Marijuana Legalization Looks Primed to Soar in 2014

from newsmax.com

A long line of buyers trails from a store selling marijuana in Pueblo West, Colorado on Jan. 1.

Friday, 10 Jan 2014 02:18 PM

By Melanie Batley

After Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use and sale of marijuana last year, 2014 may be the year that accelerates that trend as four more states and the District of Columbia gear-up for their own campaigns to legalize the substance. 

A majority of Americans believe marijuana use should be legalized nationwide, according to a CNN/ORC survey released Tuesday, with 55 percent saying they support legalization compared to 44 percent who believe it should remain illegal.

With the tide of public opinion on their side, supporters of legalization in Alaska, California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington, D.C. are seizing on the mood with voter-driven initiatives that would bypass state legislatures and secure ballot measures for the 2014 elections, according to a report by U.S. News and World Report.
On Wednesday, Alaska's quest to legalize marijuana took a step forward after an advocacy group submitted more than 46,000 signatures to the state election office to push for a voter referendum. 

If passed, Alaska would be the third state to legalize the drug, which would also authorize the opening of recreational marijuana stores. 

"Marijuana prohibition has been just as big a failure as alcohol prohibition," former Alaska Department of Corrections Deputy Commissioner Bill Parker, one of the initiative's sponsors, said according to U.S. News. 

"We are confident that voters will agree it is time for a more sensible approach that honors the ideals that unite us as Alaskans; protecting personal freedoms and a commitment to personal responsibility."

In California, there may be as many as four ballot measures on the issue, each of which would legalize use of the drug and its sales, but vary in the amount of marijuana residents would be able to grow and possess, according to U.S. News. 

One of the initiatives already has 200,000 backers, but will need 500,000 signatures by Feb. 24. Organizers are using about 1000 volunteers and 300 paid canvassers to reach the goal. Though voters in the state rejected a 2010 marijuana legalization measure, recent polls indicate support is on the upswing.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, voters rejected a measure to legalize marijuana in 2012, but activists are working to resurrect the initiative in November either by having state legislators refer a proposal to voters or by generating support for a petition to get a measure on the ballot.

Advocates, however, suggest there's just a "50-50" chance that state legislators would refer a legalization proposal, in which case, Anthony Johnson, director of New Approach Oregon, a pro-legalization coalition, told U.S. News, "We're confident we can collect the signatures" before early July.

Grassroots activists in Arizona are also pursuing a voter-driven campaign for legalization, and the group, Safer Arizona, is attempting to gather 300,000 signatures by July 3 to get the issue on the ballot for November, according to U.S. News. To date, however, they only have 30,000 signatures. 

Arizona's initiative is unique in that it would set the legal marijuana age at 18 instead of 21. Early polls indicate that if the issue does get on the ballot it will have significant support among voters, U.S. News reports.

Activists in the nation's capital, lead by D.C. Cannabis Campaign, are also hoping to secure a vote on legalization in November. Leaders plan to submit draft ballot language Friday to the city's election board which proposes to legalize possession of two ounces and six plants by adults over 21.

If the draft language is approved, campaigners plan to begin gathering signatures for a petition in late February or early March. Though support for legalization is at 63 percent according to an April survey, it is believed that a decriminalization bill will more likely be successful.
"There's going to be an increase in demand with decriminalization, but there isn't going to be anywhere safe for people to go purchase marijuana," Councilman David Grosso, told U.S. News after he introduced a legalization bill in September.

"They're still going to be on the street corners, we're still going to have problems with violence on the street, with people getting arrested for nonviolent offenses."

Even if referendum is approved by voters in November, Congress has the power to block the legislation and did so for years after city voters approved medical marijuana use, U.S. News reports.

In addition to voter-driven initiatives, legalization bills have also been proposed in at least 13 state legislatures, and some experts suggest 2016 will be the watershed year for legalization, according to U.S. News.

Kentuckians plead with legislature to legalize medical marijuana

from  http://www.kentucky.com/

FRANKFORT — Clad in pink and purple, 4-year-old Sylvia Haas moaned quietly in her stroller as her mother, Jill, told state lawmakers about the seizures Sylvia started having on the fourth day of her life.

Jill Haas rattled off the names of a dozen drugs that her daughter had taken in an effort to stop the hundreds of small seizures Sylvia has each day, making it impossible for her to walk, talk or eat on her own. None of them worked.

"Parents need something other than anti-epileptic drugs," Haas said. "The treatment is worse than the disease."

What her daughter needs, Haas said, is for the Kentucky General Assembly to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

"We are out of options," she said. "You can help us create another option that might change our lives forever. ... You can give her a better future."

The House Health and Welfare Committee spent more than an hour Thursday listening to testimony about the medical powers of marijuana from two parents and from Josh Stanley, founder of Realm of Caring Dispensary in Colorado.

Stanley told lawmakers that his Colorado company is treating 300 children, including 10 whose families moved from Kentucky, with oil from a strain of marijuana that doesn't produce a high.

Some of those children were in hospice care and near death, but they now have almost no seizures and can walk, talk and eat on their own.

One of them is Charlie Byrd, whose parents moved from West Liberty to Castle Rock, Colo., in October so Charlie could use marijuana to help control his seizures. Since moving, Charlie's seizures have gone from 20 to 30 a week to 10, and they have shortened from an average of about 60 seconds to 10 seconds, James Eric Byrd said.

Charlie was previously unable to communicate with his family, but now "he looks me in the eyes," Byrd said. "I know it works."

So far, no House member has filed a bill to legalize marijuana in Kentucky, although House Speaker Greg Stumbo said again Thursday that he is "open to listening to the debate."

In the Senate, Democrat Perry Clark of Louisville has filed Senate Bill 43, the Cannabis Compassion Act, although his attempts to win approval for previous versions of the bill in the Republican-led Senate have failed.

State Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, was the only House committee member who offered unequivocal support for the proposal Tuesday, although committee chairman Tom Burch, D-Louisville, and others said they've heard from many constituents who favor the proposal.

Two Republicans, Reps. Robert Benvenuti of Lexington and Ben Waide of Madisonville, urged caution on the issue, saying rigorous, government-sanctioned clinical trials of medical marijuana are needed. They also chastised Stanley, the marijuana dispensary owner, for using part of his presentation to advocate for legalizing recreational marijuana.

Benvenuti, who was interrupted more than once by outbursts from the overflowing audience, said he feared that medical marijuana legislation was a "Trojan horse to legalize recreational use of marijuana" in a state already bedeviled by drug addiction.

"What we can't do is simply open the floodgates and create a different kind of suffering," Benvenuti said.

John Stamper: (859) 231-3204. Twitter: @BGPolitics. Blog: Bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com.John Stamper: (859) 231-3204. Twitter: @BGPolitics. Blog: Bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com.

Poll: Majority wants marijuana legalized

from washingtonpost.com

• BY AARON BLAKE

• January 7 at 9:07 am

Another new poll shows a majority of Americans would like marijuana to be legal.

The CNN/Opinion Research poll shows 55 percent think marijuana should be legal, while 44 percent think it should not. The 55 percent who support legalization is up 12 points from just more than a year ago.

CNN isn't the first pollster to show a spike in support for marijuana legalization. BothPew and Gallup have shown similar trends, with new majorities supporting legalization.

Gallup showed support for legalization spiking to 58 percent in a poll released in October.

The CNN poll also shows that majorities of Americans do not see pot as physically or mentally harmful. They are about evenly split when it comes to whether it is addictive and leads to use of other drugs. Only 19 percent see its use as a major problem in society today.

The rise in support comes as Colorado and Washington have become the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. Colorado's dispensaries began selling the drug last week, and Washington will soon join in.

Marijuana remains illegal according to federal law, but the Justice Department has said it won't pursue legal action in either state that has legalized the substance.

Aaron Blake covers national politics at the Washington Post, where he writes regularly for the paper’s Post Politics and The Fix blogs. A Minnesota native and graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. He joined the Post in 2010. Aaron, his wife, Danielle, and his dog, Mauer, live in Northern Virginia. Follow him on Twitter at @AaronBlakeWP.

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from washingtonpost.com 

Medical marijuana initiative likely headed for Florida ballot

• BY REID WILSON

• January 7 at 9:30 am

Kristi Kelly, co-founder of medical-marijuana dispensary Good Meds Network. (Matthew Staver/The Washington Post.)

Backers of a constitutional amendment to allow Florida patients to use marijuana for medical purposes say they will turn in enough signatures to qualify for the fall ballot by next week.

Supporters of the measure have until Feb. 1 to submit just over 683,000 valid signatures of registered voters. Realistically, backers are shooting for about 1 million signatures, to account for any deemed invalid; organizers say they will hit the million-signature mark by next week.

“As of tomorrow, we should be right at, maybe a little bit under, a million” signatures, said Ben Pollara, who runs the People United for Medical Marijuana campaign that’s spearheading the initiative. “By this time next week, we should have more than enough to give us some comfort that we should be on the ballot.”

So far, the Florida Department of Elections says the group has submitted 265,000 valid signatures. The group says it has hundreds of thousands of signatures still being processed by county elections officials.

Once the signatures are submitted and verified, Florida’s Supreme Court will rule on whether the amendment’s ballot title and summary meet legal requirements, a decision likely to come before the beginning of April (See the proposed summary language here).

And if the measure makes the ballot, organizers say poll results show they will start the fall campaign in strong position.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in November showed a huge majority of Florida voters, 82 percent, backed allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes the drug. Just 16 percent of voters said they opposed marijuana for medical use.

The same poll showed a slim plurality — 48 percent — supported allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Forty-six percent said they opposed recreational marijuana use.

But backers are still preparing for a big fight. Pollara said his group will aim to raise at least $10 million for the fall campaign, which will share the stage with a high-profile race between Gov. Rick Scott (R) and his eventual Democratic challenger.

“We’re a big state. We have a lot of media markets. They’re going to be expensive, given the governor’s race,” Pollara said.

At present, 18 states and the District of Columbia allow patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, while two states — Colorado and Washington — allow legal purchases for non-medical use. Eleven of those states legalized marijuana for medical use through ballot initiatives.

Reid Wilson covers state politics and policy for the Washington Post's GovBeat blog. He's a former editor in chief of The Hotline, the premier tip sheet on campaigns and elections, and he's a complete political junkie. Reid is a Seattle native and a graduate of The George Washington University. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Veronica. Get GovBeat in your inbox! Sign up here for our twice-weekly newsletters.

Florida parents of epileptic children plead, lobby for medical marijuana

from brandenton.com





Seth and Danielle Hyman, parents of Rebecca, are seeking to have a strain of marijuana legalized that might prevent seizures in the 8-year-old. “At any given time, my little angel could be taken to heaven,’’ says Seth Hyman of Weston. Miami Herald photo

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS

Herald/Times Tallahassee BureauJanuary 5, 2014

Parents say Florida lawmakers should open the door to a promising strain of marijuana that is low in psychoactive properties but high in the compounds needed to control seizures in their children.

There isn't a day that goes by that Danielle and Seth Hyman don't live in fear that one of the epileptic seizures that course through their daughter dozens of times daily could be the one that kills her.

"At any given time, my little angel could be taken to heaven,'' said Seth Hyman of Weston. His 8-year-old daughter Rebecca suffers from a rare genetic disorder that results in hearing loss, visual impairment, frequent daily seizures and requires her to be fed through a feeding tube to supplement her nutrition.

For years, the couple tried powerful medications to control the frequent, often silent, seizures but the toxins weakened their daughter's organs and produced little improvement. Now, the Hymans are among a growing number of Florida families holding out hope that they can persuade lawmakers to legalize a strain of marijuana that has been shown to control seizures in children.

The strain is high in cannabidiol (CBD), the ingredient that controls seizures, but is low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound that creates a high. It can be administered without smoking -- ingested in oil form or vaporized in a feeding tube. But, like all marijuana in Florida, it is illegal to possess, distribute and sell -- unless lawmakers make an exception.

After years of rejecting proposals to allow marijuana to be sold for medical purposes, Florida's Republican-led Legislature has agreed to hear a bill to allow medical distribution of the specialty strain, known as Charlotte's Web.

The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee will hold a workshop Thursday to hear from parents, growers in Colorado, and medical professionals about Charlotte's Web.

The political breakthrough was prompted in part by the popularity of a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize doctor-authorized cannabis under certain circumstances.

The medical breakthrough came just over a year ago. The parents of a Colorado child, Charlotte Figi, persuaded the growers of the strain to let them extract the oils of the plant to give to their five-year-old daughter as a last-ditch attempt to control her seizures.

Charlotte suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and intractable form of epilepsy. But after days on the marijuana oil, her symptoms subsided. Now the marijuana strain has been named after her and growers have formed a foundation to produce and distribute it, giving hope to families across the globe.

"I've not seen a single other state that is focused on a cannabinoids through the lens of the THC content,'' said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee. "I want to know who those people are and who they are helping."

Under the proposal, to be wrapped into a larger sentencing reform bill that reduces criminal penalties for possession of some drugs, only strains lower in THC would be allowed.

The bill is sponsored by Democrat Katie Edwards of Plantation. Her proposal to get a broader bill authorizing marijuana sales for limited medical purposes was killed by House and Senate leadership last year.

The goal, she said, is to allow research and development of the marijuana strain at one of Florida's state universities and have it tightly regulated. She hopes the partisan politics over the constitutional amendment doesn't spoil the bill "because I think it's wrong to tell a family you can't have access to something you know could help your child."

But the hearing is an about-face for the Republican-led legislature, which has found itself on the wrong side of public opinion polls after refusing for three years to give a hearing to bills to either legalize medicinal use of marijuana or put an amendment on the ballot to allow for it.

In the last year, a private group funded by Orlando trial lawyer and Democrat John Morgan has collected nearly 1 million signatures to put a similar amendment on the November ballot.

The group, United For Care, must submit the signatures to supervisors of elections across the state for validation on Monday and they must have the required 683,149 signatures verified by Feb. 1.

"We are only here because they wouldn't allow a hearing,'' Morgan said last week. "We're feeling very confident.''

He supports the proposal to legalize Charlotte's Web, but believes it falls short of what the public wants.

"They're basically saying let's take care of everyone with seizures and epileptic episodes but let's not take care of the people with cancer, AIDs, ALS and multiple sclerosis -- so I think the public will see it for what it is,'' he said.

Several polls show that Floridians -- including a majority of Republicans -- support the proposed amendment, which must win 60 percent of the vote to be adopted into the Constitution.

"I get a sneaking suspicion that a lot of my colleagues would vote for it if they were allowed to," said Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, who has sponsored the medical marijuana legislation for the last three years. "The polling hasn't changed their opinion so much as it has allowed them to voice their opinion.''

Clemens said he will file a bill again this year to allow for legislative approval of marijuana for medical uses, with a regulatory scheme patterned after the most successful efforts in the 20 states that now allow marijuana for medical use. Only Colorado and Washington state have approved pot for recreational use.

The signature verification effort is not the only hurdle facing Morgan and United For Care. The Florida Supreme Court also must decide whether the ballot language is adequate or is misleading, as Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott allege.

Gaetz says the presence of the constitutional amendment had nothing to do with his change of heart about medical marijuana.

"I'm not motivated one way or the other by the proposed constitutional amendment because I don't think that will be on the ballot,'' he said.

Meanwhile, some parents aren't waiting for the politics to play out.

Plantation residents Katherine and Michael Hsiao are in the process of moving to Colorado where they hope to get treatment for their seven-year-old son Kael, who suffers from Dravet syndrome.

"Our businesses are here. Our home is here and our family is here but our goal is to come back -- when the law is changed,'' said Katherine Hsaio. "We can't wait. What if Kael dies?"

She said the anecdotal evidence shows that children with severe epilepsy have seen 50-100 percent seizure reduction as tracked over three months when they are treated the the Charlotte's Web strain.

"We don't know if that's just a fluke, but we've got to try it,'' she said.

The Hsaio's are in a unique situation. Micheal's mother, Dr. Jane Hsaio, is co-founder and vice-chairman of a pharmaceutical company and has been involved in the formulation and legalization of numerous drugs.

She wants to do clinical trials on the marijuana extract in her lab in Miami but she cannot proceed without state or federal approval.

"She has all these resources and we still can't get it,'' Katherine Hsaio said.

At Miami Children's Hospital, which has one of the leading epilepsy programs in the nation, doctors are working with a British drug company to get FDA approval to conduct clinical trials to produce a marijuana extract called Sativex.

The extract is already legal in 22 countries for treatment of multiple sclerosis but the federal regulators have not approved it for treatment in the U.S.

For families like the Hymans, of Weston, the clock is ticking.

"All I care about is if there's something out there that's working in other states -- whatever it is -- that's what we need here,'' said Hyman, Rebecca's dad. "Parents like us don't have time to experiment."

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com and @MaryEllenKlas.

Medical marijuana purity under a microscope

from usatoday

Increasingly, dispensaries and patients are turning to laboratories to evaluate plants

Steve Cottrell's company, AZ Med Testing, is one of a number of labs in the state that cater to the medical-marijuana industry. The Arizona Rebublic

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, The Arizona Republic7:29 a.m. EST January 6, 2014

PHOENIX — Hunched over a microscope, Steve Cottrell peered at a bud from a plant that is increasingly used as medicine in Arizona and across the nation.

He pointed at a computer screen that glowed with a magnified image of the marijuana bud. The sample, the size of a quarter, was covered with powdery white bumps — a mold that was invisible to the naked eye.

Increasingly, medical-marijuana dispensaries and patients are turning to laboratories to evaluate medical-marijuana plants, identify potentially harmful substances and pinpoint the potency of plants and cannabis-infused products, from caramels and "cherry roll" candies to butter.

Cottrell, 42, and his company, AZ Med Testing, is one of a number of labs in the state that cater to the burgeoning medical-marijuana industry. The lab, located in a small office complex in north-central Phoenix, works with about a third of the state's 70-plus dispensaries, he says.

Many dispensaries market organically grown marijuana, an important selling point for patients with weak immune systems that can be further compromised if noxious elements are inhaled. Using high-tech instruments, Cottrell looks for mold, bacteria and fungus, which can weaken patients' respiratory systems. He also tests for pesticides that can degrade the nervous system. And he tests the medicine to determine the amount of active cannabinoids — including CBDs, CBG, THC and THCA — the chemicals responsible for many of the physical and psychological effects of marijuana.

Patients should know what is in their medicine, Cottrell said, just as they can with medicine bought at pharmacies and grocery stores. That, he says, is fundamental to helping patients choose the proper strain and dosage of marijuana to treat them.

"Patients with a compromised immune system, this can further their ailment and make it more dangerous for them to consume the medicine," he said. "So that's why we need to make sure all of the samples that we're testing are free of mold and microtoxins" that patients can't see unless "they have a microscope and they know what they're looking for."

When he discovers mold or pesticides, Cottrell informs his clients, who can decide to distribute the pot or destroy it.

"I'm either the most hated man in the industry, or the most loved," depending on testing outcomes, he said with a laugh.

Arizona does not require dispensaries to test for pesticides or fertilizers, although it does mandate they list chemicals used on plants. The state health director who oversees the medical-marijuana program said the public urged officials during the rule-making process to not require testing under the notion that it could increase medicine prices.

Steve Cottrell uses a microscope to check for mold on medical marijuana in his AZ Med Testing lab in Phoenix.(Photo: Mark Henle, The Arizona Republic)

Asked if testing should be required in Arizona, Department of Health Services Director Will Humble said through a spokeswoman that it is up to consumers to decide if they want to buy cannabis from dispensaries that test.

Twenty-one states have passed medical-marijuana laws, plus Washington, D.C. While most states don't require testing, one national expert said she expects other states to follow the path of those like Massachusetts and Illinois, which require testing.

Betty Aldworth of the National Cannabis Industry Association said "even if it's not required, it tends to be sort of a standard."

Pharmacists can explain to patients the ingredients in painkillers, Aldworth points out, saying, "Why is medical marijuana any different?"

"We have an expectation, especially when we are managing a chronic condition, that we are doing it with known quantities," she said. "For medical marijuana, it's the exact same thing. From the consumer side, especially those living with severely compromised immune systems, they want to know their meds are clean and they are entitled to know."

That's Cottrell's philosophy. His family owned biological-monitoring labs in Colorado that catered to the medical and dental industries. He became interested in starting a medical-marijuana-testing business after he lost his 11-year-old son to lymphoblastic Burkitt's leukemia. His son, Kindahl, was diagnosed in 2001 and died that same year, Cottrell said.

"I started investigating things that hurt the cancer, and things that kill cancer," Cottrell recalled. "And I found that the cannabis helps with patients and was alleviating a lot of the things that helped destroy my son. My son's immune system broke down so quickly because he couldn't eat because the chemotherapy was as strong as it was."

Nine years later, Arizona legalized medical marijuana. Cottrell dipped into his savings and launched his business. He began attending medical-marijuana conventions, meeting advocates and talking to patients and caregivers about the benefits of testing.

The state's program became mired in legal and political battles, hampering dispensaries' desire to get involved in a program that some worried could be shut down.

Still, in 2011, Cottrell opened his first lab out of the closet of a friend's business in Tempe. As confidence in the medical-marijuana industry grew, so did Cottrell's client list. He moved the business to the Phoenix location more than a year ago.

Even now, he said, neither he nor his business partner takes home a paycheck. He has a full-time job that pays his bills.

His clients pay between $40 and $80, depending on the type of test. He tests about 1 gram for each 2 to 3 pounds grown from individual strains — an adequate representation, he says.

Back at his microscope, he picked up a bud. "If this flower has pesticide, their entire crop is going to have pesticides on it. If this flower has mold on it, because it's so microscopic, everything's going to have mold on it."

He hopes the state will mandate testing, especially if the state moves toward the legalization of recreational pot, which many advocates support.

That won't happen if Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, has his way. He strongly opposes medical marijuana, saying the drug is still illegal under federal law. He toldThe Arizona Republic he plans to introduce legislation to eliminate the state's medical-marijuana program.

Asked about testing, he said, "I no more support making people who use illegal substances feel safer than I do giving hypodermic needles to heroin addicts. The government should never test illegal behavior — period."

Politics aside, patients should care about what's in their medicine, said Lezli Engelking, who runs Bloom Dispensaries. She hires AZ Med Testing to test the dispensaries' cannabis. Bloom grows its marijuana, she said, and while growers know what is put into the plants, things can go wrong.

"We had an A/C unit that went bad, and even being out for an hour, it affected the plants," she said. "We had to throw out that entire batch of plants. Mold can form, it just cannot taste right. And patient safety is Number 1. … We make sure everything we provide is safe."

from theweedblog.com

Cal NORML Challenges Local Bans On Patient Cultivation Of Medical Marijuana

 Posted by Johnny Green at 11:44 AM on January 4, 2014 Medical Marijuana Policy Add comments

I received the following press release from our friends at California NORML:

In a lawsuit supported by California NORML, attorney Joe Elford is filing a petition today asking the State Supreme Court to review a recent Third District Appellate Court decision,  James Maral v City of Live Oak, that upheld the right of local governments to ban medical marijuana cultivation entirely.

The petition argues that local governments are pre-empted by state law from banning cultivation by qualified medical marijuana patients, insofar as California’s Compassionate Use Act (Prop 215) and the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMP, aka SB 420) explicitly authorize such cultivation.

At issue is the right of seriously ill patients to grow for their own medical use in accordance with Prop. 215.  The plaintiff, James Maral, who suffers severe chronic medical problems, challenged an ordinance by the City of Live Oak declaring it illegal to grow any marijuana at all.   The city also bans dispensaries, leaving Maral with no legal access to medicine.  Local dispensary bans are not being challenged in this case, as their legality was upheld in the Supreme Court’s Riverside decision.  Unlike dispensaries, however, cultivation by individual patients and their primary caregivers is explicitly protected under state law.

“If you ban dispensaries and you ban cultivation, you’re ripping the heart out of California’s medical marijuana laws,” said Elford. “The appellate court’s decision conflicts with the intent of the electorate and Legislature and should not be allowed to stand.”

In particular, notes Elford, the MMP provides that individual patients may maintain six mature or twelve immature plants for their personal medical needs.  In addition,  the MMP expressly authorizes localities to enact guidelines that are higher – but not lower – than the state’s six plant limit.   ”Together, these provisions constitute a clear statement by the California Legislature that the State’s municipalities may expand upon the “safe-harbor” provisions afforded to medical marijuana patients regarding cultivation, but they may not subvert or obliterate them,”  argues Elford.

The petition also argues that the Live Oak ordinance should be preempted for being inherently “inimical to” state law.  In adopting the ordinance, the Live Oak City Council cited the position of the California Police Chiefs Association that “Marijuana is destructive to our society and should remain unlawful,” a position directly at odds with that of the voters and legislature.  Courts have taken different positions as to when ordinances are pre-empted as “inimical to” state law.

In the wake of the recent Riverside and Live Oak rulings, local governments have become increasingly bold in attacking patients’ right to cultivate medical marijuana.  The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will be hearing an ordinance to ban cultivation on Tuesday, Jan. 7th.  The ordinance proclaims its intent to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation “in order to preserve the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Fresno County.”

“The Fresno County and Live Oak ordinances directly conflict with Prop. 215′s stated purpose of ensuring that ‘seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes,’” says Prop. 215 co-author and Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer.  “Mr. Maral is precisely the kind of seriously ill patient whom Prop. 215 was intended to benefit.”

Maral, 42, suffers from compartment syndrome, a painful life- and limb-threatening condition caused by insufficient blood supply to muscles and nerves. In addition, he has six damaged discs in his back, the result of his work as a heavy equipment driver. He and his family have lived in Live Oak for 15 years.

Maral is also a caregiver for his mother Donneda Maral, who has severe diverticulitis and Crohn’s disease, for which she is frequently hospitalized.

“The only thing I’m fighting for is the patients who just want a couple of plants in their backyard,” said Maral. “I’m not willing to let my mother die or live out the rest of her time in a hospital.” The Marals live at least two hours away from any medical marijuana dispensary.

Link to petition for review by State Supreme Court: http://www.canorml.org/maral.pet.review.pdf