Top

Medical Marijuana

January 10, 2012 by · Comments Off on Medical Marijuana 

Medical MarijuanaMedical Marijuana, More and more states are saying yes to medical marijuana. But local governments are increasingly using their laws to just say no, not in our backyard.
In California, with the nation’s most permissive medical marijuana laws, 185 cities and counties have banned pot dispensaries entirely. In New Jersey, perhaps the most restrictive of the 17 states that have legalized marijuana for sick people, some groups planning to sell cannabis are struggling to find local governments willing to let them in.

Dispensaries have also been banned in parts of Colorado and have run into opposition in some towns in Maine.

Local politicians have argued that pot is still illegal under federal law, that marijuana dispensaries bring crime, and that such businesses are just fronts for drug-dealing, supplying weed to people who aren’t really sick.

Cities and towns are prohibiting dispensaries outright or applying zoning ordinances so strict that they amount to the same thing. The ordinances typically set minimum distances between such businesses and schools, homes, parks and houses of worship.

The township manager of Maple Shade, N.J., where the zoning board last year turned down an application for a dispensary at the vacant site of a former furniture store, said his town was just following zoning law. But Gary LaVenia said it is easy to see why people would be nervous about legal pot-dealing in their communities.

“People read the accounts of what’s going on in the other states, like Colorado, like California,” he said. “Regardless of the fact that use here is the most regulated, people still read those accounts and assume that that’s what’s going to happen here.”

Medical marijuana advocates say the resistance is going to hurt people in desperate need of relief.

“It prevents patients with mobility issues from getting their medication,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland, Calif., group. “It also pushes patients into the illicit market.”

States such as California and Colorado have seen an explosion in the number of pot dispensaries, along with criticism that the rules are so lax that practically anyone can buy weed. Also, there have been cases of violence involving people trying to steal pot from dispensaries.

Local governments are within their rights to restrict or keep out pot businesses, said Lars Etzkorn, program director for the National League of Cities.

“Land-use and business regulation are the most fundamental decision-making that local officials are entrusted with,” he said. “Local communities, the local electorate, can decide what sort of level of regulation they want.”

Medical Marijuana States

December 16, 2011 by · Comments Off on Medical Marijuana States 

Medical Marijuana States, The following is from a recent paper published by the Institute for the Study of Labor:

To date, 16 states have passed medical marijuana laws, yet very little is known about the law’s effects. Using state-level data, we examine the relationship between medical marijuana laws and a variety of outcomes. Legalization of medical marijuana is associated with increased use of marijuana among adults, but not among minors.

In addition, legalization is associated with a nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, most likely because of its impact on alcohol consumption.

Bottom