Tag: Medical Marijuana

The ACLU sent a letter this week to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding the Obama administration keep its word not to prosecute people for using medical marijuana in compliance with state and local laws.

In Montana, even though a new law severely restricting medical marijuana won't take effect until July 1, the repercussions are already being felt as businesses are closing, often in the middle of the night and leaving vacant properties and unfulfilled leases from one end of the state to the next.

Writing in the Great Falls Tribune this week, former Montana legislator William Strizich rips into the legislature and Governor Brian Schweitzer for ignoring not only the will of the people but the pain and suffering of hundreds of patients whose lives have been improved--or even saved by medical marijuana.

Congressional newspaper The Hill reports that as the standoff between the federal government and the medical marijuana industry continues, efforts are being made in Washington to resolve some of the issues that have led to the current atmosphere of mutual hostility.

The Colorado Senate killed a bill that would have established a legal limit in Colorado to the amount of THC drivers can have in their system. Lawmakers on the right and left who voted against the bill felt they were attempting to make policy without adequate information. House Bill 1261, sponsored in the Senate by Grand Junction Republican Steve King, died 20 nays to 15 ayes.

The Aurora Sentinel today editorialized against the back-again legislation that would set a legal limit for THC in the blood, beyond which a driver is considered impaired.

On Friday, a bill to make it easier to charge stoned drivers with DUI rose from the dead and is now expected to pass by Wednesday.

In Montana, medical marijuana advocates say the passage of legislation which would all but outlaw medical marijuana in the state is merely the beginning of the battle.

A bill described as "clean-up" legislation for last year's medical marijuana regulations passed out of committee after hours of testimony that showed a clear rift in the medical marijuana provider community. Concerns were also expressed by the Colorado attorney general's office that the federal government may decide to step in.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has announced he will allow SB 423 to become law without his signature. Schweitzer earlier vetoed a bill that would have banned medical marijuana outright.