Medbox creates Medical Marijuana Info site

Site provides free information for patients, dispensary operators, consumers, law enforcement, and Legislators

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Medbox, Inc. (OTC Markets: MDBX) (www.medboxinc.com), a leader in providing industry-specific consulting services and patented systems to medical and retail businesses worldwide, announced that they are launching a new website to help educate all interested parties about the many facets of the legal medical and retail marijuana industry.
The site, which will be launched in May, can be found at www.canna411.org and will provide a depth of information that is comprehensive and unduplicated in any one source. "We have noticed that there is a lack of correct information readily available about medical marijuana," commented Dr. Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Medbox, Inc. "Our intention is to give facts that can be useful to the many parties interested in this subject, from state legislators and city council, to law enforcement, dispensary operators and the patients they serve."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the lack of information on the product even affected a Los Angeles City Councilman when he attempted to obtain medical marijuana to ease his cancer treatment. "There are no sanctioned drug trials funded by Big Pharma or diagnostic manuals to tell you which of the dozens of strains with crazy names works best with your condition. Or the best delivery method. It's all trial and error," the Times reported.
Bill Rosendahl, Los Angeles City Councilman, found out that he had a rare form of cancer and was desperately ill. Even the heaviest prescription painkillers, like OxyContin, brought only momentary relief, he said, according to the Times.
However, finding the right strain and proper dose to relieve his pain proved more of a challenge. Eventually he found the exact method of intake (Rosendahl cooks his cannabis leaves in butter, creating an edible paste), and identified the best strains and dosage for his condition.
There are marijuana strains that are good for dozens of conditions, including ADD, pain relief, nausea and anxiety, or to build or even suppress an appetite.
"Medical marijuana has the support of most of the public, law enforcement and legislators, as it has been proven to provide relief for certain diseases and chronic conditions," Dr. Bedrick commented. "Now it is time to bring this proven and safe treatment out of the dark and shine a light on all aspects of this important medicine. Our intention with this new website is to have sections dedicated to the many stakeholders in this issue," Bedrick added. "For the patient about proper use, dosing and strains; to law enforcement regarding regulations; to legislators about transparency, compliance, and taxation issues; to dispensary operators about how to maintain compliance and work within the current laws; and to the general public to simply provide correct and factual information."
The new website is scheduled to be launched by May 15, 2013, and will be announced in a future press release.
To view the article in the Los Angeles Times, visit: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/08/local/la-me-holland-pot-councilman-20130308
For more information on Medbox, please call (800) 762-1452 or go online to www.medboxinc.com.
About Medbox, Inc: 
Medbox is a leader in the development, sales and service of automated, biometrically controlled dispensing and storage systems for medicine and merchandise. Medbox has offices throughout the world, including New York, Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tokyo, London and Toronto, and has their corporate headquarters in Los Angeles.
Medbox provides their patented systems, software and consulting services to pharmacies, dispensaries, urgent care centers, drug rehab clinics, hospitals, prison systems, hospice facilities, and medical groups worldwide.
Medbox, Inc. is a publicly traded company, and is listed on the OTC Markets, ticker symbol MDBX.
For more information on Medbox, please contact the Medbox Investor Relations Department at (800) 762-1452 or go online to www.medboxinc.com.
SOURCE Medbox, Inc.

Minnesota medical marijuana push to wait till 2014

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota won't have a showdown over medical marijuana this year.

Heather Azzi of Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, a pro-marijuana policy group, said Wednesday that bills to permit marijuana for medical reasons will be introduced in the next week or two. But Azzi, the group's political director, said the legislation won't move through Legislature this year.

"We just had a lot of background work to do before we got started," she said.

Supporters hope to latch onto efforts to relax marijuana laws in other states. Voters in Washington state and Colorado approved ballot measures last fall making it legal to possess small amounts of marijuana. It was a step beyond laws in 18 states that give people with certain conditions clearance to use marijuana after getting a physician's approval.

Medical marijuana proposals are circulating in at least a dozen states. Last week, Maryland's health secretary expressed support for legislation there, arguing the federal government has not brought charges against any state employees in other states who may have been involved with distributing medical marijuana.

Minnesota lawmakers approved a medical marijuana bill in 2009, but it ran into a veto by then-Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Current Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton told The Associated Press in December that he wasn't interested in decriminalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use. "I don't think we need another drug operating in our society," he said then.

There are no indications Minnesota's law enforcement community is willing to budge from its opposition. Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, said supporters have yet to seek his group's input on the new proposal but he said any plan similar to the 2009 bill would be a nonstarter.

"It would be a regulatory and enforcement nightmare," Flaherty said.

Azzi said the new bill will include added precautions, including a provision for safety centers to check for marijuana impurities.

"There has to be a way for us to mitigate their concerns," she said. "We will be meeting with them between now and January to do just that."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Minn-medical-marijuana-push-to-wait-until-2014-4351239.php#ixzz2NTRbW11N

Medical Marijuana Updates

Medical marijuana is making news all around the country, from city halls to federal court houses, not to mention dispensaries and patients' homes. Let's get to it:

Alabama

House Bill 25, the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act, is back. Sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd and backed by Alabama Compassionate Care, the bill would allow qualifying patients or their caregivers to possess up to 2 ½ ounces of usable marijuana and six mature and six immature plants. It would also provide for compassion centers where patients could obtain their medicine. Patients would be registered with the state. The bill has had its first reading and awaits action in the House Health Committee.

California

Last Tuesday, the Orland City Council voted to ban dispensaries, collectives, and collaboratives.The ban prohibits medical marijuana distribution facilities from the city, whether they are fixed or mobile and says no permits or licenses will be issued for that purpose. The ordinance also prohibits patient grows within 300 feet of any hospital, church, school, park or playground, or any other area where large numbers of minors congregate, and imposes other limitations on patient grows.

Last Thursday, the California Second District Court of Appeal issued a decision affirming the legality of storefront dispensaries and rejecting the contention that every member of a collective must participate in cultivation. In the case,People v. Colvin, the state had argued that all members of a collective must do just that, but the court demurred, saying that "imposing the Attorney General’s requirement would, it seems to us, contravene the intent of [state law] by limiting patients’ access to medical marijuana and leading to inconsistent applications of the law."

Also last Thursday, a ballot initiative was launched to overturn a Costa Mesa ordinance banning collectives and cooperatives. The move is spearheaded by former collective operator Robert Martinez, whose Newport Mesa Patients Association, was one of 27 facilities that were shut down by federal officials at the behest of the City Council and city attorney last month.

Also last Thursday, a Vallejo dispensary operator pleaded not guilty to felony state drug charges. Matt Shotwell, owner of the Greenwell Cooperative, was arrested last Tuesday after a joint state-federal raid and faces multiple counts of trafficking, cultivating, possessing and maintaining a place for unlawfully providing marijuana. Vallejo police said last Wednesday they had asked the DEA for help in cracking down on the city's 24 dispensaries. At the same time, the city is getting ready to implement a voter-approved tax on all dispensaries next month.

Last Friday, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) filed a bill that would create a statewide medical marijuana regulation system. The bill, Assembly Bill 2312, got a first reading Monday. It could get a committee hearing March 27.

This week, three more bills pertaining to medical marijuana have been introduced:

Assembly Bill 2465, introduced by Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose), would require all medical marijuana patients to obtain a state ID card and also register the address where they are growing it.California NORML called the bill "blatantly unconstitutional" because it abridges the fundamental right of patients not to be arrested upon the "written or oral" recommendation of their physicians.

Assembly Bill 2365, introduced by Assemblyman Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert), would require that family courts consider parent's documented use of prescribed controlled substances, including medical marijuana and narcotic maintenance medications, in child custody proceedings.  At present, the family code does not explicitly address these issues, although they are frequently brought up in family court proceedings.

Assembly Bill 2600, introduced by Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Fullerton), would prohibit the DMV from revoking a person's driving privileges for simple possession of one ounce or less of marijuana.  At present, an automatic revocation of license is required for conviction of any drug offense where a motor vehicle is involved.

On Tuesday, the federal prosecutor for the Central Valley vowed a new crackdownon large medical marijuana grows. Benjamin Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, said his office is not interested in prosecuting sick people using medical marijuana. But he warned that the "unregulated free for all" that has allowed marijuana growers and merchants to make fortunes must come to an end, and he said in the coming months a new focus will be made on pot farms in the valley.

Also on Tuesday, a federal judge in Sacramento dismissed a dispensary's request for a permanent injunction blocking the federal government from enforcing the Controlled Substances Act. The suit had been brought by the El Camino Wellness Center and patient Ryan Landers.

Also on Tuesday, the Madera County Board of Supervisors gave first approval to an ordinance that would ban outdoor gardens and limit indoor gardens to 100 square feet. The patient would also have to own and reside at the property. There are other restrictions as well. A final vote is set for March 13.

Colorado

On Monday, federal agents were dispatched to ensure that 23 dispensaries too close to schools had closed. US Attorney John Walsh had given the dispensaries 45 days to close or move because they were within 1,000 feet of schools. The 1,000-foot rule is a federal sentencing enhancement, not a requirement of the state medical marijuana law. Local industry representatives said all the affected dispensaries had complied.

Also on Monday, a Colorado Springs TV station aired footage of a SWAT raidon the home of two medical marijuana patients, who charged police used excessive force. At least 13 SWAT officers raided the home, breaking down the door, and throwing a flash bang grenade. The two patients were not arrested because the marijuana they were growing was in compliance with state law. Police were not apologetic, but local activists denounced the raid as heavy-handed.

Idaho

A Boise-based group is collecting signatures to get a medical marijuana initiative on the November ballot.Compassionate Idaho needs 47,500 signatures by April 30 to qualify. The initiative has the same language as House Bill 370, but activists aren't counting on the legislature to act.

Michigan

On Monday, an Oakland County circuit court upheld a Bloomfield Township ordinance requiring medical marijuana patients to register with the township. Richard Roe had sued, claiming the ordinance is invalid under the state's medical marijuana law, but the court sided with the township. It ruled that the suit wasn't valid because Roe had not actually been penalized by the law. The ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions challenging local medical marijuana laws. Last December, a circuit court judge threw out a lawsuit filed by two persons challenging the medical marijuana laws of Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills using almost identical language.

New Jersey

On Sunday, state officials told the Wall Street Journal they didn't think medical marijuana would be available there until the end of the year at the earliest. State Department of Health and Senior Services officialssaid it had taken longer than expected to launch the program because opposition to dispensaries in towns and villages was more vigorous than anticipated, and setting up a highly regulated system with safeguards against theft and fraud has proved challenging. State Department of Health and Senior Services officials.

New York

The New York City Bar Association's committees on Drugs and the Law and Health Law issued a report approving of pending medical marijuana legislation in Albany and offering some suggested modifications, including that the state explore letting patients grow their own. The bills before the legislature, Assembly Bill 2774 and its Senate companion bill, don't do that.

Rhode Island

On Wednesday, the Rhode Island Patient Advisory Coalition reported that the state House and Senate have reached agreement on a bill that would make compassion centers a reality. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) had blocked the program after receiving threats from federal prosecutors, but Senate Bill 2555 is designed to ease his concerns.

Washington

On Tuesday, state prosecutors filed multiple charges against the owners of a medical marijuana dispensary in Laceythat had been raided in November. Dennis Coughlin, 68, and Jami Bisi, 50, the proprietors of Cannabis Outreach Services face 11 counts of unlawful delivery of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop; 12 counts of unlawful use of a building for drug purposes; and two counts of unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop, according to their charging documents. They are the seventh and eight persons charged in a series of Thurston County raids on five collectives. The raids came after undercover police carrying medical marijuana recommendations made purchases at those locations. Washington's medical marijuana law does not explicitly allow dispensaries.

Marijuana Negative Health claims go up in smoke

Unlike tobacco, smoking marijuana - even when done regularly - does not damage the performance of people's lungs, according to a recent study published by The Journal of the American Medical Association. 


The two-decade research, which followed 5,000 people who smoked an equivalent of one joint per day over the course of seven years, found out that despite their regular marijuana use, subjects were still able to push out a normal amount of air in one second after taking a deep breath.


This means that only minimal if any pulmonary obstruction has developed, contrary to findings involving tobacco. 


"Recent evidence indicates that smoking marijuana, for lung cancer, is not as bad as smoking tobacco is," said Lyle Craker, a plant sciences professor at the University of Massachusetts who has studied medical marijuana for several years now. "Marijuana is relatively less dangerous than some other drugs." One possible explanation from the authors of the study states that because marijuana users "train" themselves to hold in the smoke, they were able to maintain proper breathing cycles. 


Still, smoking marijuana can result in heavy coughing and is linked to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse ( NIDA ). 


The NIDA also states that cannabis impairs users' senses by reducing attention span and motivation, which makes them prone to accidents, public health advocates say. 


"All drugs contain alkaloids, and alkaloids are bad for you," Craker said. "Getting hooked on anything is bad for you." Marijuana, which is now the most widely-used illegal drug in the country, has gained popularity among youth in recent years, according to the National Institutes of Health's Monitoring the Future study. 


The study shows that one out of 15 high school students smoke the drug daily. "National surveys say that kids have a much easier time getting marijuana than they are getting alcohol because alcohol stores ask for an I.D., while underground drug dealers don't have a card policy," said Will Snyder, a UMass student and a member of the Cannabis Reform Coalition ( CRC ) on campus. 


Snyder said that the government's anti-drug campaigns, such as AboveTheInfluence.org, fail to regulate marijuana use among teenagers because they " find a way to get [marijuana] anyway." 


He said that marijuana should instead be legalized with a minimum age restriction as with alcohol. 


In addition, he said that marijuana is less fatal than other vices popular with youth, such as tobacco and alcohol, which kill 443,000 and 80,000 Americans each year, respectively, according to the Centers for Disease Control. 


UMass student Rob Jacobs expressed concern over marijuana legalization if it was not sufficiently taxed and regulated. 


"To just make it a legal substance doesn't enact the necessary control of it," Jacobs said. 


The CRC has also been pushing for the legalization of growing marijuana for medical research. 


In 2007, it backed Craker as he pitched the idea of growing medical marijuana in the University for research purposes to the Drug Enforcement Administration. However, the DEA rejected his proposal. 


At the moment, only the University of Mississippi is authorized to grow marijuana to be handed down to and studied by the Food and Drug Administration. 


While he insisted that recreational usage of marijuana is still disruptive, Craker said that making marijuana a total taboo is not fair. 


Many have already speculated that marijuana could help to cure glaucoma and post-traumatic stress disorder, and may even help women to conceive better, he said. Currently, marijuana has no legal medical use according to federal regulations. 


"Because it's not been tested in a scientific study, all we have is lay evidence," Craker said. "That's why we want to be able to grow this here at the University to provide material to medical doctors so it can run on clinical trials." 


Craker and Snyder both agree that the ban on experimental marijuana growth hinders probable medical breakthroughs involving marijuana. "If you say that there's no science behind [the medical use of marijuana], why can't someone like Professor Craker study it?" Snyder said. "We live in an age of science, and these things should be tested," Craker said. 


According to Craker, marijuana has been prohibited primarily because hemp was overtaking wood as a better fiber for paper production during the early 1900s. Because businessmen, such as publisher William Randolph Hearst, relied on their timber lands and did not want any competition, they insisted that "marijuana is the worst thing in the world." 


This point of view, he said, was passed on from generation to generation, and at present, organizations such as the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the DEA employ people to promote a drug-free society. 


Consequently, legalizing marijuana would hurt certain people's jobs, he said. "I don't want to accuse anyone, but things get into trends, and they're not willing to look at alternatives," Craker said. "I think it's those with an interest in keeping it restricted [who] demonize marijuana." 


On the other hand, Snyder is optimistic that with findings that clarify people's knowledge about its health effects, marijuana would gradually become more accepted by society. 


"Our generation's attitudes towards cannabis have become much more positive," he said. 

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Interesting Medical Marijuana News

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