cannabisnews.com: Utah To Welcome Marijuana for Limited Medical Use

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  Utah To Welcome Marijuana for Limited Medical Use

Posted by CN Staff on March 25, 2014 at 14:46:42 PT
By Michelle L. Price, Associated Press  
Source: Associated Press 

Salt Lake City -- Parents of Utah children with severe epilepsy are cheering a new state law that allows them to obtain a marijuana extract they say helps with seizures, but procuring it involves navigating a thorny set of state and federal laws. Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has already approved the law and is holding a signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon.The new law doesn't allow medical marijuana production in Utah but allows families meeting certain restrictions to obtain the extract from other states. Similar legislation is pending in at least one other state, and Utah advocates hope more will follow. The marijuana extract, which some believe helps with a severe form of epilepsy, is produced in nearby Colorado and is designed not to produce a high.
But Colorado experts say restrictions passed in that state to appease the federal government make it a murky process for Utah families to actually get marijuana-derived products, particularly as all state medical marijuana laws are illegal under federal law.Utah Rep. Gage Froerer, a Republican from Huntsville who sponsored the new state law, said families are willing to take that risk to treat their children with the oil."They know very well that this may not protect them from the DEA if the federal prosecutors stepped in," Froerer told his colleagues earlier this month.To gain support in conservative Utah, the push for the legislation focused on helping children suffering from a severe form of epilepsy and the law itself is tempered with restrictions.The law takes effect on July 1 and expires in 2016. It's restricted to those with severe epilepsy for whom the regular treatments are not effective, and requires a neurologist's consent to obtain and use the extract.The extract comes from a strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web, named after the first child treated with it. The plant is low in THC, the hallucinogenic chemical in marijuana, and high in CBD, a chemical that may fight seizures.Doctors and others have warned that there's no proof yet that the extract is effective at treating epilepsy or even safe, but for parents like Jennifer May of Pleasant Grove, the hope that he oil will give their kids a better quality of life is worth pursuing."It helps more than our kids. It will hopefully help other states," said May, whose 12-year-old son can suffer hundreds of seizures a day. "It will hopefully push things a little more on a federal level if they see that even the most conservative states want something done."A similar medical cannabis oil bill was passed recently by the Alabama Legislature and awaits the governor's signature.On Friday, an Arizona judge ruled that state's medical marijuana law allows patients to consume marijuana-extracts, something state and local officials had determined said were not permitted. The case was prompted by a 5-year-old boy with debilitating seizures.Some legal experts say states authorizing certain strains of marijuana medicine may be unlikely to produce any relief for patients.Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who helped craft Colorado's marijuana regulations, said that laws like Utah's are "mostly symbolic."An August memo from the U.S. Department of Justice told marijuana states that in order for federal authorities to look the other way, states must take steps to prevent diversion to other states where marijuana is not legal."There's no provision in law that would let a licensed Colorado business sell any marijuana-derived product out of state," Kamin said. "They could sell an ounce to someone who shows up here, then that person could take it home at their own risk. But they couldn't ship it."Joel Stanley and his brothers grow the plant in the mountains west of Colorado Springs and have a waitlist of about 2,000 for the marijuana product.Stanley said families on his waiting list now have to meet Colorado residency requirements, such as establishing an address and becoming a registered patient, in order to obtain the product under that state's medical marijuana laws.With the new Utah law, families will still need to go through those hoops to get the product, but they'll be allowed to possess it in both states, Stanley said."From a federal government standpoint, the fact that it crosses state lines doesn't really make it any more illegal," he said. "It's just illegal period."Stanley's group is working to produce the extract as a hemp product later this fall, which he said makes it no more illegal than products such as hemp oil and hemp milk sold at stores around the country."A patient can either drive in and pick it up and drive it across without going through any of the Colorado residency issues, or we'll be able to mail it to those patients," he said.However, Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, dismissed the theory that some strains of this drug are so low in THC that they would grow it as industrial hemp and not pot."Whether you can derive CBD oil from hemp, nobody has any idea," Armentano said, arguing that parents of sick children in cannabinoid oil states will be disappointed. "The proposed solution to their plight is not a solution at all."Associated Press writers Kristen Wyatt and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.Source: Associated Press (Wire) Author: Michelle L. Price, Associated Press Published:  March 25, 2014Copyright: 2014 The Associated PressCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 

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Comment #23 posted by FoM on March 29, 2014 at 06:00:04 PT
Hope
That is all I meant. I always look towards the end result of almost everything.
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on March 28, 2014 at 22:11:07 PT
Waitlist?
"Joel Stanley and his brothers grow the plant in the mountains west of Colorado Springs and have a waitlist of about 2,000 for the marijuana product."If our government and it's agents and representatives really cared about "The children", like they are always exclaiming they do....they would be doing their best to facilitate getting enough of these plants growing to help all these children, hopefully, have a chance, at least a chance, at a better life.... a better day, even... as soon as possible.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on March 28, 2014 at 19:51:19 PT
FoM
I see what you mean. The "Fair" part threw me. Nothing has ever been fair about any of this. But I'm sure that eventually, surely, people will have the freedom,or reclaim the freedom,under law, even, to grow the plant. It is just a plant. And it's not even poison. I think it would be nice to have a cup of cannabis tea at bedtime. But, as it is, a person could get killed, arrested, or imprisoned over wanting to have that particular cup of tea in some parts of this country... and the world. The government could break into your home if they thought you had a plant and shoot you if they thought you had a gun. It's the dangedest thing. It's the craziest thing. The world has got to get to be a better place than it is. And it will be a better place when there is no reason to kill anyone over a plant or no reason to send a swat team bursting into people's homes because of it. It can be done. Legalize it.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on March 28, 2014 at 13:28:51 PT
Hope
I look at issue way differently then many people. I look at the end or close to the end. In the 70s we all felt big tobacco would grow marijuana since growing marijuana didn't seem like something the average person could do. I really don't care who grows lots of marijuana but to deny individuals the right to grow their own would be tragic. That is important.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on March 28, 2014 at 13:04:22 PT
FoM.  Elaborate, please.
"I don't want to see the fairness of legalization getting lost."
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Comment #18 posted by runruff on March 27, 2014 at 08:46:52 PT
Don't mind the joker
Of course you are right with what you said. I am in a position to be enjoying that particular freedom as we speak. Believe me, I do not take this lightly. In my mind and in my emotional memory the anger rages. I try to control it but at times it is so ferocious it takes a whip and a chair to tame it. 
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on March 27, 2014 at 07:54:54 PT
runruff
The cost of everything keeps going up and everyone tries to trim expenses the best that they can. One way would be for people to be able to grow their own like we can a vegetable garden. It is a simple common sense solution for many people. Some would not want to grow but many would if they could without fear.
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Comment #16 posted by runruff on March 27, 2014 at 07:33:24 PT
#15 FoM.
I once found myself cornered in "Having To"! Out numbered, I had to fight my out!My battle cry,"Remember Having To"!
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 27, 2014 at 05:17:28 PT
Hope and Afterburner
I look at it this way. I don't like how all of this is going but as long as in the end people can grow their own if they want to I will be happy. That way if people can't afford to pay high prices they won't be cornered into having to.
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Comment #14 posted by afterburner on March 26, 2014 at 21:17:14 PT
FoM#12 We Don't Want a Kinder, Gentler Prohibition
Nixon started the War On Drugs and the Schedule One folly of cannabis prohibition. In order to uproot the evil of his treachery, we must never forget his motivations and prejudices. We must investigate the alternatives given at that time to see why legalization, true legalization, is so necessary today. It's the only way to stop the government attack on peaceful people who just want medical relief, spiritual enlightenment or safer adult relaxation. Government monopolies or Big Marijuana will never be enough. We keep fighting in Washington state, Canada and elsewhere to be allowed home gardening of this Gift of God plant for the healing of the nations. Eric E. Sterling.
President, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
Shafer Commission Report on Marijuana and Drugs, Issued 40 Years Ago Today, Was Ahead of its Time. 
Posted: 03/21/2013 3:53 pm 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-e-sterling/shafer-commission-report-_b_2925777.htmlNixon Tapes Reveal Twisted Roots Of Marijuana Prohibition. 
White House Conversations Reveal Prejudices, Culture War Behind Nixon's Drug War. 
The Former Governor Delivered An Honest, Thorough Report. The President Wanted Something Different. 
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/nixon.htm
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on March 26, 2014 at 19:57:51 PT
Mark Kleiman is a Prohibitionist.
He's going to say tacky stuff. It's what he does. He himself had more than a little to do with the hippie element being "Pushed aside". Now he's all wishing for them? Right. More of his double dealing.Of course we know that marijuana use is not any sort of "Moral turpitude". We've always known that. It's only a sin or a "Moral turpitude" in the minds of certain individuals. That certainly doesn't make it so for others.I could never visualize how legalization was going to be. It makes sense that it's going this way... as one way it could have gone. Speaking out against the prohibition of cannabis has always been a matter to me of doing all I can do to make the government stop killing, hurting, imprisoning, and stealing from people. It's all so unjust. So obviously and egregiously unjust and the "Collateral damage" has been hideous. I'm glad that's slowing down... and will stop. That's what I'm glad of more than anything. A safer better world for everyone. I'm not so much into any culture war or cultural gerrymandering of any sort. I want the government to stop breaking into people's homes over this stuff. I want them to stop stealing and I want them to stop killing and harming innocent and even not so innocent people. It's just stupid to harm people over the use of this plant. And very wrong. It's very wrong... and I'm here to raise some question and express some outrage about it. We have all done that. We have banded together. Stood together. Encouraged each other. Comforted each other. Things are getting better. No more Drug War Victims http://victims.drugwarrant.com/ No more home invasions. No more killing. No more insulting, demonizing, and bearing false witness.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on March 26, 2014 at 16:46:59 PT

Hope
I don't want to see the fairness of legalization getting lost. It will not be big money like some think when the laws are changed for everyone. The reason to change the law for me has always been moral not financial.Excerpt: The battle over whether marijuana is a moral turpitude is over. It has been replaced by a series of smaller, professional fights: where it should be legalized, how it should be taxed and how it must be regulated. But add up all those little skirmishes and what you have is a fight for the soul of the marijuana movement. “I think what we’re seeing now is the transition from the movement to the lobby,” says Mark Kleiman, a UCLA professor who moonlights as Washington state’s drug czar. “The hippies are being pushed aside by the suits. That’s too bad, because the interest of the hippies has been consistent with the public view, and the interest of the suits is opposed.” 

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Comment #11 posted by Hope on March 26, 2014 at 15:15:01 PT

Comment 5
Why? Do you sense they are fixing to mess up badly?I was disappointed in Polis. His remark was insulting to those that worked hard to lay the foundation he's standing so tall on. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's standing with us. 
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Comment #10 posted by runruff on March 26, 2014 at 10:32:14 PT

My website is all completely up!
Was a little unfinished but good to go now though!First thing I will do is put in for a raise otherwise they might think I am up to something.
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on March 26, 2014 at 07:46:30 PT

CBD-only Blockade Hindering Whole Plant MMJ Laws
AlterNet / By Martin A. Lee. Marijuana Medicine's Near-Miraculous Healing Powers Require the Whole Plant—Not Just One Oil Extract. CBD-only laws are a pretext to extend marijuana prohibition under the guise of 'protecting the children.' 32 COMMENTS. March 23, 2014 http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-medicines-near-miraculous-healing-powers-require-whole-plant-not-just-one-oil?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
Excerpt: { “I’m running into this blockade everywhere I go,” said Sisley. “CBD-oil bills are popping up in nearly every state that is examining medical marijuana legislation. And it’s making it much more difficult to pass comprehensive legislation that can address a wide range of conditions. I tried to explain to the legislators that a CBD-only law would benefit a narrow segment of the patient population. The vast majority of patients need access to a broader spectrum of whole plant marijuana remedies. Even pediatric patients need more options.” } 
Pressure the U.S. federal government to reschedule cannabis out of schedule one. No lame CBD-only exemption, like synthetic Marinol! Whole plant cannabis is blessed, is a healer of the nations. Do right, feds, deschedule cannabis.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on March 26, 2014 at 07:19:16 PT

runruff
You are no goof at all silly boy!
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Comment #7 posted by runruff on March 26, 2014 at 07:02:25 PT

Oh, thanks FoM. 
Please don't tell my constituents that I am a tech goofus.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 26, 2014 at 06:58:04 PT

Runruff
http://www.JerryDSisson.com
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 26, 2014 at 06:56:30 PT

Hope
I read that article and it made my blood run cold. 
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on March 26, 2014 at 06:54:41 PT

I guess I'll be a dark horse cadidate?
My link isn't working! Uh oh!
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on March 26, 2014 at 06:37:24 PT

Move to oregon and vote for me~
I will be joining the army of trough feeders Who think they know it all! Lol!WWW.JerryDSisson.com Today the county tomorrow the governor!
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on March 26, 2014 at 06:31:50 PT

Worth reading...
Big Pot rising: The marijuana industry’s first full-time lobbyist makes rounds on Capitol Hillhttp://tinyurl.com/nf7wwa5Also, Pete has some work over at Drug War Rant that some here might find interesting. Legalization models http://www.drugwarrant.com/2014/03/legalization-models/I did. This model of "Big Marijuana" was not chosen by those of us ready to see this nasty prohibition end. As Pete said, we would have been happy with several models of legality. It didn't have to be this "Big" thing. Regardless, though, I'm just so thankful the persecutions are going to end.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 26, 2014 at 06:31:17 PT

No more backward steps.
Currently, the cannabis movement is only going forward and this is a step forward.However, Utah, controlled by Mormons, seems to be saying the "table of the Lord is defiled", the "table of the Lord is to be despised."-And that exposes their soul and spirit.God, indicates He created all the seed bearing plants saying their all good (page 1). Mormons say cannabis is bad and they should cage humans who use it, including sick humans.Caging humans for using what God says is good on literally the very 1st page of the Bible is bad JUJU.-0-Malachi 1:6-14New American Standard Bible (NASB)Sin of the Priestshttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+1%3A6-14&version=NASB
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