[caption id="attachment_7230" align="alignright" width="240"] Sen. Karen Tallian[/caption]

State Senator Karen Tallian has long been a champion for improving marijuana-related laws in Indiana, and she has already introduced a new, compassionate bill that would establish a medical marijuana program in Indiana. If passed, SB 284 would allow patients to use and safely access medical cannabis, as is the case in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

Medical marijuana can effectively alleviate a wide range of debilitating symptoms and medical conditions, and seriously ill Hoosiers should not be subject to arrest and criminal penalties for using medical marijuana. Nearly half the U.S. population lives in a state that has a medical marijuana program, including Illinois and Michigan. Seriously ill patients in Indiana should not be left behind.

If you are an Indiana resident, please contact your state representative and senator today and ask them to stand up for patients. Then, please ask your friends and family members in your community to raise their voices to protect patients, too.

606 days. That's how long it’s been since the Illinois General Assembly passed the medical cannabis law. Today, after all that time, nobody can say when seriously ill patients will be able to access medical cannabis.

[caption id="attachment_8458" align="alignright" width="176"] Gov. Bruce Rauner[/caption]

If you are an Illinois resident, please take a moment to tell the governor the wait is inexcusable. Click here for instructions on how to call Gov. Rauner’s office and demand he use his authority to advance this program. Or, click here to send an email.

On May 17, 2013, a coalition of seriously ill patients, doctors, legislators, community leaders, and MPP’s lobbying team saw passage of a compassionate law that was 10 years in the making. Sadly, the best-case scenario is that it will take two years from that date for Illinois to provide relief to those patients.

Since then, the state has developed rules in a system that is one of the most regulated — and some say one of the most over-regulated — systems in the country. Businesses applied four months ago and press reports indicated licenses would be issued by the end of 2014. Yet they still have not been selected, meaning patients are at least four more months from access (the amount of time it takes for a plant to produce harvestable cannabis).

Last week, District of Columbia Council Member David Grosso and three of his colleagues made it clear that Congressional bullying wasn’t going to stop them from considering a more rational approach to marijuana. On January 6, they quietly introduced legislation to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.

[caption id="attachment_8454" align="alignright" width="300"] Councilmember David Grosso[/caption]

This sensible proposal comes on the heels of voters’ overwhelming vote for Initiative 71, which will make marijuana possession and limited cultivation legal for adults 21 and older when it becomes effective. It also comes just four weeks after Congress approved a spending bill that prohibits the District from spending any money to enact a law to legalize “recreational marijuana” until at least through this summer.

The Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act of 2015 would create a framework for a legal and responsible marijuana industry, complete with licensed cultivators, product manufacturers, retail stores, and testing labs. Allowing licensed businesses to grow and sell marijuana to adults 21 and older will create jobs, increase tax revenues, and allow D.C.’s law enforcement to direct their focus on more serious matters. Regulating these businesses means D.C. will know who is selling marijuana, under what conditions, where, and to whom.

If you are a resident of the District of Columbia, please email your council members today and ask them to support B21-0023! Let them know that D.C.’s elected lawmakers, not Congress, should decide District policy. Then, please pass this on to other District residents.

(This post is the first in a series providing insights into the legal marijuana industry. It is a guest post from the staff at MedMen.)

While ultimately an exciting endeavor, opening a marijuana business can be a tedious process involving a multitude of legal and monetary procedures. A close eye for detail is required. Dealing with rules and regulations and licensing applications, meeting zoning requirements, preparing concise and detailed business plans and operational protocols, attending local and state meetings, planning to manage operations once certified, and so much more are big tasks. Think: 24-hour notaries, multi-disciplined organizational issues and consensuses, leaps of faith toward the long-term investment, preparing management deals, and accountability — and it does not stop there.

Starting a successful medical and/or recreational marijuana business typically requires commitments of hundreds of thousands — and at times even millions — of investment dollars. Some states are moving in the direction of merit-based oligopolies that require substantial liquidity in order to succeed and multi-million dollar bonds to further show financial security. Marijuana has graduated to a big-business process.

Securing real estate and building a qualified team for any marijuana industry venture are two of the earliest and most fundamental aspects of obtaining a license. Locking down locations that make sense demographically while still satisfying strict locational regulations is not cheap. Landlords realize the tight supply, so favorable terms are hard to come by, meaning substantial capital is necessary. The applying team must also be comprehensive. Building a solid team, not only financially but resourcefully, is crucial in legitimizing marijuana businesses. Solid teams include healthcare to business management professionals, legal experts to accountants, horticulturalists to those experienced in law enforcement and security, and beyond. Not to mention experts to manage the marijuana-specific aspects of the operation. This range of experience is hard to come by for a mom-and-pop operation.

The complications do not end once a license is secured. Banking in the marijuana industry is currently in flux. Many banks refuse to deal with marijuana-related businesses; however, recent federal protocols have safeguarded banks willing to commit to these businesses. Still, banks are looking into the financial histories of those applying for accounts. A mom-and-pop operation is at a disadvantage to a big-business operation whose members can show ties to multi-million dollar companies operating their finances spotlessly. Accountability is crucial, and past business practices are just about the only way to show it in the emerging marijuana industry.

Ultimately, every state is going to have different marijuana laws, just as every state has different alcohol laws. Some will be more conducive (or even limit) the marketplace to bigger businesses. Others will foster an environment that ensures smaller businesses can compete. There could even be some where marijuana sales are limited to state-run stores.

States are going to experiment, learn from their experiences, and learn from each other, just as we have seen take place with alcohol in the 80 years following the end of prohibition. In any case, it will be fascinating to watch it unfold.

[caption id="attachment_8446" align="alignright" width="138"] Rep. Mark Cardenas[/caption]

MPP believes legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana for adults 21 and over is a more sensible approach than continuing failed prohibition policies, and so does Arizona state Rep. Mark Cardenas. He recently introduced HB 2007, a bill that would treat marijuana like alcohol, similar to the laws of Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon. If you are an Arizona resident, please take a moment to contact your state senator and representative and voice your support.

Marijuana prohibition has been just as ineffective, inefficient, and problematic as alcohol prohibition, and both national and Arizona polls now regularly show support for a better approach. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. Regulating it would replace the underground market, and law enforcement officials’ time could be more effectively directed to addressing serious crime.

Rep. Cardenas has also introduced HB 2006, which would establish a $100 civil penalty for the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. In addition to the four states that have legalized marijuana for adults, well over a dozen states have lowered criminal penalties with sensible alternatives to putting people in jail for choosing a substance that is safer than alcohol.

Please support these important bills, and pass this message on to friends, family, and supporters in Arizona!

[caption id="attachment_8443" align="alignright" width="300"] Speaker Greg Stumbo[/caption]

The medical marijuana issue got a big boost in Kentucky this week when a bill was introduced by House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg). The bill, HB 3, would make medical marijuana legal for Kentucky patients who are certified by a physician. It would task the Department of Public Health with establishing a patient registry, issuing ID cards to patients who qualify, and licensing and regulating dispensaries that would produce and sell medical marijuana for patients’ use.

Unfortunately, the bill is very restrictive in many respects. Although it covers a broad range of medical conditions, it does not allow patients to cultivate their own plants, and it only allows medical marijuana to be used in a non-smoked form. However, HB 3 is a much better bill than the very limited CBD-only bill that passed in 2014, and if implemented, it would bring great relief to many patients who are suffering needlessly.

Stumbo said he does not expect the bill to become law this year, but he told reporters that he sees the issue gaining support in Frankfort. "I think it's one of those issues ... that the more people learn about it, the less they fear it," he said.

Back in December, the attorneys general for Nebraska and Oklahoma filed suit in federal court against the state of Colorado, claiming that the law making marijuana legal for adults there was causing problems for law enforcement in their states.

Now, a group of prominent Oklahoma Republicans is urging their attorney general to drop the suit, according to the Washington Post:

[caption id="attachment_8440" align="alignright" width="200"] AG Scott Pruitt[/caption]

In a Wednesday letter to Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R), who along with the Nebraska attorney general filed suit in December against Colorado, the group of Republicans argue the suit poses a risk to state’s 10th amendment rights.

“[W]e share your concerns about the growing amounts of marijuana apparently coming into our state from Colorado,” the letter reads. “However, we believe this lawsuit against Colorado is the wrong way to deal with the issue, for a number of reasons.”

In the suit, Pruitt said Colorado’s legalization of recreational marijuana injured the ability of Oklahoma and other bordering states to enforce their marijuana laws and violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution giving federal law precedence over state ones.

But the group of Republicans think if the lawsuit was successful at the Supreme Court, it could “undermine all of those efforts to protect our own state’s right to govern itself.”

“We think the best move at this point would be to quietly drop the action against Colorado, and if necessary, defend the state’s right to set its own policies, as we would hope other states would defend our right to govern ourselves within constitutional confines,” the letter reads. “We also do not feel that attempting to undermine the sovereignty of a neighboring state using the federal courts, even if inadvertently, is a wise use of Oklahoma’s limited state resources.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Mike Ritze, Lewis Moore, John Bennett Mike Christian, Dan Fisher, and Sens. Ralph Shortey and Nathan Dahm.

Please sign our petition calling on Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to withdraw the lawsuit and end their crusade to maintain marijuana prohibition.

With the Vermont General Assembly set to convene this week, a group of citizens, organizations, and businesses from around the state is officially launching a coalition to support legislation that would end marijuana prohibition in Vermont and replace it with a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol.

From the Washington Times:

“Regulating marijuana will take sales out of the underground market and allow for it to be controlled like other products that are legal for adults,” said Matt Simon of the Marijuana Policy Project, a coalition member. “Along with improving public safety, it will generate significant new tax revenue and create good jobs for our communities.”

Coalition member Joseph McSherry, a neurophysiologist at the University of Vermont Medical Center, said that many young people report that it’s easier to acquire marijuana than alcohol. Changing marijuana from an illegal to a legal market could reduce its availability to teenagers, he argued.

“If you want to make marijuana harder to get for kids, especially the risk takers and sensation seekers, you need to legalize it and regulate it,” McSherry said. “The people who deal in illegal drugs aren’t selective” about their customers.

State legislators in Maine are planning to introduce at least four marijuana-related bills in the upcoming session.

From the Portland Press Herald:

The marijuana OUI bill is being proposed by the Department of Public Safety, which wants to set a limit that will allow police officers to determine when a driver is too stoned behind the wheel.

[caption id="attachment_8429" align="alignright" width="152"] Rep. Diane Russell[/caption]

Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, said she will introduce her fourth bill to tax and regulate the use of recreational marijuana. She said this bill will be the Legislature’s last chance to get out in front of two competing citizen initiatives that are likely to end up on the 2016 ballot. Two groups – the Marijuana Policy Project and Legalize Maine – plan to launch petition drives to collect signatures for 2016 referendums to legalize recreational drug use, as the states of Colorado and Washington have both done. The two proposals differ in approach and details, such as whether marijuana use should be limited to private homes or allowed in social clubs.

...

Russell also will sponsor a bill to remove the list of qualifying conditions for which patients can be approved to use medical marijuana. That would effectively leave it to patients and doctors to determine when the drug might help with a medical condition. Previous bills have been introduced to expand the number of approved conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Hillary Lister, director of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, anticipates legislation specifying that the state cannot collect identifying information about medical marijuana patients. She said patients and caregivers are concerned about a recent rule change that requires medical providers to give patients a certification card that is generated through an online portal.

The Department of Health and Human Services also will propose amendments to the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act, but details of those amendments will not be released until the bill is finalized and the language becomes public, said department spokesman David Sorensen.