On April 28, 2014, Quinnipiac University released poll data showing that Coloradans still “feel good” about legalizing marijuana. With a 14 percent margin (52-38 percent), voters believe marijuana legalization has been beneficial for the state, and, when asked about whether legalization “eroded the moral fiber” of people in Colorado, voters resounding replied with 67 percent disagreeing and only 30 percent agreeing.

"Colorado voters are generally good to go on grass, across the spectrum, from personal freedom to its taxpayer benefits to its positive impact on the criminal justice system," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll.

The poll also found voters aged 18-29 support legalization at a margin of 2-to-1, but, surprisingly, the same age group said they have not smoked marijuana since it became legal on January 1 at the same 2-to-1 margin.

The Quinnipiac poll’s results were collected April 15-21, via telephone survey, from 1,298 registered voters with a margin of error at plus or minus 2.7 points. Live interviewers called landlines and cell phones.

In case you missed it, Ballot Measure 2, which would regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol in Alaska, has been moved off the primary election ballot and will now appear on the general election ballot on November 4.

The reschedule is due to a constitutional provision that requires initiatives to be placed on the first statewide ballot 120 days following the end of the legislative session. When the state legislature failed to adjourn its session on time this past Sunday night, the initiative was automatically moved to the November ballot.

The date of the election is not an issue for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Alaska because Alaska voters support regulating marijuana like alcohol by a wide margin. According to a recent poll, 55 percent of voters in Alaska agree that it's time to make marijuana legal, with only 39 percent opposed.

Additionally, the change of ballot provides extra time to organize volunteers, register voters, and spread the word that it's time for a new approach that would take marijuana sales out of the hands of criminals in the underground market and put it behind the counters of licensed, taxpaying businesses.

Earlier this month, patients practically begged the New Hampshire Senate Health, Education, and Human Services Committee to approve HB 1622, a bill that would allow them to grow up to two mature marijuana plants until a dispensary opens within 30 miles of their residences.

Sadly, even though this bill had already passed the New Hampshire House with 227-73 (76%) support, and even though all five senators on the committee had previously supported home cultivation, the committee refused to move HB 1622 forward. Only Senator John Reagan(R-Deerfield) spoke up on behalf of patients who can’t afford to wait for dispensaries to open, but his appeals fell on deaf ears. After very little discussion, the committee voted 3-1 to recommend the bill for “interim study,” which would effectively kill it for the year.

[caption id="attachment_7564" align="alignright" width="255"] Sen. John Reagan[/caption]

It’s clear that the Senate has no actual intention of studying this bill. Less than a week after the Senate refused to consider a House-approved decriminalization bill, senators are again attempting to avoid a vote on whether or not patients should be allowed to grow their own cannabis.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has signed into law a bill, A.B. 726, which exempts a very limited class of individuals from criminal penalties for the use and possession of cannabidiol (a component of marijuana) “in a form without a psychoactive effect.” While this is an improvement to current law, it leaves the vast majority of medical marijuana patients without legal protections for using and possessing the medicine their doctors think is best for them.

The law allows individuals with seizure disorders to possess non-psychoactive cannabidiol if they have their physician’s written approval. However, it doesn’t give patients a realistic way to obtain their medicine in Wisconsin.

Individuals with the written documentation would have to travel to one of the few medical marijuana states that allow non-residents to obtain cannabis from their dispensaries. They would then have to bring cannabidiol back to Wisconsin, possibly crossing through other states where it is illegal. With all these limitations, this law may be unworkable even for the limited population it’s meant to help. For more information, please see our summary of the law.

Wisconsin took a small step forward this year, but the law is so incomplete that MPP will not be counting it as a “medical marijuana state.”

A limited medical marijuana bill recently passed both the Tennessee House and Senate, and now awaits Governor Bill Haslam’s signature. SB 2531, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, would approve a four-year study on the benefits of cannabidiol, often referred to as “CBD,” a non-psychoactive component of marijuana. Unfortunately, the many limitations placed on the bill by lawmakers mean it is unlikely to result in relief for seriously ill patients in the state.

[caption id="attachment_7559" align="alignright" width="150"] Sen. Todd Gardenhire[/caption]

The bill unrealistically depends on the Drug Enforcement Administration authorizing the cultivation of marijuana within Tennessee for study. The DEA has maintained a monopoly on the cultivation of marijuana for research in Mississippi, and has steadfastly refused to allow other producers in the past 50 years. Even if it weren’t for that problem, laws that limit patient access to CBD leave most seriously ill patients behind. For a more detailed look at the bill and its many limitations, click here.

Under the bill, Vanderbilt University would conduct the study and Tennessee Tech would theoretically grow marijuana. Both the House and Senate passed the bill by wide margins. According to news reports, Gov. Haslam is expected to sign the bill into law, and has 10 days from the date he received it to sign or veto the legislation.

As in Maryland, we hope Tennessee will move beyond its ineffective medical marijuana law and quickly pass a workable law that will help seriously ill patients in Tennessee.

The Kentucky Legislature adjourned last week, ending its work for the year. Sadly, although the House Health and Welfare Committee approved an effective medical marijuana bill in February, it was not called for a vote in the House.

Legislators did make an effort to help some seriously ill patients who could benefit from cannabidiol (“CBD,” a non-psychoactive component of marijuana). On Thursday, April 10, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law a proposal that is intended to allow patients to use CBD if directed to do so by a physician. The new law went into effect immediately with his signature, but, unfortunately, it is unlikely that it will actually result in patients being able to access CBD.

[caption id="attachment_7556" align="alignright" width="214"] Gov. Steve Beshear[/caption]

Despite concerns about access, and the fact that this legislation excludes the vast majority of medical marijuana patients, it is still a positive step forward. For more information on this new law, please see our summary of S.B. 124.

The Washington State Marijuana Retail Licenses Lottery begins today with a total of 334 retail licenses to be awarded. Washington State University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center will be conducting the lottery for the state’s liquor control board, which oversees the marijuana retailers once they become licensed.

Approximately 1,500 applicants are in the lottery pool. With such a large applicant pool, the lottery process is expected to take all week with the board reviewing background checks on not only the applicants, but also their investors and financiers. The Washington State Liquor Control Board says, “The process will be extremely secure and will determine who gets a retail license to sell pot legally in Washington.”

“Legally” is the key term here. This lottery marks the beginning of WA businesses controlling the marijuana market and taking it out of the hands of criminals. Since small amounts of marijuana possession were legalized on Dec. 6, 2012, Washington residents have been acquiring marijuana through unlicensed, illicit dealers.

Final results of the lottery will be released on May 2, and the state expects to have the first marijuana stores open sometime in July of 2014, in accordance with the Implementation of I-502.

The Legislative Council of the NCAA approved a measure that would reduce the penalty for a positive marijuana drug test. Currently, college athletes face a full year suspension if caught using marijuana, but, after August 1^st of this year, the suspension will be reduced to half of a year.

NCAA reasoned that marijuana is not “performance-enhancing in nature, and this change will encourage schools to provide student-athletes the necessary rehabilitation." The change in policy distances marijuana from being seen equally to steroid use and treats the issue “the same as academic fraud." This change clearly reflects the national shift on attitudes about marijuana towards decriminalization rather than strict punishment.

However, individual schools and conferences can still set whatever harsher penalties they like for their players. Since the NCAA only tests for marijuana during championships, it's fairly easy for an athlete to stop smoking marijuana a month before the NCAA Tournament to test negative.

“But if the NCAA would get out of the morality business when it comes to things like substances, and stay in the business of making sure competition is fair and not tainted by PEDs, I think it would be better for everyone,” Glenn Logan said in an article for SB Nation. “After all, we don't test regular scholarship students for marijuana, so why should student-athletes be singled out?”

[caption id="attachment_7542" align="alignright" width="300"] Blake Griffin, LA Clippers[/caption]

In an interview with Rolling Stone yesterday, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers voiced his support of medical marijuana use to treat pain in the NBA.  Currently, the NBA has strict penalties for drug use, which typically lead to suspensions and fines. It was only in 2011 that the NBA stopped testing for marijuana use in the off-season, but now that marijuana is in the limelight, its place in the NBA, as a form of medical treatment for pain, has come into question.

Griffin was asked:

The NFL might let players use medical marijuana to treat pain. If you had a vote, would the NBA do the same?

It doesn't really affect me, but so many guys would probably benefit from it and not take as many painkillers, which have worse long-term effects. So I would vote yes. I just think it makes sense.

 Griffin joins the chorus of other outspoken athletes like Larry Sanders of the Milwaukee Bucks, who said earlier this year, “I believe in marijuana and the medical side of it.”

Like any professional sport, the need for painkillers is a part of the game, and, as Griffin pointed out, the harmful long-term effects of some painkillers makes medical marijuana use an alluring alternative. Even the World Anti-Doping Agency and the UFC have begun by changing their thresholds of permissible amounts of marijuana.

[caption id="attachment_7536" align="alignright" width="240"] Gov. Robert Bentley[/caption]

Earlier this month, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed into law SB 174, known as Carly’s Law. This law creates an affirmative defense for patients suffering from debilitating epileptic conditions — or their caregivers — for the possession and use of marijuana extracts that are high in CBD (a component of marijuana). It is a strong endorsement by Alabama lawmakers of the medical benefits of marijuana. Unfortunately, the law suffers from several fatal flaws, rendering it ineffective.

Unfortunately, by being limited to low-THC extracts and patients with epilepsy, SB 174 leaves the vast majority of patients behind. Even patients with epilepsy are extremely unlikely to get relief. Carly’s Law requires a “prescription” for the legal use of medical marijuana. Yet “prescribing” a federally illegal substance may jeopardize a doctor’s federal license. Meanwhile, a “recommendation” is protected under the First Amendment.

By merely providing an affirmative defense, the law won’t protect patients from being arrested and dragged into court. Finally, this law relies on the University of Alabama at Birmingham to implement the medical marijuana program. Unfortunately, based on what we have already experienced in other states, this university hospital-based approach is extremely unlikely to ever get off the ground.