscore the role of small businesses in the fast-growing industry and to counter popular perceptions of the drug and its users.

&#8220;We&#8217;re not the typical face of marijuana,&#8221; said Dorian Des Lauriers of Franklin, Mass., an entrepreneur and co-founder of a new laboratory that will test medical marijuana. Des Lauriers, wearing a blue suit and a tie with an American flag design, said he had used his meetings with congressional staffers to talk about Section 280E of the tax code, which prohibits companies involved in drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses that other legal businesses can claim.

The higher tax burden he faces makes it harder to hire workers, Des Lauriers said. He added that some congressional staff members he spoke with seemed receptive to the group&#8217;s proposal, which would allow standard business deductions and tax credits for marijuana-related businesses that comply with state laws.

The group&#8217;s other top concern is the limited access to banks that many legal cannabis businesses face, forcing them to operate in cash. Some have trouble getting financing and can&#8217;t even maintain checking accounts.

Last month, the Obama administration gave the banking industry the green light to do business with legal marijuana sellers, part of a push to open up banking access for the industry.

But the cannabis association said federal regulations still require financial institutions to undertake special monitoring of cannabis-related customers to see whether they might be in violation of other laws, making banks hesitant to take on such customers. Legislation backed by the group would provide a legal safe harbor for institutions working with legal cannabis businesses.

&#8220;There are small details that need to be taken care of,&#8221; said John Davis, co-owner of the Northwest Patient Resource Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle.

Polis, an outspoken supporter of legalization efforts, provided one bit of intrigue during the mostly serious briefing.

Asked how many of his colleagues use marijuana, Polis didn&#8217;t hesitate to hazard a guess.

&#8220;I don&#8217;t think more than 5 or 10,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I really wouldn&#8217;t know because I haven&#8217;t seen them use it.&#8221;

He then took a more scientific approach, suggesting that members of Congress really are like everybody else. &#8220;Remember the demographics,&#8221; said Polis, 38. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what percentage of 60-year-olds use marijuana, but it&#8217;s probably similar in Congress.&#8221;


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-03-13/georgia-sentate-panel-oks-bill-ease-access-medical-marijuana




*Georgia Senate panel OKs bill to ease access to medical marijuana​*

ATLANTA | A Georgia Senate panel this week unanimously approved a newly-revised bill that would legalize marijuana derivatives in Georgia for treatment of patients with cancer, glaucoma and seizure disorders.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee amended House Bill 885, the original House version of the medical marijuana bill, to make it easier for Georgians to gain access to cannabidiol oil, a non-psychoactive derivative of marijuana.

The major change would grant immunity from prosecution in Georgia for possession of CBD oil obtained legally in a state that permits the use of medical marijuana.

Twenty states have legalized medical use of marijuana, and two states, Colorado and Washington, recently legalized recreational use.

The original HB 885 was sponsored by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, who championed the legislation to help children who suffer from serious seizure disorders. CBD has proved effective in reducing the number and duration of seizures, according to parents and physicians.

Under the Senate committee version of the bill, children with seizures or patients with cancer or glaucoma could use CBD or other marijuana derivatives as soon as they were able to secure them from outside Georgia. And patients could take them directly without supervision by a Georgia physician or an academic medical center.

But there&#8217;s still a legal catch if the bill is passed. Transporting any marijuana, medical or otherwise, across state lines is a federal crime. That means Georgia parents or adult patients would risk arrest by federal authorities if caught bringing CBD from another state, such as Colorado, where the oil is manufactured.

Some Georgia families already have moved to Colorado to get legal access to the oil for their ailing children.

Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, said he supports the intent of helping Georgia children with seizures, as well as cancer and glaucoma patients, but worries that the bill would condone illegal behavior.

&#8220;Let&#8217;s leave that decision to the parents,&#8221; Peake told lawmakers. &#8220;If they are willing to take the risk that a TSA agent will arrest them with a vial of oil, let&#8217;s let them make the decision.&#8221;

Parents of three children who suffer from uncontrolled seizures urged the committee to approve the legislation. Jenea Cox, mother of 4-year-old Haleigh Cox, told the lawmakers this week that she would be moving to Colorado to get the oil for her daughter, who suffers as many as 200 seizures a day.

&#8220;I can&#8217;t wait any longer,&#8221; she said.

Haleigh, who attended the Senate hearing, was the inspiration for Peake&#8217;s legislation, which he called Haleigh&#8217;s Hope Act.

Anthony and Sarah Caruso of Flowery Branch also brought their daughter, 5-year-old Britlyn. She suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Prior to the hearing, Sarah Caruso described the bill as &#8220;a step in the right direction.&#8221;
&#8220;Parents are being told it&#8217;s a &#8216;false hope,&#8217; &#8221; Sarah said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t consider it a false hope. This is a plan to get the medicine in the future.&#8221;

The Senate committee version of the bill was written with the help of the Prosecuting Attorneys&#8217; Council of Georgia, whose legislative counsel, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, testified in favor of the legislation. Porter said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had reviewed the bill&#8217;s language.

The Georgia Sheriffs Association also supports the bill.

Porter said Georgia prosecutors are not interested in depriving children or adults of medical marijuana, but simply want legislation that does not open the door to legalizing recreational marijuana.

The language in the amended bill meets that standard, Porter indicated, because it clearly defines non-smoking marijuana derivatives and exempts them from the state&#8217;s Controlled Substances Act.

The Senate version, in an apparent concession to some critics, eliminates a provision in the original House bill allowing academic medical centers to grow marijuana and manufacture the non-smoking derivatives.

The Senate committee also tacked onto the marijuana legislation a provision mandating insurance coverage for treatment of autism. A separate Senate bill on such coverage has stalled in the House.

Committee Chairwoman Renee Unterman, R-Buford, said if the committee&#8217;s version of HB 885 is passed by the full Senate, it will be renamed the &#8220;Kids Care Act.&#8221; The Senate bill will then be referred to a House-Senate Conference Committee to resolve differences with the original HB 885.

Peake told the committee there may be some push back from the House on the Senate version. He told GHN his House colleagues may resist the autism portion of the Senate bill.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/03/13/marijuana-companies-cultivation-expertise-given-little-weight-massachusetts-regulators/9U2N04zeWHnEtG68LoMOmN/story.html




*Cannabis-growing expertise barely rated by Mass. regulators​*

The co-owner of one of the oldest marijuana cultivation facilities in Colorado assisted seven companies seeking Massachusetts licenses to sell and grow medical marijuana. Not one of the applicants was picked.

So the Colorado executive was floored when he got a call a few weeks ago from the lawyer for Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, asking for his help to grow the company&#8217;s product.


Medical Marijuana, a company led by former US representative William D. Delahunt, had been granted preliminary state approval for three of the 20 licenses, though its chief of cultivation had never led such a facility and had worked only in much smaller operations in California, where there is no state oversight of marijuana companies.

&#8220;I thought it was weird that we got passed over for someone without cannabis cultivation experience,&#8221; said Kayvan Khalatbari, who runs Denver Relief Consulting.


The episode highlighted for him and others in the medical marijuana industry the fact that cultivation expertise, a crucial element in the success of a medical marijuana business, was given little weight by Massachusetts regulators and contractors hired by the state to evaluate the license applicants.

Just four of the 163 possible points applicants could earn had to do with cultivation, including the grower&#8217;s experience and plans to ensure the quality and purity of the crop, according to a score sheet provided to the Globe by one of the losing applicants. That compares with 20 possible points applicants could receive for community support of their facilities and 25 points for a strong security system.

Officials of marijuana companies were astounded that so little focus was placed on applicants&#8217; ability to grow the product.

&#8220;Cannabis is a very finicky plant,&#8221; said Earnie Blackmon, the master cultivator with RiverRock, one of the larger medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver.

Many of Blackmon&#8217;s Denver competitors went belly up early on, he said, because of a lack of cultivation experience, especially with growing in large greenhouses, which would be the case for facilities opening in Massachusetts.

&#8220;A small bug problem becomes a massive bug problem [in large greenhouses],&#8221; he said, &#8220;and a small mold problem becomes a massive problem.&#8221;

Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit that advocates for research and medical use of marijuana, said most of the 20 states that have passed medical marijuana laws, some back in the 1990s, have focused more attention on security and local acceptance than on whether the marijuana companies know how to grow the products they are selling, because of pressure from law enforcement and communities.

&#8220;It is surprising that knowing who the cultivators are and whether they have experience, that that wouldn&#8217;t be more important than security,&#8221; said Sherer. &#8220;But it&#8217;s not a surprise because the way governments have approached medical cannabis is, will this disrupt public safety.&#8221;

She said that only now, in some states that have recently passed laws or updated them, are rules being adopted to require cultivation experience.

Karen van Unen, director of the medical marijuana program of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said in a recent interview that her agency believes that expertise in agriculture and medical marijuana cultivation are not as critical as other factors in deciding whether a company can run a good marijuana and cultivation system.

&#8220;It&#8217;s important for the [applicant] to have an understanding of how businesses are set up and how health care works, irrespective of what the product is,&#8221; van Unen said. &#8220;We could be selling candy or shoes. This is really about business management and business infrastructure.&#8221;

Agriculture and cultivation experience were not areas of expertise that the Department of Public Health sought last fall when it listed its requirements for a consultant to help the agency evaluate prospective applicants&#8217; submissions.

The department hired ICF International, a Fairfax, Va., company, to review 100 applications, score them, and prepare a brief summary about each application for a selection committee.

State records show that ICF used a seven-member review team, with expertise in a wide range of fields, including chemistry, oceanography, biology, geography, finance, business management, regional planning, and public health. None of the reviewers listed expertise in agriculture, cultivation, or medical marijuana.

Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, Delahunt&#8217;s company, stated in its applications that it planned to grow enough marijuana from its cultivation site on Collins Avenue in Plymouth to serve more than 4,800 patients at its three dispensaries in its first year of business. The applications said the company&#8217;s cultivation plans are based on the experience and &#8220;best practices&#8221; of its cultivation manager, Avis Bulbulyan, but provided few details about his experience or where he had worked.

Nevertheless, the company received all four possible points for its cultivation experience and plans.

Reached by telephone this week at his California home, Bulbulyan said he helped train cultivation staff and design greenhouses for several small California marijuana collectives, the largest a 16,000-square-foot growing facility serving 89 members.

The Plymouth operation would be roughly three times larger than the largest facility Bulbulyan had experience with in the past.

He said he has since left Delahunt&#8217;s company because of compensation issues.

Khalatbari, of Denver Relief Consulting, said Lianne Ankner, general counsel of Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, sent him an e-mail Feb. 25 that said the company was &#8220;rethinking our cultivation strategy and would like to talk with you about whether you&#8217;d be able to assist us in that regard.&#8221;

Khalatbari, whose firm assisted a company that competed against Delahunt&#8217;s firm for a dispensary in Barnstable County, said he told Ankner he was not interested.

In e-mails responding to inquiries from the Globe, Ankner said Delahunt&#8217;s team has not changed its cultivation plan since winning preliminary approval for dispensaries in Plymouth, Mashpee, and Taunton. She said the company severed ties with its initial cultivation manager and recently hired two men to replace him.

&#8220;We continue to believe our cultivation plan is solid,&#8221; Ankner wrote.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/13/kentucky-marijuana-oil_n_4960570.html




*Kentucky Senate Passes Bill Legalizing Marijuana Oil To Treat Childhood Epilepsy​*

Kentucky's state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to advance a bill that allowing the use of marijuana oil to treat some cases of childhood epilepsy.

Senate Bill 124, sponsored by state Sen. Julie Denton (R-Louisville), would exempt the marijuana extract cannabidiol from being classified as marijuana when used in Federal Drug Administration-approved studies, allowing children suffering from debilitating seizures to be treated as part of FDA trials. It would also approve use of the oil when recommended by a state research hospital.

"This was one of those tingly moments you get when you pass a bill that you really know is good for the commonwealth," Denton said of the legislation, which passed 38-0. "It is really going to help people's lives."

Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is a non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana that has been used to treat children with severe forms of epilepsy. Earlier this month, the FDA announced it was granting CBD orphan drug designation, which gives some tax incentives to the manufacturer.

The Kentucky bill now heads to the state's House of Representatives, where Denton believes the bill has a good chance of passing. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) also supports the measure.

Similar bills are currently advancing in Georgia and Utah.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorados-first-marijuana-industry-job-fair-to-be-held-in-denver-thursday




*Big turnout for first pot industry job fair; 15 large marijuana-related companies looking to hire​*

DENVER - Colorado's first marijuana industry job fair saw a big turnout in Denver Thursday.

In fact, a line had formed outside two hours before the fair opened and stretched around the block for much of the day.

The CannaSearch job fair featured 15 large marijuana-related companies hoping to hire new employees for a range of multiple positions, from "budtender to bookkeeper." Other positions are available in accounting, technology, advertising and selling the drug.

"I heard about this on Saturday and Ive been looking for work," said Joseph Siddiq, a former Marine who moved to Denver from Seattle.

Another potential employee, Shannon Irvin, said she moved from St. Louis to work in the budding new business. She hopes to walk out of the job fair with an offer.

"I came here today so I could get in the industry and see how far I can go with my career," she said.

The job fair took place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1058 Delaware St. in Denver. It was expected to draw about 700 job seekers.

"About 145-150 jobs avail that are almost immediate," said Todd Mitchem, Chief Revenue Officer for O.pen Vape, the business hosting the fair.

Mitchem says his business alone expects to hire 120 people over the next year.

"It speaks to the idea this is legitimate," Mitchem said. "We as job seekers want to be accepted if we use cannabis. We want to be welcomed into a workforce, not ridiculed, villainized and judged for it."

"Theres still a lot of stereotypes, so Im here to dispel that and show that dedicated professional people are willing to work to something lucrative and to something thats going to help the state, the city (and) everyone all around," Siddiq said.

All potential employees had to be 21 or older.

According to our partners at the Denver Post, use of marijuana is prohibited in line or at the fair.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/03/medical_marijuana_regulations.html



*
2014 Washington Legislature: Medical marijuana regulations locked up in partisan gridlock as session nears scheduled end​*

OLYMPIA -- A revenue disagreement in Washington&#8217;s House has people in the medical marijuana community worried that lawmakers will fail to pass regulating legislation this year -- leaving patients at the mercy of the federal government.

Senate Bill 5887, which would add licensing and regulation to the state&#8217;s largely unregulated medical marijuana system, has stalled in the House due to a disagreement over what Washington should do with tax revenue from its new recreational marijuana market.

The bill to regulate medical marijuana passed in the Senate by a 34-15 vote Saturday. But when the bill reached the House, Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, drafted an amendment that would appropriate 10 percent of recreational market revenue from taxes between a grower and a processor and 20 percent of revenue from taxes between a retailer and a consumer to local governments. 

Initiative 502 put in place a 25 percent excise tax on each of the three levels of distribution for the recreational system; from producer to processor, processor to retailer and retailer to consumer.

Condotta&#8217;s amendment mimics a bill he introduced earlier in the session that failed to get out of committee. It is intended to motivate individual counties to lift bans and moratoriums on the recreational marijuana market.

Because Senate Bill 5887 amends I-502 within two years of its passage, two-thirds of each chamber&#8217;s membership must vote for it. That means 33 votes in the Senate and 66 in the House -- and it means the bill needs bipartisan support to get out of the Democrat-controlled House.

Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle and chairman of the House Finance Committee, has said his caucus will not support Condotta&#8217;s change.

Condotta said Republicans will not support the bill without his amendment.

With the legislative session scheduled to end Thursday night, it now appears unlikely lawmakers will pass Senate Bill 5887. That would leave Washington, on the eve of implementing its heavily regulated recreational marijuana program, with an unregulated medical marijuana system that the federal government has warned is untenable.

Kari Boiter, the Washington coordinator for the national medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said not passing any medical marijuana legislation puts patients in the crosshairs of the federal government. 

&#8220;We worked really hard to get bipartisan support for a bill that would work for us and work for them,&#8221; Boiter said, referring to medical patients and the federal government. &#8220;And we&#8217;re the ones left in legal limbo because (the lawmakers) can&#8217;t do their job. If we can compromise when our health is at stake they should be able to compromise.&#8221;

Carlyle said Democrats are working on separate legislation that would satisfy the federal request for progress in the medical system.

&#8220;We are working to trim-down the bill so that it is not a two-thirds vote and does not modify the initiative,&#8221; Carlyle said. &#8220;It&#8217;s with the policy goal of having some regulatory structure around the medical marijuana market.&#8221;

Medical marijuana activists spent months testifying at public hearings and compromising on legislation. So it was worrying, Boiter said, that the result of all that effort might be scrapped in favor of an amendment written 24 hours before lawmakers are scheduled to go home. She expressed doubt that a bill with little input from the medical community would provide patients with the means to affordably access the medicine they need.

According to Boiter, a medical marijuana patient herself, the growing collectives currently in place in Washington allow many patients to receive the marijuana they need at a reduced and affordable cost.

While earlier versions of 5887 gradually eliminated collective gardens, the final legislation that Senators approved allowed up to four-person group grows. This provision in combination with other amendments reconciled the bill enough that some members of the medical marijuana community, including Americans for Safe Access, decided to support it.

But with the bill now stalled in partisan gridlock, medical marijuana activists are worried they are again stuck between two potentially harmful alternatives: one being an unregulated system at risk of raid from the federal government; the other a stringently-regulated marketplace that prevents patients from acquiring medical marijuana at an affordable cost.

Neither party seemed willing to yield on the revenue debate. Carlyle said he did not want to take money away from the dedicated marijuana fund, large portions of which are dedicated to the state health plan, the state general fund and the Department of Health&#8217;s substance abuse program.

&#8220;We have no data to indicate what the fiscal impact on local governments, cities and counties, is going to be,&#8221; Carlyle said. &#8220;And until we have accurate, meaningful data, I&#8217;m unenthusiastic about sharing revenue. Once we have that data I&#8217;m very open to that conversation.&#8221;

Condotta said it was imperative to give every Washington county incentive to abide by I-502, noting that Colorado&#8217;s new recreational marijuana system appropriates 50 percent of its revenue to cities and counties.

&#8220;If you don&#8217;t have a fully-implemented 502 system that&#8217;s geographically distributed, how do you integrate medical marijuana into something that doesn&#8217;t exist?&#8221; Condotta said.

If House Democrats managed to pass a stripped-down version of SB 5887 through a simple majority, it would still need to be reconciled in the Majority Coalition-controlled Senate.

Both Condotta and Boiter acknowledged that another bill currently awaiting a vote in the House might be the solution. Senate Bill 6542 would establish a state cannabis industry coordinating committee, bringing together representatives from the legislature, state agencies, the medical marijuana community, the Association of Washington Counties and the upcoming recreational industry. That diverse group would be tasked with planning a a marijuana system that works agriculturally, economically, recreationally and medically.

Both Boiter and Condotta tentatively said they thought the Senate bill would most likely demonstrate enough progress to keep the federal government out of the conversation, and it would allow medical patients to continue to take advantage of the current system in the short-term.

SB 6542 passed out of the Senate by a 40-8 vote on March 8. Its future in the House remains uncertain.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-26573871




*(UK) Thanet cannabis cafe planned by Green Party councillor​*

Thanet councillor Ian Driver, who described himself as a former user of cannabis and other illegal drugs when he was younger, has proposed the plan.

A public meeting is to be held on Saturday in Broadstairs to discuss setting up the cafe.

Kent Police said: "Our role is to enforce the law which states that cannabis is a Class B controlled drug."

*'Relaxing atmosphere'*

"People in Thanet who use cannabis have been speaking to me and it seems natural to suggest we get together and talk about the possibility of opening a cafe," said Mr Driver.

"It makes eminent sense to have a nice relaxing atmosphere where cannabis users, for recreational or medicinal purposes, can get together and enjoy themselves just as other people go out for a drink.

"We are going to talk to the police and ask them to be tolerant of the cafe."

David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said anybody organising a cannabis cafe would be subject to fines and penalties.

"They would leave themselves very vulnerable," he said.

"I am a bit baffled as to why they think they can get away with it."

Kent Police said: "Our role is to enforce the law which states that cannabis is a Class B controlled drug and possession is an offence which carries a maximum five year prison term.

"The use of any premises for any drug-related activity, which would include the use of cannabis, is an offence punishable by imprisonment of up to 14 years with an unlimited fine.

"Permitting smoking on any business premises is also an offence punishable by a £2,500 fine."


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 14, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.nasdaq.com/article/cannabis-job-fair-highlights-marijuana-industrys-rapid-growth-and-immaturity-cm335258




*Cannabis Job Fair Highlights Marijuana Industry's Rapid Growth And Immaturity​*

The organizers of CannaSearch, what is thought to be the nation's first-ever marijuana industry job fair, could be forgiven for expecting a relatively modest turnout at their event in Denver on Thursday.

Instead, the number of job-seekers waiting to meet with representatives from 15 private cannabis companies was soon estimated at around 1,200. And that line, which snaked around a city block, included people from all over the U.S.

Bryon Headley, a resident of Queens, New York, said he saw a news report on CannaSearch the day before, and literally booked a ticket on the next plane to Denver. In this industry, a job fair? Finally! he told Benzinga.

Others came to CannaSearch simply looking for employment in a weak job market. I'm not having luck anywhere else, said Vicki, a Denver resident and former bar manager who asked her last name not be used. I'd like to get into management as well. I know weights and measurements and I'm a people person, so I think customer service is everything.

Inside the event, the cannabis industry reps appeared delighted at the flood of job candidates. It's an amazing turnout, Jennifer DeFalco, co-founder and creative director of Cannabrand, said loudly above the scores of conversations going on around her booth.

Cannabrand is a full-service marijuana marketing agency, that works with dispensaries, grow operations, tech companies and others involved in the cannabis industry. And, DeFalco says her company is gaining traction.

Since the industry is in its infancy right now, and it's just about to explode...there's all these new businesses that need this branding help, she said. We're really passionate about re-branding marijuana as a whole; taking...all these negative stigmas and stereotypes away from cannabis, to appeal to a broader demographic and also to educate the public.

DeFalco and her colleagues are looking to branch outside of Colorado, as the nation's laws and culture shift towards more marijuana legalization. 20 states and the District of Columibia have so far legalized the medicinal use of cannabis  and, as of January 1, Colorado and Washington state also legalized sales of marijuana to adults for recreational use.

Like others in the fledgling marijuana industry, Cannabrand hopes to go public in a few years' time. But some analysts have their doubts.

The number of people flooding the CannaSearch event is a sign of how inefficient the industry is right now, Alan Brochstein, a leading authority on cannabis-related investments and founder of internet-based 420 Investor, told Benzinga.

Brochstein also sees such events as another indication of how early we are in the process of transforming an industry into a stable market. And he notes that O-pen Vape, a company that produces vaporizer pens for use with cannabis oils  and that also hosted the CannaSearch event  has more revenue than the entire publicly traded MJ stocks.

But nonetheless these are very heady times for the cannabis industry.

It's definitely booming and it's a movement, Pete Vasquez, general manager of the Medicine Man dispensary in Denver, said at his booth inside the CannaSearch event. I'm getting people from all over the world. We have people from all over the place, wanting to apply for these positions.



_The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc._


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## Rosebud (Mar 14, 2014)

WOOHOO, our legislature went home and the Medical marijuana bill is dead for now!!!!!

You know what that means? Grow as much as I can this summer....and stock up!


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