In Los Angeles, advocates push dueling medical marijuana measures

Reed Saxon / AP file

"Budista" Angela Nagel assists a client at the Starbudz medical marijuana dispensary in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on May 5, 2010.

In Los Angeles, where pot dispensaries have proliferated despite city lawmakers' efforts to regulate or ban them, advocates for medical marijuana have taken the initiative to rein them in — with two groups putting forward rival ballot initiatives to manage the budding industry.

Los Angeles City Council in October reversed a ban on the pot shops — which they had passed less than three months earlier after activists mounted lawsuits and gathered tens of thousands of signatures opposing it. The lawmakers have been slow to draft alternative plans for the pot industry so medical marijuana advocates have stepped in.


An initiative that qualified for the ballot on Friday, after gathering tens of thousands of signatures, proposes that all comers are allowed to enter the business of selling medical cannabis — but only if they pass a background check and meet strict operating and zoning requirements. The measure would also hike taxes on medical marijuana sales by 20 percent to cover the cost to the city for regulation.

 


The current tax is $50 per $1,000 of gross receipts, and the increase would bump it up to $60 per $1,000 of gross receipts.

That measure is pitted against a medical marijuana initiative that qualified for the ballot just two days earlier — one that would force all the city's marijuana dispensaries to close down except about 100 that were set up before Sept. 2007, when the city imposed a moratorium on new shops.

In the face of vociferous opposition, the city council did not enforce the moratorium, instead letting it expire. The number of cannabis shops soared to an estimated 700 to 1,000 in 2012. They range in size from tiny mom-and-pop shops to large multi-million dollar businesses, the Los Angeles Times reported. Police say some are squeaky-clean outlets providing relief to desperately ill patients, while others are magnets for crime with a toxic mix of cash and narcotics, with a negative impact on neighborhoods.

Regulating medical marijuana has been complicated by lawsuits and the push-pull between federal and state laws.

Under California law it is legal to obtain medical marijuana and the court has ruled it is legal for the medical dispensaries to sell it.  But under federal law marijuana is a controlled substance, illegal to possess and sell. If California issues licenses to pot sellers, even if it's in an effort to limit their numbers, it may be in violation of federal law.

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David Welch is a Los Angeles attorney advocating for Angelenos for Safe Access, which gathered more than 73,000 petition signatures to get their initiative qualified for the ballot on Friday. He says that the proposed zoning — designed to keep pot sales at a specified distance from schools, parks, churches, substance abuse facilities and other designated sites — would naturally limit the number of dispensaries to about 150. The proposal also calls for background checks for dispensary operators, prescribed operating hours and higher taxes.

"Currently there is no regulation so that’s why there is proliferation. Our goal is to have good operators stay in business," said Welch. "It would put out 70-85 percent of the dispensaries operating out of business."

This ballot measure, "Regulation of Medical Marijuana for Safe Neighborhoods and Safe Access" is backed by many of the dispensaries that have opened since the 2007 moratorium.

The competing initiative, called the "Medical Marijuana Collectives Initiative Ordinance" would grandfather in about 100 medical marijuana dispensaries set up prior to the 2007 moratorium, and bar all others. It would also add restrictions on hours of operation and location.

Los Angeles residents will have a chance to vote on the proposals in municipal elections in May, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The new ballot drives have "forced our hand," City Councilman Paul Koretz  told the Times.

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Discuss this post

Jump to discussion page: 1 2 3

I wish Cali. would legalize pot so our state could get rid of all people who came up here to get pot legalized in this state.I'm getting so tired of people trying to change our state to be like thier state's lifestyle so they can avoid legal problems they have in thier own state.

  • 2 votes
Reply#2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 10:21 AM EST

so tired of people trying to change our state to be like thier state's lifestyle

Psst......Mexico is not a state....and that's about the only place people are coming from. read the news and see who's running to and who's running from where.

  • 8 votes
#2.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 10:44 AM EST

i love you IA.ScooterTramp...you make me smile

  • 4 votes
#2.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:10 AM EST

thank you opine i try

  • 2 votes
#2.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:14 PM EST

can you please share what strain you're on, cause after reading your post I gotta get me some of that !

  • 3 votes
#2.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:21 PM EST

That's why alcohol should be banned in your state also. All those people there drinking and fighting and college kids puking and falling off balconies during binge drinking. I don't want any crazy alcohol abusers in my state. Let's trade. I'll take the non-violent Cheetto eating potheads and you can take the fighting beer balls vomiting pub people

  • 10 votes
#2.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:39 PM EST

I'm assuming you are from here since you said the word "up" but I for one voted for it's passing in spite of the fact I don't much care for pot use since there is no argument on why it is illegal in the first place. I'm glad 51 percent of the people in this state happen to have woken up and smelled the coffee. I suspect Oregon will feel the same way soon, but there is a silver lining to everyone that wishes to stay back in the day when pot was evil, Idaho will keep it illegal for a long time, and it is a very pretty state, which is not far away, with lots of wide open spaces to live. Meanwhile, the West Coast can continue to wake up, and soon maybe in the federal government will step back and let it be a state by state issue, where everyone wins.

  • 2 votes
#2.6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:56 PM EST

IA.ScooterTramp

Psst......Mexico is not a state....

ga Tramp

Unless you count the state of anarchy.

  • 4 votes
#2.7 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:04 PM EST

Although Mexico is made up of quite a few states itself.

  • 2 votes
#2.8 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:19 PM EST

Hey, does anyone out there know how much weed would a woodchuck smoke if a woodchuck could smoke weed?

  • 4 votes
#2.9 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:38 PM EST

enough to get high - why waste it?

  • 2 votes
#2.10 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 5:59 PM EST

Colorado and Washington State going to have an instant boom in their economy. I'm sure the rest of the other States will follow because money talks..

  • 5 votes
#2.11 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 1:56 AM EST

American,All what people?I have lived in California ll my life and do not know what people you are speaking of.Pot should be legalized in the entire country.The only harm being done is the criminals who shoot people voer a pot buy and those who are here illegally,decimating our forests with their chemicals,to sell it to the dealers on the street.Most of them are linked to gangs.It should be legalized and taxed for those who are over 21.

    #2.12 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 9:48 PM EST
    Reply

    They say pot heads are lazy, I think this article just showed the lawmakers and politicians that we are not lazy and are tired of this very slow paced congress to catch up to the times! People need to start taking more actions like this to make sure that the people get what they vote for. And screw anyone who gets in the way, that too includes the feds, who are just people that are truly scared of losing their precious money from the war on drugs!

    • 9 votes
    Reply#3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:12 AM EST

    Can't we just all get along.

    • 1 vote
    Reply#4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:15 AM EST

    Depends on if your a narc or a fed, other than that I would say yes!

    • 5 votes
    #4.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:17 AM EST

    Pot heads may not multi task as well as others. But when it comes to doing one thing at a time the work potheads do is flawless.

    • 1 vote
    #4.2 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:52 PM EST
    Reply

    "Medical" marijuana is the most ridiculous concept ever created. From the AMA to the American glaucoma society (and every single other medical advisory board) advises against its use and there are no studies validating that it has any medical benefit... If people want to smoke it, let them, but don't call it "medical"... whats next "medical meth" or "medical crack rock"?

    • 3 votes
    Reply#5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:28 AM EST

    You do know that the medical profession has prescribed medical methamphetamines and cocaine, right? They've been doing it for decades, actually. Does this surprise you?

    As for Marijuana, it acts as a powerful aspirin. It doesn't cure (glaucoma is an exception), it reduces the symptoms of an illness. And does so, quite effectively.

    • 12 votes
    #5.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:53 AM EST

    Bill, Now is this the same 'professionals' that said electro shock to the brain could 'cure' mental illness? Get your nose out of their butts and do some research. Another A$$hole on here....

    • 9 votes
    #5.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:59 AM EST

    take a pill, bill.

    • 2 votes
    #5.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:19 PM EST

    if guns keep us safe........MJ is medical...ha !!!!!!!!!!!

      #5.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:23 PM EST

      Doctors opinion

        #5.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:51 PM EST

        BILL, gee, the fact is that I have read articles from the AMA and from WHO (world health organization, ever hear of them?) that state that there IS medical uses for MJ. the only orgs that DON'T see any medical use is the DOJ and DEA, and carefully worded right wing reports. Perhaps you could read something more recent then 1980 or something not sponsored by a church or our wonderful government.

        By the way, are you a doctor? Where does your immense knowledge of pot come from?

        • 5 votes
        #5.6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:09 PM EST

        Bill, you're right, no medical organizations support medical marijuana, unless you count American Academy of Family Physicians, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Medical Student Association, British Medical association, American Preventive Medicine Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Lymphoma Foundation of America, National Nurses Society on Addictions, etc, etc, etc, etc. There are way to many to list here.

        • 8 votes
        #5.7 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:33 PM EST

        I can tell you from experience that it is much more effective than pharmaceuticals for chemically induced nausea (i.e. chemotherapy or anesthetic reactions). I would rather smoke a couple of hits and have the nausea disappear immediately than take pill after pill with no reduction in the nausea. The medical authorities can say what they want, but I'll listen to my own experience.

        • 8 votes
        #5.8 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:31 PM EST

        Bill You need to check your facts!

        • 1 vote
        #5.9 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:30 PM EST
        Reply

        Here, in Colorado, the medicinal marijuana dispensaries are TIGHTLY regulated! The same will apply when the retail stores get going. They (the stores) have strict guidelines on security, production, transportation, and identification of patients. It's not an easy business to get into. Just like liquor stores, the owners go through a background check. (I though CA had this, already!) The medicinal dispensaries have a head start on the new retail stores, but taxing, packaging, and regulating LEGAL weed/hemp/products will take MONTHS! If you're going to have legal marijuana, do it right. Control it, at least, as tightly as alcohol! ~facepalm~

        • 8 votes
        Reply#6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 11:48 AM EST

        Say What? Tightly regulated? You're kidding right? The data (which is at least a measure of some control) points to the uncontrolled growth of medical marijuana in Colorado and a widespread use of marijuana among people under the age of 21 in whom there is no medical justification for its use. The move to make marijuana legal in Colorado is okay with me (I don't use it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have it), but to try and convince anyone who isn't high that this isn't a method to reducing the costs to the state by decriminalizing something and hence portraying the state in better light is just being naive. Making something legal (pick whatever you like) lowers the state's criminal statistics by the very nature of the change. Toke all you want, it's none of my business, but at least try and be honest about it.

        And always remember..."Onward Through the Fog".

        • 1 vote
        #6.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:28 PM EST

        Roadkill

        Here, in Colorado, the medicinal marijuana dispensaries are TIGHTLY regulated!

        Doctor: What condition do you have that can be treated by medical marijuana?

        Patient: I get nervous and irritable when I run out of pot.

        Doctor: Here's your prescription.

        • 2 votes
        #6.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:10 PM EST

        RT "Onward Through The Fog" a.k.a. Oat Willies Austin, Tx

        • 1 vote
        #6.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:28 PM EST

        Copy your last!

          #6.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:38 PM EST
          Reply
          Comment author avatarHerald9Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

          Marijuana is another way for people without hope to kill the pain.

          Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only way to kill the pain of hopelessness.

          • 3 votes
          Reply#7 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:03 PM EST

          HERALD, perhaps a lot of people would feel less hopeless if people like you would get off their neck. You want to spend all of this life preparing yourself for the next life, which may not exist, that's your business. But let other people live this life the way they want.

          God gave everybody free will, who are YOU to take that away?

          • 8 votes
          #7.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:24 PM EST

          Uuuuuuuggggghhhhh...

          Screw off, your Christian nonsense does not belong here. This isn't a theocracy, hopefully NEVER will be and this discussion has NOTHING to do with Jesus, the Bible, your version of a giant skyman or anything else.

          It's about NATURE. It's about a plant that the goverment is afraid of.

          Furthermore - I've had more hope in my life WITHOUT religion than I ever did when I was a theist. So F_CK YOU!

          • 4 votes
          #7.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:07 PM EST

          Nightwalker .... Excellent Post! To the religious folks on here ..We have freedom of Religion and freedom from religion. Don't force your religion on my laws. To those posters that don't think cannabis has medical uses ...you are truly ignorant people. To all of the millions of people who use cannabis for whatever reason Here is a big shout out to you. Marijuana relegalization is coming and the sooner the better!

          • 7 votes
          #7.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:08 PM EST

          Herald9

          Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only way to kill the pain of hopelessness.

          Maybe. But analgesics do a much better job with arthritis.

          • 7 votes
          #7.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:11 PM EST

          Herald: It's people like you who create 99% of the misery in this world.

          Take your "I don't think for myself" BS, magical people and talking snakes, one-god, cult crap somewhere else.

          • 4 votes
          #7.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 3:29 PM EST

          I saw a burning bush once while stoned.

          It told me to go forth and get other high.

          and it was good...

          • 2 votes
          #7.6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 4:33 PM EST

          I'm totally stoned everytime I'm on the vine.

          Oh, by the way....what are you looking at....???

          • 3 votes
          #7.7 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 2:11 AM EST

          Jesus is dead and his mother obvioulsy had sex with someone lol Oh and God isn't real either.

          Now go away.

          • 1 vote
          #7.8 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:08 PM EST
          Reply

          Less than 6% of "Medical Marijuana" card holders in Arizona have cancer or glaucoma. Over 90% of the liar's club claim they have "severe and chronic pain". Any healthy skepticism at all would say they're full of crap.

          Marijuana is not something I would consider for pain. Why not? It's not a logical choice. People in pain want one thing, and that's to get back to normal functionality. Why would anybody take a "medicine" that impairs normal functionality? You can't drive, you can't operate machinery, you can't even go to work under the influence of marijuana so it's USELESS as a pain reliever.

          If I'm sick, then I want to get better and get back to work because I've got bills to pay. If I don't pay my electric bill, then I get no electricity. If I don't pay my water bill, then I get no water. If I don't get back to work then my life is going to suck.

          How am I going to get back to work while being stoned out of my mind? I'm an electronics engineer, I'm paid for my brainpower, experience and education. If my brain is boiled, then I'm out of a job. Incompetence is a common cause for getting fired.

          I can't think of any jobs that would ALLOW people on marijuana to be on the clock. Truck driver? No. Teacher? Not around kids. Airline Pilot? That's a HELL NO. So why would somebody want a disability to work?

          Marijuana is a disabling drug, not an enabling one. People on marijuana are absolutely worthless in this world. They're in their own world and dysfunctional in the real world. They can't work legally, they can't drive legally, they can't even be intoxicated in public legally so why in the HELL would they think that legal marijuana is a good pain medication?

          • 3 votes
          #8 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:07 PM EST

          show us on the doll where daddy touched you, genie.

          • 10 votes
          #8.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:23 PM EST

          Marijuana is used for far more than pain in a medical situation. Debilitating nausea that hits cancer patients that cannot be helped considerably by any other drug. I witnessed my husbands cancer pain and nausea helped by marijuana. He wouldn't have been able to have near the happy times with his wife and kids because he would have been up in bed and up in the bathroom throwing up. So don't narrow your views of marijuana for everyone. And by the way, I know people all the way up to the executive level that smoke pot, so open your mind and don't lump everyone that smokes into the useless category, it's simply not true.

          • 7 votes
          #8.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:27 PM EST

          Well, GENE, I guess you better stick to vicodin and percadan and the other "enabling" pain killing drugs. Try not to get addicted, hear?

          • 8 votes
          #8.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:38 PM EST

          boy gene you're a hater. i suppose i could be a truck driver on morphine but not mj. you just happen to be a person who does not like mj so you like most bible thumpers will say just about anything to make yourself feel better. i hope when u get terminal cancer you will remember your spew you left here. suck it up enjoy the pain until your last second. what is the difference to anybody if i kill my pain with legal prescribed mj or legal prescriptions.

          • 5 votes
          #8.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:49 PM EST

          Gene is a troll. Move on. No need to pander to his ignorance.

          • 6 votes
          #8.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:25 PM EST

          You live up to your name Gene and I feel very sorry for you. What's your problem?

          Do you drink Gene? Do you do it on or before a job?

          Oh, you don't?

          So, what makes you think pot-smokers are any different? I bet no one has ever had alcohol in their system on the job huh?

          Learn to think Gene. It helps.

          • 5 votes
          #8.6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 3:34 PM EST

          mean gene is an idiot what rock did you crawl out from under?

          • 3 votes
          #8.7 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 6:05 PM EST

          MeanGene, as a stoner with multiple class 3 soldering certificatins, would you and the other CAD operators who can't use a soldering iron, who inhabit the Engineering Department, please stop clicking on the black wire when you are specifying a jumper wire for board revisions? Black insulation absorbs the heat from the solering iron too fast, and shrinks back from the solder joint, so it has to be redone. It takes 6 seconds to do a solder joint right the first time. It takes 6 minutes to redo the joint. Also stay away from white and orange please, they get crispy on the edges and crack.

          • 2 votes
          #8.8 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 7:26 PM EST

          Den -

          Try to refrain from posting when stoned. I know you think you are cogent, but you are mistaken.

            #8.9 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 7:53 PM EST

            Whatever-4117988

            Marijuana is used for far more than pain in a medical situation. Debilitating nausea that hits cancer patients that cannot be helped considerably by any other drug.

            Skunk is the stupidest cure for wanting to puke that I've ever heard of. The damned weed smells like dirty gym socks, the bastages who use it smell even worse and this is supposed to cure nausea?

            The people who say it cures nausea are obvious liars. You could not get me within a mile of a marijuana plant without making me sick. It smells like unwashed ass. If I'm nauseated and I get close to anything smelling half as horrible as marijuana then I'm hurling.

            open your mind and don't lump everyone that smokes into the useless category, it's simply not true.

            Yeah it's true. Every human being who has ever smoked marijuana is a piece of crap who left this world worse than he found it.

            • 2 votes
            #8.10 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:34 PM EST

            Well, GENE, I guess you better stick to vicodin and percadan and the other "enabling" pain killing drugs. Try not to get addicted, hear?

            I don't need pain killing drugs. I simply refuse to acknowledge pain as an error of being.

            Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science) was mostly right about animal magnetism and the power of animal magnetism.

            Placebos have amazing curative powers, imagine that! Give a hypochondriac a sugar pill and the cure is had!

            I hate drugs. All drugs. They disgust me. They prey on error. If you think you will be well, then you will be well. Mind over matter is real, especially in matters of the self.

            • 1 vote
            #8.11 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:42 PM EST

            boy gene you're a hater. i suppose i could be a truck driver on morphine but not mj.

            Not for long. My younger brother was a truck driver. He died hauling an 18-wheeler full of strawberries through the Mojave Desert. Nobody sees the wind coming, but only alert drivers can handle it. The wind sail area of a truck is massive, and a jackknife is practically a death sentence.

            you just happen to be a person who does not like mj so you like most bible thumpers will say just about anything to make yourself feel better.

            BIBLE THUMPER? Any man who says I've set foot in a church in the past 20 years is a damned liar.

            I hate marijuana because of the bastards who use it. They prey on kids and break laws and make public nuisances of themselves.

            i hope when u get terminal cancer you will remember your spew you left here.

            I hope when I get terminal cancer that I have a Doctor better than one who throws joints at his patients.

            suck it up enjoy the pain until your last second. what is the difference to anybody if i kill my pain with legal prescribed mj or legal prescriptions.

            You will not put that crap on my streets. I'm dead serious, you'll be gone. People who buy marijuana bring poison into my city, state and nation. Bringing death and destruction to my neighborhood is getting on the wrong side of me. I'll get rid of you. It's just pest control.

            • 2 votes
            #8.12 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 9:16 PM EST

            OHHHH GENE, you're so pure and fierce and scary. LOL

            • 2 votes
            #8.13 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 4:02 AM EST

            mpa-, I wasn't stoned, I was in a hurry to go to work. Now I'm stoned. At least we know it can't hurt my spelling.

            • 2 votes
            #8.14 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 8:03 AM EST

            Oh geez another clueless person. Perhaps you would care to explain why every doctor had a cannabis product of some sort in their Black bags before it was outlawed? I guess all those Doctors where just stupid stoners?

            • 2 votes
            #8.15 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:14 PM EST

            meangene I know why your mean gene. You need to roll a BIG fatty smoke it and start to slack. mean gene is a product of not learning how to slack.

            • 2 votes
            #8.16 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:36 PM EST

            Slack

              #8.17 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 4:05 PM EST
              Reply

              Will it be covered by obamacare? and medicare and required to be purchased just like insurance? Betting yes on all three. look at the tax windfall.

              • 3 votes
              Reply#9 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:17 PM EST

              Wrong! It is illegal federally because you live in a stupid redneck nation with evil no good people who are all for keeping guns legal but want to keep pot illegal.

              How many people have been killed by pot? Zero.

              How many people have been killed by guns? Millions.

              You dumb no good rednecks make me sick.

              • 3 votes
              #9.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:43 PM EST

              John Penn-2341008

              Wrong! It is illegal federally because you live in a stupid redneck nation with evil no good people who are all for keeping guns legal but want to keep pot illegal.

              A thoughtful, well reasoned and persuasive argument.

              You dumb no good rednecks make me sick.

              I would be offended ...... if I valued your opinion.

              • 3 votes
              #9.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:15 PM EST

              Rednecks are too dumb to be offended. They'll just open another Natty Ice and get drunk and beat their wives and children to make them feel big.

              • 3 votes
              #9.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:57 PM EST

              John Penn -

              Consider thiis: When any person needs to hate on an entire group of people, it is usually because they feel inferior and need to improve their self-image.

              I know some damned fine "rednecks," very few bigoted jerks . . .

              • 2 votes
              #9.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 7:57 PM EST
              Reply

              so now smoking is no longer bad for you eh?

              • 1 vote
              Reply#10 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:19 PM EST

              eh? EH!? CANADIAN SCUM!

                #10.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 5:40 PM EST

                no worse than drinking, cigarettes or Vicodin

                • 1 vote
                #10.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 6:07 PM EST
                Reply

                who let all these faux news trolls in here?

                • 5 votes
                Reply#11 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 12:23 PM EST

                The same people who let you in.

                • 3 votes
                #11.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:15 PM EST

                FOX shut down their comments, for any real stories. Their bloggers were incredibly ignorant, and it truly embarrassed the FOX corporate owners. The "conserva-trolls" went where they could make a mess, and kick over any sand art.. educated news blogs (every place except FOX, of course.)

                • 2 votes
                #11.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 10:17 PM EST
                Reply

                Let me guess, without reading the article: White male between the ages of 18 - 40, killed others before killing himself. Am I right?

                  Reply#12 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:13 PM EST

                  Medical marijuana this, medical marijuana that, I'm interested in knowing when they're going to address recreational marijuana. Be real. Inquiring minds like mine want to know. What's that... the doorbell... it's on.....

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#13 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:24 PM EST

                  What I can't believe is the by-line..."budding industry".

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#14 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:30 PM EST

                  I kinda thought that was a fluke, but maybe someone does have a rare wense of pun . . .

                    #14.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 7:59 PM EST
                    Reply

                    it's not medical, anyone can get a dr's note for any reason to get high. This was meant for terminally ill patients, but it's way out of hand now.

                      Reply#15 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:30 PM EST

                      What has gotten out of hand? I'm pretty sure that millions of years ago when the plant was developing, it wasn't concerned if was going to be used for terminally ill patients only.

                      • 1 vote
                      #15.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:28 PM EST

                      not far enough out of hand cause it should be legal for all over 21

                        #15.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 6:09 PM EST

                        " it should be legal for all over 21"....... It is. - (Denver resident.)

                        • 2 votes
                        #15.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 10:20 PM EST
                        Reply

                        Naturally regulate? What kind of BS statement is that? Better yet, I want to know what that guy is smoking! I seldom smoke... but when I do... I prefer Acapulco Gold with my Dos Equis! Stay high my friends and don't forget to share your joint with the ladies!

                        • 3 votes
                        Reply#16 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:30 PM EST

                        I believe MJ should be legalized, regulated, taxed and sold as any bottle of booze would be... regardless if it's used for medical purposes or not. Although I no longer use it ( I want my paychecks to keep coming!) I enjoyed it when I did, it was just as relaxing as popping open a nice cold beer and drinking it... which happens to be legal (and far more destructive/addictive than MJ ever will be.) If you really want to know why it was banned in the first place, you only need look to corporations like DuPont*, who at the time was in the process of developing TOXIC synthetic fibers for industrial use, and MJ, with it's high level of NON-TOXIC fiber-(and unable to be patented) content was standing in the way and served as real competition. In my experience, to hear "experts" say that pot is highly addictive and a "gateway" drug is a load of crap, I was able to put the pipe away without any problem what so ever, as well as many people I know. In conclusion, I will cite a wise quote from the late, great comedian Bill Hicks.

                        "Want to eliminate the national debt today? legalise pot tomorrow"

                        • 3 votes
                        Reply#17 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:44 PM EST

                        Ah yes, pot in every chicken, no turn unstoned, your happy surgeon thinking pizza while cutting around your spinal chord. "This is your Captain. We will be departing as soon as Dominoes delivers the pizza."

                          Reply#18 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:48 PM EST

                          I call total BS on this.

                          Ever consider that your surgeon is popping uppers to stay awake? Ever consider that your surgeon is hung over from going out to the bar the night before?? I know doctors, I have lived with someone in the medical field for years now...DOCTORS ARE NOT ANGELS! They do the EXACT same dumb stuff that everyone else does.

                          Stop using cliches because it doesn't help your point seem any more valid. You just sound like a whiny adult who can't let other people do what they do. Also - you seem uneducated.

                          • 6 votes
                          #18.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:12 PM EST

                          So just for the sake of argument, what's to stop the surgeon from taking a few shots of Whiskey before "cutting around your spinal chord"? My point is this, people make a choice as to wether or not they want to use or not, or for that matter, use while at their jobs... I would say fire that lousy surgeon if it's found he is under the influence while at work, do you get me? Of course MJ and the residuals stay detectable in one's system for an extended period of time, so like alcohol, there would need to be some sort of test to determine saturation in the system to know if someone is actually under the influence at the time, simply sampling a given individual's urine does not do that. One needs to weigh the consequences (being fired from your job, etc.) before they CHOOSE to use any substance that changes perception.

                          • 2 votes
                          #18.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:13 PM EST

                          instead it should be as soon as i finish my martini

                            #18.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 6:12 PM EST
                            Reply

                            wow medical marijuana,who'da thunk. "our U.S.A. fore fathers" grew hemp,smoked hemp and sold hemp accordingly and our fore fathers put all of our countries most famous documents on "hemp paper",plus,our first flag was made from "hemp cloth", not to mention it was legal then. todays hemp issue's are always about money. statiscally speaking , how many people have gone to early grave from "al k hall" or "cig a rette" ? countless, and this is acceptable ? what a double standard we have.

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#19 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 1:49 PM EST

                            Calling it medical marijuana is the biggest scam ever, if I am sick and drink milk does it become medical milk? or eat fish does it become medical fish? Just another way to justify doing something that is not healthy for your body!!!

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#20 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:07 PM EST

                            judge doubt it .... Medical marijuana is a useful and beneficial aspect of cannabis. If you don't want to use it don't. To withhold a beneficial medicine because of dubious racial prejudice or corrupted indutrial desires is the height of meaness and hypocracy.

                            • 3 votes
                            #20.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:14 PM EST

                            But it's been proven that it's not unhealthy.

                            See, folk like you are probably sitting there thinking "ew gross! SMOKING IS BAD GUYS!" but in all reality smoking pot is less harmful to your lungs than cigarette smoke. It's not the same compounds. It's not nicotine, it's not additives. Sure, any smoking is bad for you but...

                            YOU DONT HAVE TO SMOKE IT TO GET THE BENEFITS! You can eat it. You can drink it.

                            So uh...take that. Dumbass.

                            • 2 votes
                            #20.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:25 PM EST

                            Hey Jeff, it maybe useful to about 5% of people that smoke it, the rest of the people who smoke weed are doing it because they enjoy it and are to weak to quit. lying to yourself doesn't help and the blind lead the blind! open up your eyes you ignorant Moron!

                              #20.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:25 PM EST

                              Hey legalizeitall, your the dumb ass if you think in haling smoke period is good for you at all. Your just another fool trying to okay your wrong doings! eating it or anything else increases your heart rate and effects your body in unnatural ways also. I doubt seriously that you do nothing but smoke big fat bombers anyways!

                              • 1 vote
                              #20.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:28 PM EST

                              Why does it have to be smoked? You can eat it, drink it, or boil it. BBQing your steak produces carcinogens thus making it dangerous. Should we ban grills?

                                #20.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:31 PM EST

                                judgemark -go to the gym, mind your own business and shut it. no ones telling you to smoke

                                  #20.6 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 6:17 PM EST

                                  Judgemark -

                                  Regular mariuana use leads to significant constipation, so legalizing it should lead to reduced "medical waste." Clearly a good thing.

                                  Stoners - feel free to use this argument anytime . . .

                                    #20.7 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:04 PM EST

                                    Let me make this point. How many of you seen people falling down drunk? Next question how many people have you seen falling down high? When your drunk you can't sober up no matter what you do. When your high you can straighten up by eating something. Drunk = Hangover. High = what hangover.

                                      #20.8 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:45 PM EST
                                      Reply

                                      Los Angeles has become the hot bed for medical marijuana (store
                                      front) dispensary issue. Many cities have enacted moratoriums which may or may
                                      not be legal. Many dispensaries have converted to delivery style collectives which
                                      cannot be banned by the local government. Hopefully with the next election
                                      California can join CO and WA with a full legalization. Until then medical marijuana
                                      patients and providers are forced to grow their own or join a collective.

                                      To learn more about the California medical marijuana
                                      collectives visit

                                      • 2 votes
                                      Reply#21 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:08 PM EST

                                      www. californiadispensaryinfo.com/guidebook/

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #21.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:14 PM EST
                                      Reply

                                      May as well let America become brain dead,, we are already in Disney land mentalities and as brain dead as we can get, Plus our countries new mentality. Governments, doctors and now gay America all thinking the same, Why fix it when you can get rich off it.. Bunch of stupid rocks may as well go to Mars, then you can be with a bunch just like you,, bunch of stupid brain dead rocks..Oh and lets not forget all the welfare cases who sit and do nothing buying pot with our tax dollars, Go O-Abomination in America...bunch of idiots

                                        Reply#22 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:12 PM EST

                                        Chuck ... And all of the perfectly normal otherwise productive and lawful people that choose to use cannabis have to listen to @!$%#s like you who spout off their prejudices while acting like you know anything about anything. Grow up.

                                        • 2 votes
                                        #22.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:18 PM EST

                                        How many beers will you consume this month? How many drinks have you had in your lifetime? How many drinks have your friends and family had in their lifetimes?

                                        ALCOHOL IS A LEGAL DRUG! It does WAY worse to people than pot EVER will yet you sit here and condemn potheads.

                                        You'd be shocked to find out who uses pot in the world. It's NOT just a bunch of braindead hippies and "dumb rocks" like you think. So uh...STFU and GTFO please. People like YOU are the ones ruining this country. hyuk hyuk

                                          #22.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:32 PM EST

                                          Right, because you can totally buy cannabis with food stamps. And no one sells their food stamps for $.50 on the dollar to purchase alcohol and cigarettes.

                                          • 1 vote
                                          #22.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:34 PM EST

                                          ALCOHOL IS A LEGAL DRUG! It does WAY worse to people than pot EVER will yet you sit here and condemn potheads.

                                          No, alcohol is not a legal drug. Let me tell you about the restrictions on alcohol in Arizona (and they're actually a lot looser than most other states).

                                          NO sales of alcohol between the hours of 2AM and 6AM are permitted anywhere in Arizona.

                                          NO sales of alcohol, at ANY TIME are permitted on the Navajo Nation (about a fourth of Arizona).

                                          NO sales of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 (basically a fourth of your life). NATIONWIDE.

                                          NO consumption of alcohol while driving (no open containers in vehicle).

                                          NO driving under the influence of alcohol (that one will cost you at LEAST $10,000 in fees and fines).

                                          NO drinking alcohol in public is allowed. That's a hefty ticket, about $300.

                                          BARS have to get liquor licenses. STORES have to get liquor licenses. Bowling alleys, Restaurants and anyplace else insane enough to serve booze has to get liquor licenses.

                                          YOU CALL THIS LEGAL? TIC-TACS are legal. You can't get in trouble much of anywhere with Tic-Tacs. There are about 1.5 MILLION alcohol-related arrests made in the USA annually.

                                          There's a Brad Paisley song called "Alcohol" in which the facts are put to music. Alcohol can get you in trouble, it can get you fired from work, it can make you do things you don't wanna do and it all has consequences on you, not the bottle.

                                          You have a funny idea of legal. Blueberry muffins are legal. Alcohol? Not so much.

                                          • 2 votes
                                          #22.4 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 10:46 AM EST

                                          meangene Please troll on!

                                            #22.5 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 12:48 PM EST

                                            Is it legal to smoke pot in your home in AZ? No.

                                            Is it legal, provided you are of legal drinking age, to consume alcohol in your home in AZ? Yes.

                                            So WTF is your point again? For such a straight, sober, church lady kind of guy, one would think you'd be more on the ball.

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #22.6 - Sun Jan 6, 2013 9:55 PM EST

                                            Is it legal to smoke pot in your home in AZ? No.

                                            Is it legal, provided you are of legal drinking age, to consume alcohol in your home in AZ? Yes.

                                            So WTF is your point again? For such a straight, sober, church lady kind of guy, one would think you'd be more on the ball.

                                            A lot of illegal things are done in homes, reason being that cops ain't there. I just checked my living room, and not a cop in sight. There hasn't been a cop in my house for a couple of years now.

                                            If potheads would keep their problems confined to the house then they'd almost never get caught, but they don't and 800,000 of the fools get arrested outside of their homes every year.

                                            Problems don't stay at home. Drunks wind up driving and killing people, Prostitutes spread diseases and Dopers bring crimes.

                                            If you want your home to be robbed, then just let crooks know you've got a medical marijuana card. Oh, they'll LOVE to visit your home. Crooks want three things, money, drugs and guns. Tell them you've got drugs and they'll know you've got money too (drugs are a cash biz, after all) so you'll be at the top of their list of potential victims. They'll kill you. Most home invasions are committed by drug-addled marijuana seeking maniacs who demand drugs even before they demand money.

                                            Drug houses are crime magnets. Criminals love drugs. That's why even in places that allow alcohol, it's not allowed to be sold from homes. Don't try to sell liquor at a garage sale. So much for alcohol being legal at home. You can sell your TV, you can sell your couch, but don't even try to sell that bottle of tequila.

                                              #22.7 - Mon Jan 7, 2013 7:59 AM EST

                                              Troll.

                                              • 1 vote
                                              #22.8 - Tue Jan 8, 2013 12:34 PM EST
                                              Reply

                                              Medical marijuana can solve the Medicare crisis! -

                                                Reply#23 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:13 PM EST

                                                I think we should release some pot smoke into Congress so they can all chill out and get the US back on track!

                                                • 4 votes
                                                Reply#24 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:14 PM EST

                                                If they pass allowing people to smoke pot I will be rich because I'm suing people that smoke around me.................!!! THAT THAT

                                                  Reply#25 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:20 PM EST

                                                  Pretentious people like you have no clue. Have fun living your life as a total as$hole.

                                                  "You don't have any friends. Nobody likes you." -Gollem

                                                    #25.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:33 PM EST

                                                    How many lawsuits do you have pending against tobacco users? What would you do if you went Las Vegas?

                                                      #25.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:37 PM EST

                                                      Not too difficult spotting the stoned posters on this thread . . .

                                                        #25.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:09 PM EST
                                                        Reply

                                                        Bill Clinton smoked pot. Al Gore smoked pot. Barack Obama smoked pot.

                                                        Why is it still illegal nationally?

                                                        Because the stupid no good rednecks in this country want to keep guns legal and pot illegal.

                                                        How many people have been killed by pot? Zero.

                                                        How many have been killed by guns? Millions.

                                                        • 2 votes
                                                        Reply#26 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 2:21 PM EST

                                                        you hit it on the head thankyou!!!

                                                          #26.1 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 4:05 PM EST

                                                          What an incredibly stupid liberal rant.

                                                          • 1 vote
                                                          #26.2 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 4:09 PM EST

                                                          excuse me? I'm a redneck liberal from the deep south and I think guns and cannabis should be legal. It's much safer than alcohol. Besides, guns dn't kill people- stupid people with guns kill people.

                                                          • 3 votes
                                                          #26.3 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 4:39 PM EST

                                                          OK. Somebody mentions the forefathers and their use of hemp.

                                                          Then you mention Clinton, Gore and Obama?

                                                          (Hint: See the first sentence. That is how you argue effectively.)

                                                            #26.4 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:13 PM EST

                                                            Hey, Somer -

                                                            Nice try, but they ain't gonna buy it.

                                                            Most of the folks on here cannot believe Southern and redneck without the "ignorant Rethuglian" tag that goes along with "Southern."

                                                              #26.5 - Sat Jan 5, 2013 8:15 PM EST
                                                              Reply
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