Judge allows New Hampshire woman to buy medical marijuana in Maine

[KBCraig]

The Attorney General said that e-mails between that office and the DHHS (an Executive branch bureaucracy) are protected under "lawyer / client " privilege.   

Here's a hypothetical "boot leg" transcript....

Attorney General -  Hey, how come you guys haven't given out any medical pot cards yet ?

DHHS -  Well, we're kind of busy doing nothing and collecting stolen money pay checks, plus we have kind of a legal problem...

Attorney General -  ???

DHHS-  Yeah, you see you guys convicted all those people for "controlled drugs" over the years using the Federal Drug Schedule, which says that MARIJUANA is STILL a schedule 1 drug

Attorney General - Well what does the NH controlled drug schedule say?

DHHS-  Ummmm....we never made one, since we never made one, we couldn't have published it either

Attorney General -  Oh shit.     

Pretty accurate version, except for the AG being upset about it. The right quote was probably, "Meh."

[Free libertarian]

It only proves NH has horrible weed laws and bureaucrats. If she was a Maine resident she wouldn't need NH state permission, just a doctors note, and she could grow her own.

That's right.  She would need the state of Maine's permission, and then a doctor's note.  Meh. 

No, just a doctors note. Paitient registration with the state of Maine is voluntary.

She wouldn't need permission to grow/smoke in Maine, just a recommendation from a doctor/ health care provider.

Yes, you DO need permission to grow etc. in Maine.   The state simply farmed out the role of "permission granter" to State approved doctors.

It's not just doctors that can write a recommendations. Nurse practitioners can too.

But the state of Maine doesn't get any personally identifiable information on the patients.   

Call that permission if you want. I don't care. It's light years ahead of what NH has, and probably the best medical marijuana program in the country.

Being a medical marijuana caregiver,  and a medical marijuana caregiver employ, I did seek permission from the state for that stuff. And for a drivers license, and a pesticide applicators license.

Also, when permission is granted, you have to pay for it and the parameters of the permission, plant limits, possession limits, sale, etc.  are all puppet strings that lead back to the hands of the State. 

Maine is a kinder master than New Hampshire (they beat their slaves regularly)  no doubt, but still a master nevertheless.

The worst part is having to collect sales tax.

But whatever, I got mouths to feed. And it is way better than the corporate gig I had for the 15 years before that, and that was a pretty sweet.

Just so you know I wasn't questioning your choice of being in Maine and doing it that way.  From a pragmatic point of view, I understand the advantages of being there.

My point was to continue to call out that a revocable privilege is not the same as a right.   Rather than view things through the false dichotomous (is that even a word?) lense of there being only two options... 1)taxed and regulate permission based "legal" or the 2) the prohibition model

I vote for option 3 which is to just get government completely out of it.   I realize that's not where things are headed legislatively though. 

Note - edited because I hate it when I say "threw" but meant through.  Sometimes I threwily disgust myself with my self flagellating grammar Nazism.

[Becky Thatcher]

Note - edited because I hate it when I say "threw" but meant through.  Sometimes I threwily disgust myself with my self flagellating grammar Nazism.

[Silent_Bob]

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/02/24/medical-marijuana-patients-can-grow-own-cannabis-judge-rules.html

VANCOUVER—A Federal Court judge has ruled that medical marijuana patients have the right to grow their own cannabis.
Judge Michael Phelan struck down federal legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government that barred patients from growing their own plants and required them to buy from licenced producers.
He is suspending the decision to strike down the law for six months, allowing the federal Liberal government time to create a new medical marijuana regime.
Phelan also extended the injunction that allowed people who held licences to grow their own marijuana to continue until a further court order.
The judge says in his ruling that the patients have demonstrated that marijuana can be produced safely, with limited risk to public safety and consistent with the promotion of public health.
The constitutional challenge was launched by four British Columbia residents who argued that the 2013 Marijuana for Medical Purposes legislation violated their charter rights.

[Tom Sawyer]

It's interesting to note that the Fed Gooberment realized that it would be unconstitutional to make Cannabis illegal so the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 didn't make it illegal, it taxed it out of the legal realm. The same approach they took with machine guns and continue to take with whiskey. When they wanted to make alcohol illegal they had to pass a constitutional amendment.

Asking for the privilege to exercise a right reinforced the view that it isn't a right. Most people accept that it is illegal to own a machine gun or make whiskey (for example) when the fact is it's not. They have done the sneaky end run around the constitution and tax an regulated the right away.

Years ago, when I was working on a documentary about "Marijuana as Medicine" a respected libertarian I worked with told me he disagreed with the whole approach. He pointed out that the shortest path was often not the best path. I think I agree.

[blackie]

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/new_hampshire/marijuana-charges-dropped-against-couple/article_f657e8ab-8918-52f8-8395-e313b68f9b2d.html

Marijuana charges dropped against couple 
Comes after argument ill man needed drug
By Kiera Blessing kblessing@eagletribune.com Feb 23, 2016

PLAISTOW — The state has dropped all but one charge against an Atkinson couple accused of growing marijuana in their home.

On Monday, all charges against Valerie Zdrada, 60, were dropped, while her husband, Robert Zdrada, 65, still faces one felony charge of cultivating marijuana. Both were initially charged with one count of cultivation of marijuana and one count of possession of the drug with the intent to distribute.

Judge Sharon DeVries accepted the state's withdrawal of three of the four charges in 10th Circuit Court in Plaistow Monday morning. The Zdradas' defense attorney, Alan Cronheim, said he was pleased with the development.

"I appreciate that the state took the time to resolve it. I think it's very appropriate that the possession with intent to distribute charges were (dropped)," Cronheim said. "Lastly, we appreciate that the state has reviewed the medical information we've provided and we're going to continue conversations about how the remaining charge is resolved."

Cronheim argued at the couple's arraignment in December that they grew the marijuana not to sell, but to treat Robert Zdrada, who suffers from cancer. Zdrada obtained a medical marijuana card in late January. New Hampshire began accepting applications for medical marijuana identification cards in early November, just three weeks after the couple's arrest. Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana into law in 2013.

Cronheim had referenced a Superior Court case from November, in which a judge ruled that the state needed to issue a medical marijuana card to an Alstead woman named Linda Horan, who then used it to buy the drug in Maine. Cronheim likened the case to his clients' situation, arguing that Robert Zdrada would have had legal access to marijuana had New Hampshire not delayed the issuance of cards.

At the time of the Zdradas' arrest Oct. 19, police said they seized more than seven pounds of marijuana, along with plant stems, seeds and specialized heating lamps, from the Zdradas' Crown Hill Road home.

The case will move to Rockingham Superior Court to be presented to a grand jury if it is not resolved during negotiations between the defendants and the state beforehand.

[WithoutAPaddle]

Seven pounds is enough to treat this person for how long? Was this for Mel Brooks?



Still, the marijuana laws are bad jokes.  A couple of days ago, a resident in the residence where I live called the police because she was annoyed by the marijuana scent coming out of her HVAC ducts.  The resident who we know is smoking has his door right in front of the main HVAC intake port, so there is no way he can hide it.  I personally don't care if my neighbors are Cheech and Chong.

When the policeman arrived, he said that there was nothing he could do about it and that it was the landlord's problem.  The arbitrariness of marijuana law enforcement and penalization for any offenses that are unrelated to violence are so arbitrary that they are an offense to anyone's sense of justice.

[KBCraig]

Seven pounds is enough to treat this person for how long? Was this for Mel Brooks?

Someone with terminal cancer doesn't know how long he's going to need the herbal medicine, doesn't know how long he'll be able to continue growing it, and unless he was experienced going into this, doesn't even have a clue what his yield is going to be.

I can't even make spaghetti without winding up with twice as much pasta as we really need. I've never grown cannabis, but if I was in his shoes, I'd go for as much as I could get. Better too much than too little, especially once he becomes bedridden at the end.

[Tom Sawyer]

They weigh everything, sometime even the root balls.

You notice they refer to special heat lamps. Idiots know nothing.

[blackie]

They weigh everything, sometime even the root balls.

You notice they refer to special heat lamps. Idiots know nothing.

I'm not sure heat lamp is incorrect. The majority of the heat in my house this year comes from "heat lamps". A high pressure sodium lamp is only about 60% efficient. 40% of what it produces is heat. Each 1000 watt light produces  around 4000 BTUs. I bought a heat pump water heater that I need to have installed to help get rid of the extra heat and humidity.

When I was growing in NH, I would only grow during the winter. If you are growing for yourself and not selling, growing is the riskiest part. So you grow a bunch for a few months, take down the garden, then you don't need to grow again for years.

In Maine a patient is allowed 8 pounds of harvested dried unprepared marijuana, in addition to the 2.5 ounces of prepared marijuana

Incidental amount of marijuana. Incidental amount of marijuana per patient
means up to 12 female nonflowering marijuana plants; an unlimited amount of
marijuana seedlings, seeds, stalks and roots; and up to eight ( 8 ) pounds of
harvested dried unprepared marijuana in varying stages of processing that are
not included when calculating the "allowable useable amount of marijuana."
See 22 M.R.S.A. §2422 (4-A).


Prepared marijuana. Prepared marijuana means the dried leaves and flowers of
the marijuana plant that require no further processing, and any mixture or
preparation of those dried leaves and flowers, including but not limited to
tinctures, ointments, and other preparations. It does not include the seeds, stalks,
leaves that are disposed of and not dried for use and roots of the marijuana or
other ingredients in goods prepared for human consumption or use.

8 pounds works out to about two year supply if a patient uses the max amount of 2.5 ounces every 15 days.

Are you familiar with Rick Simpson?

Some people believe you can cure cancer(or anything) with massive doses of concentrated weed. Anyway, you need a lot of weed to make that stuff.

http://www.cureyourowncancer.org/rick-simpson.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD2U4eDBu8A

[Free libertarian]

Irv Rosenfeld has been supplied over 9 ounces of rolled joints PER MONTH from the Federal Government for years.   He's one of the remaining people (the rest have passed away) that the Federal Government "allows" to consume cannabis as part of the "Investigational New Drug Program".   So 7 pounds is not a lot of weed if NH purports to follow "Federal Guidelines", which they do when the left side of their mouth moves.   

 
Irv smoked a joint in the smoking break room in the Legislative Office Building a couple of years back and I watched a State Troop walk right by the room.  Irv was there as part of a press conference, I attended.   I was being tested for weed in my pee at the time, but I was inches away from asking him for a hit.   Would I have been arrested if I had?   Can you say hypocrisy? 

Fuck them.

[Jay]

I would only grow during the winter.

That's pretty fuckin' smart, thwarts the thermal imaging cameras by the obvious excuse of heating your dwelling normally.

[KBCraig]

Irv Rosenfeld has been supplied over 9 ounces of rolled joints PER MONTH from the Federal Government for years.

But from all accounts, what they grow at Ol' Miss amounts to ditch weed.

[K neth]

But from all accounts, what they grow at Ol' Miss amounts to ditch weed.

Without the War on Drugs, that's all anyone would grow, and there would be a lot fewer tokers.  It's only thanks to decades of prohibition that we have the aromatic and potent blossoms of today.

[Free libertarian]

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/new_hampshire/marijuana-charges-dropped-against-couple/article_f657e8ab-8918-52f8-8395-e313b68f9b2d.html

Marijuana charges dropped against couple 
Comes after argument ill man needed drug
By Kiera Blessing kblessing@eagletribune.com Feb 23, 2016

PLAISTOW — The state has dropped all but one charge against an Atkinson couple accused of growing marijuana in their home.

On Monday, all charges against Valerie Zdrada, 60, were dropped, while her husband, Robert Zdrada, 65, still faces one felony charge of cultivating marijuana. Both were initially charged with one count of cultivation of marijuana and one count of possession of the drug with the intent to distribute.

Judge Sharon DeVries accepted the state's withdrawal of three of the four charges in 10th Circuit Court in Plaistow Monday morning. The Zdradas' defense attorney, Alan Cronheim, said he was pleased with the development.

"I appreciate that the state took the time to resolve it. I think it's very appropriate that the possession with intent to distribute charges were (dropped)," Cronheim said. "Lastly, we appreciate that the state has reviewed the medical information we've provided and we're going to continue conversations about how the remaining charge is resolved."

Cronheim argued at the couple's arraignment in December that they grew the marijuana not to sell, but to treat Robert Zdrada, who suffers from cancer. Zdrada obtained a medical marijuana card in late January. New Hampshire began accepting applications for medical marijuana identification cards in early November, just three weeks after the couple's arrest. Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana into law in 2013.

Cronheim had referenced a Superior Court case from November, in which a judge ruled that the state needed to issue a medical marijuana card to an Alstead woman named Linda Horan, who then used it to buy the drug in Maine. Cronheim likened the case to his clients' situation, arguing that Robert Zdrada would have had legal access to marijuana had New Hampshire not delayed the issuance of cards.

At the time of the Zdradas' arrest Oct. 19, police said they seized more than seven pounds of marijuana, along with plant stems, seeds and specialized heating lamps, from the Zdradas' Crown Hill Road home.

The case will move to Rockingham Superior Court to be presented to a grand jury if it is not resolved during negotiations between the defendants and the state beforehand.

"The State" has become aware of the dangers to them of a jury trial and the possibility of a "rogue jury" and any attendant publicity of a juror nullification. 

That is a good thing.