Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Medical marijuana facing a backlash - Life- msnbc.com
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Cops say proliferation of pot shops leads to robberies, DUIs
Quote:
By MATT VOLZ
http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/C...rt/APTRANS.gif updated 3:52 p.m. MT, Fri., May 21, 2010
HELENA, Mont. - The vandals struck in the middle of the night, hurling Molotov cocktails through the windows of two medical marijuana businesses and spray-painting "NOT IN OUR TOWN" just before the Billings City Council was supposed to take up a ban on any new pot shops.
Montana and other states that have legalized medical marijuana are seeing a backlash, with public anger rising and politicians passing laws to slow the proliferation of pot shops and bring order to what has become a wide-open, Wild West sort of industry.
They are looking to avoid what happened in California, which allowed the pot industry to grow so out of control that at one point Los Angeles had more medical marijuana shops than Starbucks â?? about 1,000 by one count.
"Yeah, it's out of control â?? and it needs control, if not extinction," Montana Sen. Jim Shockley said Friday. "There's no control over distribution. There's no control over who's growing it. There's no control in dosage."
Whos fault is that? We have been asking for this all along. Don't vote for Montana Sen. Jim Shockley again. His term in office needs "extinction".
Quote:
Fourteen states have legalized medical marijuana, beginning with California in 1996, and the District of Columbia followed suit this month. The laws allow chronically ill people to buy marijuana with permission from a doctor.
But many of these states passed their laws without working out the details. And they weren't ready for the boom in pot shops that occurred this past year after the Obama administration announced it wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana users.
In some places, law enforcement officials and civic leaders are complaining that there are too many marijuana dispensaries, that buyers and sellers are falling victim to robberies and break-ins, that driving-under-the-influence arrests are on the rise, and that the pot is being sold indiscriminately and winding up on the black market.
Some state and local governments are now rushing to put regulations in place.
Moratorium
Colorado lawmakers passed sweeping rules this month for pot growers and the estimated 1,100 shops selling marijuana, creating a new state bureaucracy led by auditors and criminal investigators who would monitor the industry to make sure, for example, that the drug is being sold only to patients who have a doctor's recommendation.
Regulators expect only about half of the state's dispensaries to continue operating under the stricter rules.
The Billings City Council approved a six-month moratorium on new medical marijuana businesses in May after the violence against pot businesses the previous two nights. On Thursday, the city of about 90,000 people ordered 25 of Billings' 80 or pot businesses to shut down after discovering they were not properly registered with the state.
"I was hoping this would be a more civil discussion," City Councilman Denis Pitman said after the firebombings. "I wish it wouldn't have gotten to this level."
Los Angeles officials recently ordered the shutdown of hundreds of dispensaries and took steps to ensure that the remaining ones meet stringent new guidelines. Owners must undergo a background check, their stores must be 1,000 feet from schools, parks and other gathering sites, and their pot must be tested at an independent laboratory.
Montana's medical board is considering curbing mass screenings and teleconferences that make it easy for people to get a marijuana card. Montana in recent days has seen "cannabis caravans," mobile operations that pass through town, charging people $100 to $150 for a doctor's recommendation to smoke pot.
DUI arrests skyrocket
The push for tighter regulation has infuriated medical marijuana users.
"They are creating ordinances and moratoriums that are blatantly against the law," said Jason Christ, founder of the Montana Caregivers Network, the group that organizes the cannabis caravans. "They do not serve to protect the welfare of our citizens, and they do no good."
In Colorado earlier this month, veterans in wheelchairs, college students and dispensary owners packed legislative hearings to speak out against the regulations. The hearings lasted eight hours and reached a fever pitch when several people had to removed for shouting at lawmakers.
Medical marijuana has been around for more than five years in Montana, but the boom came this past year. The number of registered users in Montana, a state with a population of just under 1 million, has gone from 2,923 last June to about 15,000 today. The number of registered suppliers has increased from 919 to about 5,000.
The number of DUI arrests involving marijuana has skyrocketed, as have traffic fatalities where marijuana was found in the system of one of the drivers, Montana narcotics chief Mark Long told a legislative committee last month.
Marijuana found in one of the drivers. mmmm....Yep! Looks like marijuana is the cause of all the traffic fatalities. That one guy must have been very busy. :wtf:
Quote:
Also, Montana confidentiality laws prevent law enforcement from knowing where most medical marijuana businesses are, and civic leaders complain they don't know whether the shops are up to city and fire codes or close to churches, schools or parks.
During Colorado's legislative debate, state Sen. Chris Romer quoted the Grateful Dead as he pondered the spectacle of lawmakers actually passing regulations for the legal sale of marijuana: "What a long, strange trip it's been."
Associated Press writer Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.
They think we are stupid. With some of the words put in this write up, I think I know who is the stupid one.
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Pepurr:
That was alot of great information I will make sure that all of my MMJ friends know about this,just keep the info coming.:thumbsup:
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Quote:
The vandals struck in the middle of the night, hurling Molotov cocktails through the windows of two medical marijuana businesses and spray-painting "NOT IN OUR TOWN" just before the Billings City Council was supposed to take up a ban on any new pot shops.
I forgot to mention. These idiots want to ban marijuana for any legal purpose, all the while never once condemning the violent acts of the nay sayers.
You don't find marijuana users going around burning, smashing and otherwise making violent acts to bring attention to our cause.
This is the up-side-down thinking of people like this man, Sen. Jim Shockley.
Saying the existence of a pot shop causes violence, if not logical. It is the extremist prohibitionists who foment violence. Action should be aimed at them, not us.
Check out this vote.
Project Vote Smart - Senator Shockley on SB 326 - Medical Marijuana Law Amendments
Quote:
Medical Marijuana Law Amendments
http://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gif
Key Votes:
SB 326
Issues: Drug Issues,
Health Issues
Date: 02/24/2009
Sponsor: Sen. Erickson, Ron
http://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gifhttp://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gifhttp://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gif
http://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gif
Roll no. 628
http://www.votesmart.org/img/spacer.gif
Bill Passed
(Senate)
How members voted
(28 - 22)
http://www.votesmart.org/img/CCCCCC.gif
Senator Shockley voted
NORead statements Senator Shockley made in this general time period.
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that amends existing law relating to the production and use of medical marijuana.
Highlights:
-Expands the limit on the amount of marijuana that a patient and his or her caregiver can possess to six mature, flowering marijuana plants, eight immature plants, and 3 ounces of usable marijuana each (Sec. 3).
-Ends the prohibition on patients having more than one medical marijuana caregiver at a time (Sec. 1).
-Allows medical marijuana to be issued to treat diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, agitation of Alzheimer's disease, nail-patella, and dysmenorrhea (Sec. 1).
-Prohibits the use of medical marijuana to treat anxiety or insomnia associated with a disease or medical condition or the treatment of a disease or medical condition (Sec. 1).
-Prohibits the application for a registry identification card or the possession or use of medical marijuana from being cause for termination of employment, a tenancy, or a rental agreement or for the modification of child custody rights, but specifies that this section does not prohibit landlords from restricting or prohibiting medical marijuana growth on the rental premises (Sec. 3).
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Quote:
Originally Posted by pepurr
Marijuana found in one of the drivers. mmmm....Yep! Looks like marijuana is the cause of all the traffic fatalities. That one guy must have been very busy. :wtf:
When they say skyrocket, they mean one of those lil model rockets ;)
Good informative post Pepurr :thumbsup:
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Montana has the most liberal standards regarding MMJ what the heck is going on?You would think that with economy tanking every day the citizens would welcome the revenue that MMJ brings.Some people just don't know what's good for them nor do they mind their own business.:wtf:
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
Quote:
Originally Posted by Washedout
Montana has the most liberal standards regarding MMJ what the heck is going on?You would think that with economy tanking every day the citizens would welcome the revenue that MMJ brings.Some people just don't know what's good for them nor do they mind their own business.:wtf:
Yeah! That is a problem with our form of government. People sticking their noses into other people's business. :mad:
If you have the money, power, influence or connections, you can get any law passed to get anyone to do, or not do anything you feel they should, or should not do. :postreadrulez:
So you get a bunch of busy bodies, who think they know better how you should live your life, making rules to fulfill their dreams of butt-in-attude.
Makes me want to puke. Better smoke a fat one. That always settles my stomach. :smokin:
Medical marijuana facing a backlash
The firebombing seems to fit the MO of rogue cops, not normal individuals. And, you are correct, its those antis who are committing the violent acts. Cops can act as vigilantes too, there are plenty of cases around the country where cops have taken it upon themselves to do what they can't do legally. And that's not some Hollywood scenario either. Its a fact.
One can only wonder how far the investigation for the fire bombers is going, probably not far when it leads to their own door. :twocents:
