In the last couple of years dispensing medical mariajuana has moved out of dark alleys and into storefronts. As scientific research confirms its benefits, public perception appears to be warming up to the idea of cannabis as legitimate medication. In the near future this progress could lead to a stable industry that provides a secure source of a legitimate prescription medicine.

If only recreational pot users would stop sabotaging the program.

Medical marijuana remains a chaotic business model in large part because of the legalization advocates themselves. These folks  - who are vocal, if nothing else – loudly denounce the criminalization …

Read more »

The woman was a mess. Because she was shaking and crying so hard, she was barely coherent enough to answer questions about the events of the last hour. And it had been a pretty nasty one.

As the details finally emerged, I learned that four armed men had entered her residence and threatened harm to the woman and her sleeping children. They took cash, property and, she added almost as an afterthought, her marijuana. Specifically, they had taken her medicinal marijuana grow operation, about fifteen plants in all. It soon became plain that the home invasion had occurred because the …

Read more »

Advocates for medical marijuana have made great progress in the last few years.

Several states, including Washington, have taken varied steps towards legalizing medical cannabis, and public sentiment is not inclined to throw a wrench in the works.

But the actions of a growing number of pot heads could change that.

An investigative journalism piece by the Trib’s Rob Carson (10/2) shed some light on a growing phenomenon-  modern day carpetbaggers setting up marijuana permitting clinics in Tacoma. Medical credentials aside, the aim of these individuals and their storefronts is to churn out a high volume of marijuana permits whether or not their patients’ needs are legally valid.

Like dope dealers everywhere, these individuals are all about skirting the law in the name of profit.

Read more »

The old story, medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal, is the new story.  Or is it?

Lately, the debate on legalized marijuana is bearing a striking resemblance to the hokey-pokey. With state and local governments calling the dance, dispensers are taking their open signs in and then taking them back out on almost a weekly basis. It’s hard to keep track.

Seattle has chosen sides. After a city council resolution to minimize the priority of marijuana possession crimes, it comes as no surprise that the city appears to be welcoming medical marijuana merchants.

Tacoma, well, not so much. Mayor Strickland appears to be saying no in a recent Trib article, but the negative doesn’t seem to have much of a punch. At question is whether or not there will be any enforcement on the current dispensaries.

What, exactly, is going on? The roadblock, or the grease, depending upon your point of view, is the federal government.

Read more »

In all the smoky confusion coming out of Olympia’s chronic attempt at definitive medical marijuana legislation, it would seem that something fairly basic was lost on those attending this year’s Hempfest at Wright Park.

It’s still illegal to smoke marijuana.

The Trib article describing police arrests at Tacoma’s Hempfest also suggested that many of those given citations were also people deeply involved in the, pardon the pun, grassroots effort to legalize pot. People with that much information on the current state of marijuana legislation should have been the least surprise by the police response, which amounted to citations for possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana. One such person commented that “I was dumbfounded” after being cited for having drug pipes.

Read more »

“Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana….We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society.” -U.S. Representative Dan Quayle, March 1977

If you are old enough to recall some of Dan Quayle’s head-scratching remarks (such as “For NASA, space is still a high priority”) the above comment might explain a lot. What it fails to explain is the rigid stance against marijuana by federal politicians both then and now.

The fact is that some form of every hard core drug from heroin to cocaine to methamphetamine is available by prescription at your local pharmacy. Though possession of even trace amounts of these controlled substances amounts to a felony crime, a small amount of marijuana equates to a simple misdemeanor. Whether we accept that marijuana is the smoking version of alcohol or a narcotic that should remain on the list of controlled substances, overwhelming evidence suggests it also has a part to play as a prescribed drug.

Read more »