Analysis Of Marijuana Delivery Bill

Since government funding is not permitted, private dispensaries are generally set up to administer marijuana prescriptions with varying levels of restrictions ranging from strict to almost nonexistent (Kleber & Dupont, 2012). Physicians may issue a “marijuana card” to patients who apply for drug treatment programs within their authorized state of residence and processed for approval or denial (Harding, 2013). Conventional pharmacies cannot administer marijuana prescriptions; therefore insurance companies do not cover it. Patients have the option of having a personal supply (if approved in their state) or the use a dispensary facility.

In relation to that regulation, any one guilty of selling or distributing marijuana to a minor will be in violation of the law. Driving while high, like driving under the influence of alcohol, is illegal. Marijuana cannot be sold by “criminal actors” according to the new regulations. This serves the purpose of mitigating those who would want to peddle other, still elicit, drugs alongside the marijuana. Sellers must label the product appropriately in order to protect the wellbeing of the population, and ensure every issue that could affect their buying decision is properly disclosed. Not only must the seller label the product as marijuana, the seller must also make sure to follow any additional labeling regulation set by the applicable administrative agencies and the state of Colorado in the future. Finally, Section 16 makes it clear this law shall be enforced equally statewide to ensure fairness and equality among the people of

Indeed this article reminds us that the use of cannabis in Colorado as well as the state of Washington is legal since 2012. Most of this use is for recreational purposes, as other states like California had tolerated a medical use of marijuana.

proposition, it is legal to smoke marijuana in a private home or at a business licensed for on-site

Medical marijuana, like alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs, is significantly taxed, which generates governmental funding. Although the state of Colorado has legalized recreational marijuana as well as for medical purposes, a Time magazine article in September of 2015 reported that the collected taxes for the drug, in the prior fiscal year, more than doubled expectations, fetching more than $70 million for public coffers (Basu, 2015). Additionally, the previously-expended public funds saved by no longer policing the possession and use of marijuana have freed government currency to be used elsewhere. According to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, the decriminalization of marijuana saved the state between $12 million and $40 million in 2013 (Way, 2013) It is indisputable that the legalization of medical marijuana, coupled with the decriminalization of recreational marijuana, would produce an almost immediate significant economic advantage for public

This bill is an attempt to Create the WV Medical Cannabis Act. This bill will allow licensed practitioners in the state of West Virginia to legally prescribe cannabis to patients who fit the eligibility requirements for this medication. It also creates the governing commission and fund, thereby delegating what roles will be created and how funds will be managed. It will allow physicians to prescribe cannabis for medical conditions with are considered chronic and debilitating. The diagnosis can include severe or chronic pain, anorexia, wasting syndrome, severe nausea, seizures, persistent muscle spasms, or any other condition that is approved by the commission. It details that requirements for dispensaries, processors, grower agents, and processor agents. It also establishes penalties for violations of this act. This bill was lead sponsored by Senator Richard Ojeda of District 07. It has been co-sponsored by Robert Beach, Douglas Facemire, Corey Palumbo, Robert Plymale, Mike Romano, Patricia Rucker, Ron Stollings, Chandler Swope, Mike Woelfel, and Greg Boso. Senate Bill 386 has passed in the Senate on March 29th, 2017 with votes of 28-6, and is currently on its way to the House of

In November 2000, voters in Colorado passed Amendment 20, which enabled patients and their caregivers to obtain a restricted amount of marijuana from medical dispensaries (Sensible Colorado, n.d). The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment faced legal charges for creating an informal rule prohibiting caregivers from providing medical marijuana to more than 5 patients at a time (Sensible Colorado, n,d). In 2007, Sensible Colorado, Colorado’s medical marijuana distribution system, won the lengthy hearing, and its victory made way for store-front dispensaries throughout Colorado. Fast forward November 2012, 55% of Colorado’s voters were pro-Amendment 64 (Sensible Colorado, n.d). Amendment 64 made recreational marijuana use legal to anyone age 21 or older. This law was effective January 2014, and almost two years later the changes in the state are astounding.

non-medical marijuana applied at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store or

With the passage of Amendment 64 to the state constitution, Colorado became the first state ever to legalize the sale, possession, and use of marijuana. On November 6, 2012, voters passed the amendment with a 9% margin. Interestingly, “Amendment 64 received 53,281 more votes in the state than Barack Obama did during the last presidential election” (Charlton). However, actual sales of marijuana for recreational purposes were delayed until the start of 2014. Amid of flurry of media scandals and protests from anti-marijuana activist groups across the country, Colorado opened its doors to the pot industry with the entire nation watching.

For example, much earlier in 1996, California’s Proposition 215 stated that people who are twenty-one and older could possess eight ounces of marijuana and grow six mature plants in their homes. More recently, Montana’s Initiative said that people could possess only one ounce of usable marijuana and four plants. Within the past three years, Maryland’s House bill allowed people to have only a thirty-day supply of marijuana with the total amount to be determined. Other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and most recently, West Virginia, followed Maryland with similar laws and requirements. For their own safety, patients need to go through the thorough task of knowing exactly how much marijuana they can legally possess and grow and which conditions are even approved for medical marijuana -- cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, or chronic or debilitating diseases, like seizures, spasms, Tourette’s Syndrome, or multiple sclerosis. Also, they must register as medical marijuana users but only in their own states because this registration is not recognized from state to state. Maryland, California, Arizona, and other states will not allow visiting patients to buy marijuana from their dispensaries.

Not one state’s medical cannabis law is perfect, they are working pieces of democracy and this is where WE can establish patient lead policy in New Mexico and other states. We have the science, the research, the knowledge - the information the policy makers need to have and we need to get it in front of

Four states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Those four states are: Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington (Governing; The States and Localities). Federally, recreational use of marijuana or any non-prescribed, mentally inhibitive drug is illegal. The law in non-legalized states is that if a person possesses any amount of marijuana, it is punishable by law. So, with this law, if a person in Colorado, or any of the legalized states, takes their marijuana with them to a neighboring non-legalized state, they can be fined or imprisoned for having that marijuana. Even if a person bought the marijuana legally, they can still be punished for having it. One step to aiding the war on drugs is legalizing marijuana in every state, rather than just a select few, or create laws banning it from every state. This would balance the equation, and result in less overcrowding in prisons and jails, as over forty-six percent of all imprisoned people are in jail or prison due to drug offenses (Federal Bureau of

As a result, dispensaries companies encounter obstacles in the marijuana industry. In order to allow banking for the marijuana industry, Colorado took stages to establish “the world's first credit union for the industry, the Fourth Corner Credit Union” (Mallon, 2015). Colorado's dispensaries were obliged to grow at least seventy percent of the cannabis they sold, some companies are good at farming but not at selling, and others have nice storefronts but lower-quality products.

One of the greatest appeals of this law was the revenue that would be brought in from the sales of products of marijuana. Not only will the Commonwealth be able to implement an excise tax of 3.75%, there will also be an optional local sales tax of up to two percent of the total sales price by the retailer that will be directly applied to the city or town in which it was implemented. All revenue including state taxes, application and licensing fees, and civil fines will be placed in a Marijuana Regulation Fund and distributed for the usage of administrative fees, enforcement officials, and regulation staffing. Administrative fees will

The details of the bill include, “SB 3 will take effect on May 17, 30 days after it was signed. Then the department of health has six months to craft temporary regulations. Patients who suffer from a qualifying condition and whose doctors recommend medical cannabis will be able to register with the state to use and safely access medical cannabis preparations. The health department will regulate 25 processors/growers, along with 50 dispensaries, which may have up to three locations each” (MPP, 2016). These conditions can include a terminal illness, cancers, MS, Parkinson’s, and a whole slew of other disorders. If a person presents with these legitimate symptoms and diagnoses, then they have every right to obtain a prescription for marijuana medication. The issue I see is that all of a sudden, we will have an increase of diagnoses with people treated with unethical medical