Posted on: August 2nd, 2011 |
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has indicated that he is now prepared to allow New Jersey’s medical marijuana law to move forward, after receiving indication from the Federal government that Justice Department is not looking to prosecute users of medical marijuana that are in compliance of state laws regulating the substance. New Jersey has one of the more stringent of the sixteen programs in the country.
While this announcement is a boon for patients waiting for relief from medical marijuana, by the time they get their first prescription filled, they will have waited for almost two years. Christie opponents have criticized the Republican governor for stalling the process. Gov. Christie, however, says that the delays were necessary to ensure that New Jersey citizens were not subjecting themselves to federal prosecution.
Once the program is up and running at full speed, patients will be able to access marijuana from one of six state sanctioned dispensaries, and must suffer from a narrow class of specific diseases.
Read more at The New York Times »
Posted on: July 19th, 2011 |
Posted on: July 19th, 2011 |
The New York Times reported yesterday that, while New Jersey has legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes since January 2010, the state has not yet permitted any of the six licensed dispensaries to grow or distribute the drug. Patients who rely on marijuana to treat their severe symptoms must choose to use other legal drugs, or resort to purchasing their marijuana covertly on the streets.
Sandy Fiola…who has multiple sclerosis and sarcoidosis…said no one questioned her right to take far more dangerous painkillers, like oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl.
“Using marijuana lets me cut way back on steroids and morphine, it works better and I’m more lucid…God, I hope they do this thing [open dispensaries]. It’s been so long already.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, has come under fire from marijuana advocates for stalling and trying to effectively block the program. The Christie administration, however, says that every delay has been necessary for the state to ensure that the program is brought into compliance with federal drug regulations, preventing unnecessary and unintended prosecutions at the federal level for activity conducted within the state.
Read the entire article at The New York Times »
Posted on: July 19th, 2011 |
A group of researchers are seeking federal approval for a study that may validate what many military veterans have been saying for some time, marijuana is effective treatment for many of the illnesses vets encounter after combat.
Getting final approval from the federal government could prove difficult, [Rick Dobin and Dr. Sue Sisley] conceded. They said it was far more challenging to get authorization for a study that examines the benefits of an illegal drug than its risks.
“We really believe science should supersede politics.” Dr. Sisley said. “This illness needs to be treated in a multidisciplinary way. Drugs like Zoloft and Paxil have proven entirely inadequate. And there’s anecdotal evidence from vets that cannabis can provide systematic relief.”
Rick Dobin is founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in Santa Cruz California. Dr. Sisley is an assistant professor of psychiatry and internal medicine at the UNiversity of Arizona College of Medicine.
The proposed study, which will study the effects of marijuana on post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), is awaiting approval from a scientific review panel from the Department of Health and Human Services. Once that hurdle is ovecome, the study must be further approved an institutional review board, as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The use of medical marijuana is generally restricted to the treatment of diseases or conditions specifically detailed in a state’s statute. Of the 16 states and the District of Columbia in which medical marijuana is legal, only New Mexico and Delaware specifically allow marijuana to be administered for the treatment of Post traumatic Stress Disorder.
Read the entire article at The New York Times »
Posted on: July 14th, 2011 |
Image Courtesy Govinda Gallery
The Reliable Source column of the Washington Post announced today that our friend Chris Murray will be closing the Govinda Gallery after 35 years as a Washington gallery landmark. The broad range of artwork and photographs shown at the gallery over the past years will be sorely missed. Chris’s announcement that he will be remaining as a stalwart in the art field with projects bound for books and museum shows gives us encouragement that there is life after Govinda!
Read the entire article at The Reliable Source »
Posted on: June 17th, 2011 |
Ba Bay, a young Capitol Hill Vietnamese restaurant has hired our good friend Nick Sharpe, an experienced D.C. area chef with an unlikely background: Italian. Offering a unique mix of of authentic, traditional Vietnesmess recipes and modern variations, Ba Bay (named after the owner’s Grandmother) has been receiving a lot of positive attention in the D.C. foodie circuit.
Check out Ba Bay »
Posted on: June 17th, 2011 |
Photo Credit: Wenn.com
Steve Kupferberg attended a special preview at the United States Capitol of the documentary “The Harvest”, produced by our friends at Shine Global with Albie Hecht, Susan MacLaury, Bobby and Marla Baker, producers, along with Eva Longoria, producer. The Harvest highlights the plight of the child workforce in the argriculture industry in the United States. A MUST SEE!
Eva was in town to attend the annual MALDEF Awards Gala in Washington D.C. The event celebrated the works and achievements of The Honorable Cesar A. Perales, The Honorable Hilda L. Solis, and William and Susan Soza. Actress and Philanthropist Eva Longoria made a special appearance and presentation.
Learn more about MALDEF »
Posted on: June 17th, 2011 |
The well documented collapse of the D.C. Metropolitan Police breath-test system continues to plague the department, which anticipates that it will not have a new “reliable” system in place until at the the spring of 2012.
In the interim, the department will continue to rely on antiquated urine tests which, while showing the presence of alcohol, cannot reliably show a level of blood-alcohol concentrations, or a degree of intoxication.
According to The Washington Post, the District has spent over $90,000 in new equipment but, because of the systemic failures with testing procedures and protocol, that equipment has sat unused for nearly a year.
Police union chief Kris Baumann’s comments in The Washington Examiner sum up the situation:
“…the unreliable evidence yielded by a urine analysis is typical of an attorney general’s office that is not ‘serious.’
‘They’re doing busywork to make it appear that we have a functional DUI program when we don’t,’ Baumann said.”
Read more at the Washington Examiner »
Read more at the Washington Post »
Posted on: June 17th, 2011 |
The Supreme Court recently held that police may have to give Miranda warnings to children and teenagers, even when the police would not normally give the warning to an adult in an identical circumstance.
The 5-4 majority, led by Justice Sotomayor, ruled that children are not “miniature adults” and often view interactions with police differently that the “reasonable adult” that is the focus of a normal Miranda analysis. “A reasonable child subjected to police questioning will sometimes feel pressured to submit when a reasonable adult would feel free to go.”
Miranda warnings, of course, only apply in situations of custodial interrogations – where the police are questioning a person, and a reasonable person would not feel free to terminate the encounter with the police. Children have a different view of what they can and cannot do when in the presence of police.
In this North Carolina case, J.D.B. v. North Carolina, a 13 year-old, in seventh grade, was taken out of class and questioned by police for over half an hour. He had no attorney, no parent, or no guardian present. The adolescent eventually confessed to a theft, after police threatened that the student might face time in juvenile detention.
Read the decision here »
Read an editorial from The New York Times »
Posted on: June 17th, 2011 |
On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act to offenders involved with crack cocaine offenses. The Washington Post reported that as many as 12,000 inmates nationwide, and 1,200 in the D.C. metro area, received sentences under the old crack cocaine guidelines, which were disproportionately severe compared to powder cocaine.
Mr. Holder recognizes the fundamental unfairness in the old guidelines and feels that many of the inmates already serving the extra harsh sentences should benefit from the major change enacted by President Obama.
“There is simply no just or logical reason why their punishments should be dramatically more severe that those of other cocaine offenders.”
Eric Holder via The Washington Examiner
However, there are many voices opposing retroactivity, citing the fact that many of the crack offenders that would be considered for a sentence reduction are career offenders or had cases involving deadly weapons. David Hiller, the national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, is one of the loudest opponents to retroactive sentence reductions. Mr. Hiller believes that reduced sentences will put major offenders back on the streets and will expose communities to continued battles with cocaine dealing.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is expected to make a decision on retroactivity over the next few months.
Read full stories:
Washington Post »
Washington Examiner »