Of all days to do it too. On 4/20.
Can someone confirm this please?
Edit: Read post under.
Here ya go.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/dc/dc-council-approves-medical-ma.html (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/dc/dc-council-approves-medical-ma.html)
Quote
D.C. Council approves medical marijuana
The D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to allow chronically ill patients to receive a doctor's prescription to use marijuana and buy it from a city-sanctioned distribution center.
Under the bill, which passed without debate, a patient who suffers from HIV, glaucoma, cancer or a "chronic and lasting disease" may receive a doctor's recommendation to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a 30-day period.
The patient would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana, but between five and eight pot distribution centers would be established in the city.
Those distribution centers would receive marijuana from privately run cultivation centers, where up to 95 marijuana plants could be grown at a given time. The distribution and cultivation centers, which could not be located within 300 feet of a school or preschool, would be operated by private or nonprofit organizations and businesses that would be licensed by the city.
The council will have to vote on it a second time next month. But it will likely be at least several months before the city's medical marijuana program gets off the ground.
--Tim Craig
Awsome.
I agree. Not that I indulge, but see no reason why others should not be able to.
It does wonders for those in pain. Not as bad of side effects as poping endless pills either. I am all for this.
This from Slate Magazine. Maybe sanity is breaking out at last. But who would have thunk it would be D.C.?
QuoteWhy I Give My 9-Year-Old Pot, Part 3We hit a snag and made a big discovery about how medical marijuana works for him.
By Marie Myung-Ok LeePosted Monday, April 19, 2010, at 10:26 AM ET
This is the third DoubleX essay from Marie Myung-Ok Lee about treating her autistic son with marijuana. Read her first essay here and her second essay here.
Marie and her son. Click image to expand.The author and her sonLast summer, we reached the six-month mark in our cannabis experiment. We'd been using medical marijuana to help quell our autistic son's gut pain and anxiety, and we were seeing some huge changes in his behavior and, presumably, his happiness. J was smiling, interacting (one of home-based therapists said she'd never encountered such an affectionate autistic child), even putting his dirty dishes in the dishwasherâ€"rinsing and everything!â€"not only without being told, but without ever having been asked to do such a thing. The more I'd been reading, along with J's doctor, about the effects of cannabisâ€"analgesic, anti-anxiety, safeâ€"the more it seemed a logical choice. I've also heard from other parents who've decided to try cannabis for their children. One of the kids has Smith-Magenis, a genetic disorder that includes autismlike behavioral symptoms including self-injury. Another is an autistic child who'd refused to eat and was near death. Post-marijuana, he is thriving. The Smith-Magenis boy, who'd been about to start court-ordered medication, is also doing well.
It's a much longer article, too long to post, but here is the link to the rest of it:
http://www.slate.com/id/2251174/ (http://www.slate.com/id/2251174/)
D.C. voters approved a law allowing medical marijuana in 1998. Voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that would allow for the possession, use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana if recommended by a physician for serious illnesses.
Initiative 59 passed with 69 percent of the vote in 1998, but before it could take effect, Congress passed legislation banning the practice in the District.
The Republican-controlled Congress blocked the city from setting its own drug policies. (You know, the party that complans that the Federal government is too intrusive.)
finehoe wrote "The Republican-controlled Congress blocked the city from setting its own drug policies. (You know, the party that complains that the Federal government is too intrusive.)"
Republicans only complain that the Federal government is too intrusive or too big when they're out of power. When they're in power they believe they have to expand government to get re-elected.
Tax code could be the end of medical marijuana dispensaries.
From the Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/how-the-tax-code-could-destroy-medical-marijuana/246142/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/how-the-tax-code-could-destroy-medical-marijuana/246142/)
Quote
How the Tax Code Could Destroy Medical Marijuana
By Conor Friedersdorf
Oct 4 2011, 3:43 PM ET 18
The IRS has told California's largest provider of cannabis that it doesn't qualify for normal deductions, but a U.S. congressman is trying to change that
The slick video above is a testament to the professionalism and savvy of the folks at the Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary on the West Coast. They're popular in their community, Oakland, among both their 83,000 members and city officials who appreciate the $1,081,450 tax bill the nonprofit organization recently paid into municipal coffers. But Luigi Zamarra, Harborside's chief financial officer, says that a tax problem with the IRS may force the operation to shut its doors if the federal agency's current ruling stands.
At issue is whether Harborside should be able to write off expenses as any other business would, or if selling marijuana changes everything. The Bay Citizen explains the specifics in its coverage. "The IRS insists that medical marijuana dispensaries must obey a section of tax code that prohibits companies from deducting most expenses if they are 'trafficking in controlled substances.' The section, 280e, was designed as a tool for fighting drug trafficking," writes reporter Zusha Elinson. "Zamarra said that the IRS letter states that Harborside can't deduct rent, payroll, health insurance or worker's compensation insurance -- deductions that are standard for many other industries. The only two things the IRS says the dispensary can deduct are the cost of buying marijuana and the cost of alternative health care services such as yoga, he said."
Isn't that odd? The product, marijuana, is legal in California. It's illegal under federal law, but IRS rules permit the cost of the product itself to be deducted anyway. What isn't permitted is selling marijuana and making standard deductions. It's a story about the clash between federal and state drug laws, but as much an instance of nonsensical tax laws that Congresses pass and that the IRS then enforces, becoming hated in the process when really lawmakers are to blame.
The Bay Citizen identifies the obvious solution: "East Bay Congressman Pete Stark introduced a bill this spring that would change the federal tax code to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to make the same deductions as normal businesses." It goes on to note that "with the federal opposition to marijuana dispensaries, it's unclear whether the president would sign the bill."
If you're pondering where you stand on the issue, it's worth thinking through what will happen if there is no fix and the dispensary closes. Suddenly 83,000 people, or a substantial fraction at the very least, will start obtaining medical marijuana either from a less scrupulous dispensary (Harborside is known even at the IRS for keeping accurate books) or one of the East Bay's many marijuana dealers. They'll no longer know the potency of what they're getting or its origin. The City of Oakland and the United States government will each take in a lot less tax revenue. And the decades-long, obviously unwinnable War on Drugs won't be any closer to being won. That doesn't seem like an optimal outcome from a policy perspective, does it? If only the federal government would stop trying to regulate intrastate commerce in this area we'd all be better off.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/how-the-tax-code-could-destroy-medical-marijuana/246142/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/how-the-tax-code-could-destroy-medical-marijuana/246142/)