National Headlines
Pot-dispensary boom has affiliated businesses buzzing
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Sun, 02/07/2010 - 12:4402/07/2010 09:27:25 AM MST
By John Ingold
Until a few months ago, J.B. Woods was your standard-issue insurance agent. Auto, home, life. Would you like flood coverage with that?
Then, in the middle of 2009, his phone rang: "I need insurance for my medical-marijuana dispensary," the caller said. And since that moment, few of the policies Woods has set up for clients have been standard-issue.
Researchers Find Study of Medical Marijuana Discouraged
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 13:34January 18, 2010
By GARDINER HARRIS
Despite the Obama administration’s tacit support of more liberal state medical marijuana laws, the federal government still discourages research into the medicinal uses of smoked marijuana. That may be one reason that — even though some patients swear by it — there is no good scientific evidence that legalizing marijuana’s use provides any benefits over current therapies.
Medical marijuana fight loses buzz as Saginaw council squashes moratorium plans
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 00:01January 11, 2010, 10:00PM
By Justin L. Engel | The Saginaw News
All was relatively quiet along the medical marijuana front Monday, three weeks after 30 advocates crashed a City Council meeting to protest a temporary freeze on the legalized drug’s sale, use and cultivation within city limits.
Two people — included one regular attendee — showed up at the latest council meeting to support medical marijuana.
Growing pains
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 20:56Sunday, January 10, 2010 1:08 PM EST
By JULIE SWIDWA - H-P Staff Writer
ST. JOSEPH - In September 2008, Jeff's doctors told him he would be in a wheelchair within 18 months.
A construction accident 11 years earlier had destroyed the lumbar section of his spine.
ELK RAPIDS: Woman with medical pot given eviction reprieve till end of year
ELK RAPIDS: Woman with medical pot given eviction reprieve
A northern Michigan woman at risk of losing her apartment because of medical marijuana has been given a holiday reprieve from the owner -- the federal government.
Lori Montroy of Elk Rapids was told she had to be out by the end of the year or face eviction proceedings.
Protesters speak against Saginaw marijuana moratorium
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Tue, 12/22/2009 - 09:15December 21, 2009, 8:31PM
By Justin L. Engel | The Saginaw News
Saginaw City Hall was packed Monday with protesters calling for the City Council to vote down a six-month moratorium to freeze medical marijuana production and use while leaders rework zoning laws for the drug.
The council later postponed the decision. They will vote at a 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, meeting at City Hall, 1315 S. Washington.
Grand Rapids official: Allowing medical marijuana sales from homes preferable to stand-alone marijuana dispensaries
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 01:32By Jim Harger | The Grand Rapids Press
December 10, 2009, 9:03PM
GRAND RAPIDS -- Allowing medical marijuana sales from the homes of those who grow is preferable to allowing stand-alone marijuana dispensaries, City Planning Director Suzanne Schulz said Thursday.
"We are going to have people doing it anyway," Schultz told the city's Planning Commission.
New futures for cannabis-based medicines
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 02:04Monday, November 16, 2009
By Gregory L. Gerdeman and Juan Sanchez-Ramos, Special to the Times
Medicinal use of cannabis is being discussed more actively than ever. Although prior to its prohibition in 1937 cannabis was used widely in pharmacies, there was little debate about its usefulness to treat various symptoms such as inflammatory pain. Cannabis remedies were well known, publicly advertised and widely prescribed.
The Growing Pot Economy
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 11:32The growing pot economy
Opportunities ripen for new businesses
BY DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The tailspin may be over, but no one's suggesting that bedrock industries of the Michigan economy like cars and real estate are headed for boom times again.
The Michigan marijuana economy, on the other hand, appears to be going gangbusters.
Is marijuana good medicine?
Submitted by MMMA SiteScribe on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:05BY MEGHA SATYANARAYANA
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
For many voters, the decision to back or reject a proposal to give people with severe and terminal illnesses legal access to marijuana will come down to their thoughts on compassion for sick and dying people versus those on preventing drug abuse.