The Cortez Journal, 21 Aug 2010 - The legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has opened up a whole new territory for law enforcement to enforce, and the boundaries aren't always clear. Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace and Cortez Police Chief Roy Lane said they are eager for the state to finish writing rules and regulations that will help them interpret and enforce the law. The state has until July 1, 2011.

The Cortez Journal, 21 Aug 2010 - State Lawmakers Struggle at Least 10 Years to Clarify Legal Medical Uses DENVER - State Sen. Chris Romer attempted a little drug humor just before the Senate passed his bill on marijuana dispensaries in May.

The Cortez Journal, 21 Aug 2010 - DENVER - The Colorado Legislature this year passed its first two significant medical marijuana bills since voters legalized medical pot in 2000. Here is a look at the bills: House Bill 1284 - Until this year, marijuana dispensaries operated in a legal gray area because they weren't mentioned specifically in the 2000 voter-approved amendment.

The Cortez Journal, 21 Aug 2010 - Medical Marijuana Colorado law plows way for new dispensaries in Montezuma County With six dispensaries in Cortez alone, the number of medical marijuana centers in Montezuma County is growing like a weed.

The Cortez Journal, 21 Aug 2010 - A dual system of legal and illegal marijuana in Colorado could have some unexpected consequences, but there are various points of view on what that will be. Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace calls the impact of legal medical marijuana on the illegal drug market "huge."

Morning Sentinel, 21 Aug 2010 - AUGUSTA -- The Vienna couple chosen by the state to run a medical marijuana dispensary in western Maine has applied to open a second dispensary in York County. The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday received 19 applications from non-profit groups hoping to operate a dispensary in either York County or Down East. The state will announce Aug. 31 who will run those dispensaries.

Rutland Herald, 21 Aug 2010 - An East Wallingford woman will not be able to tell a jury that she needed to grow 30 marijuana plants in her backyard to save the life of her ill son, following a split decision by the Vermont Supreme Court released Friday. Sue Thayer was driving her son, Winter Maxwell Thayer, to college Friday and could not be reached.

Argus Observer, 20 Aug 2010 - ONTARIO -- With the Nov. 2, general election right around the corner, Jim Klahr, chair of the Advisory Committee of Medical Marijuana, wants to let voters see another side of the issue. Klahr said all the facts may not have been shared in an article that appeared in the Argus Observer Aug. 1. He said he wanted to let voters hear his side of the argument and make an informed decision.

Seattle Times, 20 Aug 2010 - Sensible Washington, the group that sponsored a marijuana-legalization bill that didn't make it on the ballot this election season, plans to launch its 2011 legalization campaign at Seattle Hempfest this weekend. Sensible Washington, the group that sponsored a marijuana-legalization bill that didn't make it to the ballot this election season, plans to launch its 2011 legalization campaign at Seattle Hempfest this weekend.

The Oakland Tribune, 20 Aug 2010 - OAKLAND -- Emmy award-winning former talk show host Montel Williams was in town Tuesday for a second time seeking information about opening a medical cannabis facility here. He met with Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who said Williams was interested in applying for one of the city's pot permits to grow refined strains of medical cannabis that he uses to treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed with the disease in 1999. He has since become a vocal proponent of medical marijuana.

The Flume, 20 Aug 2010 - At November's general election, Park County voters will be asked whether to prohibit medical marijuana centers and related growing and manufacturing operations in unincorporated Park County. The ballot question, approved by Park County's commissioners at their regular meeting on Aug. 12, specifically allows centers that were legally operating before the July 1 state moratorium to continue operating.

The Oregonian, 20 Aug 2010 - TIGARD - In an unassuming, mostly unmarked building space off Pacific Highway, Sarah Bennett is trying something different. Earlier this year, Bennett opened Human Collective, a nonprofit organization that aims to connect card-holding patients in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program with licensed growers for quicker access to the medicine. The clinic also offers a program where patients can receive small amounts of donated marijuana for free.

The Bakersfield Californian, 20 Aug 2010 - Supervisors will consider Tuesday freezing the number of new medical marijuana cooperatives in Kern County for at least 45 days while they consider whether to regulate the 22 that have exploded onto the scene in the past year. In March 2009, supervisors repealed an ordinance that had limited the number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed in Kern County to six.

Battle Creek Enquirer, 20 Aug 2010 - Proponents of medical marijuana are asking the city of Battle Creek not to be overly restrictive with any new regulations of the sometimes legal drug. The city is in the middle of a six-month freeze on new businesses related to medical marijuana.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 Aug 2010 - Like many debates about making marijuana legal for medical use, the one at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health on Thursday turned into a discussion of the dangers of drugs. That didn't sit well with state Rep. John Myers, D-Philadelphia, who had come to the Oakland campus at the invitation of state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, to conduct a public hearing on the matter.

Morning Sun, 20 Aug 2010 - MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS SKIRTS LAW A Mt. Pleasant medical marijuana business has landed in court, accused of skirting the state's medical marijuana law. Isabella Prosecutor Larry Burdick wants a judge to stop the Compassionate Apothecary from distributing medicinal marijuana, alleging that owners Matt Taylor and Brandon McQueen are not complying with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008.

The Western News, 19 Aug 2010 - The State of Montana is frantically backpedaling six years after voters passed Medical Marijuana Initiative 148. One of 10 states now with medical marijuana programs, Montana has fallen into what might be called pot-plant purgatory as it struggles with blurry laws and even blurrier implementation plans, stalling what might well become a legitimate and major homegrown industry. In this economy, it's encouraging to witness any business spring up so quickly from a tiny seed. For marijuana outlet stores, business is flourishing, though some residents have become alarmed. Towns like Lewistown, Kalispell, Great Falls, Montana City, Belgrade, Havre and Billings are suffering runaway growth in dispensaries and have passed moratoria limiting new establishments.

Sacramento Bee, 19 Aug 2010 - A California appeals court issued a split ruling Wednesday in a closely watched medical marijuana case but failed to decide whether cities in the state can ban pot dispensaries or be forced to accept them. Ruling in the case of an Orange County medical marijuana patients' group that sued after being denied the right to operate a dispensary in Anaheim, the 4th District Court of Appeal rejected city arguments that state legislation allowing dispensaries improperly amended California's 1996 medical marijuana law.

Denver Post, 19 Aug 2010 - Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to eliminate Chris Bartkowicz's medical-marijuana defense before his upcoming federal trial on marijuana-cultivation charges. In a motion filed Tuesday, prosecutors contend Bartkowicz should not be allowed to use Colorado's medical-marijuana laws as a defense or try to argue that he was singled out or didn't know he would be subject to prosecution.

Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug 2010 - A state appeals court Wednesday declined to decide whether California's medical marijuana laws prevent cities and counties from outlawing dispensaries, sending the closely watched dispute over Anaheim's 3-year-old ban back to the lower court for more hearings. Cities and dispensaries had been anxiously anticipating a major decision because the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana had asked for additional information and took an unusually long time to reach a ruling: a year rather than the usual three months.