Is cannabis a medicine or a toxin? The question is the problem. It’s a false dichotomy. The struggle at the local level I was at Camden City Hall on Monday night for a hearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The subject was the application by two property owners (under common control and owning adjacent… Read More Cannabis must be radioactive or at least highly toxic

Pack v City of Long Beach is one of four medical cannabis cases that is going to the California Supreme Court. I believe that the holding and reasoning are not good for the type of system for licensing dispensaries that appears in the RI, NY, and NJ laws, i.e. people apply to the state for… Read More California state court rules that federal law preempts a local licensing ordinance – bad news for the rest of us?

The Next State In The Federal Government’s Crosshairs Is Colorado

I posted previously about an interesting variation in the federalism problem which state medical cannabis laws create. State medical cannabis laws are an end-run around federal drug control policy, A/K/A prohibition. However, even when the states legalize therapeutic uses of cannabis, the localities can use their powers to ban cannabis distribution systems. Upper Freehold NJ… Read More NJ township bans medical marijuana dispensaries

In my latest post I cited to the section of Gonzales v. Raich in which the decision indicated that moving cannabis to one of Schedule II through V would still subject cannabis to [I paraphrase] the heavy regulatory burdens of the Controlled Substances Act. The opinion goes on to say “Furthermore, the dispensing of new… Read More Cannabis as an herb, literally and legally.

For about two weeks I have intended to respond to Eapen’s comment on my last post in which s/he (?) asked about the relationship between (a) Buford Terrell’s proposed interpretation of the “currently accepted medical use in treatment” scheduling criterion and (b) the US Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v Raich, 545 US 1 (2005).… Read More Federal regulation of medicine and Gonzales v Raich

That which stands between the current human condition and an alternative mode of existence is 21 U.S.C. Section 812(b)(1)(B). That statutory citation, in plain English, is the “medical use” prong of Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the knot at the heart of drug prohibition. Section 812 of the CSA states the elements of… Read More "Currently accepted medical use in treatment," A/K/A the end game

Let us revisit New Jersey for a moment, with specific regard to a fascinating comment in a recent story in the Philadelphia Inquirer (Nov 26, 2011) about local opposition to Alternative Treatment Centers (“ATCs”)0. First, back in March, the state approved the six entities described as ATCs, i.e. the suppliers to the medical cannabis market.… Read More Irony in federalism – New Jersey

Doug drew my attention to the following article about the Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California: The Gaps in Medical Marijuana Knowledge – voiceofsandiego.org: Q & As. I had heard of the Center but never really focused on it.The article says that the Center has been conducting what are the equivalent… Read More Clinical trials of cannabis in California? What?

Last Friday, November 18, I attended a hearing conducted by the New York City Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, and Disability Services. As discussed in my previous post, the subject of the hearing was a proposed resolution by the Council calling upon the New York State legislature to enact a… Read More The City Council hearing