Report
Source: Newswise

Newswise -- The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

The research suggests that the development of a legal drug that contains certain properties similar to those in marijuana might help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Though the exact cause of Alzheimer’s remains unknown, chronic inflammation in the brain is believed to contribute to memory impairment.

By Michelle Lamont
Source: Cavalier Daily

USA -- Imagine you or someone you love is suffering from a chronic, painful illness. When the pain becomes intolerable, you head to your doctor, begging for something to ease your suffering and restore your quality of life, something to make you feel like your old self again. Your doctor offers you two options: a synthetic, potentially addictive narcotic, or a natural remedy derived from a plant. The choice seems pretty simple — until you realize that the first option is the popular painkiller Vicodin, and the second is the illegal drug marijuana.

By Matthew Miller, Lansing State Journal
Source: Lansing State Journal

Michigan -- Though medical marijuana soon will be legal in Michigan, patients and their caregivers still will have to break the law to get it, at least the first time.

Proposal 1 will allow approved patients and their caretakers to possess and grow the drug, but there won't be a legal way to get marijuana seeds or seedlings.

By UPI
Source: United Press International

San Francisco, CA -- San Francisco officials dispute U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy's claims the city has more medical marijuana outlets than Starbucks coffee shops.

The office said in a posting on its official blog, pushingback.com, that San Francisco is home to 98 medical marijuana dispensaries and only 71 Starbucks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

By Alex Coffman
Source: Daily Nexus

USA -- Cannabis is one of the oldest medicines known to man. The Chinese recognized the medicinal and “magical” properties of which many are fond. Ancient Egypt, India, the Middle East and later Europe all have left documents of the uses of cannabis. In the 1700s, an English medical text describes applying hemp to the skin to reduce inflammation, to promote joint health and to dissolve tumors.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper.

By Hannah Guzik, Tidings Correspondent
Source: Ashland Daily Tidings

Oregon -- Ed Rosenthal stood before 400 pot plants on the stage Sunday at Southern Oregon University, as he taught locals how to successfully grow medical marijuana and grew heated himself as he railed against state laws restricting how many plants a patient can have.

There was no actual pot present at the gathering, save for the occasional smell of it on people's clothes; instead, Rosenthal projected photographs of the plants onto a large screen to a crowd of about 50 at Meese Auditorium.

By Zach Colman, The State News
Source: State News

Michigan -- Although the details regarding Proposal 1 and Michigan’s upcoming medical marijuana program still are being discussed, some people have concerns about the program’s implications.

The Board of State Canvassers must meet in the next two to three weeks to certify the 2008 election, after which the Michigan Department of Community Health must promulgate a series of rules to implement the constitutional amendment by Dec. 4. The administrative process must be ready to operate by April 4.

By Crystal McMorris
Source: The Bay City Times

Michigan voters said yes to medical marijuana by a ratio of nearly 2-1.

And while the law takes effect Dec. 4, details of how it will play out remain hazy among doctors, law enforcement officials and state residents who want to use the drug for medicinal purposes.

By Jeff Wiehe, The Journal Gazette
Source: Journal Gazette

Michigan -- If you’re in Michigan and ill enough, you will soon be able to legally do what a government study estimates roughly 14.8 million people in the United States do at least casually: Smoke weed.

Voters up north solidly supported an initiative this past Election Day legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, making it the 13th state in the nation and the first in the Midwest to do so.

By Elaine LaFay, Daily Staff Reporter
Source: Michigan Daily

Michigan -- On November 4, Proposal 1 to legalize medicinal marijuana passed in Michigan by a landslide, capturing 63 percent of the vote. But don’t expect to see any “pot shops” on State Street — it’s not California. The new proposal is not a green light to grow pot, even if you’re feeling faint or feverish.

Under Michigan’s proposal, a person must have a debilitating illness including cancer, glaucoma, Crohn’s Disease, Hepatitis C, or AIDS in order to qualify for medical marijuana.

By Ian Mulgrew
Source: Vancouver Sun

DUNCAN, Canada - Eric Nash can barely contain his excitement waiting to hear from Health Canada whether he can start growing marijuana for 250 patients.

That would be just the start. There are tens of thousands more who are ailing across the country and clamouring for his organic "B.C. Bud."

By Christie Wilson
Source: Honolulu Advertiser

PA'IA, Maui — The head of a medical marijuana advocacy group on Maui and six other men have been charged with running a drug trafficking ring.

The suspects were arrested Tuesday following a two-year investigation surrounding the Patients Without Time organization located on Baldwin Avenue in Pa'ia, said Capt. Gerald Matsunaga of the Maui Police Department.

By Jessica Lussenhop
Source: Metro Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, CA -- On Friday, Oct. 10, one of the final days of the marijuana harvest in her garden, Valerie Leveroni Corral feels the first real chill of fall on the deck of the home she built in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Stepping around her geriatric dog Ebo and over a deaf cat lying supine in a pool of morning sunlight, she pulls a coat on over her tiny frame and gets into her old Volvo station wagon to drive the gravel road to the garden.

By Carson Lemahieu
Source: North Wind

Michigan -- Universities across Michigan may soon face trouble enforcing a newly passed proposal which legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Proposal 1, which passed in Michigan in the Nov. 4 election, legalized the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana with a valid prescription.

Carl Holm, director of Housing and Residence Life, said NMU has not reached a decision on any campus policy towards medical marijuana.

By Ginger McGuire
Source: News review

Joel Castle proudly—and publicly—provides medical marijuana to qualified buyers

On a recent bright fall day, Joel Castle stood outside the 8-foot fence that surrounds his home, a joint in one hand, a glass jar filled with marijuana buds in the other. On the fence were colorful paintings in the style of Gilbert Shelton and R. Crumb showing a Mr. Natural-type figure smoking a hand-rolled cigarette and boldly advertising that this is the home of the Chico Cannabis Club.

By Conor Doyle, CU Independent Staff Writer
Source: Campus Press

Colorado -- CU's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law-NORML@CU-hosted its second event of the semester in front of a full room of students eager to learn positive ways they can bring change to state and local governments, as well as how laws for medical and recreational marijuana usage affect students themselves.

"It's vital to know your rights if you're going to break the law, you should take responsibility for what you're doing and know how the laws affect you," Andy Bolzer, a photojournalism major at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, said. "And if you're not breaking the law, it's still best to be educated."

By Hunter Riley
Source: Daily Lobo

New Mexico -- Since medicinal marijuana was legalized in New Mexico in 2007, there are about 200 medical cannabis users in the state, according to Reena Szczepanski, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico. However, patients have no place to legally purchase the drug, except in California, Szczepanski said.

"We're in the situation that 12 other states are in," she said. "California has these medical marijuana dispensaries, but they are the only state that is addressing the supply issue.

Kevin L. Hoover
Source: Eye Editor

CITY HALL – The City Council last week signed off on draft standards for medical marijuana, including far-reaching regulations governing cannabis dispensaries and home cultivation by Prop 215 patients. The standards attempt to eliminate illegal for-profit home cultivation as well.

The council meeting covered familiar ground, but this time included props – including actual cannabis.

By Stover E. Harger Iii
Source: The Forest Grove News-Times

Former Oregon resident says the law clearly requires confidentiality

Does Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon have it out for medical marijuana users?

That’s what a Vancouver man is asking in a complaint filed with the state agency that monitors police conduct.

By Lance Vaillancourt
Source: Colorado Daily

For University of Colorado senior Mike West, the most effective remedy for chronic pain is, well, chronic.

Recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered while skateboarding, West said he obtained a medical-marijuana card in April so he could treat his pain.

"I could have gotten a prescription for opiates, but I didn't want to deal with the addictive and depressive side effects that go with them," West said Monday. "My doctor agreed, so we filled out the paperwork and mailed it in.

By KEVIN MARTIN
Source: The Canadian Press

CALGARY, Canada -- Alberta's top court has ruled against medical marijuana crusader Grant Krieger.

The Albert Court of Appeal says Mr. Krieger can't "piggyback" on the Charter rights of sick people to have access to medicinal marijuana.

By Charlie Cain, Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Source: Detroit News

Michigan -- The votes were clear: Michigan residents gave the green light Tuesday to legalize marijuana for the seriously ill and topple some barriers to using embryonic stem cells for medical research. But the implications of both may be anything but.

One day after the ballot proposals passed by healthy margins -- 63-37 percent for marijuana and 53-47 for stem cells -- several questions remained Wednesday.

By Amanda Schaffer
Source: Slate

World -- This summer, British and Italian researchers found that in a laboratory plate, molecules in marijuana can slay the superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which recently infected seven babies and four employees in a Yonkers, N.Y., maternity ward, heightening fears of outbreaks in schools and locker rooms, as well as in its more familiar breeding grounds, hospitals and nursing homes. In theory, compounds derived from the cannabis plant could someday serve in topical creams for patients with MRSA or other antibiotic-resistant infections.

By Jeff Karoub
Source:Associated Press

Detroit, MI -- Voters in Michigan overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana ballot measure -- making it one of a quarter of states to allow severely ill patients to use the illegal drug.

The measure passed in every county. With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, 63 percent, or 2,983,388 people, voted "yes" on Proposal 1, which removes state penalties for registered patients to buy, grow and use small amounts of marijuana. Thirty-seven percent, or 1,778,939 voters, were opposed.

By Dawson Bell
Source:Detroit Free Press

Michigan voters favored sanctioning the use of medical marijuana to treat debilitating illness Tuesday, apparently rejecting arguments that doing so would increase crime and juvenile drug use.

The marijuana measure, Proposal 1, led 63% to 37%, with 87% precincts tallied early this morning. The vote was 2,566,783 in favor to 1,526,477 against. When it goes into effect -- 10 days after the vote is certified later this month -- patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other conditions can be authorized to cultivate, possess and use marijuana without fear of prosecution under state law.

By Megha Satyanarayana,
Source:Detroit Free Press

Michigan -- Proposal 1 would allow people with serious or terminal illnesses to use marijuana for pain and nausea relief. It was put on Tuesday's ballot by the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, funded in part by the Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization.

If passed, the law would go into effect 10 days after the vote.

By Dawson Bell
Source: Detroit Free Press

-- Michigan voters like the idea of decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, backing the measure 61%-30%, the Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll shows. Nine percent said they were undecided about allowing medical marijuana, designated as Proposal 1 on the ballot.

Support for Proposal 1 comes from Michiganders of various backgrounds and parts of the state. But it was stronger among younger voters (66%) than older voters (47%), and among Democrats (76%) than Republicans (49%).

by David Eggert
Source:Associated Press

Lansing, MI -- Both sides in the debate over a Michigan medical marijuana proposal are sparring over TV ads, with backers showing suffering patients and opponents warning that California-style pot shops could open.

Critics of the measure plan to air a 30-second ad Thursday that shows sinister-looking men standing outside a storefront labeled "Cannabis Company" while children walk by or stop to talk to them.

By Katie Oyan
Source: Montana Standard

Helena, MT -- The director of a statewide medical marijuana advocacy group is calling a Wednesday decision by the Montana Supreme Court a "big victory" for the state's patients and voters.

In a 6-1 ruling, the high court said District Judge Laurie McKinnon overstepped her authority with two sentencing conditions she placed on Timothy Nelson of Conrad.

By Barbara Davis
Source: Detroit Free Press

Michigan -- As nurses, we are on the front lines of providing care and comfort to patients suffering from terrible illnesses. Michigan nurses strongly support Proposal 1, the medical marijuana initiative. And, frankly, we are appalled at the misinformation being spread by opponents.

There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve suffering. In a White House-commissioned study released in 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana."