November is a big month for medical marijuana. The Supreme Court will be hearing the case of John Ashcroft vs. Angel Reich on November 29th and there are city initiatives and state initiatives that will be voted on too.
Supreme Court background
John Ashcroft vs. Angel Reich stems from the case brought by Angel Reich, a California woman who has a brain tumor and was legally growing her allotted number of plants when the DEA raided her garden.
She and her caregiver sued the Federal Government (represented by John Ashcroft, the attorney general), stating that they had no legal authority to interfere with their medication choices since the marijuana was being used for personal, noncommercial medical purposes on the advice of their physician and in accordance with California state law.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and banned the federal government from enforcing the federal criminal law against marijuana in regards to patients and caregivers who abide by the previously mentioned conditions of medical marijuana use.
Unfortunately it hasn?t ended there. The federal government doesn?t agree and they have appealed. The Supreme Court decision will have nationwide implications for patients who use marijuana. The decision may be handed down sometime in the spring or early summer.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/art ... p?id=30453November Initiatives
The two big state initiatives will be voted on in Oregon and Montana.
OREGON
If approved, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act would change the state's existing medicinal marijuana law to allow qualified patients to legally possess up to ten marijuana plants at any one time and one pound of usable marijuana. The proposal would also allow state-certified nurse practitioners and naturopaths to recommend marijuana to their patients, and expands the definition of a qualifying medical condition to include "any other medical condition for which, in the determination of the attending physician, the medical use of marijuana would be beneficial." It also establishes a regulated supply system for medical marijuana patients.
MONTANA
If approved, the Montana Medical Marijuana Act would:
-Allow terminally and seriously ill patients who find relief from marijuana to use it with their doctors' approval.
-Protect these seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking their medicine.
-Permit qualifying patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for their medical use, with limits on the amount they could possess.
-Create registry identification cards, so that law enforcement officials could easily tell who was a registered patient, and establish penalties for false statements and fraudulent ID cards.
-Allow patients and their caregivers who are arrested to discuss their medical use in court.
-Keep commonsense restrictions on the medical use of marijuana, including prohibitions on public use of marijuana and driving under the influence of marijuana.
City Initiatives
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
If approved, the Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Act would amend the Ann Arbor city charter to allow qualified patients to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes under the authorization of their physician. The proposal would mandate "no incarceration, probation, nor any other punitive or rehabilitative measure" for qualified patients, and establish an "affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the use or intended use of the marijuana or cannabis relieves, or has the potential to relieve, the pain, disability, discomfort or other adverse symptoms of illness or medical treatment, or, restores, maintains or improves, or has the potential to restore, maintain or improve, the health or medical quality of life of the user or intended user or users of the marijuana or cannabis."
http://www.freep.com/voices/editorials/ ... 041021.htmCOLUMBIA, MISSOURI
If approved, the Missouri Medical Marijuana Initiative would amend the Columbia city criminal code so that "adults who obtain and use marijuana and/or marijuana paraphernalia for medical purposes pursuant to the recommendation of a physician shall not be subject to any arrest, prosecution, punishment, or sanction." Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: "cancer, HIV/AIDS or symptoms of multiple sclerosis, chronic severe pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine headaches, or any other serious medical condition for which marijuana provides relief and for which a duly licensed physician has recommended such use." The proposal also mandates that all such cases regarding the medicinal use of marijuana "shall only be referred to the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney, and no other prosecuting attorney, and the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney shall not refer the matter to any other prosecutor."
http://www.showmeboone.com/clerk/Public ... Notice.pdfThere are other ballot initiatives around the states dealing with marijuana reform, but to my knowledge the ones above are strictly for medical marijuana.
Don?t forget to vote!
Best Wishes,
Karen Heikkala, Public Relations
http://www.TexansforMedicalMarijuana.org