Thursday, June 19, 2014

Marijuana news: Chris Christie calls medical pot 'front for legalization'


Dear All,

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s remarks are inspirational.......the video (linked below) is only 1:47 minutes in length

Best regards,

Ron Kirkish, CDFC/IFBC/CALM

Marijuana news: Chris Christie calls medical pot 'front for legalization'

 
By Noelle Crombie | ncrombie@oregonian.com The Oregonian - June 19, 2014 at 6:36 AM

 

 
 
Link to video

 
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie is no fan of marijuana, medical or otherwise.

Earlier this year, he questioned the "quality of life" inColorado, one of two states to legalize cannabis for recreational use.

On his latest radio show -- he hosts a monthly show on 101.5 FM -- Christie dismissed concerns about low enrollment in the state's medical marijuana program, TheNewark Star-Ledger reports.

Earlier this week, Star-Ledger staff writer Susan K. Livio reported that an estimated 2,300 patients has enrolled so far, a far cry from the 5,000 to 30,000 enrollment projections.

Advocates said many physicians are reluctant to participate because they don't want to be publicly associated with medical marijuana.

But it's not the program's rules and restrictions keeping the numbers low, Christie said Monday. It's the lack of demand for medical marijuana. 

Reports staff writer Brent Johnson:

"What there's a huge demand for is marijuana. Not medical marijuana," he said Monday night on his monthly radio show on 101.5-FM.

 "Because when we run a medically based program, you don't see the demand."

The Republican went on to call the program "a fallacy," Johnson reports.

"This program and all these other programs, in my mind, are a front for legalization.

Unless you have a strong governor and a strong administration that says, 'Oh, medical marijuana?

Absolutely.

We are going to make it a medically based program.

' No demand there — or very little."

In Oregon, the prosecution of Tigard dispensary operators has wrapped up with the pair pleading guilty to marijuana possession.

The high-profile case against the Human Collective began in 2012 when Washington County drug investigators raided the storefront, seizing thousands in cash and hundreds of marijuana plants.

Sarah Bennett and Don Morse, operators of the dispensary and well-known advocates in the state’s medical marijuana community, were accused of selling marijuana and charged with multiple drug felonies.

The case against Bennett and Morse ended recently in plea agreements and probation – a relatively low-key conclusion to the headline-grabbing investigation into Washington County’s last medical marijuana dispensary.

The prosecution of the Human Collective highlighted the ways cities and counties handled medical marijuana dispensaries, which proliferated for years without state oversight.

Washington County cracked down on the establishments, shuttering three, including the Human Collective.

In Portland, meanwhile, the establishments flourished, barely raising an eyebrow among law enforcement.

And finally, The Denver Post's all-marijuana site, The Cannabist, offers this pretty comprehensive glossary of common pot terms.

-- Noelle Crombie
 

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