Global Ganja Report

After years of upholding employee firings for use of cannabis even under state medical marijuana programs, the courts are finally starting to turn around on the question.

One of the ways state medical marijuana programs have failed to fully extend protection to medicinal users is in failure to defend against employment discrimination. This is now beginning to change, thanks to a few recent court decisions in favor of patients and employees.

In response to public comments made against marijuana reform by former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, patient advocates wrote to Kennedy inviting him to attend a national conference on medical marijuana scheduled for Feb. 22-25 at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC. Kennedy announced on Jan. 9 the formation of a new group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), which claims to take a different approach than either legalization advocates or government drug warriors. However, advocates argue that SAM's supposed pro-public health approach ignores the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant and is simply using a new narrative to make the same arguments used by marijuana opponents for years.

Well, the dust has hardly settled but the boots are at the door; they might come storming through, riling up that dust some more.

But we hope not. The boots belong to the Justice Department and the door belongs to the states of Washington and Colorado. The dust is the election that saw those two states make the biggest moves toward cannabis legalization any state has made in a long long time. No, neither law is perfect, and it is going to be a cold day in hell probably before state stores are up and running. But still, the fact that the voters got out there and said enough is enough and let's get something on legalization out there is very freaking refreshing. Ask anyone who works in any capacity to end the drug war: Wins are few and far between. It took more than 10 years of effort to rein in law enforcement's forfeiture spree; it took a lot longer than that to get New York's racist Rockefeller sentencing laws even semi-tossed. So what happened in Washington and Colorado is in the win column, though we cannot be at all sure that the feds are not going to come in and try to muck things up like they have with California's and Oregon’s medical marijuana laws.

The Rhode Island Senate passed compromise legislation May 9 intended to revive a stalled effort to open medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, with new limits on quantities the facilities may possess. If the measure passes the House, the dispensaries could be open within months. The vote represents progress for dispensaries that were poised to open last year, when Gov. Lincoln Chafee held up their permits citing the threat of federal prosecution.

Governors Christine Gregoire (D-WA) and Lincoln Chafee (I-RI) announced at a press conference in Olympia Nov. 30 that they are jointly filing a federal petition to reclassify cannabis for medical use. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government considers cannabis a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value. The rescheduling petition filed by governors Gregoire and Chafee comes after their administrations were sent letters threatening medical marijuana producers and distributors and the implementation of state laws.

Robert Watson, a Republican Rhode Island state lawmaker charged with pot possession and DUI in Connecticut, is said to be hoping for a plea bargain in New Haven Superior Court. Watson, who has pleaded not guilty, lost his job as Rhode Island's House minority leader after his April arrest in East Haven. (AP, Aug. 25) Bloggers had a field day with his bust, because he had just recently made comments baiting liberals in his state as soft on immigrants, gays—and pot smokers! Here's what the "Irony Alert" blog in The Week had to say in its coverage of the coverage:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference July 19 to announce his plans to "begin work immediately" on his state's pending medical marijuana program. "We're moving forward with the program as it was set up," said Christie, with the expectation that licensed Alternative Treatment Centers could be up and operating as early as the end of 2011. Christie said he believed "the need to provide compassionate pain relief to these citizens of our state outweighs the risk we are taking in moving forward with the program." Christie's announcement comes in spite of threats from US Attorneys on the issue and a June 29 memorandum from Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

Medical marijuana advocates in Montana are condemning recent arson attempts against two local dispensaries. Two separate attempts to set fire to medicinal cannabis dispensaries occurred last week in Billings. At both locations, the words "Not in Our Town" were spray-painted on the storefronts. These acts of intimidation come as the city is considering a temporary ban or moratorium on new dispensaries, in order to allow for the development of a regulatory ordinance.