In Calif., Medical Marijuana Laws Are Moving Pot Into Mainstream

[babylonsister]

In Calif., Medical Marijuana Laws Are Moving Pot Into Mainstream

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 12, 2009; Page A01


LOS ANGELES -- With little notice and even less controversy, marijuana is now available as a medical treatment in California to almost anyone who tells a willing physician he would feel better if he smoked.

Pot is now retailed over the counter in hundreds of storefronts across Los Angeles and is credited with reviving a section of downtown Oakland, where an entrepreneur sells out classes offering "quality training for the cannabis industry." The tabloid LA Journal of Education for Medical Marijuana is fat with ads for Magic Purple, Strawberry Cough and other offerings in more than 400 "dispensaries" operating in the city.

Los Angeles officials say applications for retail outlets surged after Feb. 26, when U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that the Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer raid such stores. Those pressing for change in drug laws regard the announcement as a watershed in a 40-year battle against marijuana's official listing as a dangerous drug -- a legal fight that, in California, is being waged on ground that has shifted dramatically toward acceptance.

All told, 13 states have legalized medical marijuana, a trend advocates credit in part to growing openness to alternative healing. As a "Schedule 1" drug under the 1970 federal narcotics act, marijuana officially has "no currently accepted medical use." But doctors have found it effective in reducing nausea, easing glaucoma and improving appetite and sleep in AIDS patients.

Marijuana use is widespread -- government surveys show that 100 million Americans have smoked pot or its resin, hashish, in their lifetimes, and 25 million have done so in the past year. Yet polls show that the public is still wary of legalization. As President Obama recently chuckled when asked about legalizing marijuana, "I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy."

But in California, pot is such a booming growth industry that lawmakers are being asked to consider its potential as a salve to the state's financial woes. Betty Yee, chair of the California State Board of Equalization, endorsed a bill in February to regulate the estimated $14 billion marijuana market, citing the state's budget problems. California currently collects $18 million in sales taxes from marijuana dispensaries, and Yee said a regulated pot trade would bring in $1.3 billion.

"I think the tide is starting to turn in terms of marijuana being part of the mainstream," she said. "The pieces seem to be falling into place."

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041100767.html?hpid=topnews

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. K&R

:smoke:

[jaysunb]

2. "Life's good", these days...

No hassles, short weights, seeds & stems. Lots of choices,special deals,convenient locations not to mention the interesting & nice people you meet.

Hey, but that's just one of the many reason I live here. :evilgrin:

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Lucky you!

[MindPilot]

6. I like being able to buy the oil to make my own edibles.

I can take baked goods to work, be getting a nice mellow buzz going on and nobody knows. It is the only way to do meetings!

[jaysunb]

8. Edibles make great gifts.

I've got several friends w/ cancer who are too embarassed to smoke. ( spent too much time dissing the herb over the years ) The gifts are now requests. LOL

[jwirr]

4. Step up California. Be our test state and prove that the fears are

unwarranted and that the benefits are worth it. Call back you police force and just refuse to chase the "criminals" because you have more important real crimes to solve. Start regulating the sale and taxation of the locally grown product and end the drug wars in Mexico. Release offenders in jail for pot and save money on that aspect of this as well as court costs. We need one state to show what this really means.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Yes!

:thumbsup:

[Royal Sloan 09]

5. K n R ,

Solution = Legalize

Yes, We Cannabis! :smoke:

[mike_c]

9. my SO has been urging me to get a 215 card....

I have a number of health issues for which marijuana is commonly recommended here, and indeed I self medicate almost daily anyway so I can attest that smoking pot at the very least improves the quality of my life even if it doesn't directly treat any of my actual health problems.

Anyway, the GF has been urging me to get my 215 card, both for protection against prosecution and so that I can legally operate a small grow operation for myself and other patients. I think I will do it.

[jaysunb]

10. Just Do It !

:hi:

[goclark]

11. Our 90 yr.'s young friend is on Medical MJ

and it helped him gain back 20 pounds.
His memory has made some improvement.

In January he was given 2 weeks to live and this is April.

We live in California and Kaiser Hospital gave it to him.

:bounce:

[ima_sinnic]

12. I'm so jealous, 3,000 miles away ...

but I heard that some rumblings along these same lines were happening here in Maine recently. Hoping that other states will start falling like dominoes before very long.

[rhett o rick]

13. k & r 10. Be cool man. nm

[Pastiche423]

14. Does anyone know how much an once goes for in the

dispensaries?

[Fly by night]

17. Too damned much. Dispensary prices are the same as street prices...

... ande that's a real shame.

My own preference would be to reduce the price of the best medicine that can be grown to $50/oz to the grower, with an additional tax of $50/oz. These days, some California patients are paying as much as $80/one-eighth of an ounce, which is immoral.

[Pastiche423]

18. I believe your price structure is more than fair

Around these parts, an eighth goes for about $50/oz in a depressed rural town. Thankfully my daily medical dosage is small.

Decriminalization of Marijuana would greatly reduce the price, yet still the taxes made would help our community and state's economies.

Too bad that all makes sense.

[XemaSab]

15. Was it ever OUT of the mainstream?

:shrug:

[glitch]

16. If my 77 year old mother could drink it in her tea when she was dying of pancreatic cancer

it's mainstream.